Page 12 of Giving In

“Nah, man. He just cares for her. But could you blame him if he was? She’s hot. You know you like them tiny and breakable.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me, and I can’t help but smile at his knowledge of me. “And you know who’s even hotter? Her cheerleader friend.” He points at the cheerleaders learning a routine on the other half of the field and I watch the toned, brown-haired girl Luke is pointing at. She breaks in a tumble alternating hands and feet until her two feet hit the ground in a thump, and she raises her arms, grinning proudly. The other girls and boys clap and gather around her.

“Hot,” I admit but I don’t feel anything that I feel when I watch Jamie.

“Hot?” Luke chokes out, “Dude, she’s hotter than hell.”

I shrug my shoulders and automatically go back to my main topic. “How can Chris do this to me though?” I complain. “If he’s not even into her, surely she can’t be off-limits.”

Luke laughs at me. “Trust me on that one, you have no chance with her. Do you even know why we call her Goody?”

The fact that Luke thinks I couldn’t get in her pants is tickling my ego.

“Why do we call her Goody?” I ask lazily.

“She’s little miss perfect. Perfect grades, perfect plan for her future, lacrosse captain, never seen her at a party, goes to Church every Sunday morning. You know what, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her have fun, like ever. Even on the field, she’s there for one thing only: the win. A control freak like her, believe me, she’s not the kind to let a boy get in her way. Even for a hot piece like you.” He winks at me. “Chris was probably doingyoua favor by telling you to stay away.”

‘I highly doubt that,’I think but don’t say anything.

I turn back to watching Jamie again. I’ve thought about her all day. My thoughts were so busy with her that I forgot to find Camila to apologize for making out with Rose’s friend, Ciara.

I don’t know why she got so mad, Ciara’s gay and had never kissed a boy. I was only trying to help her experiment. We were drunk, it just happened. The rest kind of just happened as well, suddenly I was in her room, and next thing I knew I was fucking her. And so was Chris. Except Chris doesn’t have anyone to justify himself to when this happens. Smart guy. Ciara said she was gay, she fooled me. So really, I’m the victim here.

I know I fucked up a few times with Camila, but it would still hurt to lose her. We’re good together and I know deep down she really is in love with me. I hate seeing her with other guys, it drives me fucking crazy and she knows it. It has always felt right with her but sometimes I can’t help looking elsewhere. Right now, Jamie Williams is definitely keeping my mind away from my Latina girl.

“Fuck this shit. What the fuck does she think she’s doing?”

I turn back to Luke to check what is suddenly making him so angry and I can’t help a laugh.

“You knew that was going to happen. Ella’s just as hot as you, what did you expect?”

Luke is looking daggers at his little sister and the guy hitting on her at the bottom of the bleachers.

“I’m not gonna be able to enjoy senior year if my 15-year-old sister keeps getting hit on by Stoneview’s douchebags,” he spits out.

Funnily, Ella and Luke are exactly three years apart and they both retook 8th grade. Their parents’ wedding anniversary is in November, which might explain why she turned 15 on August 3rd, the exact same day Luke turned 18. Just a theory.

She’s now a Freshman in our school and the only problem for Luke is that, while he doesn’t see it, his sister is more than a ten. She takes from him with her long blond almost white hair and her big aqua blue eyes. They both have soft, innocent features.

Ella is the perfect girl next door. In fact, sheisour girl next door since the Bakers live two doors down from us. Only in Stoneview, two doors down is a good five-minute walk. Now that Ella is at Stoneview Prep, surrounded by older guys who only have eyes for her, she gets hit on every two steps she takes. I think she was trying out for the cheer team and Scott Johnson pulled her out to ‘talk’. We’re now witnessing Scott, our lacrosse teammate, putting a hand around her waist while she smiles politely, trying to get away from him. Poor Ella. Like my twin would say: boys are trash.

“Scott looks like he’s very much enjoying his senior year,” I reply to Luke.

“Fuck this shit,” he repeats getting up. “I’ll see you tomorrow, man, I’m taking her home. You got a ride?”

“I’m all good, Ozy’s got her car.”

I watch him go down the steps two at a time. He taps on Scott’s shoulder and when Scott turns around, I hear Luke say something about talking to girls his age and cutting his balls off.Nice. Ella seems relieved that Luke is getting her out of this situation, but she loses her cool when he grabs her hand and drags her away. She’s shouting about cheerleading tryouts and wanting to be on the team, but I doubt he’s listening.

I focus back on lacrosse and catch Rose, aka Ozy, scoring a goal. Some girls on the bleachers cheer her and giggle, trying to get her attention. She winks at them and I can’t help a smile.That’smy twin, talent runs in the family.

_________

Jamie

I zip up my sports bag and grab my stick. Most of the other girls have gone. I stayed slightly late to write down some notes about everyone’s performance that I’ll have to give to Coach Thompson. I only have twenty spaces on the team and about thirty girls showed up to tryouts. He’s going to have his own notes too so we’ll see what he thinks. I have my team from last year, but Coach T was adamant a spot last year didn’t secure one this year, so I have to make sure I give a fair chance to everyone.

I hear a girl laugh out loud behind some lockers by the door. I put my stick in my locker and as I walk around, I spot Rose and her friend, Ciara, still chilling. Ciara is still getting changed and Rose is sitting on the benches fully clothed, her hair still wet from her shower, rolling a joint on her lap. The sleeves of her shirt are rolled up and I can see the half sleeve of tattoos on her left forearm.

“Hey, Goody,” Ciara smiles at me. “Thanks for practice today.”

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