Although being the athlete at a sporting event is fun, being in the bleachers is great too. I got to find out on the next Tuesday, when Carter had his first basketball game at home and everybody was going to cheer him on. I was sitting on the top bleacher with the three other Fishers (excluding the two ominous older Fishers and the two younger ones who were at home with Tom) and then Sophie was on Andy’s arm while I sat between Will and Paige and then Anna was sitting on the other side of Tommy at the other end.

To be honest, I wasn’t really a basketball fan and I didn’t really understand the sport except for the fact that the ball had to get into the hoop but I didn’t understand the difference between one pointers and three pointers or anything like that. I did know that the Jaguars were winning but that was only because of the score board on the right side of the court. I also didn’t know why this game was happening because the real season didn’t start for months so this game just didn’t make any sense.

At half time, the cheer leaders consumed the basketball court to do some peppy cheer and intimidating flips while Andy decided that he was hungry and that he wanted to go get something to eat. Will agreed with him so they all decided that food was a good option since it was now halftime.

“I’ll stay and keep our seats,” I said, deciding that I didn’t want to have to go through the hassle of everybody fighting through the concessions at half time. I wasn’t really good in tight groups so I was fine just sitting on the bleachers until they got back.

I gave Paige some money so that she could buy me a hot dog and then all six of them disappeared down the bleachers of the high school gymnasium. Halftime didn’t last as long as I thought that it would and by the time that the game was starting up again, none of my friends had returned to their seats yet.

I texted Paige to let her know that the game was starting and she told me that they were still in line and starving so unwilling to abandon their place in line to come back to the game, which meant that I was stuck watching by myself for a while.

Keeping my eyes on Carter, who was number 39, I watched as he ran up the court, towards the opponent’s basket and then his teammate passed him the ball before he ran toward the basket, did some mind trickery to avoid one of the opponent’s white jerseys, and then he jumped into the air, tossing the ball right into the basket with a victorious swish.

Automatically, I jumped to my feet and started cheering with the rest of the people on the bleachers, eager to see our team up by even some more points.

“Go Carter!” I screeched excitedly as I clapped my hands and cheered him on although I was all the way in the back and he probably couldn’t see me.

“You’re a fan?” Somebody wondered, approaching me on the bleachers. I looked over to a guy that looked a bit too old to be at a high school basketball game- or at a high school in general- and he was intimidatingly tall as he stood right next to me with a charming half-smile plastered on his face, waiting for a response.

“Yeah, you could say that,” I nodded hesitantly.

“Well, don’t get your hopes up. He has a girlfriend,” The stranger told me with a little laugh as if that was an inside joke. I didn’t get it.

“They broke up a while ago, actually,” I told the guy although I wasn’t sure why, it probably wasn’t any of the old guy’s business. Well, he wasn’t that old- maybe thirty or something- but he was old enough to be creepy at a high school.

“No, I’m not talking about that one,” He shook his head. “I meant a new one. Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?”

“I don’t think so,” I mumbled, deciding that this guy was incredibly creepy. Looking over his shoulder, I tried to see if any of my friends were returning but I couldn’t see them coming up the stairs yet. I wished that they’d hurry.

“Well, that’s a pity,” The tall stranger decided. “He really likes her. Talks about her all of the time.”

“Alright,” I said, not really knowing what to say to that. If he wasn’t creepy before, he sure as hell was creepy now. Sure, Carter had a few groupies at school due to his super stardom on the basketball team but none of them were male. Or over the age of seventeen.

“Maddie!” He exclaimed, making me jump about ten feet into the air because I had no idea how he knew my name or why on earth he had just yelled it. “That’s her name. Do you know her? Maddie… I forget her last name.”

“Really?” I wondered without really being able to stop myself. “He said that?”

“He did,” Owen confirmed, looking a bit weirded out about my sudden interest in what he was saying.

I pinched my lips into a thin line and glanced over at the stranger before returning my attention back to the game in an attempt to just ignore everything that he was saying to me. If I ignored it then it didn’t happen. It wasn’t true. I could just blink and then the words would evaporate from my mind. “Who are you exactly?”

“Did I upset you?” He wondered and I could sense a bit of teasing in his voice, which really irritated me because I had no idea who this guy was and he just seemed so arrogant. Almost like… like a Fisher.

“Are you related to Carter?” I asked, just for clarification.

“Yeah. I’m Owen, his brother,” He confirmed. “I know that I’m a little late but I wouldn’t miss it. And you’re sitting in our spot.”

“Whose spot?”

“Our family’s spot,” He informed me. “This is where we always sit to watch the game.”

“Well, Andy, Will, and Tommy will be back soon,” I said to the man, still trying to figure out how to think about what he just told me about Carter ‘really liking me’ and ‘talking about me all of the time’ because I didn’t know any other Maddie at the school. I sure would like to believe that it wasn’t me that he apparently had a crush on though. I knew by what Carter had told me that he was closest to Owen though, so if he had a crush on anybody, he’d tell Owen about it. I didn’t even want to think about it at all. Just pretend like Owen didn’t just say that to me.

