Jinx was in her own personal hell. Drunken men and women, screaming at guys on a field, ramming into each other, surrounded her. Some were a little incoherent; some were on the verge of being unconscious. Some were spilling their beer on the bleachers, while others were about to start brawls with people wearing different colors.
How she got dragged into Keystone Bluebirds' football game is beyond her. Jinx and Wally had a bet: whoever wins a certain amount of chess games gets to pick the next date night. She had chosen chess simply because Wally would talk less, but she didn't expect him to crush her in all three games.
When Wally said that he wanted to take her to a football game and weeks went by, she figured he had forgotten about it and she was off the hook. Wally however, didn't forget and came strutting into the bedroom the day before the game with two Bluebird jerseys, both sporting the number 57 and the name Matthews on the back. When she asked why him – which she regrets deeply but he was just so excited – she got an earful of "Jake Matthews is the best defensive end in the league, Jinx! Why wouldn't you want his name on your back!"
Because I'd rather have West on my back… She had thought but said nothing.
Wally had tried to explain to her the rules of American Football and why the Bluebirds were just so much better than the other teams – despite having one of the worst records in the league – but Jinx couldn't get past the fact that grown men were tackling each other and why the hell her boyfriend would find so much joy in it.
But when she would look at Wally, screaming at a player for dropping a pass – despite knowing that he couldn't hear Wally yelling at him – her heart fluttered. Seeing Wally get so worked up over something so trivial was exciting. Normally he's such a happy go-lucky guy that always has a positive look on life, even if the situation was not so positive. Yet here he was, cursing under his breath and yelling at referees ("that was so not pass interference! Are you even watching the game!"), players for making stupid mistakes ("you have to catch the freaking ball, dumb ass!") or coaches making a bad play call ("what the hell, Coker! Why would you call for a screen pass!")
Halftime, showcasing a performance from some weird artist she had never heard of, came and went and Jinx found herself finally starting to enjoy the actual game itself. While she didn't understand the majority of the game, she picked up the concepts of downs and the point system. She would ask Wally a lot of questions just to see him smile – asking questions about something he's passionate about means she cares, right?
They game was almost at a close, currently the Bluebirds were down by five points with a few minutes left to go. Unfortunately the opposing team – the Metropolis Meteors – had possession of the ball. They were however, backed up close to their own end zone, and when defensive end Jake Matthews broke through the offensive line and went straight for the Meteors' quarterback, knocking him down in their end zone, the crowd went wild and Jinx stood there confused.
"Wally? Why is everyone cheering? There's like two minutes left and that was only first down?" She asked.
"It's a safety, babe! Their quarterback was sacked in their own end zone, giving us two points! We just need a field goal and we're going into overtime," he giddily explained.
She didn't understand much of what he just said but just nodded, understanding that they just needed three more for a chance of survival.
Unfortunately for Wally's amazing team, two minutes wasn't enough for them to get the three points needed, leaving numerous Bluebird fans disappointed at the thought of such a heart breaking loss.
As they were leaving the stadium, Jinx noticed how quiet Wally was and decided to speak up.
"I'm sorry they lost, Wally. I know how much you love them," she said, running her fingers through his hair.
"I'm used to the sting now. I just wish that your first game was a win! How exciting would that have been," he pouted. "I just wanted them to win for you, Jinx. Well and for me. But mainly you."
"Aw, Wally. I had fun though! I got to spend the whole day with you without some idiot bad guy ruining date night."
"Even though they lost?"
"Even though they lost," she confirmed. He smiled and kissed her quickly.
"Well that's all that matters then! Also this was the smallest margin of defeat yet! Every other game this season has been by at least ten points. You are Bluebird's lucky charm! I guess we'll just have to come to more games until they win."
"I guess so," she smiled.
They continued walking; hand-in-hand in the stadium parking lot when Jinx spoke up again.
"So you know how worked up you got during the game? Yelling and booing and such?"
"Ugh yeah. I'm sorry. Football games just make me so angry with all the stupid calls and the –"
"Whoa hey. I was just going to say that it kind of worked me up too."
He stopped walking and looked right at her. Without saying a word, he pulled her behind a car, scooped her up, and ran off in the direction of their apartment, skipping the train altogether.
Just a quick little oneshot for Flinx. Maybe Jinx should take Wally to a real football match sometime...
I get way too worked up over football games especially for my terrible team so I feel for poor Wally and thus my inspiration was born. It's very sad that I wrote this years ago for my terrible team and yet there has been little improvement...
As usual, pardon any and all grammar/spelling mistakes. Maybe one day I will go through it and clean it up a bit.