Page 30 of Kicking It with the Point Guard

Mia is in the room when I get back. She has her diner uniform on again, and she’s digging for the apron.

“You know, if you’d just hang it up after you use it, you wouldn’t have to look for it every time.” I smirk at my roommate, and she flips me the bird over her shoulder.

“I should get Cameron to come help you organize. You could eat off the floor in his room. Well, his side of the room. I wouldn’t touch food on the floor of his roommate’s side with a ten-foot pole.”

She stops and slowly turns to stare at me, a sly grin stretching across her pretty face.

“You were in Cameron’s room? What for?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.

I roll my eyes at her.

“It’s not what you think.” I cross my arms. “Those cheer bitches struck again. They’re getting bolder.”

“What did they do?” She frowns, her eyes going to my cheek before checking over the rest of my body.

“They filled the study room Cameron and I have been using with literal shit. Like, comes out of a butthole, smells like shit, shit.”

“What do you want to bet they paid someone to do that for them? No way they’d dirty those perfectly manicured hands with shit.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Then I fill her in on the rest of my afternoon. She cocks a brow at me when I tell her about the hand holding but keeps her mouth shut.

“Your idea was a hit, by the way.” I smile at my bestie. “Cameron’s friend, Oscar, was a major fan of “balloon girl.”

Mia flinches and turns, resuming her search for the missing apron.

“Do I need to offer you some sage advice? I have lots just locked away, waiting to flow free like a fountain for you, my dearest friend!”

“Nope! No advice necessary. I’m going to meet him at a party the football team is throwing Saturday night. You should come. It sounds like your library hottie will be there, too, if he was close enough to be eating lunch with Oscar.”

It’s my turn to flinch.

“Do you have plans Saturday?” she asks, moving from the pile of clothes to the wardrobe.

“Well… no.”

“Then it’s settled! Ah!” She turns, a triumphant grin on her pretty face, her missing apron in hand. “We can be each other’s excuse to leave. If either one of us is having a bad time, we can just say that our roommate doesn’t feel well and needs us to accompany them home.”

“That’s… a good idea. Okay. I’ll go with you.”

“I knew you’d see it my way!” She comes over and kisses me on the cheek. “I’ll see you later. Want me to bring you a slice of that cheesecake you like?”

I give her a tight squeeze.

“Yes, please. I’ll love you forever.”

“You already do,” she says, winking as she leaves the room.

Damn it, she’s right. I laugh, grabbing my backpack to go over my algebra study guide one more time. I’ve got a math test to pass.

Cameron

Since basketball season is truly starting next week, Oscar somehow convinced me to come to a party that the football team is throwing.

Parties are not places I’d normally frequent. But according to my childhood friend, “you’ve got to let loose every once in a while.”

I guess you could say I’m letting loose. I’m holding a drink that I’m pretty sure has alcohol in it. I’m not drinking it, and I’ll likely pour it out soon, but it’s in my hand. That’s not something I would normally do.

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