Page 13

13

HEIDI

L eo’s suite at the stadium buzzes with people, the smell of popcorn and some kind of meat wafting throughout the room.

“Heidi!” Briar calls, her arms waving in the air as she calls me over to where she and Isla sit in the front row of seats behind the glass.

It’s a hot September day, and I’m just glad to be in a room with air conditioning.

“Hey,” I smile as Juniper and I approach them. Elara immediately leaps from her mom’s lap to give Juni a big hug, and I sit in the seat next to Isla.

“There’s a lot of people here,” I say as I look around.

Isla shakes her head with an eyeroll. “My brother has been inviting basically anyone he meets for some reason?”

“He’s been trying to make new friends,” Briar adds with a nod. “The guy standing over there? Just a random man he met outside of the gas station the other day.”

I pretend to stretch, finding the man by the buffet. “Isn’t that a little dangerous?” I ask as I watch him scan the room.

Briar shrugs. “Nah. I contacted his manager and they did a background check when the guy gave them his name for the tickets. He’s just,” she shrugs, “a dude.”

“Yeah. There’s a lot of random people. But also his PR team is here too. Since they helped him,” Briar rolls her eyes behind Isla, “they’ve been at just about everything working to keep up the image.”

“I’d like to argue that they didn’t really do shit,” Briar tells me as Isla leans forward. “That was all me, baby.”

Honestly, I think she’s right.

As the game starts, people file into the seats behind us and everything becomes much more packed. Juniper and Elara stand in front of us, eagerly sticking their heads out the window to cheer for Leo, Emmett, or Uncle Owen.

The quarter starts slowly, but time starts to move faster as our defense hardly let the California team move at all.

“Alright, third down,” Isla says under her breath, her hands clasped firmly in her lap.

I want to ask how many downs there are and what happens, but I bite my tongue.

The stadium is oddly quiet as the play starts and in an instant, number 51 has his arms around the quarterback’s waist, pulling him to the ground.

Juniper jumps up and down screaming as cheers erupt around us.

“Emmett’s first sack of the season!” Briar cheers as she high-fives Juni, who then hugs Elara.

When our offense runs back to the field, it’s not long before Owen is catching the first touchdown of the season, celebrating with his signature point toward our suite. The blush creeps up Isla’s neck, and she’s instantly a tomato as the fans around us clap, pointing their phones toward her.

On the next play, there’s a flag right as the ball is thrown back to the quarterback.

“Offsides,” the ref says over the speaker.

I glance toward the girls as they eagerly await what happens next. “What’s offsides?” I ask them suddenly, finally gaining the courage to actually ask.

Isla’s head snaps to me, her mouth opening, but before she can get any words out, the random man Leo invited laughs from behind us. “What are you doing here if you don’t know what offsides means?” the man chuckles. “I swear women should just stay home from these things.”

Isla’s mouth falls open as she stares at him, a fire lit in her eyes. “Get out,” she says sternly.

“Excuse me?” he asks, shocked.

“She said get out,” Briar repeats, having her back. “And I would do it quickly before I call security.”

The man opens his mouth to fight, but there’s something in Briar’s eyes that make him stop. Instead, he gets up with a scoff, making his way up and out of the room.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I tell her.

“Of course I did,” she says with a wave of her hand.

“What was your question?” Isla asks quietly, grabbing my hand.

I shake my head. “It was nothing,” I tell her, feeling myself shrink. The man may be gone, but the room is still crowded, and I just want to get through the game without any more issues.

Isla looks like she wants to argue and push me to talk about it, but she doesn’t.

“Have you been able to get a new camera?” Briar asks me, and I recognize a deflection when I see one.

“Not yet,” I tell her simply. I haven’t gotten around to it. I want to, of course. But if I’m honest after the shitty jobs I’ve had toward the end of my time doing photography, it’s nice to have a little breather. I want to be able to fall in love with it again.

“I think you need to find something else that you’re passionate about. Something that gets you out of the house, you know?” Isla stops for a second, thinking as halftime is announced and the people around us get up. “You loved running in high school. Maybe try that? I know it used to help with your anxiety a lot.”

This is true. And it’s also true that it’s something I haven’t done in years. I’m not sure how my body would react to me picking it back up, but I would also be lying if I said that I hadn’t thought about it a couple of times.

“I may,” I reply with a polite smile.

The rest of the game goes by in a blur. I focus more on Elara and Juniper’s excitement than anything else, counting down the seconds until it’s over and I can go home.

I can’t wait for the day things become easier for me and life gets a little less mean.