Dangerous Play

22 » the blame game (ii)

I sighed in relief as Finn jogged on the field after a rough first half. I was afraid he would get subbed out, but his coach seemed to be giving him another shot. He may have been acting like a little bitch, but that didn't mean I wanted to see him blow a chance at his dream college.

Felicity sat down with a huff as the referee blew the whistle to start the second half. I gave her a weird look. "Are the bathrooms here really that bad?"

"No, I just ran into my mortal enemies on the way there. I forgot that yearbook bitch is dating Nick whatever on your brother's team."

I looked at the field, where Nick Athanasios was currently sprinting down the field with the ball at his feet. "You mean Max Buchanan?" Max and I had never really interacted, though I heard she was a bit of a spitfire. She and Felicity hated each other, apparently—some sandbox rivalry from years ago that I had never gotten the full story of.

"Ugh, yeah. Her friend Kennedy's here too, taking more pictures for the stupid school newspaper."

Rose perked up. "Kennedy Stanton? That girl is a genius. She's saving my life in physics right now."

Felicity scowled. "Well, I still hate both of their guts."

"Speaking of people we don't like..." I glanced down the sideline, where one dark-haired girl in a Blue Devils uniform was heading our way. "Incoming."

Eden's face remained carefully neutral as she approached the blanket that Rose, Felicity, and I were sitting on. Before she got to us, however, I heard two very familiar voices calling my name.

I turned to see my parents speed-walking from the parking lot. They had definitely rushed here from the restaurant; both of them were still in formalwear, though for some reason my dad's tie seemed to have a wine stain on it. I brushed myself off and stood to greet them.

"We haven't missed too much, right?" my mom asked. "How's Finn doing?"

"No, the half just started. Finn is doing okay, but he's definitely had better games."

"He's probably just nervous," my dad said. He tried to wave at my friends—a failed task, considering he held a lawn chair in both hands. "Hi, Rose, Felicity."

"Hi, Patrick!" they chorused.

My dad turned and caught sight of Eden, who had started to back away in a failed attempt at being inconspicuous. "You're Finn's friend, right? He went to talk to you after Abby's game a couple weekends ago."

Eden blinked in surprise, likely at being addressed as 'Finn's friend.' "Yes, that was me. It's really nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. McMahon. I'm Eden Sayed."

My mom broke into a wide grin. "Nonsense, call me Linda! I didn't realize you were Eden. Finn's mentioned you a few times, but he's terrible at describing people." She nudged my dad. "Patrick, she's gorgeous!"

Patrick nodded. "And a damn good soccer player, if that game against Abby's team was any indication. Congrats on those goals."

Eden smiled, cheeks pink. "Thank you, sir."

"Alright, save the rest of the embarrassing comments for when Finn is actually here to be embarrassed by them," I said. "If you guys don't sit down soon, you'll miss the rest of the game."

"Eden, I'm sure you would rather sit with Abby and her friends, but you're also welcome to sit with us. We'd love to get to know you better. Maybe you can tell us about how the internship is going; Finn always just says 'fine' or 'good' when we ask him." My mom shook her head. "It's so difficult getting actual sentences out of him."