Accidental Crush (22 page)

“Thanks, Ash! What did you think, Sid?” Todd
nudges her arm.

“It was okay, I guess.” Sid shrug
s her shoulders. “Please, it was A-mazing,” She says as she huddle-hugs Shane and Todd.

While they are talking,
I start scanning the crowd for Ryan. When I finally spot him, he is in the corner talking to Gretchen, it doesn’t look like a conversation I should interrupt.

“Hey, where were you guys at lunch?” I
ask Todd.

“You noticed?” He
seems surprised. “I’ll tell you later,” he says a little lower so no one else can hear. “Let’s just say, Ryan and I had a long talk.”

“He knows?” I whisper back. My stomach
is back on that stupid roller coaster.

“He figured it out. I didn’t agree or disagree, I just listened. He really needed to talk so we skipped the cafeteria.”

“How is he?” I look back over at him talking to Gretchen; it doesn’t look like a happy conversation.

“Angry,” Todd
whispers back.

My eyes connect with Todd's
; we both know this isn’t going to end well, but there is no turning back now. “Just keep an eye on him, please. Don’t let him do anything stupid.”

Chapter 11: The Wildcats Game

We all me
et up at the field before the game. Sid, Shane and I stand by the fence outside of the locker room to wish everyone luck and cheer the team on as they run out on the field. When we get there, Ryan is off to the side talking to Gretchen. This isn’t a good sign; he should be concentrating on the game, not her.

“Just tell me, I need to know. Is it true?” We overhear him asking her.

“Ryan. I…” She falters. 

“Is it true; were you with him?” he
asks again. 

“I thought... I mean, you were…” She
stops and looks down at the ground. “I thought you were with
her
…” she says, not making eye contact. 

“I’m not asking what you thought. I’m asking what you did,” he
says. I’ve never seen him so focused or so angry. She doesn’t say anything however, her silence says everything. “I thought so.” He shakes his head as he turns away from her and runs out on the field to join the rest of the team.

Gretchen
is trying to hide it, but I can see her wiping her eyes, covering up the fact that she is crying. 

“Come on, guys, let’s go get seats,” I
say to Shane and Sid. No one says anything about what we’ve just witnessed. 

The stands
are already going crazy. It is a sea of black and gold and everyone is holding homemade signs. A lot of them have Ryan’s number and say, “Toss it to Taylor”. “We will Rock You” is blaring from the marching band; they are so loud we have to scream over them and I feel the music vibrating through my chest. If the excitement of the crowd means anything, there is no way we can lose this game. All of our parents are in the parents’ section and somewhere out there are the scouts that could put an end to a college football career before it even starts. I scan the field as I take my seat and Gretchen is on the sidelines talking to RTS; she is visibly upset, but putting up a good front for the crowd. 

As soon as the game
starts, it is clear everyone on the field came to play. I can immediately sense the tension between Brian and Ryan. Off the field, they are nowhere near each other when usually, they are talking strategy. On the field, though, they are playing hard. Brian seems to know how important this game is and he is really in it. He throws pass after pass to Ryan. The game is neck and neck through the first half and at half time the score is tied. The Wildcats obviously want this just as much as we do. It’s clear it is going to be a fight to the end.

Toward the end of the third quarter, the Wildcats
make it into field goal range, and their kicker comes out to try to get three more points on the board.

“And the kick is GOOD! The score is fourteen to seventeen. The Wildcats are in the lead,” the announcer’s voice
echoes.

The clock
is ticking down and finally in the fourth quarter, Brian gets us into field goal range. Sid and I grab each other’s hands and squeeze them so tight. We know Todd is coming out to try to tie the game.

“Number eighteen, Todd Hamilton, is coming out to attempt a forty-two yard field goal,” the announcer’s voice resonate
s through the loud speakers. 

The entire crowd
is holding their breath, I can’t watch; I bury my face in Sid’s arm. I picture Todd doing his little jump. I hear the release, the kick, and then the bleachers erupt, I immediately look up. 

“And it’s good! It's all tied up at seventeen,” the announcer’s voice
rings through the stadium.

It
’s good! The entire team is jumping up and high-fiving Todd as he rejoins them on the sidelines. The score is tied again; at least the Wildcat’s aren’t winning. There are only three minutes left in the game. We just need to keep stopping them so we can get another chance to score. Our defense is good, but so are they and they get back in field goal range. Their kicker comes out...

"And the kick is good! The Wildcats are in the lead and it’s
twenty to seventeen," the announcer shouts.

We need to score a touchdown to win
; with two minutes left in the game, Brian brings the team down the field fast and we are close to field goal range. All of a sudden, Brian starts running the ball and stops throwing it to Ryan. The crowd starts chanting, “RYAN, RYAN, RYAN!” They know if Brian gets the ball to Ryan we will win. I look over at the parents’ section to try to find my mom and dad. I can’t see them through the crowd, but I know somewhere over there my dad is the proudest man in the stands. The crowd keeps chanting Ryan’s name over and over. For some reason, Brian doesn’t listen, though, he seems to get more frustrated and he tries to run the ball himself. It’s third down and he gets slammed pretty hard just shy of field goal range so we need to punt the ball.

The Wildcats
get the ball back with a little over a minute thirty of play left on the clock. Our defense is amazing, they stop them on every play and the Wildcats have to punt back to us with a minute left on the clock. I think Brian’s need to win wins over his ego because he finally goes into play-to-win mode. He passes to Ryan play after play and they make it down the field in no time. There are thirty seconds left on the clock and my heart is in my throat. I am squeezing Sid’s hand so tight that she has to be losing feeling, but she doesn’t even notice.

