Chapter 12

"Do you think I'll see any field tonight?" Jason asked me with a sigh as I fixed my hat.

I glanced over at him, unsure how to break it to him.

"Austin Ryan has been taking those snaps since the fifth game of his freshman year. Coach isn't pulling him out any time soon." I shook my head, watching as Jason tried to hide his disappointment.

"I figured." Jason nodded, playing with the front mask of his helmet.

"Woo, I am having a blast tonight." Austin said excitedly, walking up to me before taking the water from my hands.

"Don't drink too much." I instantly warned.

Austin stopped drinking for a quick second to stick his tongue out at me.

"You're killing it out there." Jason said happily.

Austin gave him a nod before handing the water back to me.

"We're going to Catelyn Lewis's party tonight." Austin said to me. "And I'm not letting you tell me otherwise."

"I'm not going." I crinkled my nose. "Not to that house."

"Oh come on he's not even there." Austin gave me a look. "He's at college."

"But still. That place." I grimaced, knowing full well that memories of when I briefly dated Connor would be all over that place.

"I'm not going." I said firmly.

"Yeah you are." Austin nodded, throwing a sweaty arm around my shoulders. "I will not let you spend another pathetic Friday night alone."

"I've been babysitting your ass the past few weeks." I teased, bumping his hip with mine.

"Ah sweet I'm up again." Austin said happily as our defense intercepted the ball.

"Uh no, Jason, get out there." Coach called over to us.

The three of us all froze.

"What?" Jason and Austin asked at the same time.

Jason was thrilled, Austin was disgusted.

"Austin, calm down. We're winning by almost four touchdowns, give Jason some clock time." Coach gave Austin a look. "I want some ice on that ankle I saw you favoring your left."

"Is your foot hurting?" I said harshly, rounding on Austin.

"No!" Austin said quickly, his eyes widening. "Coach I'm fine! I can play! I-"

"Ice it." Coach gave Austin a look before turning to talk to Jason.

"What the hell." Austin whispered to me as he took the water again.

"Calm down, you know you're still his favorite." I sighed, giving him a look.

"Clearly not." Austin muttered. "It's that jackass Jason that's taking my position."

"I'll go to the party with you?" I offered with a laugh as he sat down on the bench.

"Well duh you were already going to do that." Austin rolled his eyes.

"On one condition." I gave him a look.

"Oh hell no." Austin shook his head. "I'm hooking up with Catelyn Lewis and you can't do a damn thing about it."

I let out a laugh. "That girl is bad news."

"You've literally texted her from my phone for me if I was driving before."

"Yeah I know. And she's a shit sexter anyways." I rolled my eyes, opening up the top of the gatorade water barrel to scoop some ice into a plastic bag.

"Yeah well apparently you rock and she thinks I'm like a sex God, so thanks." Austin winked at me.

"I do what I can." I laughed.

It's funny how just a few days ago, I thought our friendship was totally ruined because of feelings.

But now I've decided that he's just a really good friend.

Besides.

Jason.

I could see myself going after that.

"Yeah, yeah I'm sure I'll find something to do at the party while you're off with Catelyn Lewis and her dumb belly button ring." I laughed. "Take off your shoe."

"That belly button ring is gorgeous." Austin rolled his eyes at me as he untied the laces on his shoe. "And your argument is invalid if you try and say otherwise."

I stuck out my tongue at Austin, handing him the bag of ice.

"Oh shush, you're just jealous of her body." Austin rolled his eyes.

My smile instantly faded as a chill ran down my spine.

Austin realized what he said instantly and his face fell dramatically.

"Shit, Carter." Austin whispered.

"I uh, wow." I shook my head, setting the water down on the bench next to him. "Screw you, Austin Ryan."

I held the clipboard tightly as I turned away from him, unfortunately smacking right into my dad.

"What are you doing? Where are you going? Why are we not icing that leg?" My dad said harshly to me.

I was about to bitterly reply how annoyed I was at Austin but then I remembered that it wasn't my place to be annoyed with him right now.

This wasn't my territory.

This was my dad's turf, literally, and I was supposed to be here to make things easier for him.

"I was uh, finding him, his water." I managed.

