The Secret Recipe for Moving On by Karen Bischer (ebook reader for manga txt) 📕

the sun most of the day. I wonder if Greta will notice it too and if their plans for tonight were ever solidified or if they’re still fighting. I wonder if she’ll be pissed that he was out with us having a good time and getting a slight sunburn while they were arguing.

And then I force myself to stop wondering. Because it really isn’t any of my business, after all.

CHAPTER 14

It’s kind of crazy how much I, with my lack of athleticism and only mild interest in sports, enjoyed our day at the races—and it has little to do with the fact that we ended up getting twenty extra credit points for our outing. Okay, that’s made me pretty psyched, too. I mean, Brynn’s face totally fell when she saw Mrs. Sanchez scrawl the new standings with Synergy in third place. Behind us.

But, two weeks later, I decide to take up Rashad on seeing a football game, and Jodie agrees to go with me. I find myself kind of hoping that the guys are going to go, too. I mean, we had fun at one kind of sporting event, why not another?

“So,” I say as we clean up after making cupcakes. “How do you go about buying tickets for football games here?”

“You just show up. You buy a ticket at the gate when you walk in,” A.J. says as he swirls frosting on a cupcake with such care and ease that I’m momentarily mesmerized. He has such a knack for it that even Mrs. Sanchez was admiring his handiwork earlier, telling him he should consider pastry school. A.J. shrugged it off.

“Oh,” I say. “I thought maybe you bought them in advance.”

“Are you covering it for the TV station?” Isaiah asks. “You’d probably get to sit in the press box.”

“No, I’m going with my best friend, Jodie. We both kind of wanted to see a real-deal high school football game. Are you guys going?”

I notice Hunter’s head whip up when I say this, but I ignore him.

“I’m covering for my boy Patrick at the deli,” A.J. says.

“My grandma’s visiting,” Isaiah says. “But it sounds like fun.”

We all turn to Luke, who blushes and glances down.

“I’m hanging out with Greta after my training session,” he says.

A.J. and Isaiah make “ooh!” noises but Luke ignores them.

“But you’ll have a great time,” he says to me. “Lawndale’s tough. Man, I wish I could go. I forgot they were playing this week.”

“Why not bring your lady?” A.J. says, batting his eyelashes.

“She’s not exactly into football,” Luke says, shrugging.

Maybe it’s for the best, then. I’m not sure I’d want to spend an entire game with Greta joking about Luke and me having an affair. I literally shudder at the thought.

“Cold, Agresti?” Luke asks. “Don’t have my sweatshirt today, I’m sorry to say.”

I can only laugh nervously in response.

“I don’t know why anyone would go to a football game,” I hear Hunter say, and it makes me freeze.

“Yeah, all you’re doing is telling the mouth breathers they rule the school,” Steve agrees.

Mrs. Sanchez wanders over to inspect their cupcakes then, meaning I can’t turn around and say something sassy to them like I want to. Especially when I hear her award them fifteen points for making the most difficult frosting, which no one else in the class tried, which means they’re only five points behind us now. The deep, irritated sigh I let out doesn’t go unnoticed by Luke, who smiles.

“Easy, there,” he says, patting my shoulder. “We’ll hold ’em off, don’t you fret.”

“Who’s fretting?” I say, forcing a grin in the hopes of making myself actually believe that.

In the eight years I’ve known her, I’ve never seen Jodie so excited for a sporting event.

“How do I look?” she asks when she arrives at my house that night. “I mean, I know I’m dressed for a day in the rain forest, but aside from that?”

I laugh because Jodie’s giant USC rain poncho obscures everything but her head and her rain-boot-clad feet.

“You’re more than set for tonight’s conditions,” I say.

“When’s this rain supposed to start, anyway?” Jodie asks as she stands in front of my bedroom mirror, gathering her long dark hair into a ponytail. “I suppose you’ve consulted your BFF the Doppler radar?”

“It’s not supposed to start till after nine, so we’ll be dry for most of it.” I decide to leave out the part about the wind that will be picking up from a coastal low that’s making its way north. Once it starts to rain, it’s going to be a mess.

As Jodie and I walk over to the school, the wind starts to whip up. Luckily, it’s unseasonably mild for October, so we don’t need anything heavier than our sweaters and ponchos to keep us warm.

When we get to RHHS, the parking lot is bustling with cars and people. Most of the crowd is dressed in the Ringvale Heights colors, navy and gold, but there are a few people wearing Lawndale’s red and white. The RHHS marching band is off to the side, tuning up, so there’s a weird mix of various instruments, accompanied by the thumping of car stereos. There’s a buzz of excitement and Jodie grabs my elbow.

“This is so freaking cool!” she says.

“Ellie! Hey!”

We turn around and see Alisha in her band uniform coming toward us. Her foot is in a walking boot now, so she doesn’t need crutches, but it still looks uncomfortable.

“I didn’t know you were coming tonight! And, oh my god, it’s Jodie! So good to see you!” Alisha envelops Jodie in a big hug and Jodie laughs.

“I must’ve made a big impression at the boardwalk,” she says, and I realize that’s the last time we all hung out. It was only August, but it seems like years ago.

“We’ve never been to a high school football game,” I tell Alisha.

“I need to check it off on my ‘teenage rites of passage’ bingo card,” Jodie adds.

Alisha’s eyes light up. “Oh, speaking of teenage rites of passage, I’m