"YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS," I SAID.
Greg turned to look at me, rubbing at the blue face paint on his cheeks.
"I feel ridiculous," he said. "But everyone is wearing face paint to show their support and as class president, I can't be the only nonpainted face in the crowd."
I looked around at the sea of blue-and-white faces in the bleachers. "You know, at Troy we just yell and wear Troy High T-shirts."
Greg grinned. "At Lacede, we like to go all-out."
"The game is about to start," I said. "Do you think I should sit here or the visitors' side?"
I noticed the looks I got from a few Spartans and their supporters. Maybe it would be safer to try to blend in with the Southern Mills supporters on the other side of the field.
"Sit here," Greg said. "No one will mess with you, if you can deal with the glares."
"Okay," I said. We found seats halfway up the bleachers, near a group of girls who gave me dark scowls.
"We've got the spirit! We can succeed! We've got the moves! Go, go Lacede!" The Lacede cheerleaders leaped into the air, waving their pom-poms and shrieking at the top of their lungs as they urged the crowd on.
The teams emerged from the locker rooms to loud cheers. Lucas and the Southern Mills team captain met on the fifty-yard line and shook hands before heading to their respective sides of the field.
I wasn't a huge fan of football, but the game stayed tense enough to keep my interest. The crowd around me roared whenever the Spartans scored or booed whenever the Southern Mills Wildcats did.
At halftime, the teams were tied 14-14.
All around me, people stood up to head down to the refreshment stands.
"Want to share a hot dog?" Greg asked.
"Okay," I agreed. "But no onions on my half."
"Don't blame me if the onions spill over to your side."
We joined the long line for the hot dogs. After several minutes, the line hadn't moved much.
"I'm starving," Greg said. "This line is moving too slow. Got anything to eat?"
I shook my head. "I had a mint left, but I ate it during the first quarter."
But Greg didn't seem to hear what I said. He was focused on something in the direction of the locker rooms. I turned to see what he was looking at.
Elena and Lucas stood outside the gray building. From the way their arms moved as they spoke, it didn't look as though she were wishing him good luck.
She wouldn't dare. Not here. Not now.
Would she?
"Um, Greg," I said, trying to sound nonchalant, "how have Lucas and Elena been doing lately?"
"Not so great, from the looks of it," Greg said, his eyes still on them. "Come on, let's see what's going on."
We left the hot-dog line and hurried across the grass toward the locker rooms. When we'd drawn closer, I could hear Elena speaking.
"You never pay attention to me anymore! It's always football or video games or your stupid friends."
"I spent all of Saturday with you last weekend!" Lucas shouted. His face had turned red and the veins in his neck bulged behind his shoulder padding. "I followed you around the mall for four hours while you looked at fifty different pairs of shoes and didn't buy a single thing! What more do you want?"
Elena crossed her arms over her chest. "Nothing, Lucas. That's just it. I don't want anything else from you ever again."
"Hey," Greg said, stepping between them. "Everything okay?"
"Yes," Lucas said at the same time Elena said "No."
Lucas stared at her. "So that's it? You want to throw away three years of us?"
"We haven't been together three years, we've spent at least half of that time broken up!" Elena exclaimed. "We were never meant to be together, I see that now. That's why we've never been able to make this work more than a few months at a time."
"Whoa," Greg said, holding his hands up. "I think maybe you guys need to take some time to calm down and think this over. Wait until tomorrow, when you can talk about this rationally."
"I've already thought this over," Elena said. "And breaking up for good is the right solution. Lucas, once you get over being angry at me, you'll see that this is right for both of us."
She had to do this now, when Lucas had to put his focus on the game?
"Elena," I said, "I think Greg is right. Don't make any decisions now that you'll regret tomorrow. Wait until you both can sit down in private and talk. Lucas has other things on his mind right now-"
"I'm not making any decisions I'll regret. I've made up my mind, and it's final."
At that moment, Perry appeared around the side of the building and said, "Hey, Elena, ready to go?" He shot her a grin, oblivious to the tension in the air.
My pulse pounded in my ears. I could barely hear anything over the sound.
Lucas's and Greg's bodies tensed as they both gazed back at Perry.
"What do you want with Elena?" Lucas asked in a deep voice.
"None of your business, Spartan," Perry snapped.
Lucas took a step forward. The muscles in his arms were rigid and his fists were clenched at his sides. "Anything involving my girlfriend is my business."
"I'm not your girlfriend anymore, Lucas!" Elena exclaimed.
Lucas grabbed Elena's arm. "Elena, listen-"
Perry stepped forward. "Let her go."
"And what are you going to do about it, pretty boy?" Lucas asked.
If I were Perry, I would have thought twice about standing up to Lucas. Lucas had several inches and pounds on my brother.
Suddenly the Spartan locker-room door swung open and Coach Whittingham stuck his head out. "Mennon! What are you doing out here? The second half is about to start, and we're waiting on you so we can talk strategy."
Lucas looked at him, blinking, as if he'd forgotten where he was. He looked down at his uniform, then back at the coach and nodded as he stomped into the locker room. He shot a dark glare back at Elena and Perry.
"You coming with us, Cassie?" Elena asked, sounding just as perky and happy as usual, as if the last five minutes hadn't happened.
Behind us, people were returning to their seats, waiting for the game to resume. In the distance, I could hear the rumble of hundreds of voices talking all at once. But in our little corner, everything was silent, as if waiting for me to make a decision. Who to go with-my old friend or new one?
Greg turned away from us and said in a cold voice, "I have to get back."
He ambled away without saying anything else.
"Let's get out of here," Perry said. "I can't stand to be around so many Spartans much longer."
Elena held a hand out to me, smiling. I let her take my hand and lead me toward the gate behind Perry.
