Elite (Empire High, #2)(59)

He tilted his head to the side and I followed the direction with my eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Pruitt were seated across the aisle a few rows ahead. They were here to see Isabella cheer I guessed. I didn’t know whether or not either of them were alumni of Empire High. But they were sitting with a group of other adults, right next to Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell. I quickly turned away. Matt had said he’d told his mother about me. Did he tell her we broke up too? Did she know everything?

I swallowed hard and turned back to Miller. “Well, this sucks.”

“It’s fine. I’ll just be a few rows back keeping an eye on you. Grab the seats before someone else does.”

Kennedy grabbed my hand and pulled me past a few familiar faces from school. Familiar as in I’d seen them, not that they’d ever spoken to me. Kennedy and I sat huddled together, bracing ourselves from the chilly fall breeze. For just a second I let myself think how nice it would be if I could have worn Matt’s varsity jacket.

“Go Eagles!” Kennedy shouted at the top of her lungs and jumped to her feet with the rest of the crowd.

What the hell? I didn’t realize she was so school spirited. And why was everyone standing? There were perfectly good bleachers to sit on.

She pulled me to my feet. “They’re coming out!” she screamed over the cheers.

I turned in the direction she was pointing just in time to see the football team burst through a homecoming sign that the cheerleaders were holding. I wanted to think it was corny. The kind of scene you’d see in slow motion in a movie. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t cheering along too. It was easy to get swept up in the excitement. The stands shook even more as people stomped their feet and cheered.

I tried my best not to stare at Matt as he jogged onto the field in his football gear. God, how did he look even better in that than he did in a suit? Stop it. I’d been avoiding looking over at the cheerleaders, but my eyes wandered in their direction. Isabella was bopping around, waving her pompoms in the air. I wasn’t sure if it was just the angle I was sitting at, but I swore her skirt was significantly shorter than the other cheerleaders.

“Let’s go, Eagles!” Kennedy yelled again as part of some cheer I didn’t know that the cheerleaders were chanting.

How did she know it? She worked weekends just like I did. She must have gone to a few games last year. But I didn’t even question her, because she was jumping up and down with a smile on her face. I hadn’t seen her smile in a week. It was like I finally had my friend back. It had been so hard seeing her walk around like a shadow of her former self.

“You’re in a good mood again,” I shouted to her over the crowd.

“That’s because I got revenge,” she said.

“Revenge? What do you mean?” I was yelling at the top of my lungs so she could hear me.

“I started a rumor that Cupcake has a little dick!”

I didn’t know when it happened, but the crowd had definitely hushed right before she said, “Cupcake has a little dick.” A gasp fell out of my mouth. I couldn’t even help it.

A few students turned their heads to look at us.

“Joe Dickson has a small dick!” she yelled, just in case someone in the stadium hadn’t heard. “It’s the size of a peanut!”

“Kennedy!” I grabbed her arm to pull her back down to her seat as we had both exploded in a fit of giggles. A few other kids snickered. “Oh my God, that was amazing.”

Her smile grew even wider. “If he’s going to tell the whole school I was an easy lay, I can at least prevent him from doing it to someone else with that tidbit of information.”

I wanted to ask her if it was true. If Cupcake really did have a mini-dick. But I didn’t want her smile to disappear. If she’d wanted to tell me any more details, she would have. And it made me sick to my stomach to know that she might not remember any more details. Because that asshole had drugged her. He deserved this. Hopefully no one at this school would ever fall for his games now.

I pulled her into my side, keeping us both warm. “You’re amazing,” I said.

“I know. Let’s hope our team is as good as they were last year. Because I seriously hate Bernstein Prep.”

I didn’t mind the change of subject. This was my first homecoming game. My first high school football game ever, actually. And it didn’t matter that I was in love with one of the players. Used to be in love. I was going to try to enjoy this. If Kennedy was smiling, I could smile too.

Besides, this was the first time where I was able to stare at Matt without Isabella giving me shit. Or someone else being suspicious. I could stare at two of the Untouchables unabashedly. And they were both freaking amazing, totally lost in their element. It seemed like every pass Mason made went straight into Matt’s arms.

“Go Matt!” I yelled and jumped to my feet as he rushed toward the endzone.

His head turned like he could hear me. And maybe he had, because I swore for just a second we locked eyes. Right before some asshole from Bernstein Prep completely decked him. I threw my hand over my mouth.

“Stop distracting them,” Kennedy said and pulled me back down into my seat.

“Is he okay?” I wanted to run down there and make sure. But a piece of me hated myself for it. He’d never run after me in public.

“Of course. He’s used to being tackled. See.”