UConn. Every time I thought about physically being somewhere else, living on my own, I shivered. In a good way.
Freaky.
“Pass it!” Shannen shouted, standing up next to me. “Come on, Hammond! Jake’s wide open!”
Hammond did not pass the ball. Instead he took the shot, even though he had two defenders all up in his face, and it sailed way wide of the goal. Everyone in the stands groaned, even Annie, who sat behind me, unwilling as she was to share the same bench with Shannen and Faith. Claimed she was afraid of Crestie Cooties.
Faith looked up from her texting. “What? What happened?”
“We just didn’t score a goal, thanks to Hammond,” Shannen groused, plopping back down on the bench.
Coach Martz called time-out and the team jogged toward the sidelines, sweating and grumbling. They were losing one–nothing and looked lost out there, possibly because one of their captains was hogging the ball away from their other captain. The sun beat down on Jake’s face as he jogged over to Hammond to ask what the hell he was doing, I assume. Hammond shoved Jake away from him and when Jake tried to grab his shoulder,Ham whacked his arm so hard Jake almost fell over. My fingers curled around the edge of the bench, but Jake didn’t retaliate.
The guys grabbed water and gathered around their coach while the backslappers, including Chloe, made a loose circle around the huddle. Chloe tried hard not to look at Jake as Jake tried hard not to look at Chloe, and Hammond gazed longingly at Chloe from behind. Yeah. Deciding not to do Backslappers this year? Best idea ever. That triangle was even deadlier than the one in Bermuda.
“Shouldn’t you two be down there getting your rah on?” Annie asked the others.
“I decided to abstain from joining anything nonathletic this year,” Shannen said, leaning back casually with her elbows on the bleacher seat behind ours. She crossed her long, semibare legs, and a pair of JV players a few yards away ogled her so hard I thought their eyeballs might combust.
“And I’m concentrating on drama,” Faith said, twirling her blond hair around a finger as she read another text.
Annie snorted a laugh. “Isn’t that what you’re always concentrating on?”
Shannen smirked.
“Huh?” Faith said. Annie just rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” Faith replied. “You can mock me if you want, but Ally’s doing the fall play too this year.”
“You are?” Annie and Shannen asked at the same time.
“I didn’t think you were into that stuff anymore,” Shannen added.
I shrugged. “It’s Midsummer Night’s Dream , which is, like, the only Shakespeare play I ever understood, so I figured I’d give it a shot. Tryouts are on Monday, so—”
“Auditions. We call them auditions,” Faith corrected me.
“What about work?” Annie asked.
“I’ll still have time to pick up a few shifts a week,” I replied. Annie and I both had part-time jobs at the CVS in the downtown strip mall. “Just not as many as usual.”
“Great. More shifts with Ancient Alice and Smelly Sal for me,” Annie grumbled.
Faith’s eyes lit up in a fake way and she turned to look at Annie. “Hey! Maybe you should join stage crew. Since you already have the uniform down,” she added, flicking her gaze over Annie’s black-on-black outfit with disdain.
“Oh, yeah. Nothing I’d rather do than spend more time with you,” Annie shot back.
“No, no, no, no, no.” Faith shook her head facetiously. “I will be on stage under the spotlights. The stage crew stays back behind the curtains, in the dark, where they belong.”
I was surprised when Annie didn’t yank out her laptop and break it over the top of Faith’s head. But I’m pretty sure she considered it.
The whistle blew and the guys jogged back out to the field. Annie did take out her laptop, but instead of braining Faith with it, she opened it atop her knees, typing in some observation or another. She hit save and pressed her hands into the
Freaky.
“Pass it!” Shannen shouted, standing up next to me. “Come on, Hammond! Jake’s wide open!”
Hammond did not pass the ball. Instead he took the shot, even though he had two defenders all up in his face, and it sailed way wide of the goal. Everyone in the stands groaned, even Annie, who sat behind me, unwilling as she was to share the same bench with Shannen and Faith. Claimed she was afraid of Crestie Cooties.
Faith looked up from her texting. “What? What happened?”
“We just didn’t score a goal, thanks to Hammond,” Shannen groused, plopping back down on the bench.
Coach Martz called time-out and the team jogged toward the sidelines, sweating and grumbling. They were losing one–nothing and looked lost out there, possibly because one of their captains was hogging the ball away from their other captain. The sun beat down on Jake’s face as he jogged over to Hammond to ask what the hell he was doing, I assume. Hammond shoved Jake away from him and when Jake tried to grab his shoulder,Ham whacked his arm so hard Jake almost fell over. My fingers curled around the edge of the bench, but Jake didn’t retaliate.
The guys grabbed water and gathered around their coach while the backslappers, including Chloe, made a loose circle around the huddle. Chloe tried hard not to look at Jake as Jake tried hard not to look at Chloe, and Hammond gazed longingly at Chloe from behind. Yeah. Deciding not to do Backslappers this year? Best idea ever. That triangle was even deadlier than the one in Bermuda.
“Shouldn’t you two be down there getting your rah on?” Annie asked the others.
“I decided to abstain from joining anything nonathletic this year,” Shannen said, leaning back casually with her elbows on the bleacher seat behind ours. She crossed her long, semibare legs, and a pair of JV players a few yards away ogled her so hard I thought their eyeballs might combust.
“And I’m concentrating on drama,” Faith said, twirling her blond hair around a finger as she read another text.
Annie snorted a laugh. “Isn’t that what you’re always concentrating on?”
Shannen smirked.
“Huh?” Faith said. Annie just rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” Faith replied. “You can mock me if you want, but Ally’s doing the fall play too this year.”
“You are?” Annie and Shannen asked at the same time.
“I didn’t think you were into that stuff anymore,” Shannen added.
I shrugged. “It’s Midsummer Night’s Dream , which is, like, the only Shakespeare play I ever understood, so I figured I’d give it a shot. Tryouts are on Monday, so—”
“Auditions. We call them auditions,” Faith corrected me.
“What about work?” Annie asked.
“I’ll still have time to pick up a few shifts a week,” I replied. Annie and I both had part-time jobs at the CVS in the downtown strip mall. “Just not as many as usual.”
“Great. More shifts with Ancient Alice and Smelly Sal for me,” Annie grumbled.
Faith’s eyes lit up in a fake way and she turned to look at Annie. “Hey! Maybe you should join stage crew. Since you already have the uniform down,” she added, flicking her gaze over Annie’s black-on-black outfit with disdain.
“Oh, yeah. Nothing I’d rather do than spend more time with you,” Annie shot back.
“No, no, no, no, no.” Faith shook her head facetiously. “I will be on stage under the spotlights. The stage crew stays back behind the curtains, in the dark, where they belong.”
I was surprised when Annie didn’t yank out her laptop and break it over the top of Faith’s head. But I’m pretty sure she considered it.
The whistle blew and the guys jogged back out to the field. Annie did take out her laptop, but instead of braining Faith with it, she opened it atop her knees, typing in some observation or another. She hit save and pressed her hands into the
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