“Fuck, Carillo! We did it!” Rome shouted as he ran my way after scoring the game-winning touchdown against Notre Dame.
“You did it, Bullet! First-round draft for sure!” I replied, truly excited for my best friend. With what him and his girl had been through over the last few months, the brother deserved it.
Rome’s forehead pressed to mine, and he said, “Both of us, Carillo, we’re both getting the fuck out of this place and starting new lives.”
I nodded but didn’t say anything in response. Rome tapped me on the cheek, then put all his attention on his girl in the stands. Molly had returned just before the game, after weeks of no word. She had come back to Rome, to Bama, and I’d never seen Rome play so well in my whole life.
Like a magnet was pulling at my back, I turned my head to gaze across the field behind me, and there, through the parting of the crowd, was Pix, her eyes fixed on mine. Un piccolo folleto oscuro, I thought… a little dark pixie.
I felt an overwhelming sense of nausea roll through my stomach as I saw the shedding pain shining in her eyes. She looked so tiny in her Crimson Tide uniform, gripping white pompoms in her hands, her black hair perfectly curled and her scarlet lips and kohl-rimmed eyes routinely in place. That’s when I noticed the slenderness of her arms, of her legs. Lexi immediately covered her chest with her arms, and her eyes grew blank and stared at the grass.
Shit.
I moved to go toward her, when her chin snapped up and she slowly shook her head. That action had me stilling, and before I knew it, Lyle came to where she stood, and like an Oscar winning actress, she became that fake persona, became what everyone else knew her to be: peppy and fun-loving Lexi. It killed me to see it, knowing the real beauty of the person she always hid.
I watched as she placed a kiss on Lyle’s cheek, then sprinted to Molly in the stands, where Molly immediately wrapped Lexi in her arms. I caught Lexi stiffen, but again, no one else seemed to notice.
Were they all so fuckin’ blind that their best friend was losing it? But then I saw Cass and the intensely worried look on her face. Thank fuck, someone else was concerned. I could tell by her stern face, and her knowing look to Ally, that they were onto my girl.
The commentator moved to the mic, and it was time for the trophy presentation. Taking a deep breath, I moved to the stage and tried to seem proud.
Another pretender to add to the field.
National Championship Homecoming Party
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
The party was in full swing, and after a full-day homecoming parade through the streets of Tuscaloosa, proudly showing the trophy, we were back at the frat house, celebrating the win. The place was overflowing with students fucked off their faces on liquor… and for many, something more.
As I scanned the party, I took a swig of my Peroni, checking no campus cops had come on the grounds and that the dean was nowhere in sight.
Nothing, that was good.
Hearing a cough behind me, I turned to see some freshman kid looking nervous, his eyes darting all over the place.
“What?” I asked curtly.
“Been told to see you about getting something to party with.”
Checking we weren’t being watched, I said, “What you after?”
“E, coke, don’t matter.” He shrugged.
“Summerhouse, over there, behind the trees.” I flicked my chin in the direction he needed to go.
The kid’s eyes widened with excitement, and just as he went to walk away, I grabbed his arm. “Don’t be telling no one who sold you that shit.” I tapped the stidda on my cheek, and the kid just gulped.
“H-Heighters?” he whispered and pretty much shit himself on the spot. I nodded slowly, and, ducking his head, he muttered, “I won’t, Carillo. I won’t say a thing.”
I watched him disappear from view and knew Axel would be loving this volume of trade. The coin we were making tonight would be enough for my mamma to see out the rest of her days the right way, but I fuckin’ hated doing this shit on my turf, with my teammates all around.
“Carillo! Get the fuck here!”
Hearing my name, I turned to see Rome sitting on a sofa, Molly on his lap, with all the rest of the gang around them. Well, all except Lexi. I had no idea where she was.
As I approached, Rome, all full of smiles, motioned for me to sit down.
“Where you keep disappearing to, Carillo? You ain’t ever around no more,” he asked, and I shrugged.
“Ain’t been going nowhere. You’re just too wrapped up in your girl to notice me anymore,” I joked.
Rome’s eyes narrowed slightly, and I knew he was detecting something was up. Molly, however, just pulled Rome in for a kiss. Cass and Jimmy-Don were unusually quiet. In fact, the whole group was.
I caught Molly nudging Rome in the side and he nodded his head at her. “We’re moving in together,” he said proudly, and we all gaped at them in response.