Maybe He Wasn't a Demon Fan

 

 

Friday night football at the Peachville High stadium was like going to a fair without all the rides. There was popcorn, cotton candy, music, and practically everyone in town came. Ella Mae gave us each money for admission and snacks, then told us to meet her back at the Shadowford van ten minutes after the final buzzer.

 

Mary Anne, who had yet to say two words to me since I moved to Peachville, took off to sit with Ella Mae. Courtney, Agnes and I stuck together.

 

“So, what do you want to do?” Agnes said. “We could find a spot on the bleachers and watch the kickoff. Or we could get something to eat. We could always walk around and look for cute guys. There's this one guy, Grant, that's in my English class. He's delicious. I'll introduce you to him if I see him. I have a major crush on him.”

 

We walked along the back of the metal bleachers. Agnes talked nonstop and I tried to pretend I wasn't searching for Jackson in the crowd. He hadn't been with us on the Shadowford van, but his car wasn't in the driveway either.

 

“What about you?” she asked.

 

“What?” “You know, boys. Did you have a boyfriend in Atlanta?” I shook my head. “Not really. There was this one guy, Lucas. He was sort of my boyfriend for a while, but I've moved around too much to stay with anyone.”

 

“I know what you mean,” Agnes said. “Before Shadowford, I had been in like eight different schools.” “What about you, Courtney?” I wanted to include her in the conversation, but for the most part, Courtney seemed really shy.

 

“I've never had a boyfriend,” she said.

 

“Is there anyone at PHS that you like?” Agnes asked. “You've been going to school here for what? Four years now?”

 

“Uh-huh.” Courtney pushed her straight blond hair out of her face, and for the first time, I noticed how pretty she was. “There's no one really special, I guess.” “I think we should try to find a boyfriend for Harper.”

 

“Whoa, no thanks,” I said, shaking my head vigorously. It wasn't that I was opposed to having a boyfriend, of course, I just didn't want Agnes picking him out for me. My mind flashed to Jackson's dark green eyes and the way my entire body had gone hot when he came close to me.

 

“We'll see,” she said with a smile. “It won't be hard for a girl like you.”

 

“Why do you say that?”

 

“Just look at you,” Agnes said. “You're tall, skinny. You have perfect skin. And I'd kill to have such pretty wavy blonde hair. You know, you're pretty enough-” “If you tell me I'm pretty enough to be a cheerleader, I'm gonna punch you in the face,” I joked.

 

She giggled and bumped me jokingly with her shoulder. “Fine, I won't say it.”

 

As we turned the corner, I scanned the parking lot again for Jackson's car, but there was no sign of him. Maybe he wasn't a demon fan.

 

The announcer's voice boomed through the loudspeaker. “Welcome Demon fans to another night of Peachville High football!”

 

“Come on,” Agnes said, taking my hand. “Let's go down to the field to watch the team break through the banner.”

 

As we made our way down to the field, I watched as the cheerleaders unfolded a huge banner that said “GO DEMONS! BEAT THE HOGS!” in bright blue letters. The marching band stood in two lines blaring pep music while the fans crowded onto the field, forming a sort of runway for the team.

 

Toward the front, I could see Tori Fairchild standing on another cheerleader's shoulders. She was admittedly gorgeous, and from here she actually looked human. It sucked that after only one week at school, there was already someone who made my stomach hurt when I saw them. Especially when it was one of the town's golden girls.

 

Just then, the band started up the school's fight song and the team broke through the banner, bursting onto the field amid roars from the crowd. I clapped along without enthusiasm. Boys in blue and black shiny football jerseys rushed by, some of them jumping into the air to rile up the fans. Drake Ashworth passed in front of me, and I felt a stab of hurt.

 

He'd been so nice to me when we first met. Flirty, even. But all week at school, he'd treated me like I was a nobody. A social outcast. Not once had he acknowledged our conversation in his sister's store or the fact that he even knew who I was. To make matters worse, he was in my calculus class, the one disadvantage to being put in a senior level course. Once, I'd caught him staring at me during class, but when I smiled, he'd gotten a distasteful look on his face, then turned away.

 

“He's so cute, isn't he?” Agnes said, forcing me to look away.

 

“Who?”

 

“Drake. That is who you're staring at right? And don't say no. I've seen the way you stare at him sometimes in the caf.”

 

I followed the crowd back toward the bleachers. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”

 

“Okay, say what you will, but I know the truth, don't I Courtney?”

 

Courtney shrugged and looked at me with an apology in her eyes. Her hair hung over her face again and her shoulders hunched slightly forward. No doubt she had been putting up with Agnes' match-making for a couple of years now. I winked at her to show her that I wasn't bothered by it, and she smiled shyly back at me.

 

“Let's find a seat on the bleachers,” I said.

 

I wasn't surprised when Agnes picked a spot a few rows in front of the cheerleaders. She argued that she needed to watch their cheers closely so she could practice them at home. I for one didn't understand why she was already thinking about tryouts that were still a good seven months away, but I wasn't going to force her to sit somewhere else.

 

Brooke, the dark-haired senior captain, started most of the cheers, and I was amazed at how actively the crowd participated. Sure, most schools had a section that would cheer along with the group cheers. But this crowd? They were obsessed. When Brooke started cheering “Give me a D!”, the entire home side of the stadium roared back, “D!”. It was honestly so loud, it startled me. Talk about team spirit. As the game went on, I started to wonder if more people had come to watch the cheerleaders than the actual football game, which, by the way, the Demons won, 34-10. Much to my dismay, Drake Ashworth was a talented quarterback. There had been a small part of me that hoped he would suck so I could boo him when his passes were intercepted. No such luck.

 

“Great game,” Agnes said on the way back to the Shadowford van.

 

“Thrilling,” I said.

 

“You're going to have to learn some school spirit if you plan to come to the games with me from now on,” she said, teasing. “I have a feeling the Demons will grow on you once you've been here for a while. We've got a great team this year.”

 

Considering the fact that all of the cheerleaders had it out for me and the team's quarterback had treated me like roadkill, I seriously doubted I'd be donning a Demon tattoo and buying blue pompoms anytime soon. The game's one redeeming moment happened as we walked into the parking lot. I heard laughter erupt somewhere off to my right, and when I looked to find the source, I saw Jackson Hunt sitting on top of the his car with a few guys I didn't recognize.

 

Before I could stop myself, I smiled and waved. Jackson, who had been heckling some poor Demons fan who was decked out in full blue face paint, looked my way. His normally spiky dark hair fell forward over his face slightly, framing his dark eyes. A wave of warmth washed over me as our eyes met.

 

He lifted his eyebrows suggestively, then the corners of his mouth lifted slightly in a smile that made his mouth look oh-so-kissable. I melted from head to toe in a rush of desire. Never in my life had a guy inspired such a raw physical reaction in my body. I felt drawn to him.

 

Did he feel it too?

 

“Who are you staring at?” Agnes asked, standing on her tippy-toes to see around the crowd.

 

Courtney glanced over at me and smiled, then hung her head forward. So she had seen my blush. She knew my secret crush. I wondered if she would betray it to Agnes, but she climbed into the van without a word, leaving Agnes to wonder what she'd missed.

 

“No one,” I said.

 

“You saw someone,” she said, climbing in after Courtney. “Trust me, I know that look. Harper likes a boy.”

 

I laughed and glanced back over toward Jackson's car, but he was turned away, talking to his friends. Out of habit, I reached up to touch my mother's sapphire pendant. It was a movement I made a hundred times a day without even thinking about it. Only this time, the pendant was gone.