The game had already started and the gymnasium was full of townspeople cheering and yelling for the team. She spotted Lyle running down the court, bouncing the ball with one hand, the other held out to fend off the guy on his tail. He passed the ball to Greg something and then had the ball back within seconds and made a long shot. The ball swished through the basket and the crowd was on their collective feet cheering. The band started playing something loud and brassy; sound echoed off the walls and filled the gymnasium like marbles shaken in a tin can.
“Is it always like this?” she asked, raising her voice so Brianna could hear as they made their way through the bleachers to an empty section halfway up. She’d always had sensitive hearing and knew a headache was imminent. But it was worth it just to see Lyle in his blue and white shorts. And yes, he looked totally hot!
“Pretty much!” Brianna yelled back.
The smell of sweat and freshly popped corn permeated the air. A little boy, holding a hotdog in both hands, catsup smeared around his mouth, looked up at her when she sat down. He grinned and it reminded her again of the teenage boy in the alley. She hoped she never had to stake one this young. She didn’t think she could do it…even if he was clamped onto her jugular.
Marti and a couple other girls were sitting one row down and over. They turned and waved, yelled something that Jael didn’t catch. She looked out at the court, looking for Lyle. A whistle blew, shrill and piercing against her eardrums. She instinctively covered her ears. Maybe her parents had kept her out in the desert for more than one reason. Was her hearing another aspect of her gift?
“Are you all right?” Brianna asked, looking at her strangely.
She pulled her hands down and clasped them in her lap. “Sure. It’s just loud in here.”
“Yep.” She drew out the word like she thought Jael’s reaction was stranger than fiction. “Band music, cheerleaders, screaming fans, that’s what sports are all about. Didn’t you know?”
“Guess I missed the memo.” She pointed toward the sidelines. “What are those guys doing down there? Aren’t they supposed to be in the game?”
“There’s only five players from each team on the court at the same time,” she said, and put her arm around her, grinning. “You really don’t get out much, do you?”
The team came running off the court and Lyle looked up at the stands. His glance swept over the faces until he stopped at Jael. His mouth turned up on one side in a sexy half grin and he tipped his chin up with a little motion as though acknowledging her presence. She smiled back and lifted her hand to wave, but he turned around and plopped down on the bench where other players were already sitting. Had he really seen her or was she imagining that he looked her way?
“Play it cool. Technically we’re just hanging out at the game.”
“Am I that obvious?” she asked, looking around to see if others had noticed.
“Only to me.” Brianna handed her a set of foam earplugs from her purse. “Here, these will help.”
“How did you know?” Jael took them and pushed them in her ears, covering the neon orange sponges with her long hair.
“You have a look of pain on your face,” she grimaced, “besides, it’s not all about you. I always carry them. I hate marching band music.”
“I can hear why. Our band sucks.”
They both turned toward the far section of bleachers where the band was playing something faintly familiar. Jael noticed Brianna’s friend Aiden, played the tuba…badly. It must be embarrassing to hear him play so many sour notes and still respect his scientific mind in the morning.
“Is that the theme song from that really old retro Batman series that comes on cable Kid’s Network?” she asked.
Brianna shrugged. “Who knows. They haven’t played anything recognizable since last fall.”
“Last fall?’
“Yeah. At the start of football season Mr. Hadley wanted to show off our new digital scoreboard, so they flashed a waving flag on the screen while the band played the national anthem. At least that’s what Mr. Hadley said they were going to play.”
Jael turned back to the game and watched the players run up and down the court for a couple more minutes. Suddenly she felt eyes on her and a weird feeling in her gut. The same feeling she’d had the day Brianna drove her to the park. She glanced over the sidelines where players stood with the coaches, and students wandered back and forth from their seats to the concession stands out in the entryway.
One guy in basketball shorts was turned toward the bleachers instead of the game. He leaned nonchalantly on one hip, arms crossed, boldly checking her out. Shad. The guy from the lunchroom. Shiny raven hair hung straight to his broad shoulders, parted neatly down the middle. When he realized she’d noticed his attention, his mouth turned up in a slow, wolfish smile.
Where had that thought come from? He was just a guy, not a predator. Yeah right, like guys weren’t predators. Oddly enough, that wild dog had shown up at the ghost town right before her first vampire staking, and she’d heard a wolf howling more than once on her nocturnal outings. But really…that was just crazy. Okay, she’d read Dracula. Sure, he had a pack of wolves that acted as look outs for him, but this wasn’t Transylvania and she wasn’t Jonathan Harker. Besides, that was fiction. This was real life in Sunburn, Nevada.
