"You're out of your league, Williams." Tim says in the locker room, as Smash goes on about the new girl he met.
"Yeah, and what about that white girl you been riding to school with Riggins? Ain't she new?" Smash points out. Tim shakes his head, listening to Smash boast. When coach catches them commenting about Julie, his stomach fills with dread. Practice won't be fun today.
He sprints up and down the field, every ounce of his body protesting the work. No one is a friend to Matt at the moment. At the end, he walks through the parking lot, pouring sweat. Rae is waiting for him, arms folded.
"Do I get rides home now too?" He asks mockingly, lugging his stuff towards her little car.
"If you ask nicely." She says, fake sweetly, rolling her eyes and opening the back door for him.
"What's up?" He asks, tossing his stuff in the backseat and walking around to the passenger side.
"It's Carden." She reveals, climbing in. Tim is silent, waiting for her to explain. "He's never gone this long without being in a sport and being physical and active before. He's getting cagey and it's driving me crazy. He doesn't like you, but he tolerates you, which is more than anyone else in this town can say. I was wondering if you could, uh…" She hesitates and he's still silent, waiting for her. "Come over. Throw the football with him for a little bit. Just get him outside for five minutes." She begs, it all spilling out in a rush.
"I'm not good with kids." He says uncertainly, thinking of all the times he had been dragged to kid football games, usually way past drunk. That had always been Jason's sector of experience.
"And he's not good with guys. You'll be good for each other. Please." She pleads. After a pause, he nods. Smiling, Rae pulls out of the parking lot. They mostly drive in silence. She pulls into her driveway, just a couple houses away from his own. She pushes the door open without announcing herself.
"What now Mais?" Carden groans, on the couch, watching TV.
"I brought you a surprise." She says, moving aside to reveal Tim. Carden doesn't react, just looks unimpressed. Unsure of what to do, Tim gives him an awkward wave. "Go outside. Throw the ball with him for fifteen minutes and I won't bug you about homework until after supper." She offers. Carden debates it and sighs heavily, getting up.
"And you let me have your scoop of ice cream." He negotiates, narrowing his eyes and watching Tim warily.
"Fine, get fat." She says, indifferently. Carden hesitates for a second then grabs a football and leads Tim outside. Rae curls up in a lawn chair with her nose in a book, only peeking up to watch. For a couple minutes, they just throw in silence. Then Tim clears his throat.
"Uh, your wrist is a little bent when you throw. If you straighten that out, your spiral will be cleaner." He says, demonstrating. Rae peers over the arm of the chair. She isn't even pretending to look at her book anymore.
"Like this?" Carden asks, trying it.
"Yeah. See, cleaner." Tim says, impressed.
"How did you block that big kid from Gatling?" Carden asks curiously. "Back home, coach always said I was too little to be good at any type of blocking." He reveals, making a face. Tim tosses the ball aside to demonstrate, and a little smug smile crosses Rae's face.
For supper, they don't have much; just some chips, sandwiches, and fruit, but Rae makes Tim stay and eat with them. He doesn't comment on the mismatched chairs or the heavily dented table. He just watches Rae and Carden pick on each other, wondering if he and Billy had ever been the same way.
Rae is in bed, reading, when she hears the smashing of glass. She perks up, listening through her open window. When another glass shatters, she crawls out bed and out the window, following the noise to Tim's backyard. She easily hops the low fence. Tim is downing bottles of beer and then throwing them at the side of the pool house, breaking them into thousand of pieces.
"Rough night, huh?" She asks. Tim spins, bottle upraised in a throwing position above his head.
"You're better at catching footballs than you are at throwing bottles." She observes and he sighs.
"Why the fuck are you always around?" He demands.
"Aww, if you keep talking like that Tim Riggins, I might get the idea that you don't like me." She says sarcastically, picking up an empty bottle herself and giving it a little heft.
"I don't like you." He states flatly.
"Oh, I know you don't." Rae agrees, undeterred. "But watch this." She whips the bottle and it bursts against the wall. "Don't throw it like football. Whip it like a baseball." She explains. Reluctantly, he tries it. To his annoyance, they shatter far easier that way. "So why are you throwing bottles? I'm the one that's stuck hundreds of miles away from anyone I even remotely like." She says curiously, sitting and opening a bottle without bothering to ask.
"At least your best friend will talk to you." He mutters in defeat, sitting next to her and reaching for his own bottle.
"I haven't seen my best friend in over three months and likely won't see her for another two years. Next." She says cheerfully.
"I ruined Lyla's life." He says flatly. She grunts in amusement and takes a long swig while he glares at her.
"And what are you going to do about it?" She asks him, staring at him. "You people down here are horrible and cruel. You gossip and snip at each other. It's toxic and terrible and no one deserves what Lyla is getting. But it takes two to have sex and she was the one with the boyfriend."
"Hey, don't talk-" When he begins to protest, she holds up a hand.
"I'm not saying what they're doing is right, because if we weren't in this dreadful town, she wouldn't be treated like this, but I'm saying you need to get over trying to help her or Jason. What you did was wrong, but they'll put it behind them soon enough. Until then, throwing beer bottles at the wall and keeping me up, however fun it may be is actually unproductive. Get some sleep and don't be hung over in front of Carden tomorrow morning." With that she pats his head and leaves, taking his beer with her.
"Well, my truck's fixed, so I don't need a ride!" He yells back. He receives no answer from the darkness.