Page 89 of A Vicious Rumor

I paused. "I think so, but he wouldn't say it."

"Thought so," Ronny said. "Don't be mad at him if it takes him a second," he said. "I'm not sure the boy's been able to say it to anyone in quite some time. But, that doesn't mean he doesn't feel it."

"How do you know these things, Ronny?" I asked him.

"'Cause I'm old as shit!" he howled. "Now, go on. Go watch some sport. Bet on one of 'em for me, okay? Twenty dollars! I'll pay ya back!"

"Love you, Ronny," I said with a laugh.

"Love ya too, sweets," he said before we both hung up the phone.

27

TYSON

The lights in the football stadium were bright and for some reason, disorienting. I'd played this stadium a bunch of times, but I wasn't used to looking out into the crowd. Instead, I was always focused on the game, on the field, on myself. This time, things were different.

I hated that I wanted her to come, but I did want her to come.

Knowing that she was here to support me would mean more to me than anything. No one supported me in this world. Not my father, not my mother who hadn't even bothered trying to contact me after I all but disappeared on her this summer, not even myself.

I was the one that tore myself down most days more than anyone else. It was ironic that people tried to hate on me, because they'd never hate me more than I hated myself.

Finding Lily again this summer, well, it didn't change everything, but it certainly made things start to shift. I liked who I was around her, most of the time. Sometimes I was an insufferable asshole, but she brought out the best in me. I wondered if I did the same for her.

I saw Paper enter the stands from the parking lot. I waved him over. He saw my hand, paused for a minute as if deciding whether he wanted to engage but ultimately decided to come over.

"Yes?" he asked in a bit of a perturbed voice.

"Have you seen her?"

"Kitty? No," he said.

"Not her," I said in an equally irritated voice. "Lily."

"Oh, you weren't inquiring as to the whereabouts of your girlfriend. Silly me. Lily is here."

"She is?" I exclaimed like a fucking school girl.

"Yes, but she's in the car, and it's unclear if she'll be in attendance."

"Oh," I said, a bit deflated.

In an uncharacteristic move, Paper clapped me on the shoulder. "Cheer up. I'm sure there's another girl who's life you can ruin waiting for you just around the corner."

With those words, he walked off toward the announcer's stand.

I stood there stunned. Did he really think I ruined Lily's life? What did he know that I didn't know? If anything she was in a better situation now than she was before, right? I mean, the whole thing with Kitty wasn't ideal, but she was at King's Academy now. She'd have a better chance at college because of it.

Yet, at the same time, she'd uprooted her entire life to follow me here, if that's what she was really doing. I wanted to yell and then to punch something. My feelings about everything were entirely frustrating.

I looked up to see Scissors wandering onto the field. He looked-unstable-at best. He made his way over to Paper and grabbed the microphone clean out of his hand.

I grit my teeth, ready to for whatever the hell this was going to be.

"Tyson Stone!" Scissors bellowed through the loudspeaker. "Or, as many of you know him, Rock," he said, his speech slurred. "Has challenged me to a fight, because he didn't like the fact that I was kissing my girlfriend."

The crowd booed, and really all it did was just rile me up more.