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Sam pulled Gabe's jacket tighter around her; ignoring everyone, she headed for the school. They whispered to each other, pointing and giggling, and Sam was ready to strangle every single one of them. She didn't acknowledge Jake, or even look in his direction for that matter, but she could feel his gaze burning the back of her head.
"Sam!" Jen jogged towards her, her back pack bouncing on her back and her blonde ponytail swinging crazily.
"Sam? Sam! Wait up!" Jen called as Sam kept walking, she just wanted to get inside the school and away from everyone's stares. She pushed open one of the double doors leading into the school and shoved past a few kids loitering next to it. Jen came puffing behind her, clearly out of breath and annoyed. She grabbed Sam's arm and yanked her to the wall next to the lockers.
"What's your deal?" She asked breathlessly, annoyed at first but softening at the look on Sam's face.
Sam ran her hand through her hair, something she did often now, and bit her lip. "I'm sorry. I just feel so...claustrophobic," she said and silenced Jen who had opened her mouth to reply. "And I swear, if you make one comment about me using a big word I may hit you."
Jen couldn't help but grin. "Ok, ok. What's wrong?" She prodded, in her Jen-like way, that wasn't annoying, but actually kind of comforting.
Sam raised her brows. "You mean you don't know?" She asked genuinely shocked. Hadn't she missed her on the bus? Wasn't she wondering how she got here? "You didn't notice me missing from the bus?" She asked aloud interrupting the flow of questions in her head.
Jen smiled sheepishly and blushed. "Well, actually, Ryan drove me...," she looked at Sam, begging with her eyes for her not to say anything.
"Oh," Sam said biting back whatever comment she was about to make.
"Yeah, so you weren't on the bus?" Jen asked taking the attention away from her. "Who'd you catch a ride with?" Her pail brows shot up and then she glared at Sam. "You better not say...you-know-who."
Sam felt like she was at Hogwarts talking about the One-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Not Darton where the only thing nobody ever mentioned was Heck's chili dogs--you didn't want to be caught eating one of those.
"Um, no. Actually, Gabe drove me," she said before examining her fingernails.
"What?!" Jen shrieked earning some looks and a glare from Sam. "Sorry," she apologized and then started laughing. "Oh man! I wish I could have seen Jake's face when you rolled...up...," she trailed off, her face switching to a grimace. "Ah, now I see your problem and why everyone keeps staring this way." She glared at a freshman who walked by a little to close and she quickly moved as far away from Jen as possible.
"And I invited him to the game tonight."
"Wha-" Sam slapped her hand over Jen's mouth to keep her from shrieking again. "Sowy," Jen mumbled through Sam's hand.
Sam rolled her eyes and lowered her hand. "Just don't say anything, please!" Sam asked desperately.
Jen shook her head. "Yeah, whatever. But Sam are you nut-so? He is like an international super-hot-star and you are bringing him to a Darton high school football game filled with so much testosterone and estrogen that is probably capable to melt the polar ice caps-"
"Jen!" Sam groaned. She knew already that it was a bad idea; she was hoping Jen would reassure her--not make her feel worse. "I know! Ok, it's going to be awful."
Jen snorted. "It's going to wreck havoc."
Sam glared at her and she looked at her boots. "Sorry," she mumbled.
Sam felt herself sinking into despair.
Jen started giggling. "You should both come wearing really big dark sunglasses and team Bragelina shirts."
Sam opened her mouth and snapped it shut again. How could she find this funny?! But soon, she was laughing too. "I just might," she said giggling with Jen and remembering why she always went to her for comfort.
x-x-x-x
School made Sam want to shoot herself. She wished she could have a private tutor like Gabe, but like Wyatt said: no special treatment. Even though she was getting special attention in school--that was very much unwanted.
She was putting on her Darton colors, green and gold, and even pulled out some eye black. She put on her Darton sweat shirt and slipped into some skinny jeans. Grabbing the eye black; she walked to her mirror and smudged a line under each eye, then took a step back to look herself over. She sighed, she really hated their colors, but at least she didn't look too bad. The eye black made her smile though; she sure looked tough with it on...not.
Blaze's barking brought her attention back onto the night ahead. She grabbed her big black sunglasses from her dresser and ran downstairs. Gabe was sitting at the table--Gram already trying to feed him--and he too was wearing dark glasses. Sam smiled; she had called him and asked if he would, just for laughs. He agreed of course and actually found the idea rather amusing.
"If it's not a soy latte he will have none of it," Sam said in an overly dramatic voice and standing in her best diva pose; the back of her hand resting on her forehead as if she were to faint.
