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“Four if you shut up.”

I shut up. Mostly. Running easy felt unnatural.

My body wanted to open up. I wanted the clean pull of speed, the simple burn that left no room for anything else. Ben knew that too, which was probably why he’d told me not to. So I stayed on campus. Track. Practice fields. Tennis courts. Baseball field. Back around.

Friday-night preparation was already underway. Two cheerleaders hurried past carrying poster board and arguing over whether somebody had spelled victory wrong.

They had.

I kept that to myself.

By the time I finished my fourth mile, my legs had barely noticed I’d been exercising. They itched for more.

Ben checked my time. Then my face.

“Easy?”

“Painfully.”

“Good.” He made a mark on his clipboard. “Mobility.”

I groaned and dropped onto the grass.

When I finished stretching, Ben jerked his chin toward the locker room. “Go shower. You smell terrible.”

“That feels rude and personal.”

“It is.”

I picked up my bag. “See you tonight.”

His eyes moved toward the stadium. “I’ll be around.”

Something about the way he said it made me glance back.

He had already turned away.

“You’re weird,” I told him.

Friday night football in Briar was less an event than a temporary form of government.

By seven, half the town had relocated to Travis High.

Parking started several blocks away. Pickup trucks lined the streets nose to tail. Families walked toward the stadium carrying folding blankets, stadium cushions, drinks, kids and enough enthusiasm to survive a minor war.

The lights had come on before the sun finished setting. They rose over the school in four enormous banks, bleaching the field brilliant green against a sky fading from gold to bruised purple.

The band was warming up somewhere behind the stands.

Not playing. Warming up. There was a difference, apparently. It sounded like thirty-seven people trying to murder thirty-seven different songs at the same time.

Sunshine parked beside a truck with three flags hanging out of the bed.

Marion climbed out carrying a stadium blanket, a tote bag and two drinks. Mom came around the other side with another tote.

I stared. “What exactly are we doing tonight?”

“Watching football,” Sunshine said.