The Broken Girl and The Golden Boy

Touchdowns and Fake-Girlfriends

Chapter 10 - Justin

I scanned the bleachers for the tenth time. Where was she? The game was going to start in five minutes and I hadn't seen her once.

"Cameron!" Coach called... for the tenth time, "Pay attention!"

"Sorry, sir," I mumbled.

"Why do you keep looking at the bleachers?" Coach B asked, shooting me a curious look, "Is it about your girl? She is going to be here, right?"

"Yes, sir," I answered, fighting the urge to check the stands again. Muttering, I added, "At least I hope so."

"Yes what?" he asked, "Yes, that's why you're looking or yes, she's going to be here?"

"Both," I answered after a short pause. I'd been hoping that my coach wouldn't notice my hesitation, but, of course, he picked up on it immediately.

"Okay, son," Coach said, closing the playbook, "What's really going on?"

"Well, Piper..." I paused, "She's... not big on sports..."

Coach let out a loud guffaw. "She's not into sports? Does she realize she's dating the captain of her school's football team?"

I sidestepped that question and continued, "I invited her to come and she seemed like she was okay with it, but she's never come to a game like this before and I'm worried that she might've seen this crowd and left."

"Is your girl a coward?" Coach asked seriously.

"No, she's one of the bravest people I've ever met," I replied. And it was true. Piper didn't take crap from anyone - no matter how 'popular' they were. I remember how she told me off the day we met and smiled to myself. If Piper was scared of anything, she did a good job of hiding it.

"Then why are you so concerned?" he grinned, "She'll be here. So check the stands one more time - I'll even let you check your cellphone - then I need you to get your head out of your ass and into the game." Chuckling, I did what he said. I ran to the bench and grabbed my cell. Liv sent me a message that said:

 - Guess who's sittin' here next 2 me?

I quickly typed back:

 - ???

Her reply came a second later:

- PIPER!!!

I glanced over at the spot that Liv and Lindsey usually sat. And there she was. Piper looked a little uncomfortable, almost like she was trying to shrink in on herself. Her hair was pulled into a low side-ponytail and she wore a worn-out pair of black jeans and a red henley. Liv nudged her and pointed over at me. Her brown eyes locked with mine and my breath caught in my throat. Damn, she was beautiful. Ugh, I shouldn't be thinking like that, but somehow I couldn't help myself. Even though I knew I should, I couldn't bring myself to stop staring at her.

After a minute, Piper tore her gaze away and I could tell - even from here - that she was blushing madly. She looked up again a moment later and smiled, giving me a double thumbs up. Then she turned to Liv for a second. A few seconds later, my cellphone pinged with a new message from Liv:

- Good luck, Mr. Perfect. Show those losers how it's done! ~ P 

Smiling, I nodded at Piper and slipped my phone back into my duffel bag and jogged back over to Coach B. "Feeling better, son?" Coach asked with a smug smile.

"Much better," I answered, unable to wipe the grin off my face.

"Good," Coach said, "So here's what we're going to do..."