***
“That was awesome!” Conner said through a mouthful of hamburger. Zev rolled his eyes. But to Anna’s surprise, instead of making fun of him, Zev actually did agree with Conner.
“Of course it was.” he said. “After all, I picked it!”
After the movie, the seven of them had decided to grab something to eat. There was an all-night diner about a block from the theater, so they simply walked over.
It turned out, the movie had been quite an icebreaker. From the moment it had let out a little over an hour ago, the group had been talking almost nonstop. When conversation about the movie started to run dry, they’d simply switched to other topics. The usual things came up – school, various teachers, and of course, football. Anna remembered seeing Collin play; he’d been very good, and she told him so.
“Thank you.” he told her, obviously pleased despite trying his best not to look it.
“You’re going to give him a big head.” Luke warned jokingly.
“You just say that ’cause you’re jealous!” Collin shot back, the look of pride turning to one of slight annoyance.
“I’m not jealous! I could play better than you if I wanted.”
“Then why don’t you?” Carmine cut in.
Luke looked over at her, surprised. He looked as if he couldn’t tell whether she was teasing him or asking a genuine question. He thought about it, not responding right away. So she asked again.
“Why don’t you play?”
“I know it’s weird to say, but I’m not really into football.” Luke confessed, shrugging. “I like track better.”
“That’s Luke for you.” Zev said. “Not much of a team-player, are you? A regular lone-wolf.”
Zev’s comment sent the other boys into fits of laughter, leaving the girls glancing sideways at each other, trying to figure out what the in-joke was. As the laughter died down, Collin turned back to the girls.
“In all seriousness, though, we do have a good team. I mean, some of the guys are no-talent, wastes of space, but there’s a couple of guys on the team that are amazing. We could go all the way this year.”
“All the way where?” Anna asked, and the boys started laughing all over again. Even Mina and Carmine joined in this time.
“That’s a good question!” Zev snickered. “If you think you can go to any championship games with people like Boyd on your team, you’re more of an optimist than I thought!”
As the laughter continued, Anna saw with relief that her ignorance had been taken as a joke. She was glad that for once, no one seemed to notice her blunder.
“We can make it. Just bench Boyd and we’ll be fine.” Collin said with confidence.
“Well, good luck getting anyone to watch you!” Luke told him. “Even if you guys did end up actually going somewhere, no one’s going to watch. Nobody wants to be out at night anymore – not even to see the amazing Collin Boehm play!”
And with that simple statement, the whole mood seemed to shift for Anna. No longer was she talking and laughing with friends. Instead, she was in the midst of yet another conversation about the strange and growing attacks on people in her town. Anna glanced at Mina and Carmine, noticing that they looked almost as uncomfortable as she felt.
“Speaking of those attacks, have any of you noticed that most of the victims are kids?” Collin asked.
“It does seem like they’re mostly our age.” Luke replied, thinking.
“Not the girl at the movie theater last week.” Carmine said quietly. Anna’s stomach lurched at the horrible reminder of the girl laying like a broken toy beneath Fredrick’s feet.
“Yeah, I heard about that.” Collin said. And if possible, he became even more serious. “She was in pretty bad shape, wasn’t she? I heard she was taken away in an ambulance and everything!”
There was silence for a minute, and Anna knew Mina and Carmine were busy staring at the table almost as hard as she was. Realizing the change in mood, Zev spoke up.
“This is a depressing topic – let’s talk about something more fun. Like the fact that Collin’ll never go to state championships if Zack Boyd tackles another member of his own team again!”
“That was just pathetic.” Collin said, disgust obvious in his voice.
“He really did that?” Mina asked, her curiosity overcoming the discomfort she’d felt just moments before.
“Of course he did!” Luke chimed in. “I told you he was the most pathetic thing to ever happen to football!”
“At least his mom thinks he’s great.” Collin said, rolling his eyes.
Even Anna had to laugh at the thought of Zack Boyd making such a huge mistake. And she could just picture Mrs. Boyd there, cheering on her son, oblivious to his shortcomings.
“Are you kidding?” Luke replied. “She’s the only one who does! He’ll literally never be too terrible for her to stop admiring!”
As the boys continued recounting all of Zach Boyd’s numerous mistakes both on and off the field, Anna could feel the mood lift. She even allowed herself to relax just a little bit. But one glance over at Mina sent Anna’s heart plummeting once again.
The two exchanged guilty glances, knowing that they’d put off acting for far too long. The pressure might be off them now, but this was by no means over. Inwardly, Anna sighed, wishing that she could have just one night out without having Fredrick and Jacqueline ruining it for her.
Chapter 34: The Plan