Fun at the Game
The day was hot and the crowd rowdy and
rambunctious. Everyone was getting riled
up for tonight’s statewide collegiate football match where the state favorites,
the Sunshine City Fowlers, would take on the underdogs, the Orangetown
Pickers. Joe and his girlfriend Kate,
along with her little brother, Mod, had predicted a bloodbath tonight between
the two rival teams and their rabid fans.
Joe: “This line is way too long.”
The three teens were here to support their
hometown team, the Pickers. Joe and Kate
were set on going to Orangetown University.
Neither had even considered the alternatives. Joe himself didn't have any bright prospects
when it came to choosing his college, but Kate on the other hand had many
schools to choose from. In the end she
chose with her heart and decided to stay with Joe.
The line had finally started to move, but
everyone was still pretty antsy. The
game was set to start in only thirty minutes.
Mod: “Hey, guys, I brought some game
boosters.”
Mod smiled a devilish smile that lasted
longer than it should. He opened his
bright red insulated cooler and showed its contents to his shocked sister.
Kate: “How did you get that?”
Kate looked at her younger brother with alarmed
blue eyes. His smile still hadn’t faded, so she knew he had something planned. She
waited for his explanation of some half-brained scheme.
Mod: “The how is unimportant, dear sister, at least when it comes to the where.
A different how should be asked.”
Mod smiled over towards where Joe was
absentmindedly standing, and repeated himself a bit louder after delivering an
elbow to Joe’s side. Joe snapped to
attention and responded.
Joe: “As in how we’re going to get it in there with all that security.”
Mod: “And the answer to that, my dear
sister, is you.”
Kate: “Why do I feel as if this is going
to make me feel so stupid?”
The crowd started to move forward faster,
the group’s shady acts cleverly hidden from the security staff. No one could really see what they were doing
with all the secrecy. Mod took what
looked like an albino baby seal from his backpack and placed the cooler in it. He
attached it to Kate and hid it under a sweater that he told her to wear.
It wasn't really an albino baby seal, as
that would be a ridiculous and smelly thing to attach to someone, even more
ridiculous than a regularly pigmented seal. He had attached a fake pregnancy
belly to his sister.
Mod: “Okay now act natural, sis.”
Kate scoffed at the notion.
Kate: “Act as if I’m pregnant? You jerk, that’s not even funny.”
Mod: “With the rate at which you and Joe
have been going, I will be able to say that with a straight face a few months from
now.”
Kate and Joe both blushed.
Kate: “You’re lucky I don’t slap you.”
Uncomfortable conversations aside, the line
was moving full speed ahead and Joe’s group was finally nearing the front doors
of the stadium. The closer they got to
security, the more nervous they all became.
It was difficult to tell if Kate’s sea of sweat had formed because of
her nervousness or the hot fake belly and sweatshirt that she now had to wear.
At the front of the line, Joe went towards
the doors, but was pushed back by a large man the size of a pro-wrestler,
wearing a red t-shirt. Kate looked at
him with rising fear in her eyes and a growing knot in her stomach. The large man might’ve been a wrestler, but he
had the words UNIVERSITY SECURITY on his shirt.
He approached the group and looked right at Kate and Joe.
Security: “Is this woman with you?”
Kate and Joe looked at each other, and then
back at the security officer. Joe nodded
his head and Kate sweated even more, to the point of drenching her socks.
Security: “Where’s your head at, kid? Let the lady go first. She’s with child.”
He looked right at her and smiled, which
Kate guessed was meant to be inviting, but didn’t make her feel any more
comfortable.
Security: “Go on through, miss.”
Kate gulped down her previous fear and
strolled past the man, while the other two followed close behind. Joe got the stink-eye from the security
guy. Sensing DDTs and power-bombs in his
future, he decided to hasten his pace towards the ticket taker, who then took
their tickets.
Inside, they all had a powwow about where
to go and if they would get snacks. Eventually, they got it all together and
found their seats. The game began with the singing of the national anthem,
which got everyone riled up and patriotic. The players on both teams took to
the field in a frenzy, to everyone’s delight.
You could feel the high levels of energy throughout the stadium. The pops that the players took created
audible “pops” throughout the audience.
The hometown team was losing in the first quarter,
to the chagrin of Joe and the gang. Mod
had pulled the thermos from Kate’s baby belly when he was sure no one was
looking. Kate hastily ripped off the hot sweater and fake belly and threw them
underneath her seat.
Kate: "Did you get this sweater from Grandma?"
Mod: "Nah, it's one of Dad's old
sweaters."
Mod pulled a couple cans of Double Dog Brew
for himself and handed another to Joe and then to Kate. Joe sipped his beer while the other two
downed theirs like old pros and argued over who had finished first. Kate and Mod grabbed more beers and shared
stories of the time Mod had accidently soiled his underwear during a camping
trip. Mod tried not to laugh but
couldn’t help himself.
Mod: “You guys are poop-heads.”
Kate: “Great choice of words, little bro. You might want to rethink what comes out of
your potty mouth.”
When the second round picked up, they
poured their hearts into cheering the Pickers, while pouring more beers into
their mouths. You would’ve thought the Fowlers had murdered the families of
their rivals from the jeers they got.
Joe, Mod, Kate, and the rest that sat in their row, screamed expletives
at the rival team, and a few death threats as well. Mod and Joe had made friends with the group
sitting next to them and even shared some of their beers.
Neighboring Fan: “Yeah, they’re selling
beers at the concession for about seven flippin’ dollars. If I didn’t think security would be so tight
I would’ve brought me some cans too.”
Mod: “Yeah I always come prepared, man. Otherwise
I’d blow all of my allowance—er paycheck, on these drinks.”
Kate elbowed Mod in the ribs and the
friendly fan merely laughed. Towards the
end of the second round the group started smelling something weird.
Joe: “Do you guys smell that?”
Kate: “What is it?”
Joe: “Smells like something is burning or
something.”
They all smelled it, but it was so faint that no one paid it any major attention. The Pickers were still down and so the group cheered louder than ever.
