Chapter notes, as always, will be at the end.
…
9th Grade, High School
Age: 13-14
September 2006
…
Practice ends with a team-wide cheer and the boys leave the huddle, heading to their bags which lay mostly haphazard on the grass. Vince doesn't feel the need to rush today. Usually he heads over to Third Street after practice to shoot a hundred free throws, something he started doing in middle school for extra year-round practice. But today he went earlier before school to shoot, barely finishing before the first elementary school kids started showing up on the playground, so that he would be free to spend however long it takes to decorate the freshman hallway.
He has a feeling the Ashleys are going to be obnoxious and they may very well be decorating the hall for hours until it's up to their standards. At least all his friends will be there. That will make the four hallway dictators a little easier to handle.
He sits down to take off his cleats besides TJ and a few of the others.
"Anyone wanna play a pickup game before we have to decorate the hallway?" he asks.
When they were younger, he and his friends used to play five-on-Vince basketball. Now, even though Vince's skills surpass those of his football teammates by a long shot, they can usually have a decent game with even teams. From where they practice in an empty field behind the gym, he can see that the basketball hoops are open. They'll have their run of the court.
The twins agree and so do Phil and a couple of the other guys. Vince turns to TJ, who is looking up at the giant clock tower on the top of the school.
"You need to meet the Ashleys or something?" Vince asks.
TJ shakes his head.
"I can stay for a minute," he says. "But I have to meet Spin after ballet."
"You have to," Sam teases, a smirk on his face. "Since when does the Great Spinelli need an escort anywhere?"
A few of the boys look over in mild interest. TJ's typical wit malfunctions, and he just reaches into his bag to withdraw his beaten-up Cardinals hat. He fiddles with the red cap for a moment before putting it on his head – backwards, just like always.
"Uh, so, yeah, I'm gonna head over there now," he says, standing up and tossing his bag over his shoulder. He looks at Vince. "I'll text you once she gets out and we drop our stuff, see if it's worth coming back to help out."
"You're not coming?"
That's news to him. They've been talking about decorating the hallway, or really debating on how much of a dictatorship the Ashleys will run during the decorating hours, all week. TJ and Spinelli have both been adding to the conversation as if they would be there.
TJ shrugs. "I mean, it just depends on when she gets out and how tired she is. We switched to doing the float tomorrow, but we might try to come back tonight."
Vince narrows his eyes as TJ turns away and starts saying goodbye to the others. A pit forms in his stomach. Why didn't they tell anyone they weren't coming? He wouldn't have minded switching over to Friday too.
The rest of the group begins to stand as well and they all walk in the same direction until they split, TJ going toward the bike rack and the rest toward the basketball courts. Once TJ is out of sight, Sam elbows Vince in the side.
"How's that going?" Sam asks. "It's gotta be real weird, right?"
"What do you mean?"
Sam and Dave share a look. "I mean, we all saw it coming–" Sam starts.
Dave continues. "But, it's gotta be a little weird, right? Them together?"
Vince grinds his teeth. It isn't so weird. Yeah, they spend a lot of time together but they've always done that. Even when they were young, too young to think like this, Vince would knock on TJ's door and Spinelli had already beaten him there, the perks of living three doors down.
"'Cause, I mean, you probably don't wanna hear about Spinelli that way," Sam says, nudging Vince again.
"I dunno. He doesn't really talk about it," Vince mutters. Then everyone shares a look and Vince tenses. "What?"
"Nothing," Phil says, the first one to shake out of whatever came over them.
His stomach seizes.
"Look, there's not much for him to say. They like each other, yeah, but they're not doing anything about it," he says. "He's not gonna say something until it's important in case it makes things weird. So let's just drop it and shoot some hoops."
Even as he says it, he doesn't quite believe it himself. The others do exactly as he suggests, none of them apparently too invested, but Vince's mind keeps spinning. It does bother him that TJ hasn't said anything. They haven't kept secrets from each other since they met and now TJ can't seem to tell Vince anything.
