Second Down
Copyright© 2025 by Lumpy
Chapter 25
“Come on, I’m just trying to understand what happened,” I said as Eduardo and I walked into the cafeteria.
I’d first asked about his cousins the previous night, after we all finished dinner just before I’d gone home, but he’d found a way to keep dodging the question. I really wanted to get a better idea of how Rafe had gotten his cousins to make such huge mistakes. His mom would have answered, but kids would never tell parents, or aunts, everything.
They would tell their cousin.
“It’s complicated.”
“Yeah, I get that. But how did he convince them? You said one of them tried to rob a bank or something? Like, what the hell, that isn’t small stuff. How do you convince someone to do something that’ll put you in federal prison?”
“It was an ATM. He hooked it to the back of his truck and tried to haul it away so they could break into it later. And I don’t know, he just ... did. That wasn’t the first thing that Rafe had them do. It just kind of escalated.”
“Okay, I get that, but how did it start.”
“Blake, can we drop this? Please?”
I tried not to make a face. I didn’t want to keep pushing him, and maybe even push him away, but if he talked about this stuff, he might be less likely to follow in their footsteps. Still, there was a limit to how much I could ask in a short amount of time before it went from friendly checking to actually annoying.
The decision was more or less made for me when Mickey Evans appeared beside us, practically materializing out of the lunch crowd.
“Blake! We were talking, and we think you should join the rest of us, instead of sitting off by yourself,” he said, jerking his thumb toward the back of the cafeteria where the football players and cheerleaders held court. “Time to upgrade from freshman territory.”
I looked over at my usual table where Miguel, Connor, and even Li were already sitting. It didn’t seem right, abandoning all of them just ‘cause I had a chance at an upgrade.
“Thanks, but I’m good where I am,” I said. “Those guys were there for me when I needed backup. Can’t just ditch them now that I moved up to JV.”
Mickey looked over at that side of the cafeteria, first at my group of friends, and then his gaze slid over to where Elijah and his crew sat. The rest of the team couldn’t have been oblivious to the politics that had been going on on the freshman side of the team, even if they did choose to ignore it.
“Yeah, those guys seem cool,” he said, looking at them then glancing with an odd expression at Elijah and the rest. “Go ahead and bring them along.”
If they disliked Elijah even half as much as I did, it meant I’d have fewer problems when he moved up from the freshman team and in with the rest. That was maybe the best thing about getting to JV early; it helped me set up some insulation against him.
Eduardo, however, was looking green and I knew how Li would feel about moving to a whole new area with a whole new group of people. It would do her good. Eduardo too.
I made up my mind.
“Sure. We’ll be over in a minute.
“Perfect.”
Mickey grinned and headed back to the other football players.
“That was decent of you. Most guys would’ve bailed the second they got invited to sit with the older kids,” Eduardo said after Mickey left.
“I’m not most guys. And you’re going, too.”
“Me?”
“Yes. I’m not leaving any of my friends behind. Let’s go break the news to them.”
“You’re serious?” Eduardo asked as we walked toward our usual table.
“Dead serious. Think about it, this’ll be great for everyone. The freshman guys need to build relationships with the older players they’ll be teaming up with next year.” I gave him a light nudge with my elbow. “And you and Li need to get out of your shells more.”
“I don’t need...”
“Not taking ‘no’ for an answer,” I cut him off. “Consider it part of your personal growth plan. You and I are sticking together.”
Eduardo let out a dramatic sigh and said, “Fine.”
“Good. Hey guys,” I said as we got to the table. “We’re moving. Over there.”
I pointed to the table with the varsity and JV teams and almost all the cheerleaders.
“About time,” Jamal said. “We’ll miss you, man.”
“No, you don’t get it.” I made a sweeping gesture that took in everyone at the table. “We’re moving. All of us.”
“For real?” Connor’s face lit up.
“Sweet!” Miguel was already grabbing his tray.
“What?” Li’s eyes went wide. “No, absolutely not.”
“Yes, absolutely yes,” I countered. “Come on, it’ll be fun. It’s already decided. Everyone up.”
Miguel, Tyrell, and Connor were already standing and helping Jamal to his feet. The guys’ excitement was almost infectious, except Li and Eduardo seemed immune. To look at them, you’d think I was leading them in front of a firing squad.”
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Li muttered, but she picked up her tray.
“You’ll thank me later,” I promised.