Brianna leaned over and said something. Jael shook her head and pulled out an earplug. “What?”
“Why are you flirting with Shad?” she asked, slanting her eyes. “I thought we were here because of Lyle.”
“I’m not! We are.”
“Whatever.”
Someone made another basket and the crowd booed. Apparently the other team wanted to crush the Tumbleweeds into the court. Jael glanced at the scoreboard. 26 – 48. The drummer from the band did a ratta-tat-tat and then a cymbal crashed, making Jael cringe with pain. She wanted to cover her ears again. The foam was not nearly enough of a buffer.
She touched Brianna’s shoulder. “Can we get out of here?”
Her friend nodded and followed her off the bleachers and out into the entry where stands were set up to sell popcorn, hotdogs, and soda. It was still loud but not nearly as loud as inside the gymnasium. She breathed a sigh of relief.
Brianna pulled out a dollar and bought a bag of popcorn. “Want some?” She held out the bag like a peace offering.
Jael took a handful and munched. She was starving and beginning to regret missing out on her mom’s tacos. “How long does this last?” she asked, already bored. She wanted to get on with the evening. Spend time getting to know Lyle, talking, laughing, and hopefully end it with a little kissing. Preferably after he showered.
Brianna waved a hand at the scoreboard. “Not much longer. Let’s go outside and wait. It’ll be cooler now.”
The air was definitely cooler now that the sun had set and night covered Sunburn with a blanket of stars. The parking lot lights dimmed the celestial sky somewhat but Jael could still make out the Big Dipper and North Star. They sat down on the curb.
Brianna was quieter than normal, just munching popcorn. Jael knew she was still not satisfied with their earlier conversation. She didn’t seem convinced that Jael’s home was a safe haven. Jael wanted to tell her everything but was afraid to lose the one true friend she’d ever had. She held out her hand, palm up, and Brianna shook some popcorn out of her bag.
“Thanks. I’m starving.”
“Yeah, me too.”
A few kids trickled out and wandered off to their cars. They could hear the band inside the gymnasium trying to play the school fight song, but failing miserably. The game was still going strong. A car peeled out of the parking lot with a squeal of tires and someone laughed in the dark.
“So, is Shad Shoshone Indian or what?” she finally asked, thinking to steer the conversation away from what she knew was on her friend’s mind. She didn’t want to have the domestic abuse talk again.
Brianna’s gaze turned sharply on her. “Why are you all of a sudden so interested in Sha
d? I thought you wanted to get to know Lyle better. You’ve been infatuated with him ever since Mr. McNally stuck you two together for that gross frog dissection in 8th grade. He kept calling you Jill and you didn’t even care.”
They grinned and completely in unison said in high falsetto voices, “Lyle can call me whatever he likes as long as he calls me,” and then they laughed together like they did the first time she’d said it.
Brianna wiped her eyes, the grin lingering on her lips. “Does this sudden interest have something to do with today in the lunch room?”
“No.”
“Because what Shad said to you was actually kind of creepy, Jael.”
“I know that. I’m not as naïve as everyone treats me.” She leaned back with her hands on the cool cement behind her. “I just think it’s weird how he suddenly started acting all interested and everything.”
“You mean like Lyle did?” Brianna’s soft tone implied much more than coincidence.
“What are you saying?”
She sighed and propped the bag of popcorn between her legs. “The same thing I tried to tell you this afternoon in the Science lab, but you didn’t want to hear it because you’ve waited three long years for Lyle to notice you and today he finally did.”
Jael jumped up and glared down at her friend. “So you think he only talked to me because he thinks I live in a commune? What kind of strange reasoning is that?”
“The male kind.”
She crossed her arms and turned away, peering toward dark fields that bordered the parking lot. What Brianna said hurt too much to accept. Was she really so weird that guys would only go out with her if they thought she was easy?
Brianna stood behind her and sighed. “I’m sorry, Jael.” She touched her arm. “Don’t be mad. I promise to give him the wrong answers for the next science test.”
She blew out a laugh and slowly shook her head. “I’m not mad. Just disgusted with myself for being so stupid. I really thought he liked me. That for once someone could look beyond…” she stopped and turned around. “Everything. And see the real me.”
“I know,” Brianna pulled her into a quick hug and then turned to throw the empty popcorn sack in a nearby garbage can. “You want me to take you home?”
Jael slipped a pack of gum from her pocket. Doublemint. “Nope. I’m good. This may not be the best night of my life but it’s going to be memorable.”
Brianna’s worry lines got even deeper.
Chapter 13
Bigger they are…harder they fall