Empire High Elite

by Ivy Smoak

  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.”

  Matt was already standing up, straightening his jersey over his pads. He looked back up at me in the stands and my heart started racing. He ran his index finger across the tip of his nose. My heart melted. Our secret signal.

  But then he turned his head as if he was looking for someone else. My heart started beating faster. Who else was he looking for? Was I even allowed to be jealous? I’d spent every night the past week in Miller’s arms. But I still found myself following Matt’s gaze, my heart beating faster.

  My eyes landed on his mother. Mrs. Caldwell was staring right at me, a smile on her face. I quickly looked away. I didn’t know what that meant. Matt said she’d seen me at my uncle’s funeral. Did she recognize me now? Did she know I was responsible for breaking her son’s heart? And if so, why was she smiling?

  “I really hope they go for a two-point conversion if they score,” Kennedy said. “Prescott is shitty at converting the PAT.”

  “How do you know so much about football?” I asked. I needed her to distract me from Mrs. Caldwell’s prying eyes. But when I looked at Matt’s mom out of the corner of my eye, her attention was back on the field.

  “I used to watch it with my Dad every Sunday.”

  I pressed my lips together. Neither one of us talked much about what we’d lost. But whenever she did share something about her father, I felt that much closer to her. I’d gotten close to Matt, Miller, and Felix. But only Kennedy knew what it was like to lose a parent. Matt lost his aunt. Stop. I couldn’t think about that. I didn’t know if anything he said to me was true. Ever. He was a liar. He was just playing me. Like I played Felix? God, my head was going to explode.

  Kennedy jumped to her feet and starting cheering like crazy when we scored. And I cheered right along with her. Mostly because it just felt good to scream at the top of my lungs. And maybe a little bit because it was easy to get caught up in the excitement.

  By halftime we were up 19 to 7. It should have been 21, but Kenney was right. Prescott was shitty at kicking the PAT. He’d missed two. The stands started emptying out.

  “Where is everyone going?” I asked.

  “Probably to grab something from the concession stand. Or to use the bathroom.”

  I felt silly. I thought there was some weird homecoming congregation or something. But food and using the toilet was the logical conclusion. “Are you hungry?”

  “No. You?”

  I shook my head.

  “So what’s going on with you and Miller?” Kennedy asked.

  I was glad it had quieted down enough for us to not have to yell. “Is it that obvious?”

  She smiled. “No. I was kinda joking because it’s literally his job to stare at you.” She turned around and waved at him. “But now I know it’s more than that.”

  I grabbed her arm to make her face forward again. “He’s the only one at the Pruitts’ apartment that isn’t a monster.”

  “I thought you were getting along better with Satan?” Satan was Kennedy’s new affectionate term for Mr. Pruitt.

  “I don’t know. Sometimes he’s nice. Sometimes he’s rude. I don’t know if he mea
ns to be. But I don’t fit in with any of them.”

  “And you fit in with Miller?”

  “Yes.” It came out as more of a question than a statement.

  Kennedy laughed and adjusted her thin fall jacket. I made a mental note to give her one of my new ones. “Doesn’t he remind you of someone?” she asked.

  “What?”

  “Brooklyn, he’s just an older-looking version of Matt.”

  “He is not.”

  “Um…yes he is. Matt a few years in the future with brown hair.”

  I turned and looked at him. His broad shoulders. His easy smile. Not that Matt’s smile came easy anymore. I quickly turned back around. “I don’t see it.” But it was a lie. I did see it. Is that why I climbed into his bed each night and let him hold me?

  The marching band had come onto the field, making it a little harder for us to talk. But that didn’t deter Kennedy.

  “I bet Miller played football when he was in high school,” she said.

  I shook my head. Yes, maybe Miller looked a little like Matt. But the resemblance ended there. Miller couldn’t be more different. And he was definitely no jock. I knew for a fact that his muscles were from a moving company he used to work for before Mr. Pruitt hired him. He’d told me so. Miller wasn’t cocky. He wasn’t privileged. He was real. He was like me.

  “Are you two serious?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “He knows I still like Matt.”

  “You’re still in love with Matt after everything he did?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “Yeah. But it doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Brooklyn, he kept you a secret for weeks because he didn’t want James to know he’d screwed Rachel. He lied to you. He…”

  “Technically he didn’t lie. He just didn’t tell me.”

  She shook her head. “Same difference.”

  “Is this the part of the lecture where you tell me you warned me about the Untouchables? That guys like that don’t end up with girls like us?”

  “What? No. It’s not a lecture at all. I’m just worried about you. It’s not like you to tell Felix you love him, then Matt within the same day, and now you’re with Miller a few days later? I’m worried about you.”

  I bit the inside of my lip.

  “What’s going on with you?” she asked.

  I wanted to tell her she barely knew me better than any of those guys. But that wasn’t true. She knew me. Which was why it didn’t feel like I could filter myself. “I think maybe I just miss the feeling of being loved by someone. Unconditionally. And I know that there’s conditions with all of them. But for a few seconds when Miller holds me, I feel like someone’s on my side. Like I’m not alone.”

  She kicked my shin lightly. “Girl, you have me. I love you. My mom loves you.”

  “But I’m not allowed to live with you guys. Do you have any idea what it’s like for me to go back to the Pruitts’ after school every day? To live down the freaking hall from Isabella? I’m terrified all the time. I’m scared of her and her mom. I’m even scared of Mr. Pruitt. I don’t trust any of them. Some mornings my bedroom door is open. Did you know that? And I lock it, Kennedy. I swear I lock it.”

  She pressed her lips together. “I’m not judging you. I’m just worried about you. If you still like Matt, you should tell him. Or if you like Felix more…” her voice trailed off. “You should tell him that then.”