We
are first and goal and we need a touchdown to win. On the first pass Brian over throws the ball and there is no way Ryan can catch it. Second pass, Brian runs the ball; they gain a few yards, but no touchdown. I can tell Ryan is frustrated because he was wide open but for some reason Brian chose to run instead of pass. They set up for the third down and we all know that this is it. Ryan runs into the end zone and the other team is all over him. Brian throws what looks like an impossible pass to catch, but somehow, Ryan jumps up and catches it in mid-air. 

“The catch is good! Touchdown by Ryan Taylor, number twenty-three,” the announcer’s voice
reverberates through the stadium. 

Ryan
gets slammed down hard, but he gets right back up. Sid and I are still holding hands as we are jumping up and down, screaming. The bleachers are shaking, the crowd is going crazy. We are in the lead, twenty to twenty-three when Todd comes out to kick the extra point. 

“And the kick is GOOD!”
 

The cheerleaders
are shouting and jumping up and down. The stands are on fire with excitement. The Wildcats have ten seconds left on the clock and they have to get a touchdown to win. Their quarterback throws a Hail Mary that spirals through the air in slow motion, their best receiver is there to catch it and somehow he is wide open. No one moves in the stands on either side. The ball touches the tips of his fingers, it looks like he is going to gain control, but he can’t hold on, and it slowly tumbles to the field with a thud.

“And the catch is no good! The Trojans win it twenty to twenty-four! They will move on to the State Championships!”
 

Sid and I
start screaming and jumping up and down. “They won! They won!” We can’t say anything else. Shane is so excited, he starts jumping up and down and screaming with us. I can’t believe they won! With all the pressure, fighting and lies… they won! I am so relieved. It is like I can finally breathe for the first time since everything started.

Brian
sprints up to Gretchen and hugs her while Ryan jogs off the field, not acknowledging anyone on the sidelines. I can tell Gretchen is taken off guard. Everyone else is so caught up in the excitement, I don’t think they really notice.

We
are all replaying the game on the bleachers as the crowd clears out when we hear a rumor there is a big fight in the locker room. My heart drops and we all just look at each other.

I don’t remember running down the bleachers, but before I
know it, we are all standing outside the locker room. Gretchen and RTS are already there along with most of the cheerleaders. We all hear a loud clanging like fists or something hitting metal. No one knows exactly who is fighting, but I have a good idea. In-between what sounds like bodies being slammed into lockers, there is a lot of shouting. All of a sudden, I feel a cold, wet drop on my arm. I look up to see the black sky is dotted with moving puffs of deep grey and drops of rain have started to drizzle down on us. 

“I know you are with her… How could you?” I hear Ryan clearly, we all
do, and my attention is snapped back to the fight. “We’ve been best friends since pre-school.”

“How could
you
?” Brian says.

“I did
nothing
. You
lied
to Gretchen,” Ryan shouts back.

I
look over at Gretchen; she has her hand over her mouth.

“It wasn’t a lie,” Brian
says.

“Blythe and I did nothing.” Ryan really over
enunciates each word. “She kissed me and it was a mistake. You
knew
that. We are just friends. Friends, Brian. Something I don’t think you know anything about. We almost lost that game because of you.” His voice cracks from screaming so loud. I’ve never heard my brother so angry.

“That’s Bullshit,” Brian
shouts.

“You don’t care about Gretchen. You only care about Brian. You couldn’t stand the fact that someone didn’t like you for once in your life.”

“I love her.” Brian starts backtracking, realizing what he has just said.

“You love her? What.
 You love
her.” The first one is a real question, the rest are more like statements that Ryan makes in disbelief. “You love yourself. I don’t think you know what real love is. You lied to my face for so long. We are finished.” There is a lot of loud clanging and a big scuffle.

“Back off guys” I hear Todd and some of the players
start shouting.

At that point, coach
comes in and we hear his voice over everyone’s. “What is going on in here?”

Ryan
comes storming out with his face pretty bloody and Gretchen goes running up to him. “I’m so sorry.” Tears are streaming down her face.

Ryan
pushes passed her, not even acknowledging her.

“How could you, Ash? You knew the entire time?” he
screams in my face. Our parents come running up about that time, but he pushes passed them as well.

“I’ve gotta get out of here, Dad.” He
turns back to my parents long enough to acknowledge them at least that much as he continues walking to the parking lot. 

I
march up to Gretchen who is hysterical and I scream, “This is all your fault.” I want to hit her so badly, but I know I need to try to stop Ryan before he drives away this angry. That is the worst thing he could do and I know that’s where he is going.

Todd
comes running out. His nose is bleeding, among other things. “Where’d he go?”

I point toward the parking lot. Todd
takes off running and I follow behind. When we get there, Brian and Gretchen are right behind us. Brian is pretty beat up, too. The cut above his eye has reopened and he is holding his head back to stop his nose from bleeding. I notice his knuckles are scraped and bloody.

“He left? In his car?” Brian
asks, shocked. “Let’s go,” he says to Gretchen as he grabs her by the hand. She pulls her hand away and then follows him to his car; she can’t even look at me.

“I don’t know if it’s the best idea for you two to go after him.” Todd
grabs Brian by the shoulder.

“Back off, Todd!” Brian
pushes him back. “I need to go.”

“Alright, we’re right behind you,” Todd
says as we both jump into his Volvo. “You’re gonna need some help if you do catch up to him.”