“There he is,” she said, pointing toward her soon to be ex-husband.
Sam looked out over the field. There was Ethan. He was carefully watching his players, every few seconds barking out precise instructions. He was handsome under the stadium lights in an All-American kind of way if maybe not a little severe.
Sam had always wondered if she had missed something when she just couldn’t find it in herself to become good friends with her best friend’s high school sweetheart, and now she just felt sour inside for not listening to her instincts. That there was something a little off about Ethan Cooke. It didn’t matter how good-looking he was; there always had been.
Sam wrapped her arm around Holly’s arm.
“How are you feeling?” Sam said.
“I kind of feel achy all over, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. I’m still standing, and I would’ve been so miserable on those stands across the way. I wouldn’t have been able to do it. I’m happy here, and Sam, it makes such a difference that you’re back. I’m so happy you’re here,” said Holly.
Sam wrapped her hand around Holly’s shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze.
Ethan turned toward his new fans, and walked over to the away bleachers to the sounds of hoot and hollers. It might have been Sam’s imagination, but there was a mean spirited feeling coming from the other side. She wasn’t sure if an entire group of people could take on an emotion, but it certainly felt that way.
Sam spotted Casey as she bounced her way down to Ethan and pulled him in for a lip lock. There were cheers of approval from the away bleachers, and murmurs of judgment from the home side.
No one from Grover was going to flat out boo, but it felt like the entire town of Grover held its breath while Casey Dempsey, Grover’s femme fatale, kissed Ethan Cooke, Grover’s former golden boy.
“I can’t feel my face, and I’m not even sure why. I don’t want what she has over there,” Holly said.
Both Sam and Layla provided calming words and back rubs of encouragement. Otto offered to go buy nachos.
“And cotton candy,” said Sam.
“Sam and I could always corner her in the parking lot,” said Layla.
Holly laughed and shook her head.
“What hurts the most is that I don’t even know what I want. I let that guy over there make all the calls for me from the age of fifteen until three months ago. That’s almost half my life,” she said. She furiously wiped away a tear.
“That’s what we’re here for. It’s going to be so much fun watching you go out and get what you want,” said Sam.
Holly squeezed Sam’s hand.
“You’re going to have it all Sam. The guy, the job, and you’re living here just as I always wanted you to. Thanks for letting me see it’s possible,” said Holly.
“You don’t have a bobcat. You don’t have it all without a bobcat,” said Layla, and they all laughed.
No one noticed Sam’s laugh was the weakest, and that her stomach was most likely going to reject the nachos and cotton candy Otto was about to bring them.
What have I done? She’d thrown the work she’d done the entire extent of her twenties down the drain, that’s what she’d done. She’d also started a small business in a small town in a matter of minutes. Small businesses were hard to keep afloat. Small towns were dying across the country. She’d given up so much, all for a guy. Well, not all for a guy, but it sure looked that way when you explained it logically.
Sam felt short of breath. Yes, she’d made the right choice. The choice her heart and body told her to make. Her mind just was having a panic attack as Holly laid it out for Sam to see under the stadium lights.
Lose yourself in the game, she demanded herself.
Luckily, Randy and Gus brought the team into a tight knit huddle. Guanaco sounds began to escape from the players in response to the rolling roar of the crowd.
Sam couldn’t decide if she should join the community yell or cover her ears, maybe run home and cuddle up with Bob. She waited a moment. She allowed herself to get quiet. Like the wave of sound of the crowd, the panic lifted, and she threw her emotions into the game. She let her voice rise with everyone around her. She threw her hands up in the air and shook her hips. It felt as if the whole stadium was on fire, and it was time to party.
The game began. The yelling rarely died down. There was only a hushed calming of the crowd when Phil made a call or a comment. The noise would then climb back into a roar that overtook the night.
The first quarter passed with a close, low score. Sam was having the time of her life. Randy and Gus had managed to crack Ethan’s icy fortress with their clever plays and fast, in shape players who’d ran like crazy in morning practices for weeks.
From across the field beads of sweat could be seen glistening on Ethan’s forehead. Sam had to admit she loved it. In many ways, it was revenge enough.
“I love that my big brother is giving Ethan a run for his money,” said Holly, reiterating Sam’s feelings.
“You said it, and I just may have been thinking it,” said Sam with a mischievous grin.
Ethan called a timeout. Grover’s side buzzed with excitement. Winthrop’s side seemed to be in a bit of a daze.
Winthrop had not hired Ethan to have close games with his old team. They’d hired him to crush every team daring to appear in his path. What the Guanacos had accomplished was already unacceptable.
Too bad Ethan had underestimated the fuel from raw emotion stoked in teenage boys who’d been left for something better. Ethan had always gotten what he wanted in life; such feelings were foreign to him.
The Wildcats marched back on the field.
“Oh no,” Holly said quietly under her breath.
“What? Oh no what?” said Layla.
Holly only shook her head.
“Just a feeling, this feels familiar. What his players are doing on the field looks familiar. This isn’t good,” she said.
The women watched, worried with the rest of Grover as Ethan marched his offensive line down the field to score a touchdown.
