I forgot that sleeping in with Nate was impossible. Since school started, he was up bright and early almost as soon as the sun rose. I had somehow managed to drag myself away from Owen last night, although neither of us wanted to. I told him it would be better if while we were here, if I slept in the bed with Nate and he stayed in his own room. It was what his mother wanted and although she wasn’t here, I wanted to respect her wishes in her own home and I explained that to him. He had pouted but said he understood and let me know that he didn’t think he would get a wink of sleep without me since he had gotten so used to us sleeping side by side.I put Nate playing on his tablet while I took a shower and while we waited for Owen to get out of bed. We hadn’t really discussed what the plans for each day would be so I needed to wait and see what the plan was for everything, from meals to activities.Owen stumbled over around eight-fifteen and bless his heart, he didn’t look like he had sl
After we had stuffed our bellies on delicious chicken, steak and rice with steamed veggies, Owen loaded Nate up in the booster seat while I had to practically crawl up into my seat. The food was amazing and we all ate until we were overly stuffed.After he pulled back out on the road, Owen asked Nate what he wanted to do tonight when he made it back to his house. Nate asked if we could play in the arcade and Owen said that we could if he helped me put our stuff away once we got there. He said he would have to go downstairs to get everything plugged up and turned on but that I would need someone big and strong to help me unpack the suitcases and hang up the clothes. Nate promised that he would help and that he was big enough and super strong.The streets were quiet as we slowly rolled through Urbancrest with the windows down and the breeze blowing. It seemed like the whole subdivision was on vacation as there wasn't the usual amount of cars in the driveways or people out walking their d
The next couple weeks passed by pretty uneventfully. With Homecoming excitement over with, everyone kinda lapsed into a lull of days filled with more of the same. We were all looking forward to having a break from school and the monotony. Thankfully, that was coming in the form of fall break, which was scheduled for the first full week of October.Candace was wanting to earn some extra money for Christmas since she also had a break from college classes so she had asked me if she could take my shifts that week and I had agreed. Barb and John gave Owen the same time off since Owen was basically hired to just work when I worked and to help John with some of the heavy lifting and other things that he was getting too old to be able to do. Both agreed they could manage for one week without him.Owen was wanting to spend the time in Urbancrest and wanted me to come with him. Although I didn’t particularly care for the thoughts of just leaving the apartment all week, Urbancrest was like it’s o
He looked over at me, surprised before a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he focused his attention back on the road. He didn’t say anything for a minute or two as he maneuvered the Yukon out of the parking lot and down the road toward the light.“How did you know?” He finally asked me, confirming without coming right out and saying it.“It wasn’t the same team out there. It just felt off. It felt like you all were going through the motions so that it appeared like you were trying but I could tell that either your hearts weren’t in it or you were putting on the act of trying your best but not executing.”“Do you think it was obvious to the fans in the stands?”“No, I don’t. I don’t think it would have been obvious to me if I hadn’t already spent dozens of hours analyzing your play and snapping picture after picture. If you were trying to throw the game without being blatantly obvious that you were throwing the game, I think you pulled it off without a hitch. My question is ‘wh
I slowly gathered up the camera equipment before walking to join the girls as they gathered up their gear. Courtney and Bethany were leaving together, planning to meet Jonathan and Gary at Gary’s house for the party. They would be some of the first to arrive so per his usual practices, he had given Bethany the key to the pool house where the party was being held so they could go ahead and leave and get everything set up once they got there.As I was waiting on Vanessa to finish talking with one of the younger cheerleaders, I took a moment to look up toward the crowd still remaining in the stands. The spot where Phil, Sherry and Nate had sat was empty as I expected. They might have even left before the game was completely over as Nate would have been getting tired and sleepy resulting in whining and possible atypical behavior.As my eyes swept the stands, they came to rest on a man and woman that I recognized and remembered as the parents of Alexis Parker. Her mother was crying but she
From the moment the game started, something just felt off. I knew Owen well enough, I knew this team well enough to have my suspicions as to what was happening but I would not be able to confirm it until later, when I was actually able to talk with Owen.The pace was slower than normal or maybe it was just my imagination. The first drive down the field, Owen didn’t even look to throw it. Each and every play was immediately passed off to the running back and driven right up the middle into the biggest wad of defensive traffic. We used all of our first three tries four times in a row just to get the first down each time. On the fifth try, we made the first down in just two attempts but then the next two were back to using all three again until we managed to score our first touchdown. The kicker followed with the extra point and we had an early lead but it had taken half of the quarter just to finally score.On the kickoff, our kicker made what looked like the biggest half assed attempt t