"So how was your day?" Jane asked, picking at the mashed potatoes on her plate.

Having just bitten into a piece of steamed broccoli, Sarah slowed chewing and thought. How was her day? Well, she could answer in at least two ways.

There was always the option of going into full detail about how she made an utter fool of herself in Physics class by bringing up ghosts. But then she'd need to not only reveal the strange things she'd experienced since arriving in New Bedford to justify her curiosity other than what Jane already knew about, but also admit that she skipped out on the rest of the day's classes due to embarrassment.

Or she could lie.

"It was fine," she said after swallowing. Quickly realizing that she'd still also need a plausible out for the next day, she added, "But I'm feeling kind of icky. Must be from those shots I got this morning. Mind if I stay home tomorrow?"

Jane dropped her fork with a clank before reaching over. "Oh, no. Poor dear," she said, leaning across the dinner table and placing her palm against Sarah's forehead. "You're not feverish, are you?"

Sarah shrugged and pushed her plate away. "Could be. I am feeling a little chilly. Not much of an appetite either. Can I be excused?" she asked, hoping the ruse would fly for a day. After all, tomorrow would be Friday. Hopefully something even worse than the new girl going all Paranormal Investigator would happen over the weekend to distract everyone by the time Monday came around.

"Sure, sure," Jane said, watching as she got up to go. Sarah hadn't left the room when she added, "Oh, I do hope you feel better by tomorrow night, though. It would be a shame for you to be stuck at home."

Sarah turned. "Why? What's tomorrow night?"

Her aunt smiled. "Friday night lights, of course. New Bedford is playing Milton Park. Every high schooler within twenty miles will be there," she said before digging back into her food.

* * *

The thought of seeing Caleb quarterbacking a game was too much for Sarah to resist, so swallowing her pride, she decided to make a miraculous recovery just in time to accept Jane's offer of a ride to the football stadium.

Wearing the most athletic outfit she could put together from her decidedly un-athletic wardrobe, she paired her favorite purple Doc Martens with black leggings and Caleb's sweatshirt. A knitted beanie--it was October in New England, after all--topped off the look.

Floodlights were on high blast and the cheers of the crowd could be heard as they pulled into the parking lot. Ditching her aunt, by the time Sarah entered the athletic field sandwiched between two sets of aluminum bleachers, she was sure her heartbeat had synched up with the drumming coming from the pep band.

Da-dum, da-dum, da-dum-dum.

Surrounded by strangers, she looked for a lone spot from which to quietly ogle the Pilgrims' star player. As she scanned the risers, a wave from one of the trumpet players caught her eye. Squinting, she recognized Bennett and returned the wave before heading in the opposite direction.

Finding a relatively empty row in the nosebleed section, she sat down just as the first quarter or whatever the parts of a football game were called came to an end. As the referee blew the whistle, the players ran off the field and the spectators cheered. Sarah clapped too, while trying to figure out which of the guys in matching skin-tight white pants and padded, red shirts was Caleb. They all had their last names written on the back right above giant numbers, but that didn't do her any good since she never bothered asking his.

He was tall and skinny, yet also fairly well built, but that pretty much described half of the thirty or so other guys standing at the sideline waiting for the next round to start. Luckily, that didn't take long.

When the digital display board reset the time remaining to twelve minutes for Q2, a bunch of the players from each side ran onto the field. New Bedford had the kickoff, while their opponents stood ready to receive the ball. What little Sarah knew about the game meant that as the quarterback, Caleb would probably not be out unless there was a change in control. So she started searching the sideline for him again.

Some of the players now had their helmets off, giving her a better view and sure enough, she quickly found his familiar face. Before he could cover it again, she made a note of what was written on the back of his shirt: 31 CEBALLOS.

Caleb's ever-present smile gave Sarah butterflies, and she decided right then and there that if all she did for the rest of her time in town was just daydream about him from a safe distance, that would still be better than anything she could have done back in California. Instinctively, she sniffed the collar of his hoodie and bit her lip. Ooh, papi!