Gabe snorted and Gram shook her head. "Child...sometimes I wonder," she said placing a plate of cookies on the table. "Don't you think this little escapade will do the opposite of you want and draw attention?"
Sam shrugged. "Trust me, we could put Gabe in one of those sumo wrestler costumes and all the girls would still recognize him," she said pulling off her shades and snatching a cookie from the plate. They were chocolate chip and still warm; she sighed in delight.
"Mmm...Ok let's go!" She said grabbing another cookie and Gabe. She gave him a cookie. "Have a cookie, it's delicious," she said through her own mouthful as they walked out the door.
"Bye you two! Have fun and be careful!" Gram called after them and Sam waved her cookie in acknowledgement.
Gabe's face was pure bliss after trying Gram's cookie. "These are amazing," he snatched Sam's extra from her and she squealed.
"Hey! You steal grandma's cookies and you will release the beast in me! That's a guarantee!" She said leaping after the cookie. He popped it in his mouth and Sam glared at him. "I can't believe you ate my cookie...you big buffoon."
Gabe started cracking up and showed her a cookie he was holding in his other hand; Sam snatched it from him and gobbled it up. He raised an eyebrow. "Buffoon?"
Sam opened the door and climbed into his car. "Yeah you know...like the monkey."
He got into the drivers seat his face filled with laughter. "You mean a baboon?"
Sam rolled her eyes and laughed. "Whatever."
He started the car and looked at her. "So you ready for this?"
And she wasn't sure if she really was.
x-x-x-x-x
The game was crowded. All kinds of people came to the Darton High football games—not just high school students. A lot of the locals took pride in—well—local football, even if it was high school. When they pulled up to the parking guard Gabe rolled down his window and asked where they should park. The guard pointed stupidly in one direction, Gabe smiled, thanked him, and drove in the direction he had pointed. They laughed at him the entire way there.
Sam was nervous as she climbed out of the car as if expecting someone to attack at any minute, but nobody did. People did however, glance in there direction, a few tapped their friend's shoulders, motioning them to look in their direction. But nobody dared come over. Sam was extremely grateful.
Gabe wrapped his arm around Sam's shoulder and looked at her, his face asking if that was ok. She smiled reassuringly, she didn't really mind at all. They walked towards the back of the school where the field was, most of the people were already in the stadium, only a few stragglers were still on the side walk. When they reached the ticket booth Gabe pulled out his wallet and paid for the both of them.
Once they were inside was when things started getting a little hairy. Sam almost dropped dead.
Jake was here…with Rachel.
The odds of her running into Jake at a football game were pretty rare. The odds of her running into Jake at the football game with Rachel should have been impossible. She froze staring at them both and as if feeling her stare both turned to look at her. Rachel smirked and Jake glared at Gabe.
Gabe glanced down at Sam worriedly and then at Jake confused.
"Wait, you know him right? You want to go say hi?" He started leading Sam towards him but she planted her heels.
"No!" He glanced back at her confused and she blushed. "Er, I mean, he's with someone. Let's just mind our own business," she said tugging on him.
He shrugged and walked with Sam to the stands. They found a seat leaving a trail of stares and even a few 'oh-my-goshes' behind them. Someone tapped Gabe on the shoulder and slowly they both looked to see who the culprit was.
Three giggling girls were crouched behind them.
"No way! You guys it is him!" One of them squealed and Sam groaned internally. Gabe shifted uncomfortably and Sam cleared her throat.
"Hey, look. We are just trying to watch the game…in peace," she said trying not to sound rude…she even smiled.
The girls glared at her enviously and the one who spoke tossed her hair back. "Whatever." She left with her friends all mumbling something not all too nice about Sam.
Gabe looked at her apologetically. "Sorry."
Sam masked his apologetic look. "No, I'm sorry. Because I have a feeling that was only the beginning," she said nodding a few rows down to more giggling teens.
And was she right. Come half-time they had both had enough. The only good thing—Darton was winning. Sam and Gabe took some pictures together but once people noticed them taking pictures, they all wanted pictures with them. So they both agreed it was time to leave. They climbed through the stands and made their way past the concessions where Sam couldn't help but notice Jake, Rachel and her friends standing over there.
She should have been paying attention to where she was walking instead. She tripped and Gabe caught her pulling her back up again. Blushing, she apologized and he stared at her.
"Did you just apologize for tripping?" He asked curiously. His eyes twinkled with amusement and Sam laughed.
She shrugged and Gabe pulled her along with him again away from the crowd and the eyes that judged them.