Like this summer, when they were supposed to go to football camp together after baseball camp, TJ didn't say anything about changing his plans to go to a regular overnight camp with Spinelli instead. It wouldn't have bothered him for TJ to go to camp with Spinelli, but Vince found out on one of the last days of baseball camp, just like everyone else. Now he can't help but wonder – if the topic hadn't of come up, would TJ have just not shown up to football camp without saying anything at all?
It just seems to be becoming a pattern for TJ to forget to inform him about important stuff.
By the time the boys head inside, Vince hasn't received any word about TJ and Spinelli's plans to join them in the hallway decorating. He doesn't really know Spinelli's ballet schedule, but assumes she must not be out yet. Her soccer practices do end earlier than their football practices, but he doesn't know the exact time difference. It never really mattered. He rarely saw Spinelli, or really any of the rest besides TJ, after school now that they were in high school and all doing different activities.
He tries to shake it off. TJ said that they'd try to come and TJ always tries to stick to his word. Sure, he may not be telling Vince everything that's going on in his life right now, but his best friend isn't a liar.
He takes up a spot in the back corner, as far away from the Ashleys as he can. Twenty minutes into decorating and none of the four have even touched a paintbrush or a streamer. They made one girl cry and Ashley Q screamed at one of Vince's teammates, a burly defensive lineman about three times her size, who hung a sign a little crooked.
He pulls out his phone and texts TJ. Q just took down Matt Harbor.
He waits for a response. TJ is usually pretty responsive to text. Once he sent him a message after midnight, thinking that TJ would see it in the morning, and he got a response back in about a minute. But a minute passes and nothing happens. Then two. Then three.
Then Ashley B steals his attention.
"What are you, like, a zombie? Come on, LaSalle! That sign isn't going to, like, paint itself!"
He stuffs his phone in his pocket and turns to her. Just to make her mad, he slowly drags the paintbrush across the poster board.
"Oh," he says, dragging the words out. "Am I too slow? You could always do it instead."
She crosses her arms and stomps her yellow heel on the linoleum floor.
"Just finish it! You're, like, not even doing a good job," she squeals. As she turns around to join her fellow Ashleys, she continues to complain. "Like, where is Spinelli? She's supposed to do the drawings!"
Vince snorts. At least he's not the only one unaware of TJ and Spinelli's after school plans.
He checks his phone. Still nothing. He sighs and leans against the locker, setting the paintbrush down entirely so he can cross his arms. He spots Gus and Gretchen at the other end of the hallway hanging streamers. They look like they're having at least some kind of fun, even if Gus keeps looking over his shoulder to see if the Ashleys are going to yell at him.
A shadow casts over him and Vince looks up. He hadn't even noticed Mikey walking toward him, too focused on other things. Mikey sits down beside him and glances at the unfinished sign Vince was working on.
"That looks wonderful," he says.
Vince shakes his head. "Thanks, big guy, but we both know it's awful."
He'll admit that he is good at most things and if he isn't he works hard to be good. Art is one of the few things he doesn't attempt. Why the Ashleys put him in charge of sign painting is beyond him.
Oh, probably because Spinelli was supposed to do it and she ditched.
"What's bothering you, my friend?"
Vince sighs and looks up from the half-finished poster. He should have realized Mikey would notice his foul mood. Of anyone in their group, Mikey is the most in tune to the sudden personality changes that signal trouble. He doesn't particularly want to get into it - partly because he knows he is probably overreacting and doesn't want Mikey to call him out on it. But regardless of that he is still hurt enough for Mikey to pick up on it.
Maybe it will be good to get it off his chest.
"Did you know TJ and Spinelli were both going to ditch?"
Mikey shakes his head, a frown just barely noticeable on his lips.
"I wasn't expecting it, especially considering TJ took charge of everything. I figured he wouldn't just let the Ashleys take over."
Vince grunts. "They're not ditching completely. They're coming tomorrow instead."
"Oh, that seems much more like our TJ," Mikey says. His grin slightly falters. "Does that bother you?"
