I pulled up to the parking lot just in time to hear the crowd's opening cheer. There wasn't any parking space left so I double-parked in front of a blue SUV. I hastily killed the engine, jumped out of the car, and ran.
I almost tripped over a soda bottle when my phone rang.
Ryan.
"Hello?"
"What's with your message? 'I'm so sorry'? You're not coming?!"
I stopped in my tracks.
"Ryan, that's-"
"I gotta go, Jane. We're being called to the field. Bye."
"Wait! I didn't-"
Beep.
He hung up.
I sighed and ran to the side of a set of bleachers, scanning the seats for my friends.
I glimpsed Rachel, Erika, and TJ in the stands and made my way towards them.
"Hey, you made it!" Erika exclaimed, as I squeezed in next to her.
"Yeah, just in time too," TJ said as the two teams made their way to the center of the field to shake hands.
"How'd Riley take it?" Rachel asked.
"He...doesn't know yet," I answered with a slight cringe.
"You didn't tell him?!"
"No, I meant to send him a message but apparently I sent it to Ryan by mistake. So now Riley still doesn’t know I ditched and the guy I ditched him for thinks I ditched him,” I said glumly.
“So, how are you gonna tell Riley?” Erika asked sympathetically.
“I don’t know. I can’t call him. I haven’t figured out what to say yet.”
Just then, my phone rang.
“Well, you better figure it out quick,” TJ remarked as everyone saw the name that flashed on the screen.
I pursed my lips anxiously and picked up.
“Hello?”
“Jane! I haven’t heard from you, is everything okay?”
“Uh, yeah. Listen, I’m really sorry. Please don’t hate me.”
“Why would I hate you?”
The confused tone in his voice just about broke my heart.
“I… couldn’t make it to your show. I’m sorry. I really wanted to be there.”
“What are you talking about? I can hear the crowd through the phone. Are you-“
Just then, the ref blew the whistle to signal the start of the game.
“I’m not…at your show.” I said, biting my lip nervously.
“What?”
“I’m at …a soccer game,” I finished, wincing.
There was a pause.
“A soccer game?”
“Yeah, it’s really important to a friend of mine and none of his family could go and I-“
“Which friend?” He asked, cutting me off.
“Huh?”
“What’s the name of this friend?” He repeated in a voice that showed he knew exactly who it was.