There was a funny looking sideways kick at the next kickoff. Sam felt her stomach tighten.
“Why doesn’t that look good either?” she said to Holly.
Holly’s look said it all.
“Because it isn’t,” Holly said.
One of the lankier Wildcat players scooped up the ball and began running toward the Wildcats’ end zone.
Groans and yells came from the Grover stands. Pleas to catch the running player felt fruitless.
“Is this even legal?” said Layla, hands on her head in dismay.
“Unfortunately yes,” said Holly as she stared down at the field.
With no Guanaco in tackling distance, the long legged Winthrop player ran into the end zone with ease to the roar of all the Winthrop fans on the visitor side.
Ethan punched the air with his fist as the horn sounded for the end of the third quarter.
Holly rested her head in her hands. Otto put his hands in his pockets and puffed up his cheeks with frustrated air.
“There’s still a whole quarter left,” said Layla.
Sam nodded.
“Layla’s right; so much can happen in fifteen minutes,” she said.
The Guanacos’ side was eerily silent. There were a few murmurs here and there amongst the quiet, but the constant noise was gone. It seemed to all of a sudden come as a surprise that the Winthrop Wildcats could go home with the win.
Somehow in the frenzy the town of Grover had forgotten they were the underdog. Now the town of Grover wasn’t so sure it wanted to bow to Ethan Cooke with the submissiveness they'd figured inevitable a few hours ago.
The players configured on the field for the fourth quarter. In many ways, it went by like a blur for Sam. It felt like all of her energy was being fed onto the field, to help the Guanacos, to send good vibes to Randy and Gus.
Randy stood planted on the sidelines. He had a calm demeanor under the bright lights and the
growing pressure as the clock dwindled.
Gus held his clipboard tight, referring to it often as he patted many players on their shoulder pads while providing words of encouragement and inspiration.
“They’ve got this. I can feel it,” said Layla right before the first play of the quarter was about to begin.
Holly put her arm around Layla and shrugged.
“You know, I hope so, but either way this has been a hell of a game. Everyone down there has become a legend. They’ll be who Grover talks about from now on, not Ethan, and it’s about time. I was getting sick of it myself, and I used to be married to the guy,” she said.
Sam couldn't help but grin to herself. It had been a long time, but her best friend was officially back.
Sam had always thought the slow motion parts in sports movies were hokey, so she was surprised when she felt like the time rolling out before them was moving at the rate of tar. The players seemed at odds with the football and the field, when they had been so in sync only minutes before. The ticking clock was getting to their heads. On both sides they were tired. They gasped for air as sweat ran down their faces.
The Guanacos finally had the ball back. As if aided by angels, Cal McStravick threw the most graceful, elegant pass anyone had ever seen from him. It sailed over the field and into the hands of Sheppard Reynolds, who played wide receiver. Sandy stepped with equal grace into the end zone.
The Grover home side of the stands let out a roar. It quickly quieted down again to get ready for the kick-off.
Sam squeezed Otto’s hand. He gave her a quick squeeze back.
This is where you’re supposed to be. Go figure.
The next play began. The two-point conversion. They had to make it if they were going to win. Layla shook her pom-poms wildly. Holly clapped her hands and hollered at the field.
The ball was handed off to Kellen Hernandez, one of the Guanacos’ running backs. He faced two defensive lineman charging him. In the face of a bone crushing tackle Kellen calmly tossed the ball in a lateral motion to Russell Park before diving in the ball’s direction as well to dodge the tackle.
Both crowds went hysterical. In the midst of the hysteria Russell Park caught the ball up and ran for his life. He was known more for his steadiness as a center than for his speed. Luckily his hands didn’t fail him as he dashed toward the end zone, Sam noted, kind of looking like an awkward bird trying to take flight.
There was a Wildcat player at his back. Russell gave a small turn of the head to see who was chasing him down.
“Don’t look back!” yelled Randy.
“Keep running!” yelled Gus.
Sam felt as if the yelps and screams from the crowd willed Russell away from the Wildcat player. Russell took one large step toward the end zone. Sam heard herself gasp as Russell seemed to wobble on his long legs. He was going to fall inches from the end zone with seconds left on the clock.
Somewhere inside him came another burst of energy. Russell seemed to take flight as he jumped off the ground and lunged at the end zone, the Wildcat player lunging right with Russell.
He hit the ground inches over the end zone line, grasping the ball as the buzzer sounded for the end of the game.
Grover went wild.
“The Grover Guanacos win the game,” said Phil through the speakers. His booming voice was laced with surprise overtaken by elation.
People began to jump down off the stands and rush onto the field. Russell’s fellow players lifted him up onto their shoulders and started to walk toward the stands ready to welcome their new legends, the young boys with the green coaches who'd conquered the traitor.
Sam found herself standing at the edge of the bleachers watching, just watching what she’d come home to.
She watched, amused and surprised, as Layla ran madly down from the stands up to Randy and planted a kiss on his mouth. Even in the frenzy, Randy reciprocated and wrapped his arms around Layla, and dipped her a bit as he kissed her back.