  I stared at her. She didn’t get what it was like in my shoes. Yes, she’d lost a parent. But she didn’t lose her only parent. And she didn’t lose Uncle Jim the same way I had. We both loved him, but I needed him. He was all I’d had left. And now I felt starved for love. Just thinking about it made me feel cheap. I owed Felix an apology. I owed Miller an apology. I even owed Matt an apology, but I wouldn’t give it to him because he owed me a lot more. But the worst part was, I was worried I loved a piece of each of them. I was too confused to know better. I just liked the way they made me feel.

  “I’ll talk to them,” I said. “As soon as I figure out which one I like the most.”

  She laughed. “We both know it’s Matt.”

  I didn’t contradict her. We did both know it. And we also both knew he was an asshole. It was one trait I wasn’t sure how to overlook. Everything else I thought I’d known about him had just turned out to be a lie.

  “You’re eventually going to need to talk to him,” she said.

  “I don’t want to think about it today. It’s homecoming. Shouldn’t we be having fun?”

  She laughed. “I am having fun. I’m watching my favorite sport with my bestie. And now everyone knows that Cupcake has a mini-dong. What’s more fun than that?”

  I laughed. But in the back of my head, I was thinking that a swift kick in the nuts would be more satisfying than a rumor. Cupcake deserved worse for what he did to her.

  “Oh the floats are starting.” Kennedy pointed to the field. Several convertibles led the way, each with two members of the homecoming court sitting in them. I hadn’t been paying attention to homecoming details at all. But I wasn’t surprised to see that James, Mason, Isabella, and a few of Isabella’s minions had all been nominated for homecoming king and queen.

  The stands started to fill up again so that everyone could watch who would be crowned. Not that I cared in the slightest. Although I really wished Isabella wouldn’t win. If she did it was probably because she’d threatened the student body. Stupid Pruitt rules that she doesn’t follow.

  Behind the convertibles were floats that each grade had been assigned to decorate. Neither Kennedy nor I had been asked to participate. I watched the senior float go by. It was a 007 theme, which was pretty clever for their graduating year. The junior float didn’t look nearly as good. There was an Eagle made of crepe paper that was practically falling off the float. Apparently the juniors were a bunch of slackers.

  Then the sophomore float started to go by and I could barely breathe. Matt was standing in the middle of it, still in his football gear but without the helmet. A few of his teammates were on either side of him. He was holding a microphone in his hand and staring right at me.

  Music started blaring through the speakers of the stadium. It was a You’re An American Reject song that I knew pretty well called My Dirty Little Secret.

  “What is happening?” Kennedy asked right before Matt lifted the mic to his mouth. She gasped. “Oh my God he’s going to sing to you.”

  “No he’s not.”

  “This one’s for all the beautiful ladies out there!” Matt yelled into the microphone.

  “See,” I said, but my voice was so weak I doubted Kennedy heard it. Had he really moved on that quickly? Hadn’t I? I swallowed hard. I hadn’t. That was the whole problem.

  “Just kidding,” Matt said. “This one’s for my girl. Brooklyn Sanders in the house!”

  Oh my God. He really is going to sing to me.

  Kennedy nudged me with her elbow.

  “This isn’t happening,” I said as students had already started looking back and forth between me and the float.

  “Oh, it’s happening,” Kennedy said with a laugh as the music got louder.

  “I know what I’ve done wrong,” Matt sung. If you could even call it singing, because it was way off key. “I’ve known it all along. I’ve tried to come clean a time or two. But I won’t steal any more time from you.”

  I stared at him in horror. He was changing the lyrics to be about…us. I think? “What the hell is he doing?”

  Kennedy grabbed my hand. “It’s a grand romantic gesture. He’s winning you back!”

  I could feel my face turning bright red.

  “What am I doing?” Kennedy said and pulled her hand out of mine. “I need pictures of this.” She lifted up her camera and started snapping away.

  “Tell me you haven’t thrown me away,” Matt sung. “Because I’m done playing games with you, babe.”

  His football friends leaned into the mic and added an out of tune, “Done playing games, babe.”r />
  I wanted to run away from all the prying eyes. But my ass was firmly glued to the cold metal bench. Had he lost his freaking mind?

  “Everyone needs to know about us,” Matt sung. “Brooklyn you’re not a dirty little secret.”

  “No dirty little secret,” his football friends sang.

  “I’ll tell everyone because you are not a regret.” Matt and his backup football dancers did a weird little spin maneuver. “Not a regret, hope you can believe that. You are not a dirty little secret, everyone needs to know.” He pointed up at me and did a weird hip thrust.

  “We all know,” the football chorus sang and did matching hip thrusts.

  It felt like everyone left in the stadium was turning my direction. Except for someone in a suit who looked beyond pissed who was running up to the float. Oh my God, it’s the principal. Coach Carter, my gym teacher and the football coach, ran up to the float too. He was waving his hands in the air in clear agitation.

  Matt ignored both of them. “Apart we live fragile lives. But together is the best way to survive.”

  “Best way to survive,” the other boys sang.

  “Get off the float!” Coach Carter yelled. “Right now.”

  “I’ve been around a time or two.” Matt winked at me, not seeming to care at all about the fact that he was in serious trouble.

  I laughed because I didn’t know what else to do. At least he wasn’t lying anymore. He’d definitely been around a time or two.

  “Stop this right now!” hissed the principal.

  “I’ve never wasted a second on you!” Matt sang as Coach Carter lunged for one of his legs. “Shit,” Matt said as he ran into one of his backup dancers.

  I was pretty sure he mumbled it, but it was into a microphone so it was really freaking loud.

  I started laughing harder than I had in a really long time. This was freaking amazing.

  The principal climbed onto the float and demanded for Matt to hand over the mic. Instead of complying, Matt jumped off the float. Coach Carter and the principal started chasing him.