(11) That's Him

The picture is an example of the school colors. I couldn't find anything else similar.

Enjoy!!

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Football turned out to be a pretty big deal in this town.

First of all, Will came home from work early just to get to the game on time. Carolynn cooked dinner early and fed Makennah and Grace. Grace decided to come over to her place instead of Makennah heading to hers. Carolynn was thrilled of course and went above and beyond the call of duty for dinner.

They left the house around five pm in order to get a good parking spot and a decent seat in the stands. Carolynn supplied two chairs for Grace and Makennah to utilize in the end zone as their seats. Both Grace and Carolynn explained that all of the students - especially the girls who were picked by the players to wear their jerseys - sat in the end zone and made it the student section.

Makennah had never seen such antics before. At the same time, it thrilled her. There was so much excitement and energy surging through the air. Makennah had to admit that she felt a little special wearing someone's jersey. Okay, not someone. Theo. She felt really special wearing Theo's jersey especially because she was the new girl, just getting acquainted.

"This way!" Grace grabbed Makennah's hand and dragged her to the end zone where they could set up their chairs with a bird's eye view of the field.

Because it was still technically summer, the sun shone high in the sky but would descend into dusk as the game went on. Makennah admired the Colorado sky with the stands in the background beginning to fill with friends, families, and supporters of the Braxton High Academy football team.

"Hey, new girl." Meredith with all of her luxurious raven hair plopped in Grace's seat while she jogged to the concession stand to snatch up a few candy bars. Makennah vowed not to eat more than one for the sake of her intestines.

"What's up?"

"How's soccer going?" Meredith asked.

"I decided to join the team," Makennah informed her.

"I knew you would! That's so great! So to be honest, I have a question."

Makennah's eyebrows raised. "What's that?"

"You're living with the Sinclair's right?"

She nodded. "Yes, ma'am." So far, no one had been nosy enough to enquire about how that assignment occurred but Makennah didn't dare bring it up. From what she could gather, no one knew she was a foster child.

"And can you keep a secret?"

She thought about Cassandra and Matt and the mystery man she was cheating with. "Definitely."

Clearing her throat, Meredith delicately leaned across the arm of her chair and bent her mouth towards Makennah's ear. She leaned in, even though she hated whispering. "I have the hots for Nick."

Makennah raised her eyebrows and nodded her head. "Go on."

"We have two classes together, and we talk here and there. I think he might be a little interested in me. Or maybe I'm totally overthinking it. I was wondering if you could be my little mole in the Sinclair household?"

Makennah smiled. No matter what she knew about Nick, she would lie through her teeth to protect Meredith's heart. "Sure, of course." Makennah understood that Nick was well acquainted with the ladies of Braxton High. In fact, he regularly had dates and gatherings with many of them weekly. But the more she thought about it, she could pretty accurately guess that none of those outings were serious. "Does he flirt with you?"

Meredith shrugged and turned her eyes on the field. "To be honest, I'm not the best with flirting. I know how to obviously." Obviously. "But when it comes down to it, I just freeze up and my mouth doesn't quite...work or talk or...do anything!" Meredith threw her hands up in frustration.

Makennah touched her arm lightly. "No worries. We'll work on it. And maybe you can come over soon with Grace and we can have a girls night. I'll plan it around a night that Nick will be home," she whispered so that other nearby students wouldn't overhear.

"Really?! You would do that?"

"Um, duh." If there was one skill set that Makennah could brag about, it was privately meddling in other people's lives while expertly pretending to mind her own business. She perfected the craft of innocently eavesdropping and setting things up to go her way. She most definitely could inconspicuously nudge Nick and Meredith together. "We'll find the perfect night. Plus, Carolynn might drop over dead at the idea of having a house full of girls."

Meredith laughed. "She's great. Everyone loves her. She's a charmer."

"And she made very very hot sons."

Meredith dramatically waved her hand over her face as if she were warm. "Oh honey you're tellin' me."

As the two dissolved into giggles and Grace returned with enough candy to feed a herd of horses, the Braxton High band marched into the black running track surrounding the magnanimous football field. An announcer over the speakers cleared his voice into the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, we hope you're ready for a splendid night here back on the Braxton McGregor football field, home to the Braxton High Academy Wolverines!" The Braxton High home stands erupted into cheers and clapping as the band rolled out the school's fight song. "And here they come - the Braxton High Wolverines!" The announcer paused while the football team yelled and hollered through the tunnel entrance and busted through a hand painted sign that the cheerleaders held up.

Makennah followed everyone's lead and stood to her feet while clapping and yelling for their home team. Her eyes instantly searched the football players for the guy whose number she sported - number six, Theodore Alexander.

"The team is led by the senior team captains, quarterback Matthew Sinclair and running-back Theodore Alexander Rose III!"

Annoyingly, she got excited when Theo's name was mentioned. She clapped it away beside Meredith and Grace.

"Isn't he so handsome?" Grace cooed.

"Who?" Makennah asked.

"He literally looks the same as everyone else out there," Meredith pointed out dryly.

"You can tell he's attractive from this far away." Meredith's truthfulness didn't faze Grace one bit.

Meredith shot Makennah a lot and rolled her eyes. Makennah quietly laughed and coughed to cover it up when Grace glanced at her. "Whatever, I think he's so handsome. And everyone knows you can't resist a man in uniform."

"That saying refers to men in the military, I'm pretty sure," Meredith snickered.

"Stop killing my dreams!" Grace shouted, uncharacteristic to her laidback fun nature.