"Yeah, I mean, we all decided to come today," Vince says. "It would have been more convenient for me to come tomorrow too, but I made it work to be with the whole group. Why can't they? And why wouldn't they tell anyone? They could have come after Spinelli's ballet stuff."
He checks his phone. TJ still hasn't sent anything back. He huffs and leans his head against the locker behind him.
Mikey eyes him for a moment before he speaks again.
"Vince, forgive me if I'm wrong, but this seems...more pent up than just a simple day switch."
"Haven't you noticed that TJ's keeping us in the dark?"
He explains what happened this summer, going into detail about how TJ told Vince about skipping football camp at the same time he told people like Sam and Dave, as if Vince wasn't his best friend and deserved to know more than a few days in advance. Then he tells Mikey about what happened this afternoon, about how the guys on the team thought it was weird that TJ hadn't said anything about Spinelli to Vince.
But it wasn't just this afternoon. Mikey is right, it's been a bunch of little things adding up. Even just this week, they had all decided to do a group costume for Spirit Week's first two days, but for days three and four do their own things. TJ and Spinelli matched for Twin Day Tuesday, which he knew was going to happen. But then on the third day they walked into school in matching footie pajamas, claiming they shopped together and both liked the outfit. Sure, he could buy that.
Today was Superhero Day and everyone knew TJ would come to school dressed as Senor Fusion. He had almost every comic book. Whenever a new movie came out, he was one of the first in line for the premieres. He was always comparing Fusion to the other Marvel and DC superheroes. There was no way he would come as any other superhero and Vince fully expected to spend his lunch period arguing with him about who was better – Black Panther or Senor Fusion.
But he didn't have that argument. Instead he was too focused on the fact that Spinelli, who had so vehemently opposed spirit week group costumes, seemingly embraced the concept overnight. First the shared footie pajamas, then today she walked into school with TJ dressed as Senor Fusion's one and only sidekick, Femme Fatale.
It isn't so much that they matched each other for three days in a row, it's that none of the others were asked to join. It just isn't fair. They're all best friends and they've always done things together or at least offered up the opportunity to everyone in the group. Yes, they may not have all joined in – Gretchen's hero choice of scientist Marie Curie didn't quite fit in with Senor Fusion, Black Panther, and Gus's The Flash costume – but it would have been nice to have been asked.
"It's just...I dunno," he finishes. "TJ's usually an open book about this kind of stuff. And now he's all secretive and weird."
"Have you talked to him about how you feel?" Mikey asks. "Because I'm sure TJ isn't trying to leave you out. My guess is that he's confused as to what is happening between him and Spinelli and he doesn't want to say anything until he's sure."
That is exactly what he told Sam, Dave, and Phil a couple of hours ago.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Just talk to him," Mikey says. "He probably doesn't even realize you're upset."
"Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks, big guy," he says, holding his hand out for Mikey and they bump their knuckles together.
Mikey stands to leave, heading back over to where Gus and Gretchen are working. Vince sighs and looks down at his poster. A little bit more work on it and then he can be done with it. He works double speed and while it's not the prettiest thing he's ever seen, it's fine. It'll do. He stands and heads over to join the rest of his friends, who have been put to work writing the names of every single person in their class on an individual star that they'll hang from the ceiling. At least this way he'll be with his friends.
He checks his phone on the way over. Still nothing and Spinelli is definitely out of ballet by now.
They don't end up staying that much longer. After an hour more work, the Ashleys deem their work suitable enough for their standards and let them free. He supposes he could have just left whenever he wanted to but it was actually sort of fun once he moved over to hanging out with his friends.
Gretchen nudges his arm. "Do you want a ride home? My dad's coming."
He smiles. Gretchen lives on the next street over from him, five streets down from TJ and Spinelli. It made hanging out together really easy as kids.
"Yeah, that'd be great actually," he says, reaching for his phone to let his parents know he's catching a ride.
On his screen is a new message alert. He has three unread texts from TJ.