Someone will have something to tell me when we get home. Sam thought.
She scanned the other side of the field for Ethan.
The visitor stands were emptying in a fast and silent fashion. Ethan and the players were nowhere to be seen. Sam looked up toward the locker room and saw a small herd moving in that direction. She wouldn’t wallow on it. There was too much joy right in front of her.
Rosalind was jumping up and down with Penny O’Malley. They looked like youthful co-eds.
Walter ran up to Gus and gave him a congratulatory pat on the back and shook his hand. Gus grinned like a maniac as he shared the moment with Sam’s dad.
Holly was next in greeting Gus. She enveloped him in a hug, and before long Sam saw she was crying tears of joy and relief into Gus’s chest. Gus held her tight, keeping her safe as he waved, high-fived, and nodded to others.
It was a noisy mess, but it was a mess where she belonged.
She stepped onto the field to join the crowd.
A big tear began to roll down her cheek. Sam turned away from the crowd to wipe it away from her face. Her head met Otto’s chest with a thud. She sucked in a quick breath of surprise, but Otto looked calm, looking down at her as the rowdy crowd celebrated around them.
He covered the side of her face with his hand, and wiped the tear away with the pad of his thumb.
“Kind of overwhelming, isn’t it?” he said.
Sam let out a wobbling laugh, and let him dry her eyes.
“It’s—it’s just nice being home, just the way I want to be, I really couldn’t ask for more,” she said.
“Sometimes it’s not so bad being a grown-up,” said Otto.
Sam looked at him, ready to roll her eyes at his waxing poetic, but instead she pulled him in by the front of his jacket for a kiss in front of the whole town right there on the football field.
There was a crackle of the fireworks going off behind the stadium. Cheers and whoops continued from the crowd as people turned to watch the display. Sam melded into the kiss with Otto. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tighter. If she was going to make her home in Grover, she was going to have to get used to things like kissing your boyfriend on the football field while fireworks went off in the background. It was just the way things worked around here.
* * *
Slowly, everyone made their way out of the stadium and into the streets of Grover. Zelda’s lights were ablaze, and the smell of garlic and olive oil wafted through the crowd. People began filling the brick building, wanting to catch a late-night meal.
Other groups just stood in the streets talking. The victorious players had now showered and had emerged from the locker room bright eyed from exhausted exhilaration. They were all a little in awe as they took in the praise coming their way.
Randy and Gus had slipped into Zelda’s after many pats on the back, and words of congratulations. Otto, Sam, Layla, and Holly had found a table in the back, in an attempt to get some peace. Even at the back table people came up to them. Sam had to admit it was actually quite fun to stay caught up in the excitement. Everyone wanted to relive the last play, to talk about it.
Randy and Gus were happy to oblige. In between table visits Sam noticed that the two were talking logistics. She couldn’t help but laugh to herself as she took a bite of the hot cheesy pizza. They were already getting ready for the next game. They were a team now and had come into their own. What a nice feeling.
Inspired, Sam tugged at Otto’s hand. He immediately turned away from the group he’d been talking to in the restaurant. Sam handed him her folded slice of pizza.
“There’s something I need to go do. Do you want the rest of this?” she said.
Otto took the slice of pizza.
“What’s up?” he said.
Sam took a deep breath. It was time to tell Otto her plans for the gallery and renting the space next from Zelda. She noted it was a chaotic time to tell him about her major life change.
Good of a time as any. Sam told herself.
Otto’s eyes lit up as she spoke. Sam couldn't help but feel his warmth spread over her. He was thrilled for her.
“That’s so great Sam. Um, do you want me to come with you?” Otto said.
Now his eyes were eager.
Part of Sam wanted nothing more than to sneak away with Otto to the new gallery space. There was another part of Sam who wanted nothing more than to be alone in the space for a little while.
Sam grinned up at him and put her hand on his arm.
“Think I’ll go across the way by myself tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow to help chaperone the homecoming dance, and I’d love it if you came by and visited me in the gallery sometime this weekend,” she said.
Otto nodded and pulled her in closer for a good-bye kiss. There were a few hoots and hollers from the surrounding crowd in the pizzeria, but Sam didn’t let the ruckus bother her. After a final good-bye from Otto, she slipped out the back door of the restaurant and into the alley. She pulled the key Zelda had given her on the way out of the pizzeria from her pocket. Sam took a deep breath and opened the door.
The walls needed a new coat of paint. Sam was surprised by the anticipation that filled her. The possibilities for the building swirled in her mind. Her head told her she should feel overwhelmed by the project, but her heart soared with the opportunity of something so new.
Zelda had put some furniture in the gallery so the place wouldn’t look completely abandoned. There was a cozy looking couch with pillows and blankets, a floor lamp sitting beside the couch, a rug Zelda had probably acquired from her travels, and a coffee table with a few old copies of Vogue stacked on it.
If she had been in the city, Sam would’ve taken a good look at the space, and gone home to return in the morning, but now she was in Grover. She curled up on the couch with a magazine and a blanket. Eventually she turned off the lamp and slipped into dreamland.
* * *
Be My Friday Night Page 15
