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The police came Saturday morning and took her statement. That afternoon Amanda called and asked if she was getting ready for the game. Sady looked down at her golden yellow shirt and blue jeans and told Amanda she was all set.
“I’d better come check,” Amanda said and disconnected before Sady could protest. When Amanda knocked Sady opened her door and stopped in shock.
“You’re going to the game dressed like that?” she asked in disbelief.
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Amanda replied. “Where’s your sense of spirit and pride?”
“I’m wearing it along with my self-esteem,” Sady said as she reached out to touch Amanda. “You are real!”
Amanda raised a brow. “You’d better come with me and I’ll fix you up.”
“Not too much fixing. It’s my first time,” Sady pleaded, looking at Amanda’s blue hair. She painted her face yellow and wore blue lipstick and eye shadow. The rest of her was as colorful and wild.
Amanda ignored Sady’s protests and sprayed her hair yellow with blue streaks. She painted a big blue M on each cheek and hand. “Here.” She handed Sady a Go Blue shirt. “It’ll be too big but we don’t have time to get you one before the game. Let’s go.”
Sady was self-conscious but their security guard gave them a thumbs up as they walked to the garage. In the car Amanda handed Sady a pass card on a lanyard. She flashed her own and said, “These will get us almost anywhere.” She put a parking pass in the front window and drove to the stadium. Traffic was backed up and Sady wondered if they’d get in before the game started.
Amanda pointed to the parking lot party in progress. “Tailgating starts early,” she grinned. She parked close and when they showed their passes at the first checkpoint they bypassed the crowd waiting to enter and Amanda led her to seats close to the field.
“Are these good seats?” Sady asked as she looked around. “They seem pretty far from the restrooms.”
Amanda snorted. “Give me your phone.” She snapped a couple pictures and sent them in a text. Within a minute there was a response. She handed the phone back to Sady. “See for yourself.”
One from Harry read, “Tell Amanda I’m almost tempted but CJ is standing behind me.” The text from Matt read, “Fifty yard line? Tell Amanda I forgive her. No, tell her I love her, but only on game day!” Sady read the texts and laughed.
She watched in amazement as the seats filled. A group of men behind them had no shirts. They painted their upper bodies and as a group spelled “GO BLUE.” It seemed everyone wore paint and university colors.
Amanda patted her hand. “Think of it as a beauty and talent contest for sports fans.” At least Sady didn’t feel under dressed. When the game started she began to worry about Amanda. She turned into a wild woman and Sady thought they’d be asked to leave. Then she saw everyone else acted liked lunatics.
Someone poked her. “Don’t you like the Wolverines?”
Sady gave him a nervous look and hissed behind her hand, “Amanda, which team are we again?”
Amanda chuckled and came to her rescue. She explained, “It’s her first football game. She’s led a sheltered life so I’m throwing her in the deep end.”
Sady’s eyes grew enormous when the man whooped then shouted, “Well, honey, welcome to Wolverine Country!”
“Thanks,” Sady said with a smile she hoped he bought.
Amanda laughed at her. “Just stand up and wave your arms around when everyone else does and you’ll be fine,” she advised.
At the end of the first quarter Sady whispered to Amanda, “How are we doing?”
Amanda turned Sady’s head toward the scoreboard. “We’re doing good.”
Sady let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good. I wouldn’t want to be stuck down here if it was bad.” Flicking her eyes, she leaned close to Amanda and whispered, “These people are nuts!”
Amanda ignored her so Sady tried to make herself inconspicuous. She grew uncomfortable when two men down the row kept leaning forward to look at her. She nudged Amanda and pointed to them. “Do you recognize them?” Amanda shook her head.
The next time everyone stood to cheer Sady looked down the row and saw the men looking back. Recognition was mutual. Sady grabbed Amanda’s arm and hissed. “It’s Big Ape and Goon! The guys with Mr. Psych test.”