Hey sorry i just saw this
Spin was wiped so we went home
Man i wish i could have seen that
He shakes his head and clicks out of his texts. He'll see TJ tomorrow. He'll deal with the bubbling in his gut then.
…
It almost seems like TJ is avoiding him.
Vince knows that isn't the case. They don't have any classes together this semester and during the day they typically only see each other at lunch. But TJ shows up late to lunch, walking with Spinelli from her locker apparently, and insists he has to leave early to talk to the Ashleys about the float. He makes a big stink of it, how he wishes he could just stay and hang out, but nonetheless he heads over to the Ashleys' lunch table and sits down there, looking annoyed. Then they end up separated during the pep rally that afternoon.
Vince tries to catch him after school before the float decorating starts. Since all afternoon practices are canceled in preparation for the parade and game, he figures he could find him somewhere and get him alone for a minute. But when he finally tracks TJ down, he is standing with Spinelli and the Ashleys and a bunch of other people. He doesn't want to make this bigger than it needs to be. If he tries to pull TJ away from the Ashleys to talk privately, they'll gossip about it until it goes around the whole school.
So, he goes to shoot his free throws and then comes back to the school. He was voted homecoming prince for the freshmen class so he has to actually ride in the parade on the float the freshmen made earlier in the afternoon. Unfortunately, Ashley A won homecoming princess, so it's not exactly the highlight of his day or something he can use to forget about what's going on between him and TJ.
By the time he jumps off the float, he wants to wash his ears of Ashley A's incessant whining about his sub-par waving skills and feels like if he approaches TJ now he'll bite his head off.
He tells himself to take a few deep breaths as he waits for his friends to walk into the stadium complex. He waves to a few of his teammates, smiles at classmates, and leans against the fence until he sees Sam, Dave, and Phil.
"Hey, man," Dave says. "So, how bad was it?"
Vince rolls his eyes and adds pitch to his voice as he mimics Ashley A. "OMG, Vince, like, you're totally doing it wrong. It's like this."
The guys laugh.
"I think you have to dance with her at the actual dance too," Phil says.
Vince groans. He knew that but had successfully gotten himself to forget about it.
"Great," he mutters. He looks around. Usually the football players all walk in together. "Where's Teej?"
Sam smirks. "Ah, he's still out there making moon eyes at Spinelli. He said he'd catch up. Wanna head into the stands?"
Vince shakes his head. "Nah, you guys go ahead. I'll wait for him."
"Suit yourself," Dave says. The boys promise to save them a spot and head over to the bleachers.
This is actually working in Vince's favor. Hopefully he'll be able to get a chance alone with TJ before they head up into the stands. Gus is already with the band. Spinelli, Gretchen, and Mikey will have to separate to get their seats. So, maybe this will be good timing. He can make it casual. He just needs to remember what Mikey said. TJ probably doesn't even realize what he's doing.
Speak of the devil.
"There he is!" TJ shouts. "Our very own Prince Charming."
Vince looks up and he sees his crew walking up. He grins. Mikey is decked out in school spirit, with red and blue beads around his neck from the pep rally earlier in the afternoon. Gretchen brought a book. He shakes his head and points to it.
"You did not bring Darwin to a football game," he complains.
She smiles. "No, I didn't. It's Neil deGrasse Tyson."
Spinelli crosses her arms and rolls her eyes. "It's still lame."
Before Gretchen can start something, Vince nods in TJ's direction. "The twins and Phil are saving us spots. You ready? I want to grab a water first."
TJ nods and turns to say goodbye to the other three. Mikey and Gretchen step away first, walking toward the bleachers, with Spinelli a half step behind. As she passes him, TJ bats one of her braids playfully and she turns to give him a look Vince can't see.
He rolls his eyes, but it's actually too perfect. What better way to transition into his conversation?
"So, what's up with you and Spin?" he asks as they head toward the locker room.
TJ falls out of step, but recovers quickly. "What do you mean?"
