Chapter 21: Blown away - Monet

The energy is palpable beneath my feet, the concrete literally vibrating. Amy and I are going to sit directly behind the team, again tickets courtesy of her. The stadium is massive, and it feels like I'm going to cry thinking that Cole will be in the middle of all this.

The crowd collectively shouts boooooooooo when the other team comes running out, and the roars are deafening when it's our time to run out of the tunnel.

"Oh my god!" I hold my cheeks, laughing at the spectable, my eyes on Cole as he leads the team onto the field with his helmet in the air as if he's going to war. He has black paint smeared underneath his eyes. I see him kiss his wrists and wonder why he does that. They show him on the jumbotron, then they show my mom who waves excitedly at the camera, making me laugh.

I'm so nervous, it feels like I can't even remember the words to the National Anthem when the singer sings it.

"Go Devils!" Amy shouts when her father runs to the sidelines, pointing his finger at her.

"This is insane!" I laugh, waving at Cole who points his helmet at me, but he quickly puts it on his head and listens to what Coach is saying to him, showing him something on his tablet.

There's a buch of guys who have COLE BROWN painted on their chests, and they're standing up and swinging their hips, hoping to get some airtime on the jumbotron. The outfits are ranging from crazy to insane, and I get why Amy was so adamant about us looking good for game day. There are even a pair of red and silver aliens in the bleachers.

Luke looks dangerous in his pads, like nothing and nobody can get past him, and him and Cole do their handshake they invented when they were in elementary school, and the crowd is eating it up.

"I can't look." I close my eyes when the ball gets snapped and passed to Cole.

Amy hollers next to me. "Hell yes!"

Apparently Cole won a lot of yards with his first throw, and the crowd goes even louder than before.

"QB1!" Amy shakes me by the shoulders.

We're both going to get heart attacks after this game.

Cole plays spectacularly in his debut game as QB1, keeping the crowd on their feet. It's like he's transforming right in front of my eyes into a bona fide superstar. He makes big passes, and he even runs the ball when he doesn't find anyone open, leaving the other team in the dust. I feel physicall hurt everytime he gets hit, but he jumps right back up like the big guy who tackled him didn't do any damage.

Football is a violent sport, and I send a silent prayer up that he never gets hurt. One can see when the other team gets frustrated that they're losing, because they start to dish out some dirty tackles, and Luke even gets into a fight with one of the other defensive linesman. It doesn't stop our team or Cole from throwing another touchdown straight into the endzone, solidifying our win.

I'm right on my feet with the rest of the red sea, hugging Amy. Reporters are on the field, pushing microphones into Cole's face, who is hugging Luke.

"Your boy is famous now!" Amy shouts. "His life will never be the same again!"

And here I thougt his life was already changed. is it even going to become more different?

That nagging concern in the back of my mind doesn't go away, hoping that he will be okay with all of this. I want him to be able to enjoy his success and not let his past interfere with his greatness.

Amy leads us back up to the box where the people are celebrating with champagne, and Mom hugs me with happiness.

"I can't believe he got so good!" She exclaims. "When did it even happen?"

"I know, right!"

"Are you sure you want to come out for dinner? I know you guys want to go out and have some fun." She holds me by the arms, looking sheepish.

"Of course I want to have dinner with you, silly goose," I hug her again.

"Cole might take a while to join you guys, though, he has like press conferences and meetings and stuff." Amy tells us.

"So, you and your mother can join us, it will be nice to just have a girly dinner." Mom says.

"Are you sure?" Mrs. Murray says. "I'm sure you want to catch up with Monet."

"No, please join us." I tell them. "You guys have been so amazing to me, I'd like my mom to get to know who I spend most of my time with."

Amy beams. "That is so sweet."

And the four of us do have a good time, and I feel amazing that I have people who seems to be really good, and that Mom approves of.

"You two should go out." Mrs. Murray says, winking at us after dinner. "I'm sure there is a party somewhere you'd like to join."

"Yeah, we're headed over to Greek Row." Amy doesn't let herself get invited twice. "And we know the rules. No drinking and driving, live location on at all time. Don't go home with creepy boys."

"I never said anything about going home with boys at all!" Mrs. Murray drawls.

I hug and kiss Mom for a long time. "Please let me know as soon as you leave in the morning, and updates on your whereabouts. Drive safely, I love you."

"You're the one sounding like the mother." She hugs me a little tighter. "Enjoy yourself, and remember you're only young once. Enjoy it."

Greek Row is packed as we suspected, and the parties look even bigger than the last time we were here.

Amy gets us in like she did last time, but this time around we get bands that says we can have a drink. The fever of the win is high, and everybody is dancing and laughing, me and Amy joining in the utter chaos.

The crowd goes wild when the football players arive, and Amy waves her arms in the air until Luke spots her. Is he blushing? His big frame pushes through the crowd until he has us both in an arm and swinging us around.

"You better keep on winning!" She laughs. "Where's Cole?"

"He went to the hotel to see his mother first." I don't miss the way he's looking at Amy, spelling big trouble. "Cole is designated driver ladies. Tonight we drink!"