It was lunchtime at Briarwood Academy, the elite all-boys private school in Westchester. Derrick Harrington and his possy sat at their usual table under the big oak tree. No one else would ever even dare sit there. It was just theirs, everyone knew that. Josh received a text from his girlfriend Alicia Rivera as he sat down to eat: don't forget 2 tell your friends about the party! He smiled. These chicks got so worked up over the weirdest things.
"So guys, Alicia and her friends are having a New Year's Eve party- gonna go?" He asked, initiating the conversation.
"When is it?" Derrick asked.
They all paused for a moment. He was kidding, right? Sometimes with Derrick Harrington was hard to tell. But Cam probably knew Derrick better than anyone. They had been best friends ever since their first soccer team in the second grade.
"He's kidding guys," Cam started, "But yeah, I'll be there."
"Free booze and hot girls, you know I'm there," Chris Plovert continued with a smirk.
Derrick was exceptionally quiet for himself. He was the loudest kid in the school, hands down. He was just that guy that everyone wanted to be and every girl wanted to get with. They all knew why he wasn't responding, though. Massie Block. He hadn't talked to her once since the breakup. Heck, she probably didn't even want him there.
"We'll see" was all he managed to spit out and everyone knew not to mess with him over this stuff. They had a playoff soccer game after school and no one needed to be in the wrong mood. If they wanted to win, they needed to keep focused.
"Please remind me why you dragged me here," Massie said stubbornly as they sat in the back of her Range Rover pulling into the Briarwood soccer field parking lot.
"Oh relax, Massie. We're here to support the entire team. The Blue Devils are apparently bringing busloads of fans," Kristen said, impatiently pulling her out of the car.
"Okay a, you're going to wrinkle my jacket with that tug of yours and b, one less fan wouldn't really make a difference," Massie retorted.
"Let's hurry it up," Claire said, already feet ahead of them with Alicia.
At this point, Massie desperately wished she were anywhere but there at the moment. Or even with Dylan who was at a taping for her mom's episode about teenagers or some shit. She ignored Claire's comment because she knew that the two of them would go find the players to say hi to their boyfriends anyway. And Massie Block wanted no part in that. Soon enough, those two were making their way to the boy's locker room. Massie and Kristen walked up the bleachers to sit somewhere in the crowd of Tomahawk fans. She smiled at the people that were greeting her because, quite frankly, everyone in Westchester knew Massie Block. Over in the locker room, boys were whistling and winking at Alicia and Claire, the usual teenage boy stuff. Alicia was telling Josh to "score baskets" and Cam and Claire were being their normal "gross" selves, as Massie would say. They both gave the boys a final peck and were going towards the stands to find their friends.
Just seconds after Alicia and Claire sat down, the whole team began running out onto the field and everyone went crazy as usual. Slowly Massie spotted Josh, Cam, Chris, and last out onto the field, Derrick Harrington, the man, the myth, the legend. He had been captain for his junior and senior years and college scouts had been fighting over him since he was a freshman. Massie couldn't help but think how adorable his brown, shaggy hair looked flowing in the wind. Then she snapped out of it. She reminded herself that she hated him.
The crowd settled down soon enough, and the game began just minutes later. Surprisingly Massie knew a lot about soccer. Dating Derrick Harrington for two years may have had to do with that. As she zoned out for a minute, she quickly saw all the Tomahawk fans jump out of their seats for joy. Derrick Harrington had just saved the first shot of the night.
"You go, Harrington!" Kristen screamed, and then sat back down as she looked over at Massie. "Sorry, I just get really into it, ya know," she added and Massie actually smiled. By half time, the score was 1 Tomahawks 0 Blue Devils. A victory here would mean that they would go to the championships for the first time in seven years.
The game was tied 1-1 and the game went into overtime. Kristen was holding onto to Alicia's hands like she was a child at the doctor's and Claire was pretending not to look. The Blue Devils shot, Derrick Harrington made another beautiful save and the crowd went wild. He punted the ball towards Cam who shot and- the Tomahawks won the game!
The crowd was in an uproar of excitement; the team was running together in a "manly embrace." And soon enough, Derrick Harrington being Derrick, took his jersey off, wrapped it on his head, and ran around the field screaming. The crowd began to chant,"We got Harrington!" Massie had to get out of there.
"Okay, time to go now," Massie said, pulling her friends' arms.
But Alicia began to whine, "No! I don't wanna leave yet! I have to go congratulate Joshy!"
Claire nodded in agreement, but for Cam of course.
"We're waiting for five minutes and then I'm out of here," Massie said, and the other two began to nearly sprint towards the field.
"Come on, Massie, we gotta go down there," Kristen said, pulling her arm. As a soccer player, she knew how awesome this win was and had to congratulate her friends, so Massie had to agree.
Kristen nearly pounced on the guys and Massie smiled and said a few "good jobs" here and there, trying desperately to flee. She waited for her friends and picked at her nails off to the side, to look uninterested. Slowly, she felt someone walking towards her. She couldn't miss that walk for anything.
"Please talk to me," Derrick Harrington muttered, looking directly at Massie, his shaggy, sweaty hair in his eyes.
"No thanks" was all she said before grabbing her friends and getting out of there as quickly as she could.
Derrick Harrington sat in the middle of the field trying to be happy about the win, but finding it impossible to smile at that moment.