"It's on the bench next to him." My dad sighed, putting his hands on my shoulder as he spun me back around. "I really can't thank you enough for this, Carter. When Jason comes back I need you to go over the plays with him again, he's not as confident as I'd like him to me." My dad told me, squeezing my shoulder before walking off again.

I sat down next to Austin with a sigh.

"I'm sorry I-"

"It's fine." I snapped.

"I wasn't comparing you I just-"

"You were comparing us, but it's fine." I said, crossing my legs. "We're not discussing this right now. Remember in Grey's Anatomy when-"

"Ben cut the baby out and Bailey got mad and they had church and state. Yeah." Austin sighed. "You're calling state."

"Yes I am. This is effectively our work." I snapped. "Enough."

Austin rolled his eyes but didn't say anything else to me.

Jason returned to the bench a minute later, his face in a frown as he bitterly sat down.

"That damn linesman doesn't hit a single block." Jason muttered.

"It's Rob. Of course he doesn't." Austin shook his head.

I waited for a sarcastic snap from one of them but they were both quiet, not angry at each other for once.

There had been a lot of tension on the sidelines.

"So you guys are going to that Catelyn person's party tonight? Can I get a ride?" Jason asked hopefully.

"Of course."

"You can't just give out rides in my car." Austin snapped, giving me a look.

And there was the bitterness.

"I can and I just did." I said before turning my back to him to talk to Jason about the plays.

Jason went back out next time the teams switched, causing more annoyance from Austin.

"I am annoyed." Austin announced, pouring some water into his mouth.

"Dad's just worried about that ankle. And honestly I am too. It's bruised."

"Well of course it is." Austin snapped. "I get bruised easily." He quickly defended.

I frowned, giving him an odd look.

That was the opposite of true.

One of his biggest claims to fame was that he never bruised. We used to have a competition where we'd punch each other in the arm as many times as we could handle and whoever bruised first would lose.

"Look, let's just, I'm sorry. I don't give a damn about the Grey's Anatomy rules but I'm sorry I said that. It was a dumb thing to say. And I didn't mean it." Austin sighed, giving me a look.

I narrowed my eyes at him but didn't say anything rude.

"Fine." I said quietly. "I forgive you. Only because I feel bad that you're not getting any playing time."

Austin's eyes widened and he shoved my shoulder, nearly sending me off of the bench.

"Bitch."

"Jerk." I shot back, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Ugh whatever." Austin rolled his eyes. "I'm just glad you're finally going out to a party today. We'll have fun."

"Of course we will." I grinned.

~*~*~

'Fun' wasn't exactly a word for it.

Austin quickly disappeared with Catelyn Lewis, which majorly pissed me off.

It was her party at her house and she was upstairs screwing my best friend.

Maybe jealousy was a slight part of it too.

The only reason why I was here, and why I made Austin and Jason stop off at my house so that I could change, was because I wanted to flirt with Jason.

And Jason wasn't even anywhere to be found.

He was probably hooking up with someone who already got their claws in them.

I bet she wasn't even pretty.

I leaned back against the couch, still holding my water in my hand and trying to hide the scowl on my face.

I didn't want to be that prude who hates parties.

But honestly, that was me.

"Hey!" Someone suddenly said next to me, handing me a new drink as they took the water out of my hand.

I raised my eyebrows at them, already annoyed.

It was Simon, the obnoxious offensive linesman who thinks he's all that and a bag of chips.

"Hi Simon." I said with a sigh. "I'm not drinking tonight."

"Not even Arnold Palmer?" Simon raised his eyebrows, pointing over to the table near the kitchen with multiple large bottles of iced tea lemonade.

"Thanks." I mumbled before taking a small sip. I grimaced. "Simon what the hell this has like, vodka in it or something..."

"Does it?" Simon frowned, looking down at the drink. He took a sip of his own and winced. "Ah damn I switched them. Sorry, Jones." Simon laughed, switching the drinks. "Don't worry, this one has nothing in it."

I skeptically took a whiff of the drink before deciding that it was, in fact, only Arnold Palmer.

"Well, thanks." I laughed. "You played alright tonight I guess."

"Damn girl, you really know how to flatter a guy." Simon shook his head with a laugh. "Just alright?"

"You missed three blocks, compared to your usual games of double digits of missed blocks. Take the compliment and run with it, bud." I sighed, taking another sip of the drink.

"Okay I don't miss that many blocks." Simon gave me a look.