Makennah burst out laughing and took her seat as the team started to stretch and run easy drills. Grace informed her between classes that she had been crushing a little on this football player, Devin Strong. Although Meredith had a point that they all looked the same in their uniforms, Makennah couldn't deny that Grace had chosen a good one. His beautiful caramel colored skin begged to be touched. His African American mother passed down all of her beautiful looks to her three sons.

Makennah's mind drifted off to thoughts of Theo, speaking of hot football players. It did her absolutely no good that he played the field almost the entire game and practically begged for her to stare him down.

Her heart beat synonymously with the drums of the band. Braxton emitted more school spirit than any other school she had been to. Every single person, tall and small, cheered on their team who took the lead by halftime - a score of 14-7.

Before the game was even over, Makennah couldn't wait for the next week to do this all over again. There was something so natural and normal about attending a school with a good football team. She was suddenly so thankful and remarkably blessed to be living with a foster family that did normal things and brought Makennah along to normal things and participated in normal things and considered Makennah a normal student and encouraged normal high school activity. She felt so normal. For one night, she wasn't that foster kid with a mom in prison - again.

No one even knew who she was or where she came from. It was like a fresh start, better than anything she had before.

The rest of the game passed in a blur, leading to a win for the Wolverines. From the chatter surrounding them from other students, Makennah learned that the Wolverines were expecting an undefeated season - as they usually did. The team was one of the best in the state.

"So now we wait!" Grace accounted packing up her chair.

"What?" Makennah asked.

"At the end of the game," Meredith motioned for Makennah to follow off the end zone. "We typically wait for the guys to get done in the locker room. We all cheer and clap for them blah blah blah."

"You're wearing a jersey. So expect to see your player," Grace said.

Great. More time with Theo so he can whisper in her ear and tease her endlessly? Joy.

Decidedly, Makennah put Theo out of her mind and focused on Meredith. If they all waited around for the players and Makennah is a part of the Sinclair family, she undoubtedly would run in with Nick. Nick and Meredith. A plan formulated in her mind. It might not happen that night, but she for sure was going to make a connection happen between them without anyone suspecting a thing from her.

"Couldn't keep your eyes off me the whole game, could you?" A low teasing voice whispered in her ear. Wisps of blonde hair danced across the edge of her ear and cheek with a little encouragement from Theo's breath.

Not to encourage him, Makennah didn't pull away or act like it bothered her even though it really did. "You're fabricating things in your head to add to your fantasies that keep you awake at night."

Sweaty, winded Theo laughed close to her ear and waved at an older couple that congratulated him on the win. Indeed, he deserved all the praise as he scored three touchdowns that evening and scored most of the points that carried the team to the win. Makennah could recognize raw talent when she saw it. "No fabrications, Kennah. I felt your eyes on me."

Finally, she looked up at him with mild amusement. "I think you're dreamin' and just wishing I was."

Theo slipped a finger under the sleeve of his jersey on her and rubbed her skin softly with his finger. "You're wearing my jersey, Thomas. Could have taken it off when you realized it was mine. Didn't have to wear it to the game."

Her skin burned where his finger touched her. Before anyone noticed, he dropped his hand and shook hands with the principal who congratulated him on the win.

Every retort that she worked up against Theo drifted off as she focused on a middle-twenty something man in a Wolverines hat and polo work his way through the crowd, tucking a clipboard under his arm. Something about his walk and build seemed familiar to her.

She was granted a better look as the man waltzed up to Theo and slapped him on the shoulder. "Good game, Theo. See you on Monday."

"Thanks, Coach! See you then!" He shook his hand and waved him on before returning his attention to Makennah who couldn't keep her eyes off the mystery man.

"What's that look on your face?" Theo asked quizzically.

Her mouth dropped open as she gasped. "Who is that?!" She whisper-yelled.

"Him?" Theo pointed over his shoulder at the man he called coach. "That's the offensive assistant coach for the football team."

"That...I'm pretty sure...I think that's the guy that was kissing Cassandra! That's him!" Makennah shifted closer to Theo and kept her voice low.

"What!" Theo's barely kept his voice down. "You're kidding!"

"I'm dead serious! Look!" Makennah pointed across the parking lot to Cassandra who was watching the coach walk away. "She's staring at him!"

"Oh my God."

"Do you remember his license plate? I'm gonna follow him and see what car he drives!"

"Good idea! I'll send it to you!" Theo whipped out his phone and dropped his duffel bag on the ground.

Without another thought, Makennah swiftly walked away to follow the coach to his car.

"Makennah, where are you going?" Grace yelled.

Makennah ignored her. Her heart sped up as she tracked the coach with her eyes, not wanting to lose him in the dissipating crowd.

"Hey, kid! Here they come!" Will intercepted Makennah with a swift grab to her shoulders. Will draped his around around her shoulders and waved to Matt and Nick who were just exiting the locker room underneath the home stand bleachers.

Carolynn clapped her hands excitedly. "Congrats boys! What's a great start to the season!"

Makennah's eyes wandered over Nick's shoulder to connect with Theo's. He shrugged sadly and pointed to his phone. Makennah nodded in understanding.

"Great game," she said to Matt as she hugged him. Her heart went out to him silently as pieces of the puzzle started to fall together.

Makennah slithered away from Will and slinked away to try to get an eye on the coach. He was long gone and her chance at following him to his car passed. Confirmation of his identity and the connection to Cassandra slipped right through their fingers. She sighed heavily.

Things just went from bad to worse.

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One win down for the Wolverines 🎉

Comment and don't forget to add this story to your library! What do you think of Makennah? Do you like her?

Xoxo

W. Carolina