Leading You Home

Fifteenth

It seems that the whole school is at the football game tonight.

The bleachers groan underneath the weight of the excited watchers. The football players haven't come out yet, so the field sits empty, patently waiting for the game to start. There are long lines at the hot dog stands and the bathrooms, so long they have to branch of into two. I watch from the other side of the fence as middle school students sneak their way into a high school football game.

"Georgia!" I hear someone yell from behind me. Clark is walking toward me as he shoves his keys into his front pocket. My heart begins to thump loudly, and not in a good way. Clark's face is bright and jubilant.

"You look...really nice," he tells me in a timid voice. I smile and thank him, even though all I did was put on a nice fitting pair of jeans and my favorite coral pink blouse. He's wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a maroon V-neck t-shirt.

Clark's excitement only makes my guilt worse. Just before I got here, I told myself that I accepted his offer because Clark seems sweet and we might have things in common. I told myself that this has nothing to do with what is going on with Bradley and I, other then maybe helping me realize that Bradley and I are completely wrong for each other. I told myself that this has nothing to do with Bradley and Avery getting back together.

I told myself all these things, but I didn't convince myself.

Clark guides me to the ticket booth. "I'm sorry for the wait. I had to help my sister with a Chicken Parmesan recipe."

"You cook?" I ask, immediately swooned. I've always had a sweet spot for a man that can cook. A memory of Bradley pacing before the microwave waiting for his lasagna to be done flashes through my mine. I force it away before I can let out a chuckle.

"Yeah," he answers, a small smile on his lips, probably upon seeing my immediate interest. I pull out three dollars for my ticket out of my shoulder bag. Clark shakes his head before pulling an extra three dollars from his wallet and pays for my ticket too. The girl behind the ticket booth, Olivia, sits next to me in English class. She doesn't even try hiding her emotions when she sees what Clark does for me.

"Aw, that's so sweet!" She coos as she takes his money and glances between the two of us. "You two make a cute couple."

Luckily, it's dark, or else Clark would see my face redden.

"You didn't have to do that..." I tell him as he hands me my ticket and we leave the ticket booth. Clark shrugs, looking away from me.

"It wasn't a problem," he insists, brushing a piece of shaggy brown hair out of his eye. "Do you want anything to eat?"

We pass the food stands. The smell of hot dogs, nacho cheese and popcorn wafts from the area. I tell him I'm not hungry but he buys us nachos to share and to small Cokes anyway. As we make our way to the bleachers, a pack of giggling middle school girls goes racing past us as a group of smiling middle school boys chases them. Clark and I laugh in amusement.

"Did you let the boys chase you like that in middle school?" Clark asks humorously, giving me a sideways glance.

"Oh, yeah," I tell him, glancing over my shoulder to see the boys follow the girls as they quietly sneak under the bleachers together. "I never let them catch me though."

I smile and Clark chuckles. The sun is starting to go down now, casting a soft orange glow over the football field.

"Want to sit at the top?" He asks, as we search for a spot on the bleachers. I nod and we head up the steps together. About halfway up, I hear a familiar sarcastic voice.