“Right. And who are you?” He asked me with raised eyebrows. “Stalking all of my brothers, are you?”

“I’m just a friend,” I decided to say.

“Whose friend?” He continued to prod.

I looked over his shoulder again but no sign of any of the Fishers or the girls. Although he wasn’t as creepy as I had originally thought, I still didn’t really like talking to this guy one on one. Especially considering what he had just told me about myself. It was incredibly awkward. “Will, Andy, Tommy, and Carter,” I supplied. “Kind of a family friend.”

“Not the whole family considering I don’t know who you are,” He refuted.

“Yeah, I really just-“ I got interrupted when I heard Paige coming up the stairs.

“Maddie,” She called. “They didn’t have any more hot dogs so I got you popcorn. Is that okay?” She wondered, handing me a tall white bag of buttery yellow popcorn before giving Owen an odd look.

I nodded, relieved beyond belief that I wasn’t alone with Owen anymore. “That’s fine. Thanks.”

“Wait, your name is Maddie?” Owen interjected just as everybody else filled in their seats around us. “Hm. Well, shit. You could have told me that.”

I shrugged. “You didn’t ask.”

“Owen. Hey, man,” Andy greeted his oldest brother with a manly pat on the back before glancing over at me and then back to his brother. “You’re incredibly late.”

“I know, but at least I made it, right? I had to work overtime, there was an emergency,” He explained, motioning toward the score board. “Clearly though, you didn’t need me for good luck or anything.”

“Right. Well, you’ve met Maddie, I take it,” He said before introducing Sophie.

Owen became fixated on getting to know Andy’s girlfriend as I was left alone to watch the game.

“You okay?” Paige wondered after I’d been silent for a while.

“Yeah,” I forced a smile but I was still thinking about what Owen had told me about Carter. I still couldn’t figure out how to feel about that at all. Sure, Carter was really awesome but after what happened with Will, I’d been pretty closed off to the idea of starting a relationship again. I just wasn’t sure if I was ready to deal with that type of intensity right then. “I’m fine.”

“Did Owen say something?” Will wondered, overhearing me talking to Paige. “He can be a bit abrasive.”

“I’d noticed,” I deadpanned. “Really, I’m fine though.”

“Did he tell you about the thing?” He asked me, suddenly seeming a bit alarmed.

“What thing?”

“Blink twice if he told you about the thing,” He insisted, ignoring my question.

“I don’t know what thing you’re talking about,” I told Will, folding my arms over my chest and turning my attention back to the game where Carter had possession of the ball and was dribbling it down the court. He was doing a really good job at it too, of course, but when he got completely blocked, he had to pass it to somebody else on his team.

“Yeah, what thing?” Paige wondered curiously. “I want in on this too.”

Will turned to Owen, who was standing on the other side of Will still conversing with Sophie. “Did you tell Maddie about the thing?” He asked loud enough for me to hear.

“I might have,” Owen shrugged. “Unknowingly though, she didn’t tell me who she was. How was I supposed to know?”

I rolled my eyes and then turned to face Paige again but she was already demanding answers. “What are they talking about?” She asked me with her head cocked to the side.

“He told me that Carter likes me,” I told her quietly, under my breath, but saying it made it even worse. It felt even more real and even harder to deal with. I didn’t want to think about it, I just wanted to watch the rest of the game.

“Oh,” Paige said, seemingly underwhelmed by the news. “Well, that isn’t surprising at all.”

“It isn’t?” I wondered with raised eyebrows.

“No,” She laughed. “You guys do spend a lot of time together. I’m actually surprised that you don’t like him back to be honest.”

“I haven’t decided yet,” I admitted. “But I’d rather that I just didn’t know about it. Boys are too much drama for me and I don’t like it.”

“Nothing truer has ever been spoken,” She joked.

“Are you going to tell Carter that you know?” Will asked me, turning to face me again instead of yelling at Owen for being so stupid, which is what he was doing a moment ago.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Does everybody know this except for me?”

He paused to think and then he nodded. “Yeah. Pretty much everybody knew. Paige is right, it was kind of obvious, you’re just adorably oblivious to it.”

“You are all awful,” I decided, ignoring everybody for the rest of the game to watch Carter and his team win the game. Once it was over, we all filed into separate cars to go to dinner since that was what we did after the soccer game and this time, we went for hamburgers.

Throughout dinner, I spent most of my time avoiding Carter. I sat as far away from him as possible and evaded everything that he said directly to me. Mostly it was pretty easy considering he was catching up with his brother, who doesn’t visit all that often, so I was pretty low on the radar anyway.

Paige and Sophie were talking about something too, so they didn’t really bug me about what had happened, which I was grateful for considering I still needed time to think without so much noise happening around me.

Did I like Carter like that?

Was I willing to try a relationship again? To take that leap of faith? Even before Will, I never really had any luck at all in that department.

And even if I did like him back, was it worth the risk?

And when did my life get so incredibly complicated? But then I realized that I already knew the answer to that one. My life got complicated the day that I moved in with the Fisher boys.