The Stadium's Star [COMPLETE]

Chapter 24

Green bean casserole turns out to be fairly easy to make. I just stick it in the oven and top it with a mountain of fried onions. It sits nestled between the heaping plates of food lining the table. As we take our seats, it takes everything in me to not dig in.

"How's school been?" Carrie asks as we pass the plates around.

I chew on my food, remembering the trainwreck that is the past few months.

"It's been good," I say. "The football games at Michigan are really fun."

As intended, this sets off a whole conversation about football that I'm able to hop in and out of while also eating. We're already on seconds when the conversation turns back to me.

"So what's your family got going on for Thanksgiving, Amelia?" Pete asks.

I stop mid-chew.

"Dad," Zack says.

"It's okay," I say, placing a hand on his knee. "I'm not really in contact with my family right now."

"Oh," Pete says, surprisedly. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I say. "Thank you so much for letting me be here."

"I went through something similar," Marcus speaks up. I think it's the first time I've seen him be serious. "Zack will probably tell you but, uh, if you ever need someone to talk to..."

"Thanks," I say, taken aback. "That's really nice of you."

It goes silent again.

"So do you have any stories of Zack doing plays?" I say.

Carrie nods enthusiastically, recalling old stories of him in Princess of the Frog. Soon, we're all holding our stomachs from laughter. It's enough to make me forget that this isn't my family.

A/N: multi-chapter update! also ty for 1M on TCD :))