Vince nudges his arm. "Come on, Teej. It's so obvious. Even Sam and Dave noticed – and they spent all of Third Street underground."
TJ reaches up to fiddle with his hat, a dead giveaway that he's uncomfortable.
"Come on, you can tell me anything. It's not like I'm gonna make fun of you," he says. He smirks. "If I didn't tease you about your crush on Ashley A in fifth–"
"I thought we weren't gonna talk about that ever again," TJ interrupts.
Vince reaches his hand up, pretending to zip his lips shut. "My lips are sealed."
"Good," TJ says. They step into the locker room and each reach for a water from the cooler in the front. "I don't know why I thought that was a good idea."
"You didn't think. You felt." They leave the locker room and head back out into the stadium complex. "And speaking of feelings, you know you can tell your good old buddy Vin anything."
TJ shrugs and unscrews the cap to the bottle before screwing it back on. "There's nothing to tell."
"Really?"
"Really."
Vince raises an eyebrow. "So, what was with that braid flick back there? And the fact that she didn't threaten to strangle you for doing it. If I did that, I'd have a broken arm."
TJ shrugs. "I dunno. It's just how we've always acted with each other. She's my best girl friend."
Vince raises an eyebrow at the term.
"Never thought I'd hear you put a name to that phrase," he says.
TJ puts his head down and stuffs his free hand in the pocket of his sweatshirt. They both remember the fiasco of the fourth grade 'my best friend' writing assignment. What was supposed to be an easy essay assigned by Ms. Grotke turned into a daylong break up of their crew. Vince knows TJ has been careful over the years to never outright call someone his best friend. The fact that it just came out of his mouth so effortlessly throws them both for a loop.
TJ opens his mouth three times before anything actually comes out.
"Look, Vince," he says, his eyes still focused on his sneakers. "I, uh..." He shakes his head. "We're just friends. There's nothing going on."
Vince frowns. Maybe he's just seeing things. Maybe TJ doesn't actually like Spinelli. It seems unrealistic that everyone would think it if it weren't the case, but Vince would rather think that than the fact that TJ is lying to him.
"You're sure?" Vince asks. "Because you can tell me if there is. I won't say anything. You know that."
TJ nods. "I know," he says. "But we're just friends. Okay?"
"Okay," Vince says.
They nod between them and then head up into the stands.
…
Spinelli sits down on the bleachers and crosses her arms. She can't see anyway. A group of rowdy sophomore boys stood in front of her, Gretchen, and Mikey, blinding her for the entirety of the first quarter. She doesn't really mind being short, or well she's gotten used to it. When she figured out she wasn't going to get anywhere near the 5'6" that Galileo had promised her in fourth grade, she had nearly tossed Gretchen's little handheld computer over the fence. But, now it's whatever. She can't change it so why worry about it?
But the boys in front of her are tall and lanky and blocking her view. She only knows what is going on in the game because of Mikey's gasps and Gretchen's less-than-impressed commentary. Maybe she should have stood with the soccer girls after all. Or, maybe she just shouldn't have come period.
She pouts, even though there's no one around to notice. Mikey and Gretchen left for the concession stand just before the end of the quarter hoping to beat the line. She could have gone with them but declined, her mood making her grumpy and insistent on sulking in her misery. Neither of them put up much of a fuss to change her mind.
"Well, you look particularly scowly tonight."
Spinelli looks over just in time to see Meghan Rigalli flop into Gretchen's now-empty section of the bleachers. The other girl smirks and tugs at Spinelli's jacket.
"You're not even wearing school colors. Tsk, tsk," she jokes. "You're practically dating our future class president and showing no school spirit. TJ has some work to do."
Spinelli glares at her. "I'm not practically dating TJ."