As our group made its way across the cafeteria, I caught sight of Elijah watching us. He wasn’t even trying to keep the jealousy off his face as he saw where we were going. Part of me felt satisfied seeing him stew, knowing he was seeing the end of any chance of his becoming the big man on the team. I looked away, though. Antagonizing him would only make him more likely to do something stupid out of desperation.
We reached the JV table where Mickey had already made space for us.
“Welcome to the big leagues,” he said with a grin.
“Thanks for having us.”
We were off to one end, kind of an add-on to JV, with me as a buffer between my guys and the JV team, with the cheerleaders between JV and varsity. The two long tables they’d pushed together were absolutely packed.
Even better, a few of the freshman cheerleaders were seated down on this side. Most importantly, one in particular.
“Uhh, I’m here, Li, you sit across from me and Eduardo, you sit there,” I said, pointing at two seats.
They were both kind of in a daze and did what I said. It wasn’t until Eduardo had put his stuff down and looked over to a brightly smiling Sarah that he paled and looked over at me, shooting me a glare. I gave him the same smile Sarah was giving him.
“You two know each other, right?” I said, trying to be very helpful.
“Yeah. We have math together. Hey,” Sarah said.
“Uhh, hi,” Eduardo replied oh so smoothly.
Sarah had it in hand though. I saw her brother Elton giving Eduardo a hard look and thought I might need to talk to him at practice, let him know Eddie was a good guy and he didn’t have to worry.
“And this is Li. She’s trying out for the basketball team soon.”
“Nice,” Drew, one of the sophomores, said. “Welcome to the cool kids’ table.”
Li just kind of bobbed her head, unable to find her voice. I wasn’t worried. This was how it went for both Eduardo and Li the first time they moved to our table. Miguel and the rest settled in alright on their own. It helped that they were already part of the football program, so this was just an upgrade, not a whole new thing.
“Since when did we become a daycare?” Jorden said from a few seats down, ruining the mood. “This is getting ridiculous. There’s barely room to breathe.”
Jerry rolled his eyes. “Drop it, man. They’ll all be on the teams next year anyway. Plus, we need Blake with us.”
“Oh yeah, can’t function without the golden boy,” Jorden snapped, shoving back from the table. “You guys used to have some pride.”
He stormed off, tray in hand. He kind of lost steam after a few steps, trying to figure out where to go. Unfortunately, Elijah had been watching and waved him over. Great, just what I needed. My biggest JV critic teaming up with my least favorite freshman. But what could I do? Jorden had hated me since the moment I took his starting spot.
“Good riddance,” Andre said, watching Jorden drop into a seat next to Elijah. “That guy’s been blaming everyone but himself for his problems since day one. I’m sick of hearing it.”
A whole lot of the guys kind of mumbled agreement or shook their heads.
“Man, I’m not gonna miss that drama,” Ronald Lewis, one of the other seniors on JV, said.
Everyone agreed and then went back to what they were talking about. I was just happy I had them solidly on my side. It was setting up so that I’d have plenty of backup over the next four years.
The conversation shifted to lighter topics. Li gradually relaxed as Sarah drew her into a discussion about their shared AP Biology class. Eduardo even managed a few contributions here and there, though he still looked ready to bolt at any moment.
Yep. I’d done a good thing.
At one point I kind of glanced down toward the middle of the two tables where the cheerleaders were all gathered, and Melanie caught my eye. She gave me a sly smile and then a slow wink that made my stomach tighten up. She didn’t get up or anything; she had a good spot among the senior cheerleaders. I kept looking over, stealing glances, and caught her doing the same thing several times.
Not a bad way to start the week.
The flirting looks and smiles kept happening every time I saw Melanie, all through Tuesday and into Wednesday, which was a lot more now that we were eating lunch together, or at least at the same table.
She didn’t stop to talk to me, either at lunch or the times we saw each other after school, while the cheerleaders were practicing over on the track and we were on the practice field. I would just catch her looking at me, and she’d give me that sly, playful smile she had.
To be honest, sometimes she caught me looking at her. I found myself drawn to her. Part of it was because of the crush I had on her in the dream life, but the rest was all right here and now. She was beautiful, for starters. Golden-blond wavy hair that reached just below her shoulder blades, these captivating green eyes behind thick lashes, a smattering of cute freckles across her cheeks and nose that really stood out on her fair skin that was much less tanned than most of the other cheerleaders.
To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account
(Why register?)
* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.