Chapter 29 Not A Coincidence

Chapter 29 Not A Coincidence
Wren

I had not planned to go.

The game was not something I had been tracking beyond what it meant for Cole and the scouts. I had my own Friday afternoon mapped out. Homework and dinner and maybe another two pages of the notebook if the evening stayed quiet. Westbrook High football games were not on that list.

Mia found out I was not going at four-thirty.

She appeared in my doorway in her jeans and the blue shirt she always wore when she wanted to look like she had made an effort, holding the cardboard sign she had made in blue marker with Cole's name and number on it.

"You are not coming," she said. It was not a question.

"I have things to do," I said.

"What things."

"Homework. Dinner."

"Homework can wait. Dinner is at seven-thirty." She held the sign with both hands and looked at me. "Mom is working."

"I know."

"So if you do not come, Jake and I cannot go."

I looked at her. She looked back at me with those green eyes that were so much older than the rest of her face. She was not performing devastated. She was just stating the situation.

"Jake wants to go," I said.

"Jake has been talking about it all week." She looked at the sign. "Cole does not know we are coming. I wanted it to be a surprise." She paused. "But if you do not come we cannot go."

I looked at my notebook on the desk. I looked at the clock. I looked at Mia's face.

"Let me get my shoes," I said.

Jake made a small sound from the hallway. He had been standing there the entire time.

"Called it," he said.

"You did not call it."

"I told Mia you would say yes. I told her before she even knocked."

"Jake."

"I read people," he said. "It is a genuine skill."

Mia's eyes were very serious. "Mom said if we could not get to the game we had to watch from the kitchen window."

"The kitchen window faces the street," I said. "The field is three miles away."

"I know. I told her that. She said it was the thought that counted." She looked at me. "I do not want the thought to count. I want to actually see Cole play."

"He does not know we have the sign," Jake added. "I made Mia make it two days ago and she has been hiding it under her bed."

"The under\-bed is a secure location," Mia said, without irony.

"You did not call it."

"I told Mia you would say yes. I told her before she even knocked."

"Jake."

"I read people," he said. "It is a genuine skill."

Mia's eyes were very serious. "Mom said if we could not get to the game we had to watch from the kitchen window."

"The kitchen window faces the street," I said. "The field is three miles away."

"I know. I told her that. She said it was the thought that counted." She looked at me. "I do not want the thought to count. I want to actually see Cole play."

"He does not know we have the sign," Jake said. "I made Mia make it two days ago and she has been hiding it under her bed."

"The under\-bed is a secure location," Mia said, without irony.

I tied my laces and we went downstairs and out into the Friday afternoon that smelled like cut grass.

The car park was packed when we arrived. I found a spot near the back and we walked toward the field with the rest of the crowd.

"I have been to a game before," Jake said. "When I was seven. Cole scored twice."

"You have told me this," Mia said.

"I am contextualising for Wren."

"I am aware Cole plays football," I said.

"Yes but the specific two touchdowns establish his pattern." Jake looked at the foam finger he had somehow already acquired. "He performs best in high\-stakes environments. He is a pressure player."

Mia looked at him. "You do not know that."

"I have observed it over three games."

"You watched one of them from inside the car."

"Observation does not require physical proximity. It requires attention."

I listened to them argue and thought about Priya's squad warming up at the far end of the field. I thought about the folder on my phone and the twenty-two items in it.

The car park was packed when we arrived. I found a spot near the back and we walked toward the field with the rest of the crowd.

"I have been to a game before," Jake said. "When I was seven. Cole scored twice."

"You have told me this," Mia said.

"I am contextualising for Wren."

"I am aware Cole plays football," I said.

"Yes but the specific two touchdowns establish his pattern." Jake looked at the foam finger he had somehow already acquired. "He performs best in high\-stakes environments. He is a pressure player."

Mia looked at him. "You do not know that."

"I have observed it over three games."

"You watched one of them from inside the car."

"Observation does not require physical proximity. It requires attention."

I listened to them argue and thought about Priya's squad warming up at the far end of the field. I thought about the folder on my phone.

The bleachers were filling fast.

Mia went first and I came second and Jake came last, still examining the foam finger, and we settled into our seats with the crowd pressing in around us.

"I can see the whole field from here," Jake said. He held both foam fingers up to check the sightlines. "This is a good angle."

"I chose this section deliberately," Mia said.

"You chose it because it was near the exit."

"I chose it because it gives a clear view of the left formation and the right sideline simultaneously." She looked at him. "I did research."

"You did research on bleacher positioning."

"Cole explained where the scouts sit and where the team tends to run plays from." She looked at the field. "I wanted to be able to see what matters."

I looked at her. She was seven years old and she had done research on bleacher positioning for optimal game-watching.

"Mia," I said.

"Yes."

"You are remarkable."

"I know," she said simply. She went back to watching the tunnel.

Jake looked at me. "She has been like this all week," he said. "Very focused."

"She is always focused."

"More than usual. She has been reading about football." He lowered his voice. "She made me quiz her on the rules. I got three of them wrong."

"You got three wrong."

"The rules are complicated," he said. "There are a lot of them and some of them seem contradictory."

"They are not contradictory."

"The offsides rule seems contradictory."

"Jake."

"I am just saying I now have a more nuanced understanding of football than I did a week ago." He turned the foam finger around. "Mia is a good teacher when she wants to be."

Three of Jade's cheer squad had positioned themselves in the row directly in front of ours. I had not seen them move. They had just appeared there, arranged in a line, faces forward.

It was not a coincidence.