“Fine,” I stripped off my shirt. “I’ll wear that,” I took the yellow shirt from her hands that was emblazoned with the school’s mascot—a wolverine. “And I’ll ditch the black jeans, but I’m wearing blue jeans, and not…whatever that is.” I waved a hand at the blue cotton shorts she held that I was sure were a twin of the ones she wore. No way was I leaving the dorm with my ass cheeks hanging out. That was not acceptable.
“Fine,” she tossed the shorts back in her closet, “as long as you wear the shirt I’ll survive.”
My lips quirked in amusement at her melodramatics.
Once I was changed and dressed to her satisfaction it was time to leave.
I was shocked by the flow of students when we stepped out of the dorm. Everyone seemed to be heading to the game and I had no idea how we’d even get seats.
“This is crazy.” I hissed under my breath where only Thea could hear.
“No, this is football.”
“Same thing,” I mumbled.
The walk to the stadium took forever thanks to the crowd.
I had to admit that the energy was infectious.
“I don’t have a ticket,” I gasped, when I realized they were checking slips of paper up ahead.
Thea turned her gaze my way. “Chillax, did you really think Cade wouldn’t have us covered?” She held up two tickets. “Best seats in the whole place. We’ll be able to smell their sweat.” She said the last part like it was the greatest thing in the world.
“I’m not sure I want to smell sweat,” I wrinkled my nose.
“Oh,” she grinned, “trust me, you do.”
“Tickets?” A voice interrupted our conversation.
Thea handed them over and pointed to me so the man would know the second ticket was for me. He studied our seat numbers and gave her directions. She appeared bored by his explanation and I figured Thea had been to Cade’s games often enough, even though she hadn’t been a student here until this year.
Since Thea obviously knew where to go I followed her.
At one point we came close to being separated and she grabbed ahold of my arm, dragging me behind her.
Our seats were close to the front and in the middle of the field. The benches where the players would sit were in front of us.
Thea sat down and clapped her hands together, doing a little dance in her seat. “I’m so fucking excited!”
“I gathered that.” I laughed, leaning away from her flailing her arms before she smacked me in the face.
“This is my first time attending a game as an actual student!” She grabbed my arm and gave it a shake, like she was trying to force her excitement into me. “Aren’t you excited, Rae?” Her eyes were large, ready to pop out of her skull. I was pretty sure she’d had too much sugar this morning.
“Ecstatic,” I said, trying to force some enthusiasm into my voice.
Thea seemed to buy it, or at least she pretended to. “God, I love football season.” I swore her whole body was shaking with excitement at this point. I didn’t know how I was going to make it through the next few hours if she kept this up. I wished I had a tranquilizer to give her—yeah, she was that bad.
“You really love football,” I laughed.
“Yep,” she nodded, threading her fingers together so they’d stop tap-dancing across her knees, “I’ve grown up with it.”
A few minutes later I asked, “When do they come out?”
She looked down at her phone. “Anytime now.”
I wanted to ask her what number Cade was, but I figured she’d get the wrong idea, so I kept my mouth shut.
The stadium was large and packed. The sounds of that many voices all speaking at once sounded like a roar. The energy was contagious. I could feel it vibrating through my body.