The lights blare at the game. It's starting to get to the point where it gets dark early. All of the lights by Kanye West blares on the speakers before the announcements come on for the game. The boys on the field throw the ball around to each other before the game starts. The cheerleaders are getting ready to put on their show faces. Alex's family takes a seat sort of in the middle. They're also here to watch Luke. Malaya sits in Mariah's lap with a tee shirt with Luke's number on it. Her little baby fat rolls up around the sleeves. She has on big headphones. No music is playing in them. In fact, it's to block out the loud music playing. It can be harmful to young babies ears.
"You look adorable!" Nessa says as she takes a seat beside Mariah. She and Kian made it but not without some interruption.
"You guys made it in time. I'm surprised." Mariah says.
"Yeah, only because we knocked on their door during the little car make out sesh." Roni teases. She and Aaron sit beside Kian and Nessa. Roni plays off the news that Aaron gave her in the car.
"You guys could have gave us a minute. Mom and dad don't seem to be letting up on the rule anytime soon." Kian complains.
"Speaking of them, drop the convo. Here they come." Mariah says. Sherry and Lear come up the bleachers. Being that it's the first game, it's pretty packed. The kids luckily saved them a seat.
"I'm excited. Can't wait to see my son out on the field." Lear says. Kian, Nessa, Roni, Aaron, and Mariah refrain judgement.
"Me too. I haven't seen him in his element, I know he's going to do well." Sherry says. The game starts on that note. The cheerleaders doing their opening cheer. Lauren notices everyone in the crowd and gives them a wave. They wave back. The teens try to give Lauren as much support as possible.
The game goes by well. By the end of first quarter everyone getting a little restless. Second quarter approaches. No one wants to miss half time but they're getting kind of hungry.
"I'm about to go to the concession stand, anyone want anything?" Aaron asks. Everyone starts talking at once. "Kian just text it to me." Aaron gives up.
"I'll come and help you carry everything." Roni volunteers. The make their way down to the concession stand. Aaron standing in line mindlessly. His mind is on what he found in Alex's room. Roni digs in his pocket and finds his phone.
"Aaron we're almost at the front of the line." Roni interrupts his thinking.
"Sorry. Do you have my phone?" He says while patting down his pockets for it.
"Right here." As she says this they come up to the front of the line. She starts to read off the order from the phone. The kid behind the counter types it into the register. Aaron pulls out his card to pay for it. Roni tries to pay but he pushes her hand away.
"I got it babe." He says. Roni rolls her eyes. They move to the side and wait for their order to be ready.
"Ever since you got that card, you pay every time." Roni complains.
"I'm kind of liking this card. They give me an allowance and I don't have anything to spend it on." Aaron says. He wraps both of his arms around her shoulders. She holds his hands.
"You could spend it on you." She suggests.
"Nah, I can't do that."
"You're going to have to do it sometime. When are you going to do something for yourself? You seemed really distracted and distraught today. Do you need a break?"
"No, my mind is just on Alex. I've been ignoring for this whole week, but now I feel bad. He needs help. I don't even know how to feel to be honest."
"So are you going to hide it for him?" She looks up at him.
"I'm not going to hide it for him."
"So are you going to rat him out?"
"I'm not doing that either. I don't really know what to do. That's not like me."
"It's ok not to know sometimes. Let's just grab our food and go. I promise you the rest of the game will take your mind off of it. We're going to miss the halftime show." She kiss him in the cheek and goes to get the food. He helps her and heads back up to the bleachers.
"Kian, how much candy do you need?" Mariah asks while grabbing her drink.
"Enough to give me ten cavities." Kian says while biting into a candy bar. They watch the game as it's just before half time. They feel a little drizzle start to fall from the sky. Roni goes through her usual checklist in her head. She tends to do this a lot. It's an anxiety thing. She thinks about if Aaron closed all the windows, if she has a jacket, and her makeup. She doesn't really care about the last one. She feels for the cheerleaders though. They have to be out there in the rain. She can just imagine their makeup melting off. Uh oh. Aaron wraps his arm around her to shelter her from the drizzle a little. He feels her squirming.
"What's wrong?" He asks.
"Lauren's makeup" she whispers.
"Uh, I don't know anything about makeup so I can't tell what's wrong. It looks fine to me." He says oblivious. Then he thinks about it. "Uh oh." He says. Kian puts his hat on Nessa's head to cover her.
"Thanks, my makeup is about to melt o- oh my god!" She says. Kian looks at her confused.
"We're going to help Lauren with her makeup really quick before the halftime show." Roni says. It clicks in Kian's head. Nessa and Roni slip off and run to the back of the school building. Lauren is coming straight their way. They pull her inside and help dry her off. They try to help her as fast as they can. Kian and Aaron come to look for them. They run down to the school building. Not far behind them is Gail. She's going to see why Lauren ran off. Lear and Sherry go to the building to help give Mariah shelter with Malaya and to see where the kids went. It's a race against time. There's no way that they can fix this that fast. Gail pops up behind Lauren and the twins. Busted.
