Shailynn knew the moment she saw Ricky’s car pull up that she would be alone the rest of the night. Her game buddy, Tiffany, wasn’t going to stick around much longer now that her “bad-a**-of-the-moment” had just arrived.

Shailynn shook her head to herself, letting her long, cascade of curls dance over her shoulders lightly. She should have known. Tiff doesn’t even like football, but there isn’t any other way to see “Rebel Ricky” on a Friday night. Her parents hate him, which is exactly why she’s seeing him.

Tiffany would bat her big, green eyes at Shailynn and there would be no second thoughts on forgiveness. Shailynn knew her best friend since middle school was only trying to piss off her parents, so apologies never took long.

Slowly, Shailynn turned to face Tiff.

“Just go.” She said to her friend. “Have fun, be safe, and please call me tomorrow. Okay?”

“Shai, you’re the BEST!” screeched Tiffany as she wrapped her arms around Shailynn. She dashed to the parking lot and jumped in Ricky’s car like it was the only safe option left in the world.

Shailynn looked back at the game. Half-time. In her terms, this meant nacho-time. She picked up her pink Gucci purse and headed to the opposite side of the field where she could purchase her mid-game snack. Making her way through the crowd, she noticed a group of four, cute boys sitting in the visiting team’s bleachers. One of them spotted her, and she quickly averted her gaze to the ground feeling very embarrassed.

“One, two, three, four…” She counted her steps quietly to herself, and waited until it was safe to look back up. Her arctic blue eyes shone in the lights as she searched the bleachers for The One Who Caught Her Staring. Left, right, up, down, he was no longer in sight.

Shailynn sighed and continued through the massive gel of people that swarmed around her. Within a few minutes she would be back at her seat, nachos in hand, ready to cheer her team to victory. As she got up to the man taking orders she felt a hand on her shoulder. She whipped her head around and found herself staring into a pair of chocolate brown eyes, but this time she couldn’t look away.

“Hi.” His voice was as smooth as the look of his skin. “My name is Kaleb. You looked lonely.”

“Uh… Yeah… My, uh, friend just, um, left.” She stammered through each word, feeling stupid when she heard herself.

“Well, I know you go for the home team, but if you want you can come hang with me and my buddies.”

“How do you know I’m from the other school?”

“For one, your shirt. For two, I don’t see you around my school.”

“Oh…” She whispered, blushing once again. “Uh… Well… Sure, I’ll sit by you guys.”

“Sweet!” He grinned as the word glided off his tongue. “Let’s get over there then.” He took her hand and led her through the crowd. Shailynn completely forgot about her mid-game snack and allowed herself to be pulled along by this cute boy.

All of this was new to her. She wasn’t the type of girl who hung out with boys from out of town. She wasn’t the type of girl who hung out with boys at all. Her first kiss had been robbed from her lips by icky Robbie Landen at lunch in sixth grade. She only held hands with her girlfriends. Dating was a concept that she refused to comprehend just yet. But on this fateful day, she was going to hang out with this adorable mystery from out of town.

They got to the bleachers and looked around for his friends. Shailynn’s stomach was twisting and turning in her gut. It was like an acrobat, doing tricks and giving her feelings she had never felt before. She was nervous, but in a good way. She started to worry about her make-up, breath, and clothes. They kept moving forward, her hand in his to keep from getting lost. He led her down to his friends and plopped down. He then patted the seat to the right of him, encouraging her to sit. She slowly maneuvered her way into the spot next to where he sat, and looked out at the field.

Buzz, buzz! Her phone was vibrating in her pocket. She pulled it out, flipped it open, and read her text. Ricky ditched Tiff and she needed a ride.

“Prefect timing…” She complained to herself.

“What?” asked Kaleb, looking at her with a worried glance.

“My friend… She needs me… I… I’m sorry. I have to go.” She said slowly as she got up.

Out of nowhere, Kaleb grabbed her phone and started messing with it. A few moments later it was returned. She felt the weight of a new contact sitting in her pocket.

“I’ll text you later.” She said, blushing yet again.

“Can’t wait.” He said, winking.

She dashed to her car, thinking to herself…

What a great night.