She isn't particularly thrilled with the way the soccer girls have continued to tease her about TJ. Honestly, it gets her hopes up because Meghan and the others make it seem like it's so obvious that TJ likes her back and then nothing happens. Like yesterday, when TJ met her after ballet. Like usual, he had ridden his bike home and walked to the studio in time for her to get out. She had even seen him ignore Vince's text message while they were hanging out. But that was it. When Mrs. Detweiler had asked if she wanted to stay for dinner, she had declined when she usually says yes. Meghan had told her that if TJ wanted her to stay, he would have put up a fuss. But he didn't. He let her go and she saw him reach for his phone as soon as she was getting ready to go home. He wanted her to leave so he could talk to someone else, she supposes.
That's fine. It's whatever. She just wishes her friends would shut up about it.
"Oh, please tell me we're not doing this again," Meghan says. "Do I have to start keeping time stamped notes about it? Because I can."
"Your Megan is showing," Spinelli spits out.
It's harsh. Spinelli knows all too well the pitfalls of sharing a name with a clique of popular mean girls and spending the majority of elementary school hiding her identity, just as Meghan had at 98th Street. The only difference between them is that Meghan has the perk of an alternative spelling and the ability to introduce herself as "Meghan-with-an-H" when she found it completely unbearable every time someone made a comment about how weird it was she referred to herself by her last name. She started using her first name in middle school and Spinelli is pretty sure the only person who still calls her by her last name is Vance Lombardi – and of course the Megans themselves.
"Well, maybe you should be a little more Ashley," Meghan hisses back. "I'm sure Ashley A would have no problem swooping in and getting what she wants like you don't seem to be able to do."
They do this sometimes. It's just that their personalities are so similar that occasionally they hurl insults back and forth. TJ hates it. He doesn't understand how they can have a strong friendship that relies on antagonism.
Spinelli turns away and huffs. She doesn't have a response to Meghan's suggestion. She's sure that is the case. Ashley A would have no problem going up to a guy and asking for a date. She is sure none of the Ashleys would have that problem, not even shy and quiet Ashley T. But that's not fair because this is different. This is more like Ashley A telling Ashley B she likes her – and she's not sure even Ashley A would risk her entire group's friendship to get what she wanted in that hypothetical situation.
Spinelli turns back. "Did you just come down here to insult me?"
Meghan shakes her head. "Nah, I got bored up with the others. I'm gonna sneak down to see Vance. Want to come?"
"Where is he?"
Meghan gives her a look. "Where do you think? He's in the athlete section."
The first couple rows of the student section of the stands are sectioned off every game for the freshmen and JV football players. The school line is that they're there just in case there's a need to pull someone from the stands onto the field, but that's just a bunch of hogwash. None of the boys have their equipment and it's just another special privilege bestowed onto the football players that none of the other athletes seem to get.
Spinelli frowns. "We're not allowed down there."
"We're athletes," Meghan says.
"You know they mean football players."
"Well, then, they should have been more specific." Meghan stands and puts her hands on her hips. "Since when have you listened to the rules anyway? Come on, you know you want to!"
Spinelli bites the inside of her cheek. She does want to go. She's sure Vince and TJ are on the complete other side of the freshmen section from Vance, considering Vince can't stand the kid, but if she can sneak in with Meghan then she can find her way to them. Then she'll at least have a better time at the game than she is right now. It'll be just like old times.
She pulls out her phone and sends a quick text to Gretchen, letting her know not to expect her to still be there when she and Mikey return. The last thing she needs is the two of them freaking out at her sudden absence. Then she stands and follows Meghan down the bleachers.
The section is a huddled mess of bulky boys and she isn't sure how they're ever going to find Vance or how she'll find TJ and Vince later. TJ's not the tallest boy in the bunch and while Vince isn't short like TJ, he's not the tallest either. There are plenty of boys in this section that tower over his average height. She's freaking doomed.
Meghan spins around and tugs at Spinelli's jacket, successfully pulling one sleeve off before Spinelli can wiggle out of reach.
"Hey!"
"Give me your jacket," Meghan insists.
Meghan is wearing her soccer sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. It's not that cold out, but the sweatshirts are thin. The boys teams' sweatshirt material came in a lot thicker and more comfortable. The girls teams' sweatshirts are more like fitted t-shirts with quarter-zips.
