Waiting on the Sidelines (Waiting on the Sidelines #1)(76)

Homecoming at Coolidge High was coming up soon. I had purchased a special ticket for the dance, which was always held on the Saturday after the game. I got a pass to bring Tyler with me, but Friday night after the game was a special student lock-in at the school, and only students were allowed to attend. I was going to skip it, but Becky, Sarah and Sienna worked on me for days until I finally gave in. We were all on the planning committee for special events, so at least I had a say in the various activities we scheduled for the all-nighter.

Since Tyler wasn’t able to come to the lock-in, I didn’t ask him to come to the game. I’m sure he would have, but part of me also wanted to spend one night on my own, with the girls. Sienna got to the field early for a special performance by the band. I picked up Sarah and we both met Becky there a little before the game. We walked up to the top of the stands so we could rest our backs on the solid wall along the press box.

Our team was heading back into the locker room; they would come back out for a special entrance, breaking through the stacked pyramids of cheerleaders holding the giant State Champions banner. The entire scene had a certain entertainment value to it, but we all loved it. I had grown up watching it. And now, now that the team was winning behind our hometown quarterback hero, the tradition made us all feel something extra. Pride, I think.

Sarah and I cheered loudly for Sienna as the band took the field, trying to embarrass her. We were satisfied when we were pretty sure she blushed a bit and sat down to watch her performance. The crowd joined in when they played the fight song as the announcer called the State Champion Bears to the field. Reed and Sean were leading the team, holding their helmets high over their heads as they ran through the cheerleaders and rainbow of balloons. The display was supposed to intimidate our opponents, but we always scheduled our homecoming game against a school we were guaranteed to beat, so I didn’t think we could intimidate them much more than just forcing them to stand on the same field with our boys, who were all heads and shoulders bigger than they were.

I caught Reed’s attention as he turned around and scanned the bleachers. I gave him a bit of a thumbs up and he gave a small one back. My tummy felt warm from this silly victory, but I took it anyhow. Sarah just rolled her eyes at me.

A crowd was gathering down at the corner of the bleachers when I realized that it was because of Buck. He had come to the game. I knew this meant a lot to Reed, and I was really happy to see him out and on his feet. But I also felt like I needed to check on him, ask him to take it easy.

I excused myself from Becky and Sarah and climbed down clumsily to the bottom steps. I waited patiently until the other boosters and teachers had gotten their greetings in. When I finally caught his attention, he smiled brightly and just reached out for a hug.

“That’s my girl,” he said, giving me a warm squeeze.

“Hey,” I said back, so happy to see him. “You look great. How are you feeling?”

“Oh, I’m getting there. Taking it slow, cross my heart,” he swiped his finger over his chest twice. “Was just dying to get back out here, though. I hate that I missed so many of their games. This is it for me, you know. This is the stuff.”

I just smiled and nodded. This was ‘the stuff’ for him. And how envious I was of him that he knew exactly what made him happy in life. I guess deep down I did, too.

“Well you be careful, ok? Take it easy? I’m just sitting up there with the girls if you need anything,” I patted his shoulder as I went to climb back up the steps.

“OK then. Same goes for you, you know,” he winked. And I did know. Through it all, I had grown to really love Buck, and I was so grateful for my relationship with him.



As predicted, the game was a complete blowout. Reed even threw a few Hail Mary passes down the field just for practice. I texted Tyler the score and told him I’d give him a call in the morning after the lock-in. It took him a while to respond, but I didn’t really mind. This night was for me, and I was taking it.

Sarah and I worked the check-in table for the students coming into the gym for the lock in. We had secured the gym area, locker rooms and attached health and science hallways and classrooms for the night. Each room had a different activity, and the gym was for dancing of course, which is where I knew Sarah would spend most of the night. I had come up with the idea for an Adam Sandler movie room, which is where I was planning to spend at least a few hours.

The crowd was getting fairly large and most of the students had started to dance to the music in the gym when the football players finally started to arrive. Each time a new one came in, there was a round of screaming from the girls in the gym.

I was counting the cash in our box to see how many $5 entries we had taken when Reed walked in with Sean. Becky ran over to Sean right away, wrapping her arms and legs around him and dragging him to the dance floor. Reed just stood there smiling at his helpless friend. I was staring, and when his eyes snapped to mine, I startled and started counting again, though I had no idea what number I was on.

I could feel his presence when he walked closer to me and started saying random numbers. “Forty five, sixty, three hundred, fifteen,” he joked.

I elbowed him in the side, blew the stray hairs from my face and put the money back into a pile on the table in front of me. “You ass, now I have to start over.”

He just winked as he pulled out his wallet and gave me an extra $5. “Start with that one,” he smiled, the smile. It was the first time in a long time we had talked, and the first time he gave that smile to me. It was short-lived as he put his arm around one of the senior cheerleaders and walked over to a corner of the gym with her, dropping his practice bag and taking her by the arm to lead her out into the hallway. His hair was wet from showering, and he was wearing his baggy jeans and a long-sleeved gray T-shirt with the short-sleeved plaid button one over it. My favorite shirt. The shirt he was half wearing when he said he loved me, I thought.