Time out was over before I could digest Alexander’s odd interaction. The man had a vibe that told you to bring a rape whistle if he came around, but I was so far into the iceberg that no one would care if I used one.

Just a handful of time was left on the clock as the boys lined up face to face for maybe their last play of the game.

The ball snapped and our team sent the ball flying across the field as all team members sprinted, dodged, and tackled their way down the field.

A swift catch by one of our teammates and he was off to the end zone to score a touchdown.

That’s it, we won!

Kelly and I stood to cheer for the win with the rest of the bleachers in a victory chant while the player danced his heart out inside the endzone.

We watched the bustle of people moving from the bleachers while teams huddled in both defeat and victory. Kelly turned to me, “Do you think what that creep said is true?”

I shrugged, finishing off my pretzel. “At this point, why wouldn’t it be? You’ve seen what certain assets open you up to. Plus, we have guys who have been working their tails off to get into pro teams. Let at least those ones have the win.”

“Huh,” she said, “I didn’t think about it really. Guess there is no fair fight in this world.”

No fair fight indeed.

We filed out onto the field to exit the football arena, locked arm in arm as always, and I caught something in my peripheral vision.

A football player ran toward us.

He stopped in front of us and removed his helmet. Garrett. “Fallon! You came to my game?”

“It’s a sporting event for the school.” I tried to get Kelly to tug me along, but we were stuck under prying eyes trying to discern the drama.

“I still haven’t had a chance to talk to you about anything.” He moved closer, reaching out for me.

I tried to push his hand down. “Look, not here.” My eyes darted back and forth trying to gauge the amount of attention that was on me.

He evaded my swat to his hand and grabbed my wrist, pleading with his eyes. “Then come on, we can go talk privately.”

Unlatching from Kelly’s arm, I tried to pry his hand off me. “No, Garrett. I told you we were over, and I cannot talk to you.”

He ignored me and continued to pull me along. First it was Alexander, now Garrett. When will it end? Last semester was so much easier...

Kelly tried to stop us but got tangled up in the rubberneckers and groups of people just trying to get out of the stadium. I was on my own with Garrett dragging me away.