Chapter 9

"What the hell are they doing?" I yelled, jumping to my feet.

I felt two hands grab my arms and try to pull me down, Tami on one side and Mikee on the other.

"Quiet!" Mikee hissed. "You're not supposed to be here.

I stayed on my feet as the referees untangled the dog pile with Luke Hastings on the bottom. As he stood, Hastings threw the ball on the ground in disgust. I couldn't blame him. The blocking had been horrible, and we got sent for a five yard loss.

I let Tami and Mikee pull me back down to the bleachers.

Sam Woodard, the kid who'd come with Mikee to the game, gave me a scared look. I think he was nervous about being caught around me. On Tami's other side Kelly, Traci, and Peter were looking around to see if anyone was checking us out.

Suspended students aren't supposed to come to football games. Or any other school activities for that matter. But nobody expected me to stay away.

Nobody who knew me, anyway.

So I'd thrown on a sweatshirt and kept the hood up and stayed in the middle of a crowd. I even paid full admission instead of using my student body card. I was supposed to be inconspicuous.

I wasn't sure if Parker could actually keep me out of a game in Richland, but I didn't want to find out the hard way.

We settled in the bleachers in the visitors section and watched as the Bombers, then our team ran onto the field and tried to out-calisthenic each other. I was surprised to see Robbie over talking to a couple of the Bombers before the coin toss, but Robbie's one of those people who gets to know everybody. She probably made friends when we played them last year and the year before. Hell, I knew a couple of them myself.

We'd kicked off to Richland. Then on the third play Larry Gordon stripped the ball from their quarterback and fell on it.

Our ball on the fifty. Life was good.

Then our first play on offense, Robbie at quarterback Mike was sitting on the sidelines for some reason handed off to Luke. Before he got three steps, three Richland defenders hit him. Two more joined the pile before the referees whistled the play dead.

I shook my head. We were better than that.

I watched as we set up again. I'd bet it was going to be a pass, a nice long one right into the end-zone. Robbie called the count. If everybody would shut-up I could hear her. She checked both sides, then took the hike from Alex. She faded back, cocked her arm, and Luke whipped behind her taking the ball. Robbie, instead of faking a pass or trying to pull the defense away, stood up and watched as Luke started running, right into a wall of Richland players.

"They can't do this!" I yelled, jumping to my feet again. Robbie and Mikee tried to pull me down.

"Sit down!" Mikee pleaded.

"They can't throw away the game because of..."

"This isn't about you," Tami said. "NOW SIT DOWN." The last three words weren't loud, or angry, but they felt like they were carved in granite. I'd never heard such authority from Tami. I sat.

The team lined up again. Robbie took the hike, handed off to Luke and... Well, it wasn't pretty.

I looked at Tami. "But..."

She shook her head. "It isn't about you," she repeated. "This is Robbie teaching a lesson about the consequences of lying."

"But..."

Tami stared straight into my eyes so hard that I couldn't have looked away. "You taught me a lesson about the consequences of lying. Trust me, it hurt worse than this."

I shut my mouth and nodded. I didn't want to think about the way I'd treated Tami when she'd lied to me. "But the team? State?" I said softly.

Tami shook her head and grinned. "You know how competitive she is. If you don't think she can teach a lesson AND win the game, you don't know your best friend very well."

I couldn't help it. I grinned back. Then I settled back to watch the fun.

Fourth down with nineteen yards to go. Robbie took the hike, faded back. The blocking was awesome. Nobody was near her. She had all the time in the world. She threw a beautiful spiral right into the arms of Zach Hissman on the thirty. Zach had nothing but clear field in front of him. He took a step and went down on one knee. Parker threw down his clipboard and started yelling. I was glad I couldn't hear. I have delicate ears.

"I guess Robbie's not done teaching," I said with a smile.

"For a guy, you catch on quick," Mikee answered with a giggle.

Parker grabbed somebody by the collar, yelled in his face, then sent him onto the field. As he ran out I saw it was number fifty-four, Tracy Arnolds. He tapped Zach on the shoulder in the huddle and pointed toward the sidelines. Robbie stood up, said a couple words and pointed herself, and Tracy ran back off.

Parker did not look amused. He was yelling something from the sideline, but I couldn't make it out, and I don't think Robbie was listening.

Three plays. Two hand-offs and a short pass to Luke. Three bone-crushing tackles. I glanced at the sidelines. Parker was yelling something at Mike, who was sitting on the bench. Mike was shaking his head.

Fourth down. Robbie took the hike, faded back to pass, but couldn't find an open man. She tucked her head and ran toward a hole in the line. Man, could that girl move. I watched her shake, rattle and roll her way through the defenders and down the field. As she got to the goal line I wondered if she cross or down the ball for another lesson. I'm not sure what she planned, but a Richland defender hit her and they skidded across the line.

The extra point. Robbie handed Luke the ball. It seemed like the whole Richland team hit him.

"She tipped them somehow," I said, more to myself than anyone else.

"What makes you say that?" Tami asked, looking slightly amused.