His Jersey

F O U R

Grayson Lake

The game tonight at Bralesville High School is packed. The parking lot is full, even the handicap parking spaces are full. Peyton and I had to park on the street that the school was on with the other cars. It would be a long walk to the stadium, but luckily, we are almost there. Peyton was smart enough to bring a blanket so when we sit down, we can warm up right away.

"Are we there yet?" I ask. Peyton shakes her head. Her nose is really red from the cold. I am tempted to call her Rudolph, but I need to save my energy for the game.

"It's 43 degrees." Peyton locks her phone and shoves it into her pocket. Normally 43 degrees is a little bit cold, but this wind is making it feel like 30.

"I see the lights of the field. Run!" I yell. I swear I see a tear of joy come out of her eye and we start running. My insides are frozen. My hair must look like a mess, but I'll put it into a ponytail once we find seats, if we find seats.

There are two girls sitting at the ticket table, probably doing it for service hours at the other school.

"Two tickets please," Peyton pants. One of the girl's takes Peyton's money and hands her two tickets. The other girl looks at Paul's jersey that I'm wearing.

"Grayson, move it." Peyton holds my arm and we walk up the steps into the stands.

"Here." I pay her back for my ticket.

Instantly, the concession stand catches my eye. They're selling hot chocolate for 50 cents. It sounds good, but schools always water their hot chocolate down so it tastes like pee.

"Aw man, the student section is filled," I say. Peyton and I look around the stands. Copper Wright is already half way through the game. We're winning 28-24.

"Follow me." I follow Peyton up the second set of stairs and we sit in the family section. Football games are fun because you stand in the student section yelling in sync for the team. It won't be as fun tonight because we're in the family section, though.

"Blanket, blanket now." My teeth are obnoxiously chattering. Peyton unfolds the blanket and I wrap half around me.

"Let's move to Florida," I say. Peyton laughs. A breeze comes straight for the stands and I cover my face with the blanket.

"Are you Paul's girlfriend?" I hear. It takes me a few seconds to realize the woman is probably talking to me. Peyton and I turn around and look at the middle aged woman.

I laugh, "nope, we're just friends." I don't think I sounded convincing. Friends know each other, I barely know the guy.

"Oh! Paul never tells me about his social life. I just assumed with you wearing his jersey. Sorry to pry, I'm his mom, Cecilia." Peyton looks at me and grins.

"Hey, I'm Grayson. This is my friend Peyton. We go to school together with Paul." Peyton waves at the lady. There's a man on her left talking to a young boy and a woman on her right wearing a Bralesville hoodie. I assume his mom is by herself.

"Well, you girls are just adorable." A cannon goes off making the three of us jump and people start to cheer. I turn around to see Tyler in the end zone dancing. With growing up with these guys, they have had the same football numbers since freshman year, so, it's easy for people to tell which guy is which number. The other guys jump on him and they all celebrate their touchdown. A sophomore kicker goes in for the extra point.

"How about I take you girls and Paul out for dinner after the game? All I ever meet is his guy friends who eat all the food in the house and trash the place." She laughs. I look at Peyton. I know she is going to her dad's house for the weekend since her parent's are divorced.