The next week was pretty uneventful, which is exactly what Paul expected. It was Autumnvale after all. Rhea returned to school and everything was back to normal. Although there were some peculiar things The twins were suspicious of Zane, which he secretly loved because it was like they were on his side. When questioned, they just responded with the new kid gave them bad vibes. Quinn was also avoiding Rhea like the plague, which definitely confirmed what Paul initially thought. Quinn had a fling with her. Delilah and Zane appeared to be getting closer. That annoyed him with a passion.
One unusual thing did happen, a kid from his math class, Marcos, disappeared. The sheriff's office investigated and concluded he had run away. Paul’s first thought was Marcos ran away to somewhere more interesting.
He decided to focus on the positive, like the school's first football game that was coming up. Paul was feeling super confident about it. Usually the team sucks, but Zane was actually really good. They might have a chance of not losing every game. Which was normal for the Autumnvale High football team.
The first game was coming up tomorrow, so today's practice was important. It was going good for him, but Quinn was struggling. His throwing was way off. In the locker room, Paul went to check in with him. "Hey man, are you doing okay? You’re a little distracted."
"No, dude, I'm all frustrated. Melissa is just all up in my face about silly, meaningless, stuff, like homecoming and coordinating colors and plans, and when I'm not interested, she gets all mad and starts a fight. Lately it's been every day." Paul noticed Quinn's complaining got Zane's attention. Quinn continued, "I mean, she's been tough to be around lately. We have just such different priorities."
Zane spoke up with some helpful advice. "It's none of my business, but maybe you're just different people. Even though you have feelings for each other, sometimes you end up wanting something different. Being in a couple shouldn't be an uphill battle all the time."
Quinn turned around to face Zane, "Hey, boy band hair, I need your help on the field, not here." and stormed off.
Paul and Zane were left in the locker room, staring at each other. Paul offered an olive branch. "Sorry about him, man. Your advice isn't wrong." He nodded at him and went after his friend.
When he finally caught up with him, Quinn looked a little defeated leaning on his car. Paul leaned on the car next to him and stayed silent.
Quinn broke the silence. "That dude was dumb and nosy."
Paul smiled and laughed a little. "Yeah, but something tells me you're afraid he is right. So what happened with you and Rhea?" Quinn's head shot up. "Come on, dude, you're not sneaky. Something was up,"
Quinn was hesitant to reply but caved. "I was visiting my cousin, and she was also visiting her family. I don't know, we were at a party and really got along. Things were easy with her. But with Melissa, I like her unstoppable attitude. She's going to do everything she wants. Maybe I want to be there while she does."
"Well, you're being a jackass. It's not fair to anyone, so make a decision," Paul paused briefly and then chuckled, "I'd wait till after the game though. Melissa is the head cheerleader and has the power to make people chant anything she wants." Paul replied.
He stepped in front of Quinn to mimic a cheerleader. "When I say Quinn, you say sucks. Quinn! Sucks! Quinn! Sucks!”
Quinn laughed and punched his friend in the arm. The pair headed home.
The next day was game day and Paul was amped up. The crowd was filled with his classmates and he was optimistic, for good reason too, because by halftime it was a tied game. Being ahead would have been better, but at least they weren't losing. The team rushed onto the locker room. They were all sitting and hydrating when Coach came bursting through the locker room doors.
"Alright fellas. For the first time since I've been here, I have hope in you guys. Which is unusually because usually I'm already checked out because this team is always hopeless. Now I need everyone here to listen up and focus. This game can change our entire sports program. It can set the tone for the year, but we can't think about that. So focus on this next half. There is no future. There is no past boys. There's no day but today.”
Their teammate Trevor chuckled. "That's from Rent.”
"Who cares, let's go." the coach said while exiting the locker room.
The third quarter did not go as planned. By the end of it they were down by three. The team was still in the game, but Paul was worried about other players giving up. No one did though.
The fourth quarter started, and the team was still down by three points. It was rough. Time got down to the last few minutes, when there was injury on the field. His teammate Trevor got hit in the head really hard, so much so that his helmet came off. It was really gross; there was spit and blood all over. Thankfully, Trevor was fine, so the game resumed. The coach called out to Zane to tell him the play, but the teen looked pale and sick.
Zane averted his eyes. "Um coach, blood makes me sick. I have to go." He said before running off. The coach called out after him, but he just kept running.
"Damn it Zane." The coach grunted while throwing his clipboard. Coach gathered the team. "Alright. Listen up. This is the closest this team has been to winning since I don't remember. So I need everyone to give 110 percent. Remember, losing sucks, go be winners."
Quinn and Paul laughed in the huddle. Paul thought about Zane running off because of a little blood. It was just blood. Who’d be bothered by that? He was actually kind of happy that Mr. Perfect had a flaw, even if it was just a small one.
The players went out onto the field. Everyone got on the line. There was a brief quiet moment. He grabbed his lucky pendant and said a silent prayer. "Hut!" Paul heard that word and went off running down the field, when Quinn threw a perfect pass to their teammate Nathan, who ran it in for a touchdown. Everyone there went wild. Coach was right, losing did suck.
