Penny laughed. “Come on Tanner. And Jacob, Scarlett is here…”
“Scarlett!” Jacob yelled and climbed off the bench.
“So I guess you’ve talked to Matt?” Penny said. “We haven’t heard from him. Is he…how did he take it?”
“Oh, I haven’t talked to him yet. Today I just want to have a fun day with my son. I’ll see Matt tomorrow.”
“Umm…” Penny said. She looked out at the field and then back at me. “So you haven’t spoken to him yet? Or seen him at all?”
“No, I’ll see him tomorrow.” I’d just said that…
“Brooklyn, I think…”
“The game’s about to start!” Tanner practically shouted as he stood up. “We’ll sit with you guys, just everyone stop talking. I…uh…have a splitting headache.” And then he added, “This is a mess,” under his breath.
I picked up Jacob so he couldn’t run off without me. “Do you need some Tylenol or something, Tanner?” I asked. “I’m sure the concession stand…”
“I’m good. I just…the reveal is going to be messy now.” He picked Jacob up out of my arms to carry him.
“What reveal?”
“Come with me.” Tanner grabbed my hand and pulled me up the bleachers.
James and Rob looked surprised to see me. But Mason just smiled. I assumed the blonde and brunette already seated were Mason and Rob’s wives. I wondered if they knew about me. I was about to say hi, but James beat me to it.
“So you’ve told Matt?” James asked.
“Oh…um…no, not yet.”
“Mason,” Tanner said. “Haven’t you been talking to the guys aboutthings? Like I asked you to on the drive home the other day?”
“Oh, I didn’t tell them anything,” Mason said. “We’re just here for the homecoming game. I heard it’s going to be quite entertaining.”
Tanner cursed under his breath.
“Wait, are you two dating now?” Rob asked. “Brooklyn, you can do a hell of a lot better than this clown.”
“No…we’re not…” I started, but Rob cut me off.
“Felix is that you?” Rob walked out into the aisle to give Felix a big hug. And then he glared at Tanner.
How did Rob and Tanner know each other?
“Let’s all sit down,” Penny said. “The game is about to start.”
“I really don’t think this is a good idea,” James said and locked eyes with me. “Until you talk to Matt, I think you should go.”
It felt like he’d slapped me. Honestly, it felt like high school all over again. Like I wasn’t good enough to sit with them. Yeah, it felt exactly like that. I started blinking fast, because I was not in high school anymore. And I wasn’t going to cry just because an untouchable was being mean to me.
“You’re right. Tanner and I had a seat down there. So we’ll just go back…”
“I mean you shouldn’t be here at all Brooklyn,” James said.
Wow. Okay.I’d thought he’d changed. But who ever really changed? James was an asshole. And he’d always been an asshole. “You know, just because I couldn’t pay to attend this school doesn’t make me less of a student than you.”
“Brooklyn that’s not what I meant,” James said. “I’m asking you to leave because of Matt.”
“Oh, I know, I got it. You’re not friends with me. None of you ever were.” It was crystal clear. I just didn’t know why he’d acted so happy to see me a couple days ago. He was so full of shit.