"You should have worn a better coat if you're cold."
Meghan glares at her. "That's not what I meant. You're going to go stand with TJ and Vince, right?"
Spinelli ducks her head. Was she that obvious?
"Maybe."
"Well, I wasn't expecting you to stay with me and Vance the whole game. Vince would have a freaking cow," Meghan says. She holds out her hand. "Give me your jacket. I'll swing it by tomorrow."
"I still don't understand why you need my jacket."
"You're beyond hopeless," Meghan says quietly. Then she lets out a breath. "If you are cold and TJ likes you, he will give you his sweatshirt. And he will let you keep it at the end of the night when you get home. That should put it through your thick skull that you don't have anything to worry about."
Spinelli eyes her curiously. "How do you know that?"
Meghan rolls her eyes. "Because that's how dudes roll. If they like you, they want other guys to know so they don't hit on you. You're friends with more dudes than girls. How do you not know this?"
"What if Vince gives me his sweatshirt instead?"
"If Vince gives you his sweatshirt then it means you need to forget about TJ because your lips are probably blue and you need to be checked for hypothermia," Meghan jokes. Spinelli glares. "Look, I will be shocked if Vince thinks to hand his over before TJ, okay?"
She nods and slides out of her leather jacket, watching Meghan put it on over her sweatshirt.
"Now let's go find the boys."
They slip in under the ropes and Meghan pushes her way through the section until she finds a place where she can stand on the bleachers. Spinelli stays in between, waiting while Meghan looks out into the masses. Finally, Meghan hops down and back into the aisle.
"I saw Vince's head about three rows down and toward the left," she says. "Let me know how it goes."
Meghan smirks and then ducks in the opposite direction as Spinelli needs to go, leaving her alone. She takes a deep breath. She can't believe she's actually going to do this. How pathetic. But at least this is sort of sneaky and she won't have to put her heart on the line first. She'd rather do something like this than just throw it out there that she likes him and have him do that thing he does when he doesn't want to hurt someone's feelings. He'll make a face in between a wince and a smile. He'll tell her she's great and she's his best friend but he just doesn't see her in that light.
Nope. She's not going to do that. The pathetic sneak attack is going to have to do.
She pushes her way down three rows of burly football players and then turns left, hoping Meghan didn't mistake the top of Vince's head for someone else. But, luckily, she knows she's going in the right direction when she sees Phil.
"Hey, Spinelli!" he says, waving her down as she pushes by some kid she doesn't recognize. She sees Phil turn. "Hey, guys, look who it is!"
It's almost comical how their heads bob out of the row of bleachers. Sam's head pops out, then Dave's, then TJ's and Vince's down at the end of their line. She swears TJ's face lights up when he sees her.
"Quick," Phil says, grabbing her hand and yanking her toward them. "We're close to scoring and you're gonna get trampled if that happens."
"TJ'll keep you safe," Sam says, smirking and winking. Dave slaps him upside the head.
Spinelli ignores the twins and keeps walking toward the end where TJ and Vince are standing. They make room and she finds herself, just as always, sandwiched with TJ on one side and Vince on the other, a clear view of the field in front of her.
"Wait, how'd we get behind by three touchdowns!" she exclaims.
Vince crosses his arms. "Have you not been watching? They've fumbled it like every possession!"
There's a loud groan through the stands, everyone turning back to the field to see a penalty flag. She feels a gentle tug on one of her braids and she looks over to see TJ staring at her, eyes slightly widened and a grin on his lips.
"How'd you get down here?"
She shrugs. "I snuck in."
"Troublemaker," he says. Then he looks down touches her bare arm. The action makes her shiver. "Where's your jacket?"
Well, that was quick. Then again, she wears her leather jacket everywhere so it must be like when Gus wears his contacts instead of his glasses – an immediately recognizable difference. She looks down at what she is wearing, which is just a soccer t-shirt she had worn for spirit day at school.
"Oh, um, I must have left it behind with Gretch," she says.
"I'm surprised you took it off."