The celebration didn't stop at the field. The football team held a parking barbecue the next day, and it went on all weekend and Quinn was right by his side. However, the weekend ended, and it was wake up early and be productive time. He resumed his normal routine of school and practice, only he was on cloud nine from the football win. He had a really great school week.
Saturday came and it was party time again. Only this party was The Autumnvale Historical Society's Annual Gala, which was less awesome. Paul didn't really want to help or attend, but he promised Melissa he would. The gala was always held on the Winters’ estate, so she was particularly picky about everything. It was likely to be boring but at least it was something to do.
Paul was on tablecloth duty with Beatriz when he asked her a question, "What's your opinion of Zane?"
Beatriz answered the question. "He seems fine, I guess. We don't really know anything about him."
"You and Tyler seem suspicious of him, that's all."
"Well, to be honest, I don't really know, but Tyler has a weird gut feeling about him, so I guess that makes me cautious. Weird stuff is beginning to happen. Rhea's animal attack and Marcos going missing." explained Beatriz.
Paul agreed, "Yeah, I guess it's a little odd. But it's not like it's Zane's fault."
A commotion started from the other side of the room. It was Melissa and Quinn fighting. The scene was awkward to watch. Quinn ended up walking away, accidentally knocking over a box filled with candles. Melisa dropped to her knees and started to gather the candles. Paul saw how sad she looked, so he went over to help her.
"You okay?" asked Paul.
Melissa, obviously not okay, answered with sarcasm, "Oh yeah, just peachy." She paused for several seconds and then continued with a question, "What's wrong with me?"
Paul joked. "You want to ask this now, in the middle of your party planning? We might need more time."
She smiled and laughed silently in response. Her face got serious. "Quinn doesn't want to be with me. It's been like this all summer, which is why I tried to be more attentive, but then I just end up pushing him away more."
This threw Paul off. He didn't expect to have this talk with her, especially because he knew Quinn's side. "Why do you even like Quinn?"
Melissa looked up puzzled. Paul continued, "I know he’s dreamy and hilarious, but he doesn't have goals. He doesn't think about anything past the weekend. You're the opposite.
The pair stood up silently after picking up all the candles. She thanked him for the talk and walked away. Paul went back to help Beatriz with the tablecloths.
"Well that was decent of you." Beatriz said while handing him a tablecloth.
"Well she's our friend, Quinn is kind of being a jerk to her right now, I feel bad for her."
After one more hour of setting up, the guests began to arrive, and it would be historical gala party time. Everyone started to show up dressed in suits and long dresses. Even if he expected this party to be lame, Paul decided to go and have a good time. He went to the bar and grabbed three glasses of champagne, hoping no adult caught him, and went to find Beatriz and Tyler.
The two were at a table in the corner. When the pair saw him they cheered a little, "I come bearing gifts." Paul joked.
Paul sat down and Tyler opened with, "Hey man, glad you're in such optimal spirits even when Delilah and—" Beatriz elbowed him to stop himself from finishing that sentence. It was too late.
"Delilah and what, please go on." Paul insisted.
Tyler looked at Beatriz, and she quickly shook her head no.
Paul grabbed Tyler's head and made him make eye contact. “Hey, look at me, Ty. We're bros, right?"
Tyler caved. "Delilah and Zane are official in their relationship status……and it is dating."
The news was disappointing.
Beatriz offered a condolence to Paul. "Sorry, I know you were still hoping, but on the bright side, the world isn't blowing up, and you're still young."
Melissa and Quinn came over and sat down. "Hey, you miscreants, if my mom sees underage drinking at her event she'll hunt us all down and lecture us." She looked over at Paul, "What's wrong with him?"
The twins replied at the same time, "He found out about Delilah and Zane."
"Aww Paul, there's like a hundred million other people out there. You're going to be okay." Melissa said, trying to comfort him.
Before the topic could be shifted by the group, Mr. Everald walked over to the table. "Wow, drinking while underage? How original, give them up," he remarked while taking the glasses. "Perhaps, rather than being walking clichés, you all could observe and gain insight into the town's history. If you’re interested, there are some things in the east wing about my ancestors."
The group was incredibly intrigued, so after exchanging a few glances, they stood up simultaneously and hurried toward the east wing. When the group got there, they discovered vintage photographs, diaries, and papers. It was somewhat neat.
They discovered that the Everalds had served as mayors for nearly 100 years, yet it abruptly ceased. This led Paul to have numerous questions. What caused his family to stop being mayor? Why did he come back to town? Just then Delilah and Zane approached the group.
"What are we learning about?" Zane jokingly asked.
Quinn replied, "History of the history teacher."
The group spent the next half hour looking around at all the history of the town. Paul found an interesting section about the Benoit family. This was the twins' family. "Hey Ty, your family were part of the founding of the town?" Paul asked.
"Oh yeah. I mean my dad doesn't really say much about just that it happened. He says it's more of a fun fact that doesn't really make us important. I think it's cool, so does my grandpa." Tyler responded.
The entire group looked on for a few more minutes than they returned to the party and did some dancing and chatting. They even manage to sneak more champagne. Before the party could get too rowdy, the flashing lights of a police car shut everything down. So the night ended and everyone went home.