"She cheated on me. He cheated on you. What do you say? Want to settle the score?"
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Kate Wilson, a hot-headed Dragon striker, and Rosie Connelly, an uncredited behind the scenes Sea Lion captain; witness Kate's...
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Eduardo's truck had become even more of a mess since Wednesday's practice and was now on par with a garbage can. Bottles littered the floor, burger wrappers crunched between seats, and gym socks and shorts tumbled out of his backpack. The only good thing the vehicle had going for it was the smell of McDonalds overpowering the lingering scent of stale sweat.
There were only three seats inside the truck, so I sat squished between Izzy and Eduardo while Eoghan stretched out in the cargo bed all by himself. Izzy had convinced Dan to follow behind us to the dock party in his jeep with the other half of the team.
Eoghan only hunkered down after the truck knocked against the curb on the side of the main road. I lurched forward even with my seatbelt on, but soccer-mom Izzy whipped her arm out in front of me and her brother.
We entered a dirt road near the Ridgeway Institute and travelled into the woods.
It wasn't an official road per-say. There were tire marks and gravel, sure, but there was a clear sign that said: No Entry.
We weren't the first to ignore the sign that night and wouldn't be the last. Someone had made the effort of lighting lanterns and hanging them in the branches of the trees on either side of the road. There were even signs made of cardboard and paint. The 200m sign had a stick figure upside-down on a keg-stand and the 100m sign had two obscure stick figures feeling each other up.
The team screamed from both truck and jeep at each bump in the road. They were like little kids in a bouncy house.
"Can you get the losers to shut up? I need to focus on not ramming into a tree," Izzy complained, knuckles white around the steering wheel.
"Knock it off!" Eduardo yelled.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Eoghan yelled back, saluting through the window behind our heads.
"Knuckleheads," Eduardo murmured.
"Knuckleheads that you wanted to bring," Izzy reminded him.
"That's right, because we need this. I need this," he said. "I don't know how you convinced the team to come, but thank you, Kate. It means a lot that everyone is here."
Was that scary genuineness or extreme sarcasm? I couldn't tell. "I did nothing," I said, not taking any credit.
"Kate's right. I convinced everyone to come," Izzy interjected, swerving to avoid hitting a stray branch. "We couldn't leave you two idiots alone in enemy territory. The only reason Kate's here is for her stupid hoodie and you? Kate's third cousin, huh? Do you think I'm stupid?
"You thought hamburgers were called hand-burgers until last year," he said.
"There's no ham in the hamburgers and you hold burgers in your hand. It makes sense! You know what? We're not debating this again. You're here for a girl and I'm here to figure out who she is."