Amanda glanced down the row and pushed Sady to the stairs. “You get a head start while I stall them.” Sady sprinted up the stairs while the guys tried to get past the fans sitting in their row. Amanda tripped the first one and threw her drink into the face of the other. “They’re Spartan fans in disguise,” she yelled, following Sady up the stairs.
The women were out of breath but at the top of the steps when the men finally got away from the hostile Wolverine fans. Sady later learned the only thing Michigan State Spartans and University of Michigan Wolverines shared was their home state and an intense hatred for each other and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Amanda grabbed Sady by the arm, hauled her through a door, and down a set of stairs. Sady followed, hoping Amanda knew what she was doing. They ended up mingling with the marching band as it prepared for the halftime show.
One quick look told them Ape and Goon were still in pursuit. Amanda gave Sady a shove and yelled, “Keep your head down and keep moving!” To her dismay, Sady found herself on the field with the marching band. “Don’t let the cameras see your face,” Amanda yelled just before Sady went deaf from the trumpet blast in her ear.
She and Amanda kept low and tried not to disrupt the band now in formation and doing a routine. Sady popped her head up in time to see their pursuers shoving band members out of the way. A row of trombone players went down like human dominoes.
A tiny female student playing a flute took exception and jammed her flute into the goon’s Adam’s apple. He grabbed his throat and dropped to his knees. She stepped around him and returned to her position. Two large tuba players and a guy with a bass drum cornered the ape. Then the band fell apart. Some still played while others stopped to watch. Sady realized the blowing whistles weren’t part of the band’s performance as campus security and local police stormed the field.
She looked desperately for Amanda and saw her gesturing to the drum major in charge. He nodded as she yelled in his ear, then he smiled, and Amanda ran back to find Sady. “Follow the band,” she yelled, pushing Sady’s head down.
Except for the tuba players and the bass drum, the band closed in tight and fast marched into the tunnel. Once inside, they spread out and Amanda grabbed Sady’s hand pulling her down a hall. She opened a door and said, “We should be safe in here.”
A couple players looked up at their entrance. “Uh, Amanda, exactly where are we?”
“The locker room.” She turned to one of the team assistants and greeted him by name.
“Amanda, I see you’re keeping out of trouble. Are you responsible for the marching band debacle?” he asked as if a woman in the locker room happened every day.
“It’s a long story, Cal. Any way I can explain it over dinner?”
Cal just smiled and Amanda said, “Good, we’ll be in the shower room and you haven’t seen us.” Sady hoped none of the players were in the shower room. It was quiet, and they heard Cal send the pursuing officers away. Amanda tossed her a towel. “Stick your head under the water to wash out your hair color. And wipe off your face.”
“We’re borrowing a couple jerseys,” Amanda told Cal as they left. “I’ll bring them back, promise.”
Cal waved with a smile. “I know where to find you.”
After finding the coast clear, Amanda pulled Sady in the direction of their seats. “Aren’t we leaving?” Sady protested.
Amanda didn’t pause as she snorted, “There’s still almost half a game left. Of course not!”
When they sat down the guys behind them said, “You two missed a good halftime show.” They were drunk, and no longer spelled out GO BLUE. They now read GO LUBE.
Amanda gave them each a high five. “Nice job, guys,” she commended them as she elbowed Sady. She pulled a paper from her bag and handed it to them.
“What was that?” Sady asked.
“A fifty dollar voucher they can use at any vendor in the stadium.”
Sady’s phone buzzed. Matt’s text read “I knew you’d get into trouble. Thanks- I won twenty bucks and you owe Morrow an explanation.” She ignored it. The next one was from CJ, “Enjoying the game, girls?” Harry’s read “I see you and Amanda are keeping a low profile. Working undercover?”
As the game neared its end two campus police officers approached Amanda and Sady at their seats to question them. They lied with straight faces and the drunks behind them swore they had been there during the halftime show. Amanda smiled at Sady when the officers left. “You work with the college kid's long enough and you learn all the tricks.”