She shrugs and remembers what Meghan said about her minimal school spirit. "Well, I was trying to support my team. You know, school spirit, rah rah?"
He snorts at her lack of enthusiasm. He knows her too well to fall for that line. She'd much rather be warm than spirited. But he doesn't push for a better reasoning.
"Aren't you cold?"
Yes. She's actually freezing. The downside to wearing a leather jacket three hundred and sixty-five days a year is that she is fairly confident she destroyed her natural temperature regulation. She is always cold, even in the summer.
"Not really," she says.
TJ rolls his eyes.
"Liar," he says. Then he reaches to pull his sweatshirt over his head and hands it to her. "Take this. I don't want you to freeze to death because you want to finally show some school spirit."
She slips it over her own head and then looks up at him again. He at least is wearing long sleeves, but it's still not quite warm enough for just that.
"Aren't you going to be cold now?"
He shakes his head and shuffles a little on the bleachers so he's standing behind her. He wraps his arms around her shoulders and pulls her close, so her back is against his chest.
"Nope," he says, his mouth right next to her ear. "You're going to keep me warm."
She is glad that he is standing behind her because she is sure her face is bright red. Her entire body has lit up like a flame. She wouldn't be surprised if she starts to sweat. She doesn't know what to do with her hands. Does she put them in the kangaroo pocket of TJ's sweatshirt? Is it too much to place them on his arms?
Tentatively, she puts one hand up and places it on his forearm and when he doesn't tense up, she moves the second hand. Finally, her heart stops racing and she leans back into his chest. This feels good. Natural. It doesn't feel like a sneaky pathetic attempt at figuring out what's going through his head.
She feels Vince move next to them, shuffling closer on the bleacher.
"Yeah, just friends," he says, and she knows it's directed to TJ, but Vince doesn't make an effort to keep it quiet. He scoffs. "Okay, Teej."
She keeps her eyes focused on the football field, pretending not to have heard any of what conspired between them because she knows what it sounds like. It sounds like TJ told Vince that she and TJ are just friends. But, maybe that's not it. Maybe it's something else, some inside joke or something else between them that she doesn't know. That's normal. She has stuff with Gretchen that the boys don't know.
Regardless, she drops her hands and puts them in the sweatshirt pocket. She and TJ are just friends. He has not made any moves to push them forward beyond that and it will be a cold day in Hell before she puts herself on the line for something like that. Her whole reputation would be ruined and potentially their friendship too.
….
Notes
TJ will be the center of the next group of chapters – you'll hear more about what's going through his head when those are posted.
I don't want to have many OCs, so my goal is to only give major speaking roles to series originals where we know at least a little of their personalities. In the series, the Diggers can be pretty sarcastic – I'm taking a little bit of creative license with them, but I hope it still hits the same sort of vein. I thought with all their upper body strength from digging, they'd probably make good football players. Phil, as a cub scout, screams All-American Boy to me, so he got the football player theory as well. I know they're not friends in the original series (and that Phil is inferred to be friends with Gordy at Third Street, which is why Phil was still sitting with Gordy at lunch in the 8th grade chapter), but friendships shift as we age and sports does a great job of bonding people. Hence this group of friends for the boys.
Meghan Rigalli is going to be referred to as Meghan because that's how the gang knows her (despite how we were introduced to her in 'The Challenge' as Rigalli). I like the idea that she and Spinelli are two sides of the same coin, with certain things they're very similar on and certain things they aren't, such as their response to the Meghan/Megan and Ashley situations. I am also making the assumption that the Megans (who are mentioned in 'Dance Lessons' but not 'The Challenge') also go to 98th Street and are the Ashley doppelgangers and so, because of that, Rigalli's first name is also Megan. I've given her the alternative spelling Meghan in order to give the doppelgangers (Spinelli and Rigalli) additional small differences in personality. (For logistical reasons, it also helps with keeping them separate – having Vince and Vance without a good way to separate them is confusing enough).
See you for January 2007, the winter of their freshman year. In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts!