The Things We Hide

Five

Homecoming Game

The bleachers were filled with energetic high school students. Some cheering for their own team, others shouting rude remarks at the other team. "I love nights like these." I smiled as we cheered. "It's so exciting isn't it?" Sasha waved at Chad. We had been on the sidelines cheering for most of the game. We had five minutes until halftime, and we were winning by twenty points. "Look," Sasha smiled, tapping me, "It's Eli." He was standing in a crowd full of high school students cheering at the top of their lungs. He came here for me, and looked like a fish fresh out of water. His eyes caught mine, and he smiled. "I feel bad, he's here because of me, and I can tell he's out of place." I told her, giving him a smile back. "Well that says a lot about how he feels about you, and he doesn't even know you yet." She stopped cheering and looked at me, "Give it a couple of days, once he gets to know you, he'll find you repulsive." She shrugged playfully.

I punched her shoulder, "Not funny."

"Either way," She let out a breath of air, "you're still going to have to choose." I looked over at Eli, he watched the game closely, then I looked over at Liam, he played the game passionately. He was number 14, that was his family's legacy number. He was the fourth generation quarterback in his family, and there were high hopes of him going pro. "Get back to work girls!" Lisa shouted at us. "Yes ma'am." We said in unison before continuing on with our routines.

When halftime came around, all the football players huddled at the sideline to listen to the coach. The students in the crowd left for concessions, and the cheerleaders sat down, tired. "We're halfway there." Sasha reminded us. "Living on a prayer." I smiled looking over at her, "Bon Jovi."

"That wasn't intentional, but good catch." She laughed.

I flashed her a smile before scanning the bleachers again. Eli was right where I last saw him, only this time, Lisa was talking to him. She was flirting, or at least trying to. I could tell because she was smiling extra wide, twirling her hair around her finger, and biting her lip. Eli on the other hand didn't seem interested. His eyes caught mine again, and they seemed to be begging me to come save him. I smiled, getting up and walking over to him. "Hey Eli." I greeted sweetly, "Hi Lisa." I dropped the tone of her greeting.

"Kourtney." She said with a bit of an attitude. I ignored her and focused on Eli, "Are you ready for our date tonight?" I smiled. He smirked, cleaning in close to me, "You know it."

"I thought you were going out with Liam tomorrow." She put her hands on her hips and smirked as if she'd won. The whole gesture seemed a bit childish for her. She must really be interested in Eli. "We've discussed that already." Eli said not taking his eyes off me. "Yeah, we did." I smiled loving the fact that he was cool about me doing it. Just then, I felt a presence behind me. I looked over at Lisa, her smirk was back. I looked over at Eli, his facial expression wasn't readable. "Hey." I felt arms wrap themselves around me. "Liam!" I smiled with fake enthusiasm, he was in the dark about the whole thing. "Hey, nice game."

"Thank you." He said. He looked up at Eli, then looked over at Lisa. "What's up?" He asked, feeling the energy was off. "Nothing." I smiled. There was an awkward silence. I looked over at Lisa, who was enjoying every moment of this. I looked up at Eli, then over at Liam. They looked at each other. There was an unspoken tension between the two.

"Eli." Eli broke the silence, and held his hand out for Liam to shake. "Liam." He said as he shook Eli's hand. The awkward silence came back. "Liam, why don't we go talk to the other team mates, I'm sure I'm gonna need help breaking Sasha and Chad away from each other." I said, grabbing his arm and pulling him away. "Bye Eli, I'll see you later."

He gave me a nod, then Lisa got his attention. I rolled my eyes as I watched them. He still seemed uninterested, but Lisa was persistent. Who knows how long it would be until she had him wrapped around her finger. "That was weird, did you see the way he was looking at you?" Liam asked as we made our way out of earshot. "No, but Eli's a friend, just like you are." I shrugged, feeling the need to state that fact.

Liam frowned at the statement, "I want to be more."

"What?" I stopped in my tracks. "You heard me, I want to be more." He repeated taking a step closer to me. "Liam," I shook my head, "you've had all this time, and you choose now to do this? Do you know how long I've waited?" He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Coach Barry. He was calling all the players back to discuss the game plan one more time. As if he drill it into them enough these last few days.

"Hey girl." Sasha said fixing her hair, no doubt coming from a heated make-out session with Chad. "What's wrong?" She asked, seeing the expression on my face. "Liam just told me he wanted to be more than friends."

"What'd you say?" She asked, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. I shook my head, "I told him he shouldn't have waited so long." I looked over at Eli, who looked at me with sad eyes. Did he hear our conversation? There was no way, we weren't that close, and it was way too noisy. "That date with Eli is going to be awkward." Sasha said, seeing our silent exchange, "Really awkward."

Just then, Lisa passed us. She gave me her stank eye the second she passed, and bumped my shoulder. "Apparently so will cheer practice." Sasha added, trying to make a joke. I shook my head not seeing anything funny about this situation.

I am proud to report that Sasha was wrong, the date with Eli was everything but awkward. We had the best time. We went out to dinner at a restaurant across town. He got us a private booth, so we'd be comfortable not following the 'black tie' dress code. "Isn't this a bit expensive for a pair of high schoolers?" I asked, browsing the menu. The cheapest item on the menu was about seventy dollars, and that was for the smallest portion. "Don't worry, a family friend owns the place." He assured me. After dinner, we walked the town square eating ice cream from his favorite pallor. "She would not leave." He laughed. We were talking about Lisa, and how hard she tried to get his attention. "You think it's funny now, but wait until she's in your face twenty-four seven." I shivered thinking about the guys that have fallen victim to her. Lisa was the kind of girl that didn't take no for an answer. "That bad huh?" He asked, smiling. "I wouldn't prefer that method when it comes to getting a guy." I shrugged. "Is that so?" He smirked, "What method do you prefer?"

I shrugged, holding my empty cup of cookies and cream in my hand, "I don't know if I even have one." I said honestly, "I could tell you that I'm full of mystery and attract rather than chase. You never let them know your next move type of girl. But truth be told, I'm a mess when it comes to dating."

"Interesting." He said as we walked, "You're nothing like the girls I know."

I gave him a questioning gaze. "Where I'm from, the girls throw themselves at me, much like your friend at the game. They aren't very truthful with their intentions either."

"Her name is Lisa, and trust me, she is not my friend." I looked up at him, "Your ego is huge, the girls throw themselves at you, really?" I couldn't help but tease. He didn't seem to get the joke, "It's more of my background, that's the only reason why they throw themselves at me." "Background? What, are you some prince or something?" I asked jokingly. He shook his head laughing, "A prince? I wish."

"So what do you mean by your background?" I asked. "That's a discussion for another time." He looked at his watch, "It's almost one in the morning."

"What?" I questioned looking around. The square was completely empty, the business shut down for the night. It was just the two of us. But I felt safe with Eli, like I somehow knew he wouldn't let anything happen to me. Well out here anyway, what would happen at home? The president himself wouldn't be able to save me from the wrath of my parents. I started freaking out just thinking about it, "My mom is going to kill me." I put my hand over my face and let out a sigh. Eli took my hands in his, "Everything will be fine, I promise." And for some reason, I believed him.

"I feel like I can talk to you all night." I told him as he drove me home, "And I feel like I haven't even scratched the surface of you. You still seem like a mystery to me."

"Rule number one:" He smirked looking over at me, "Never let them know your next move."