Played by Natasha Stories

I
didn't know what was so bad about it. Of course, a lot of the book was left
out, but Orson Scott Card, the author of the book, had been involved in the
production, so I thought they did a good job of capturing it, especially the
special effects during the battle scenes that were among my favorite parts of
the book. I came out of the theater with Drew's arm still around me. I was
smiling and bouncing with excitement.
    "You liked it that much?" Drew
asked, smiling at me in return.
    "I did! It really brought the book to
life."
    "Usually, people who like to read
don't like the movie adaptation," he said. "But, I haven't read the
book, so I guess I'll take your word for it. Hey, Sugar, this was fun. Wanta do
it again next weekend?"
    Ri stopped in her tracks ahead of us and
turned around, her mouth a perfect O and her eyes wide. "Drew, that's the
BYU game."
    "So?" he said.
    Widening her eyes even further and
thrusting her head forward, she stared at him for several seconds, while I
puzzled over her demeanor. "Okay," she said, apparently satisfied
with her examination of her friend. Drew and Alan walked us to the dorm, where
Alan and Rihanna indulged in another suck-face session. Drew leaned down to
kiss me on the cheek.
    "I really enjoyed tonight," he
said. Happiness flooded me as I smiled back at him. I felt the same way. There
was no pressure, no wondering if we were going to have sex. I liked Drew a lot,
and we had some things in common, reading among them. Not to mention
basketball, which was rapidly becoming my favorite sport to watch.
    "So did I."
    In our room, Rihanna explained her odd
behavior earlier.
    "The BYU game is like high-school
prom, or homecoming," she started, and then sighed as I gave her a blank
face. "It's like, the time to take your sweetheart out and show her a good
time. Some guys get their girls a corsage, even, to wear to the game, and then
afterward if it's a win, they'll go out to a really nice restaurant. Drew
asking you is a big deal, Janey-pooh."
    "Oh." My pleasure in the evening
dimmed. I had no wish to hurt Drew's feelings, but I didn't think of him as my
sweetheart, not by a long shot. We'd had exactly one date, and it wasn't really
a date. He didn't ask me until the group invitation, and I only went because Rihanna
was going, too. We were friends, nothing more. Any romantic leanings I had were
toward Justin, despite the fact that he wasn't interested.
    "Ri, what am I going to do? I didn't
realize it meant something."
    She narrowed her eyes at me. "You're
going to go," she said. "I won't have you ditch my best friend. So it
means something; so what? Either you’ll enjoy it and the two of you will start
dating, or you won't. And if you don't, he won't either and that will be the
end of it."
    She was mad, and I knew whose side she'd take.
She'd known Drew forever. I grew quiet. Losing Rihanna would devastate me, so
I'd have to cowboy up and go on this 'means something' date, and figure out a
way to let Drew down easy.
    ~~~
    The campus was abuzz with the upcoming BYU
game. The Tuesday night game against Idaho State was all but eclipsed among the
true sports fans, and ignored completely by those who didn't care about the
sports, but loved the party atmosphere. Anyone not wearing red that week was
pelted with slushy snowballs, as I discovered to my chagrin on Monday. I needed
more red.
    I planned to go to the game with Rihanna as
usual, and most of the posse was coming along, even those that didn't like
basketball. She didn’t mention Alan. On Wednesday, though, I got a call from
Drew asking me to meet him at the Student Union at noon. It was a foolhardy
appearance, as he had once again led the team to victory the night before
against Idaho, and the fans were fired up.
    "I can't stay long, we won't get a
minute's peace," he greeted me, smiling.
    "That's okay. What's up?" I
asked, thinking perhaps he'd found someone else he preferred to take out after
the game. He didn't owe me anything, after all,