The game was already well underway when Lois and Clark reached the stands. Lois couldn’t help it; she’d spent so much time getting her car cleaned and deciding what to wear that she’d forgotten to eat. Apparently a little sushi and no banana wasn’t the most filling of meals and they’d had to make a stop at the concession stand.
Lois had to concede that Clark impressed her. Most of the boys she’d been out with would have been impatient, ready to get to their seats and the game. Clark had seemed content to simply wait with her.
He hadn’t bought her food, but she hadn’t expected him to. She would have refused on principal, although it would have been nice to be asked. Of course, he didn’t buy himself anything either, saying that he’d already eaten.
Lois’s nose was fairly sensitive, and she was sure she would have smelled it if he’d had a hamburger on the way to pick her up. She wasn’t sure why he’d lie about it, but she bought him a drink anyway.
Given how hungry she’d ended up being, both of their hands were full anyway as they approached the stands.
Lois looked up at the stands and she grimaced. She’d expected her friends to save her a couple of seats; she’d asked them to, but the stands were crowded.
She caught Julie’s eye, but Julie looked down quickly, shaking her head and leaning over and saying something to one of the girl’s next to her.
That stung. Lois had known that Julie was planning to get into the cheerleading squad next semester, but she hadn’t expected her to turn against her.
One by one, Lois looked at her other friends, and they all looked away from her.
Cowards.
She scowled, oddly comforted by Clark’s solid presence behind her. Because of the crowds ahead of them and behind them, he was standing close enough that she could feel his body heat.
There was a space in the middle; Lois stormed up the steep steps the moment the people in front of her turned to the side, getting the last available seats near her friends.
Clark followed behind her, his hands filled with her snacks.
She slid carefully down the row of outstretched knees and awkwardly placed feet. She always felt a little like a sardine in the middle of the crowd, and she suspected that this wasn’t going to be much of an exception.
Glancing over at the stands for the opposing team, she felt a moment of envy. Those stands were less than half full, but the Lions always filled the stands to capacity.
She sat on the hard metal bench gingerly, hoping that she didn’t get old spilled soda or butter on the back of her new jeans. Three hours of sitting on the cold hard surface was going to be a pain, but at least her sweatshirt would keep her warm, as would the press of the crowd.
Clark sat beside her, and as the people kept filling in, he was forced to scoot closer and closer until their legs were touching.
“Are you sure you got enough food?” he asked dryly. He handed over her hotdog, chili fries, pretzel and bag of licorice.
“I was hungry!” Lois protested. “Besides, I barely had anything for lunch.”
It wasn’t as though she had anything to worry about. Lois had always had a fast metabolism and had been able to eat whatever she wanted. Of course, worrying about her mother had often kept her from eating like she should.
“I’m just worried about your health,” he said. “There’s enough fat in all this to clog a drain.”
“You only live once,” Lois said, grinning as she grabbed a cheese fry.
She’d never be one of those women who kept nothing but tofu and diet food in her refrigerator. She had relatives like that, and she’d always felt sorry for them.
Lois grimaced as she was jostled forward by people moving into their seats on the row above them. She glanced backward and saw an older, balding man and a man in his mid-twenties sitting down.
“I still don’t see why I’ve got to be here,” she heard the younger man say.
“It’s important to support your brother,” the older man said. “That’s what family does, it means being there for each other.”
“Like you were there for me?”
“I had a business to run. I sent you to Harvard didn’t I?”
Lois glanced at Clark, who shrugged. She grabbed another fry.
“Business is better than ever,” the younger man said. “So why do you have time for Tom and not for me?”
Lois forced herself not to look back. Were they talking about Tom Church?
“Your brother isn’t exactly Harvard material,” the older man said. “This is what he’s got.”
Tom Church was at the top of the list of the players who would be suspended if the grade changes came out. As far as Lois could see, he either didn’t try at all or he was dumb as a stump.
She felt highly uncomfortable and self-conscious; she was happy that the two men didn’t know who she was.
Soon, she was able to lose herself in the game, although occasionally she heard the men behind her talking.
After a particularly brutal play, the bald man behind her stood up and said, “That’s my boy!”
The younger man grumbled throughout the game.
The Lions won, of course. They were the frontrunners in the district, and the enthusiasm of the crowd was a little scary. Looking around, Lois realized that a lot of people were going to be angry when she published her story.
Dropping the story would be the safest option, but Lois had never been interested in what was safe.
By the end of the game, Lois felt a little queasy from the excess of rich food. Clark hadn’t eaten any of it, unless she made it clear that she was absolutely done with it, and then he’d eaten it slowly and carefully, as though he savored every salty or sugary bite.
She actually felt bad about not buying him anything other than a drink.
Clark gathered the detritus of Lois’s eating binge. As the people next to Clark rose, he started to rise as well.
Lois rose as well, her rear end smarting from the hard seats. She turned and was started to see the two men behind her hadn’t stood up.
The older man smiled and said, “It’s Lois, right?”
Lois froze. There was no reason for this man to know who she was. She’d never seen him before, not even at school functions. Although the man’s expression was pleasant, Lois’s instincts were screaming that something was wrong.
She glanced at Clark, and although his expression remained pleasantly neutral, his hand on her arm tightened a little.
“Have we met?” Lois asked, although she knew that they hadn’t. She forced herself to remain calm with a pleasant expression on her face.
“I’m sure I’d have remembered if we had. I’m Bill, and this is Junior.”
“So how do you know me?”
“I take an interest in my son’s classmates,” Bill said. He paused and asked “Who’s your date?”
A sharp look from Clark made her say, “We’re not dating. He’s just a friend.”
“You should be careful about who you spend your time with,” Bill said, and Lois couldn’t tell whether he was talking to her or Clark. His smile vanished, “Hanging out with the wrong people can lead to a bad end.”
Lois forced herself to smile. “I’m always careful.”
Feeling Clark’s hand on her arm, Lois said “It was nice meeting you.”
She forced herself to keep smiling until she turned away. The smile dropped from her face as soon as she did, and she leaned closer to Clark. “Let’s get out of here.”
He nodded soberly, and Lois found herself impressed again. Three quarters of the boys she knew would have completely missed what was happening. They’d have taken everything at face value; pleasantries exchanged, nothing to talk about.
Clark was quick to catch on, and he didn’t argue as Lois put her hand on his back to urge him down the steps faster, even though he was hemmed in by the people in front of him.
Lois forced herself to keep looking forward, even though she kept expecting to feel a hand on her back shoving her down the stairs.
*******************
“You need to be more careful,” Clark said.
They were walking though the parking lot, with clumps of people spreading out looking for their cars. Although the stadium was still brightly lit, this was the first time Lois had realized just how dimly illuminated the parking lot really was.
“I’m always careful,” she said absently.
Clark snorted.
Lois looked at him. “What?”
“I’m just wondering if there’s a universe where that’s actually true,” Clark said. “From what I’ve seen, the only time you aren’t taking chances is when you’re thinking up new chances to take.”
“You make me sound like some kind of Evel Knievel,” Lois said.
“I’ve ridden with you,” Clark said dryly.
“And I suppose you don’t take risks out in the middle of Metropolis rush hour traffic every day?” Lois asked.
“That’s different,” Clark said. “And I’m serious about being careful.”
“You don’t have to worry…” Lois began, when they were interrupted.
“Who’s the dweeb?” Joe’s voice was loud.
Lois felt her heart sink as she saw Joe approaching with four other members of the team, including Tom.
“Let’s go,” she said to Clark, and she started picking up her pace. Unfortunately, as they’d arrived late, her car was on the far end of the parking lot, a long walk from where they were at the moment.
Unfortunately other members of the team moved to head them off.
“What do you want, Joe?” Lois asked, coming to a stop as she realized they were being surrounded.
“I’m just wondering why you showed up for our date with this loser?”
“We’re not going out,” Lois said. She scowled; he’d been harassing her all semester and there had been a point where she’d considered giving in. That time had passed. “We never were. You can ask me a thousand times and the answer will always be the same.”
“People have been going easy on you, Lo-Lo,” Joe said. "Being as you’re my girl and all. If that’s not true anymore…”
He leaned closer to her, and Lois was shocked to smell alcohol on his breath. They were barely off the field!
“I’m not anybody’s girl,” Lois said, unable to keep the irritation from her voice. “We’re not dating, we were never dating, and we aren’t ever going to be dating!”
There were incredulous laughs from the people around them; a crowd was gathering. One of the players slapped Joe on the back and laughed, but Lois could see Tom Church in the back, scowling.
Joe’s face flushed and he said, “Fine. Good luck on your own.” He stepped to the side and made a sweeping gesture.
“Let’s go,” Lois said to Clark, grabbing his arm.
They moved into the gap created when Joe moved, and although Lois was tense, she felt herself beginning to relax as they reached the other side.
She saw movement to her side and she ducked.
Tom Church stood in their path. “You can go, but not him.”
“What are you talking about?” Lois asked.
“Lions are loyal,” Tom said. He sneered. “Not that you’d know anything about that.”
“So?”
“You may be a cheating slut,” Tom said, “And you’ll get yours, don’t worry, but he’s the guy who stole a girl from our brother. He’s got to pay for that.”
Lois looked beseechingly at Joe, hoping he’d speak up, but Joe looked away.
Several of the other guys on the team began to surround Clark, and Lois found herself being nudged out of the way.
Some of the onlookers began to shout encouragement to the team, and Lois looked helplessly around. There weren’t any adults in sight.
It looked to her like the team was working its’ courage up for a beating and there wasn’t anything she could do about it.
She should never have gotten Clark into this.