I shrugged, shaking my head. "You're responsible for most of the sacks on Austin in a typical game." I replied, giving him a look.

Simon scowled. "I don't need to hear about how my only flaw is letting pretty boy Austin get hit." Simon muttered.

"Not your only flaw. If only you braced your feet and squared your shoulders, you'd be able to move more laterally and get-"

"Yeah whatever I'm not here to talk about football." Simon gave me a look. "Keep drinking, how ya feeling?"

"I'm fine." I hissed. "Annoyed that you think you can come and talk to me, but whatever." I rolled my eyes.

"What's the stick up your ass?" Simon laughed. "Where are those two QBs that you've got wrapped around your little finger."

I rolled my eyes, a pit forming in my stomach.

I needed to get out of here.

"Jason!" I called suddenly, spotting the guy across the room.

Jason's head snapped around to me.

I forced a smile onto my face, beckoning him over.

"Come here, I need your help with a football thing." I gave him a pleading look.

Jason walked over carefully, looking confused.

"Carter, I was kind of in the middle of-"

"Okay, hold this." I thrust my drink into Simon's hand before turning to Jason.

"Simon, when you block, go like this." I said to him before turning to face Jason.

Once I was face to face, I let my smile drop.

"Go find Austin. Tell him I need his help because it's a full moon tonight." I said softly.

"Is that some bullshit euphemism for sex?" Jason whispered.

"Like this. Brace your feet, slightly staggered so you can pivot quickly but also move laterally." I said over my shoulder to Simon who looked extremely bored. I turned back to Jason. "It's not a euphemism, you dipshit." I muttered, not explaining it as I knew that it was sacred between myself and Austin.

"Yeah whatever I think he's upstairs with that Catelyn Lewis girl, now if you don't mind, I-"

"Oh shit." Simon suddenly said, stumbling backwards.

Jason and I turned to him in shock as the large guy leaned back unsteadily against the couch.

"I don't feel so good." He slurred.

"How much have you had to drink?" Jason asked carefully, pushing his hair back from his forehead.

Simon shook his head, looking down at the cups in his hand with a devastated look on his face.

"One of these has got... It's got..." Simon whispered. "I just fucking drugged myself."

My eyes widened in shock.

"And you intended to give one of those to me?!" I yelled, pulling Jason back as he started on Simon. "What the hell is your problem!"

"Look it's nothing..." Simon managed, looking like he was about to pass out. "It's just a little bit more fun when the girl's not struggling and..."

I would've punched him, but didn't feel like touching him with my skin.

So instead I lifted my leg and kicked him straight backwards over the edge of the couch.

"Asshole." I muttered, turning to face Jason.

Jason just raised his eyebrows.

"Next time you see Austin, tell him I'm never going to a damn high school party again." I hissed, glaring at Jason.

"Listen, I really do not have time to be the messenger between you and Austin Ryan. I'm 99% positive he's upstairs with Catelyn right now and I'm sorry but I've got a hot, shirtless guy waiting for me upstairs." Jason rolled his eyes, turning away from me.

My eyes widened.

Jason froze.

He spun around.

"What the heck?" I asked in shock.

Jason looked sick.

"But I could've sworn the other day you were hinting on asking me on a date!" I exclaimed.

"Shush!" Jason said urgently, walking towards me. "Pretend I didn't say anything." Jason hissed, giving me a look.

"What? Oh! Oh of course don't worry I'm not telling anyone." I shook my head. "But I... What the hell?"

"I was asking you genuinely where people hung out and I'm sorry if I came across as flirty, I just wanted to meet some people, plus you're the coach's daughter and you've got to have connections." Jason muttered.

I crossed my arms.

"I was genuinely hoping you would ask me out." I sighed, a slight smile forming on my face. "Ugh fine, go upstairs to your guy or whatever. If you see Austin, seriously just tell him I'm going home." I shook my head, backing away. "I'll walk. I'm sick of everything, including him."

I walked away from Jason with a sigh.

Well that was a dead end...

I never would've guessed...

Why did all the hot guys have to be gay?

And why did the not hot guys (Simon) have to be such assholes?

I must admit, it takes a level of idiocy to drug yourself.

A shiver ran down my spine when I realized what his true intentions were with that drink.

I was never going to a high school party again.