Dark Side of the Moon.

Patrick and Adam each have one of Violet's hands clutched to their own as they walk towards the Freshman football field. Ryder is somewhere with the team, getting ready for the first scrimmage. Gavin has run along with some of his friends who have older siblings that are on the football team. I take a seat at the ticket booth and start selling tickets to the ones that are early.

"How was your birthday?" Diane, a chemistry teacher that taught Ryder asked as she took a seat next to me.

"Uneventful," "I say lamely.

"Really? Ryder told you were turned twenty-one. That's like a right of passage."

"Trust me, that right of passage was handed to me like my eighth grade year. Being twenty-one just means that I no longer have to flirt with desperate men to buy me drinks. I can flirt with the bartender," I smile at my joke.

The crowd begins to grow and the hands on my watch say it's a little before one. Wesley should be here soon. As I look up, I see him smiling down at me. "How much for a ticket ma'am?"

"I've already paid for you, Diane you got it from here?" I ask getting up.

"Oh yeah," She smiles, eyeing Wesley up and down.

I meet Wesley at the gate entrance, take his hand and guide him to the freshman stands.

"So are you a teacher here?" He asks.

"No."

"You got kids?" He says slowly.

"In a way," I smile back at him. "I'm a nanny. My oldest is the quarterback on the freshman team. My friend, Patrick, from last night, he make me call you and invite you to this. Normally I like to keep business and pleasure separate."

"No, it's all good. I like kids. How many am I meeting?" He asks as he approach the stands.

"Well Patrick and Adam are my gay best friends. They were at the bar last night. Then there's Violet, she's the youngest, at six. Gavin is here somewhere with his friends, he ten, so he's going through the whole 'I do what I want' phase, and then Ryder is on their field," I explain as I search the mass of people for three familiar faces.

Finally I spot them. They are sitting in the middle part of the bleachers, close to the field. I spot Violet waving at me frantically. She stops suddenly when she stops me, holding hands with Wesley. Quickly I let go and give him a shy smile in apology.

"Vi, this is my friend Wesley. Wesley this is Violet Bowmen," I introduce.

"Hi Vi," Wesley says happily.

"Hi," Violet says bashfully, gripping onto Adam for dear life.

"And this is Adam Thatcher and Patrick Worrick. Guys, this is Wesley Doyle."

I watch as Wesley exchanges handshakes with my friends before taking a seat on the cool bleachers beside me. He sits so our legs briefly brush against each other. He takes my hand with his own. I don't protest only because as he does, Patrick and Adam look at me and smile. I roll my eyes at them and they smile even harder. Thankfully Ryder throws the ball to another player who catches it in the end zone, giving us the first touchdown. I stand quickly, yanking my hand free from Wesley's grip and clap my hands.

A little before half time, I see Gavin making his way towards us. He's holding his nose. Automatically I know his nose is bleeding. I reach for my purse and extract the tissues. During dry months like August, Gavin always gets bloody noses. At first I thought that they ere disgusting, but now it is almost an every day occurrence.

"Oh No, Gav. I'm not sure if I can get the blood out of this shirt," I say knowing that this is his favorite shirt.

"It's okay. You can buy me another one," He takes the tissue from me and jams it up his nose then wipes his hands on his jeans. I roll my eyes and he just grins. "Who are you?"

"I'm Wesley. Who are you?" Wesley asks.

"I'm Gavin."

"Hi Gavin," Wesley extends his hand and Gavin shakes it.

"Are you Grace's friend that we have to be good in front of and if we're not we'll get grounded?" He blurts out. Gavin has never had a filter. He always just blurts out what he feels and thinks. Sometimes, most times, it gets him in trouble.

"Oh yeah. So I'd be good if I were you," Wesley jokes.

"Nah. Grace is all bark and no bite. She always says that I'm grounded but then forgets to take away my toys."

I raise my eye brow. Gavin just smiles at me. I slowly smile back. I couldn't be angry at a little ten year old boy with giant black curls and a tissue shoved deep into his nose. He takes a beside Wesley and in no time they are lost in conversation about whatever guys talk about.

