Page 100 of The Baller

I shook my head. “Unbelievable.”

“I vote to meet him.” Ben’s hand shot in the air, his face a picture of innocence. If I didn’t know he was up to something, I’d be impressed. “Anyone’s better than that dick, Ellington.”

The banana found itself inhaled down my windpipe. If Henry hadn’t jumped up and smacked me on the back, I’m sure I could have died. Maybe not, but nearly.

The temperature of the air dropped significantly.

“Do not mention that name in this house! Do not mention that name, ever!” snarled my mom. Yeah, I could see the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs quaking, but it didn’t have the same effect on Ben.

What was more interesting was hearing his name didn’t have the same effect on me. I didn’t break into a cold sweat, or need to swallow the bile burning my throat. Hearing his name did nothing but add to the annoyance I already felt.

“Hey, did you see he got glitter bombed? It was caught on camera by some tourist. They’re calling him Glitter Boy.” Ben snorted loudly, snatching Henry’s phone up. “It’s all over social. Even Jimmy Kimmel was talking about it last night.”

I stilled. I knew the video had been gaining popularity. Every time I’d been over at Lux’s, Tanner or Parker would mention it, always looking incredibly pleased with themselves. Because it had been seen by so many people, they’d decided against sending more, something I’d been secretly relieved about. If it ever got back to me, there’d be more than Hell to pay, especially if Jimmy Kimmel was talking about it.

Ben slid the phone across the table to Henry and pressed play.

He had the exact same reaction of everyone I’d seen watching it:eyes cartoon wide, a loud gasp, then he dissolved into bursts of laughter.

“Oh fuck…”

I knew the bit that got him, too. Right at the end, when the camera zoomed into Ellington’s shocked, glittery face, and you can see the rage build in his eyes.

“Give me that.” Mom snatched the phone from Henry’s hand. To give her credit, she lasted longer than the two of them before her laughter hit. She watched it twice before passing the phone to my dad.

I tossed the banana peel into the trash. “While you’re all killing yourself laughing and hating on Lux, you should know that he did that.” I pointed to my dad holding the phone. “Lux and Tanner Simpson and Parker King. They found out about what happened to me, what Ellington did, and sent that.”

All four of them looked at me, their eyes streaming with tears. Ben was wheezing so hard he sounded like he needed an oxygen cannister.

“Lux and his friends are the only ones who’ve ever given Ellington any kind of payback. I didn’t ask them to, they just did it. And while I hadn’t planned on dating anyone, I am dating Lux, and I’ve got no plans to stop. He’s going to come here during the holidays, you have a month to get used to the idea, and a month to get any shitty baseball jokes out of your system.”

I could hear their laughter all the way down the corridor.

Idropped onto my bed, and hit dial for the one person I wanted to talk to right now.

Lux’s face filled the screen, his hazel eyes shining underneath a bright pink woolly hat. I’d never known a boy to wear so much color, but that summed him up - Lux was color personified, happy and chilled. And between the hat and the thick winter coat covering the lower half of his face, his eyes were the only thing visible.

“Hey there, Goldilocks.”

“Where are you?”

“Walking to the plane, just about to board,” he grinned. “You were right about the snow. How was your breakfast thing?”

“It was good. Will you bring me back some Mickey ears?”

“I think I can manage that.” His eyes moved to the left, greeting someone before flicking back to me. “I gotta go, I’ll call you back later, ‘kay?”

“Okay, have a good flight.”

He hesitated for the briefest second, his lips parted, but the screen went black. Weird.

I tossed my phone to the side and reached for the notebook he’d given me which was sitting next to a pile of books I had to read. I opened it to the first page, my eyes darting over what I’d already written.

I had yet to cross anything off.

There were only half a dozen items on my list, separated into two categories; things to do alone, things to do with friends and/or Lux.

I’d already decided that to make it on the list, it needed to be a tangible action. Notes likebe braverwere too abstract. Instead, it was items likego to the gym alone. I could probably do that now, except the White House gym would be empty so it kind of defeated the purpose.

---