With her quiet obsession now firmly planted, Sarah actually enjoyed watching the rest of the match-up. She even sincerely cheered the marching band during halftime, but she got the most glee out of witnessing Ever Moore get accidentally smacked in the face by another cheerleader's horn as she dismounted from a double backflip.

"Ouch! That'll leave a mark," Sarah gloated under her breath, silently thanking karma for returning the favor for her first day soak.

Before she even realized it, the announcers were calling the game.

"With that, the New Bedford Pilgrims have once again obliterated the Milton Park Horsemen with a final score of thirty-six to eight. Drive safe, folks. See you next week on the fifty yard line," boomed a voice through the intercom as the clock struck "0:00" and the ref blew the final whistle.

The players ran off the field, mixing with the people from the bleachers as they flooded the field. Sarah climbed down, too, all the while trying to keep track of Caleb. He didn't even know she was there, and if she couldn't catch him now, she'd miss her chance.

Pushing through players, their friends, and families, she finally managed to get close enough to make eye contact. He smiled and gave her a "what's up" head nod. So far so good.

Not wanting to lose her nerve, Sarah also waved to let Caleb know she wanted to talk. After saying a few more words to the couple he'd been with--who by the strong resemblance were probably his mom and dad--he handed his helmet to the woman and ran over.

"Did you see that? We wooooon!" he exclaimed, scooping Sarah up and lifting her off the ground before she even knew what was happening.

She giggled. "Yeah you did," she said, emphatically agreeing as he spun around, envious of the adrenaline that must have still been rushing through his body. The only times that she ever had a similar experience it had been from fear, not excitement. Maybe one day she'd feel like he did now.

"Oh, sorry," he said, stopping and putting her down when he must have realized that they were still basically strangers. Scratching his nose, a sudden shyness swept across his face. "But you came. That's awesome."

She bit her lip and glanced down at her shoes. "Uhm, yeah. My aunt said it might be fun--"

"Yeah. I mean, I was worried that since I hadn't seen you in school yet that maybe you'd moved back to . . . where are you from again?" he asked, but it was the first part of the admission that made Sarah's insides flutter.

He'd been looking for her in school! Which meant that he had wanted to see her! And that probably meant that he would want to see her in the future!

"California," she answered with zero regrets at having left the state.

He nodded. "Right."

Although there were hundreds of people milling around them as they celebrated the team's victory before clearing out, for a moment it felt to Sarah like they were the only two souls in the entire stadium. Taking a deep breath, she tried to think of something else to say to stall and get even a few more moments with the boy, but her mind was blank.

"Uhm . . .."

"Hey, honey!" called the woman who Caleb had just left behind. "Are you ready to go?"

Caleb gave her a quick wave and turned back to Sarah. "That's my mom," he said fondly, before adding, "I need to go home and change, but if you don't have plans later, do you want to come to this after-party thing we usually have . . . well, after games?" He laughed nervously at the awkwardness of the phrasing.

If her heart hadn't been thumping like crazy before, it was now. "Uhm, yeah. Should I just meet you there? Where is it?" she asked without a hint of chill.

He laughed again and raked his fingers through his sweat-soaked hair. "That's the thing. It's always at a different place and no one knows where until the last minute," he said, but seeing her puzzled expression, he shrugged. "It's a New Bedford thing."

"Okay, but how do I get there?" she asked, wondering how it was possible that New Englanders were weirder than Californians.

"Caleb!" yelled his dad, obviously growing impatient.

That got Caleb going. As he backed up, he gave Sarah another huge smile. "Just tag along with some other kids. Don't worry. Everyone's coming. See you there!" he said before running to join his folks.

"See you there," Sarah repeated in a whisper, feeling her hopes plummet as quickly as they rose. Just tag along with some other kids? Surely he must have been joking. Other than Caleb, the only two students she'd even spoken to were the girl who threw water on her and the kid from Physics.

Sarah's eyes widened. Bennett!

She'd seen him earlier with the marching band, and if there was any way she could find him, maybe she had a chance of getting to that secret party.