Finally the game is over. We won, of course. I stand and cheer one last time, waving down at Gavin who beams up at all of us.

"Hey Wesley," Adam starts. "Are you going to get pizza with us?"

I send daggers at Adam with my eyes. "Yeah, I was going to ask if you would like to go? We always go to this little place called Tito's after every game," I cover, acting as if I was planning on inviting him anyways.

"Sure," He agrees and secretly I cringe.

All of us make our way onto the field as well as some of the other parents who care about what the coach has to say. Ryder see me and smiles then sees Wesley standing behind me with his arm around my waist and his smile falls into a hard line.

"Good game today guys. If we put effort in like that, we won't have any troubles snagging another trophy. First game is this Thursday," the coach looks around the group of parents until he lays eyes on me. "This is Ryder's mother. She has offered her house to the team for after the game. We can get together and go over what we did good and what we need to improve on. I sent out papers last week with Grace's number and address. So if you have any questions, call her. That's all. Have a good rest of your weekend."

Ryder walks towards us, his eyes focused only on Wesley's. I try to smile and lighten the tension. "Are you ever going to tell him I am your nanny and not your mom?"

"You're more of a mom than the real one will ever be," He says without pealing his eyes away.

"Okay, so," I start to say. "Ryder this is Wesley. My friend. Wesley, this is Ryder."

"Hey man," Wesley says extending his hand.

"Are you going out to eat with us?" Ryder asks.

"Yeah, is that okay?"

"Whatever," Ryder huffs and stalks off towards the cars.

I look back at Wesley, he shrugs his shoulders. Normally Ryder is so nice and easy going. The coach must of said something to him that made him mad.

"So you can follow us there, okay?" I ask Wesley as we walk to his car that isn't parked far from ours.

"I have a feeling that you don't want me to go. And I know Ryder doesn't like the idea of me joining you for pizza."

I scramble for words. "No, no. I want you to. I just don't do this a lot. Patrick and Adam are the only people who have met the kids, so it's weird for me to have people meet them. I don't know what's wrong with Ryder though, he is normally so nice. I'll talk to him," I reach up and place my lips against Wesley's. I surprise him, hell I surprised myself.

Wesley smiles into the kiss. "Okay, see you shortly."

I walk back to my car and slide into the drivers seat. Before I turn on the engine or even put on my seat belt I turn to Ryder. "What's your problem?"

"What do you mean?" He asks as if he is oblivious to his attitude.

"You are your behavior towards Wesley."

"It's not like we're going to see him again after this. I know the games you play, I'm not dumb," What Ryder says is hurtful.

I furrow my eyebrows and frown. "You have no right to talk to me like that. I am aloud to do whatever I please in my free time and I do not need your permission. I am an adult and you are a child."

"Sometimes, I think I'm the adult and you're the child," He points out bluntly.

"You can ride with Patrick and Adam because I don't even want to look at you right now."

Ryder looks at me to see if I am serious or not, and I am. I am furious with Ryder right now. I can't believe that he feels like he has a right to chime into my personal life. He thrusts the car door open then slams it shut before I hear him mutter, "bitch."

I roll my eyes and wait until he is in Patrick's car and buckled in before I pull out of the parking lot.

Tito's is a warm and inviting place that not many people know about. I think the kids are a main reason why this place is still in business. Over the years we've come to know Tito and his wife Loraine and their granddaughter Taylor personally. They have become good friends to the family, the kind we send Christmas cards to.

Patrick climbs out of the drivers side and walks quickly up to me "What did you and Ryder fight about?"

"I called him out on his attitude and he basically said that it doesn't matter because Wesley is just a fuck and dump and when he got out of the car he called me a bitch," I whispered.

"He also called you a fucking whore," Patrick whispers back, smiling.

Everyone else is out of the car now. Ryder is glaring at me with his arms crossed around his chest. I have to remind myself that he is only thirteen.

"Everything okay?" Wesley asks.

I let my anger get the best of me. I smile and grab his hand. "Everything is just dandy. I'm hungry, lets eat."