May it be swift,” he adds and we all cheer.
“Let’s go, LIONS!” Zack says, and Coach just looks at him and shakes his head.
“Let’s go, Lions!” Nick and the rest of the guys at the table echo it.
Jumping right along, Nick gets everyone’s attention by tapping his glass with a spoon. “I’ve got one too,” he says and everyone groans. “Ouch!” he says, pretending to be hurt.
“Go ahead,” Zack says. I’ve realized tonight that Zack is like Nick’s personal cheerleader, always encouraging his crazy.
“First of all, I want to welcome in the King’s to our family,” he says, and I smile. “And now, can we please eat because the food’s getting cold and I’m hungry!” he adds and we all laugh.
The rest of the night goes by smoothly. The guys and girls laugh and talk while the parents seem to be in their own bubble. We joke and make fun of one another. We appreciate the time we get to spend together and we get to know each other. We make plans for the future and we exchange contact information.
It’s the best Christmas I’ve ever had and, as the night comes to an end, I find myself just being grateful for all of it.
43
AMELIA
Okay, so people really love football. I mean, I’ve always known football was a big deal at Bragan, but being in New Jersey waiting for the championship game to be played, I know for a fact that there is a football obsession.
All these people traveled here from different parts of the country to see two teams of colleges students, athletes, play against each other.
I mean, I’m here because my boyfriend is playing his last college game ever and it’s really important to him. But most of these people don’t even know the players aside from just watching them on TV, and yet they’re walking around with Lion costumes on.
“This is crazy,” I tell the girls as we walk around and take in the sight.
Kaitlyn nods. “It’s like this every time,” she tells me. She doesn’t look phased by this at all.
“How often do you go to these?” I ask.
She sighs. “Often enough,” she responds.
“Thanks for taking us in,” I tell the girls as we walk toward the stadium gate. If Emma and Kaitlyn didn’t come to the game and reach out to us so we could all come here together, Dimah and I would’ve been navigating this on our own. That would’ve been intimidating since neither of us has done this before.
“Me too!” Dimah says, echoing my sentiments. I met her briefly two nights ago. The guys wanted to introduce us so that we could keep each other company during our stay and during the game. She’s really sweet. Quiet but kind.
“She took me in once too; don’t say thank you too early,” Emma adds and we laugh.
“You met Zack because of me!” Kaitlyn argues.
“Not sure if that’s a good thing!” Emma responds.
Kaitlyn rolls her eyes as we wait in line to be let into the game, “Shut up, you know you’re in love with him.”
Emma just smiles. “Fineee,” she says, giving in. “I’ll give you that.”
“So, Dimah, Lincoln seems to be a really good guy,” I tell her. I’ve noticed that out of all the girls in the group, she’s the most reserved. Yet she’s also the one I feel like if I talked to, I would have the most things in common with.
Dimah smiles. “He is,” she tells me.
“Nick raves about him all the time,” I tell her.
We move up in the line. “Nick seems pretty cool too,” she tells me.
“He’d like to think so,” I joke and we all laugh.
We make it through the line and walk over to our seats. “I’ll go grab some snacks,” Kaitlyn says when we take our seats.
“I’ll come with!” Emma tells her.
“Let me get you some cash,” I start, getting up to grab my money from my back pocket and I watch Dimah do the same.
“You ladies are good. It’s your first time here, so it’s my treat,” Kaitlyn says in a voice that tells me she will take no budge on this.
“Thank you,” Dimah and I both say at the same time, knowing better than to argue with Kaitlyn.
“Any preferences?” Emma asks.
I shake my head. “I’ll take an orange soda and some nachos. Hope that’s okay.” It feels weird to order things when I’m not paying. “I can come with if you guys want?” I offer.
“You girls are good to stay! We’ll be back right away, don’t