Duality: Vol 1, Melancholia (A New Adult Paranormal Romance) (6 page)

“What?  JB?  But that’s your name.  Come on, let’s do this.  Two on two.”

Jasmine snorted.  “Your math skills are blowing my mind, Kootch.  I count three.”  She gestured to me, her, and him.

I held up my hands.  “Don’t count me in on this.  I’m just watching.  Do one-on-one.”

“No, you’re not, Rae-Rae.  You’re in.  And I got my wingman over there.”  Kootch gestured to the far corner of the room.

Jasmine and I looked over.

Malcolm
.

The idea of playing basketball with him got my blood going.  I spoke before I could think too hard about it.  “Okay, I’ll play if you can get him over here.”

Jasmine frowned.  “He won’t play with us.  He never plays.  He takes a zero for anything but soccer.”

“Why only soccer?”  I couldn’t help but wonder what made that sport different.

“I don’t know.  I guess he likes to kick the shit out of things.”  Jasmine grabbed a ball that was rolling by.  “Go get him, and we’ll play.  Otherwise, beat it, Kootch.  We’re busy.”  She crouched down and launched a granny shot at the basket.  When it went in she did a funky dance, not caring who watched.  “Swish-it.  Swish-it real good.”  When she was done shaking her hips a few more times, she walked over and retrieved the ball from under the net where it was still bouncing weakly.

Kootch took off towards Malcolm, waving as he went.  “Come on, man!  I got us a game going!”

Jasmine brought the ball over and handed it to me.  “He’s not going to come.  Your turn.  I have letter O.”

I spared one last look for Malcolm who was busy shaking his head no, before walking over and lining myself up at Jasmine’s last point.  The ball was just leaving my hands when Kootch let out a big whoop and threw me off.  The ball bounced off the rim and came flying back at me.

“Bummer for you,” said Jasmine, taking the ball away from me.  She turned to say something and froze with her mouth hanging open, staring at a point behind me.

I turned to see Kootch and Malcolm coming towards us.  Malcolm didn’t seem at all happy about the situation.

“Well, well, well … would you look at that,” said Jasmine, her tone low so only I’d hear her.  “The ghost is coming to play b-ball with us.  Huh.  Wonders never cease.”  She nudged me in the back.  “Maybe he likes you or something.”

Chapter Seven: Malcolm

I SAW CADEN COMING FOR me, and I should have taken off.  But I stood there like an idiot, and then before I could do anything about it, he was jumping up and down in front of me all hyped up about something.  His voice was a couple notches higher in pitch than normal.

“Dude, come on!  It’s two-on-two with the new girl and Butts.”

“No, thanks.”  I tried to move around him to go sit on the bleachers.  I was happy taking a zero as my grade for non-participation.  Basketball tended to be a contact sport in my experience, and when people mixed physical contact with me and the natural competitiveness of sports, it usually ended up being a pretty potent combination of anger and drive.  I’ve seen plenty of bloody noses in my time.  Way more than I should have in basketball.

Caden blocked my progress.  “Whaddya mean, no thanks?  You’re not going to take another zero are you?”

“Yes, I am, actually.”  I stepped to the other side, but Caden blocked me there, too.

“Dude, stop being such a lame-ass pussy all the time.  Come on, I like this girl.  Be my wingman.  Keep Butts busy while I make my move.”

I battled with myself.  Being near the new girl was a mistake.  I knew it was.  I wasn’t so worried about Jasmine; she didn’t seem all that bothered by me either way.  But the new girl had a chance at staying happy if she could just keep the hell away from me.

The only thing I couldn’t shake was the idea that if I could get Caden to fall for her - and her to fall for him - maybe he’d finally detach himself from me.  And then he could have a chance at being happy.  As long as he was stuck to me like this, he was doomed to be a Miserable for life.

The risk was worth it.  It was only one game. 
How much trouble can I cause with a single game of two-on-two? 
“Fine.  One game and that’s it.”

Caden jumped up really high and whooped so loud it echoed all over the gym.  “Whoot! 
Yes! 
Come on, dude.  I already got warmed up.  You need to take a few shots before we start.”  He snagged a ball that was rolling by and bounce-passed it to me.  “Come on, take a shot over there.”

He pointed to the basket next to where the girls were playing.

I dribbled the ball very unenthusiastically over towards the net, and when I was about ten feet away, I launched the ball up without aiming.  It completely missed the backboard and banged into the closed bleachers behind.  Several people turned around and laughed.

Caden just stood there staring at me, arms hanging at his sides.  “Is that why you sit out every period?  ‘Cause you suck balls at sports?”

I couldn’t help but laugh.  “Fuck you, Kootch.  I’m just cold, that’s all.”

Truth is, there’s no point in me getting competitive and trying too hard because it’s too easy for me to win.  When I turn up my emotions, they overwhelm people and throw off whatever concentration they might have, making it possible for me to win without even trying.  I’m actually pretty good at basketball, but it’s better when I play stupid and let other people have the glory.  That way no one gets hurt.  I’d given up long ago on the idea of being a superstar.  Superstars live in the limelight, and I have to stay in the shadows.

Caden grabbed the ball and passed it hard to me.  The force of it stung my hands.

“Stop being a homo and throw the damn ball like you’re s’posed to.”

“A homo?  Come on, man.”  I frowned at him, bouncing the ball a couple times, my shoulders moving up and down with the rhythm.

“Yeah, you’re right.  Calling you a homo is an insult to homos everywhere.  Stop being a chick and throw the ball like a man.”

“Wow.  I wonder how the new girl will feel about that one.”

“She’s gonna love me.  Now throw the fucking ball in the goddamn net before I come over there and take your man-card away.”

I stared at him long and hard for a few seconds.  And then I threw the ball up without even looking at the net.  It bounced once off the backboard and went in.

Caden nodded his head in respect.  “Well, all right.  Now
that’s
what I’m talkin’ about.  Come on, dude.  Let’s go wipe the court with their sweet asses.”  He loped over and grabbed the ball.  After dribbling it in my direction a few steps, he turned and faced the girls, waiting for me to catch up.

Caden had his game face on now, and for the first time this period he had his voice low enough that only I could hear it.  “Okay, now, here’s the plan.  We’ll go in there and act like we suck a little.  It’ll be an act for me, but you can just go ahead and suck like normal.  And then when they think they have us bending over and kissing our own asses, we give it to ‘em.”

“Give it to ‘em?”  I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah.  We cram the ball down their throats and show ‘em who’s boss.”

“Your knowledge and skill around members of the opposite sex is a wonder to behold, Caden.”

“If you don’t call me Kootch I’m gonna get pissed.  Caden’s a stupid name.”

“And Kootch is …”

“Fucking cool.”

“Okay, Kootch it is.  But just in case you weren’t aware, some girls call their hootch a kootch.  So maybe it’s not as cool a name as you think.”

“Dude, shut the fuck up.”

“Yeah, okay.”  I had to stop.  Messing with him was fun, but it was too much like friendship to be safe.  I was a little bummed about having to blow him off all the time, because as obnoxious as he was, he was at least amusing.  Taking the zero in class always made the time go so much slower, watching students run around and have fun while my butt got numb on the bench.

“Now, let me do all the talking.  I don’t want you to mess this up,” he said as we got closer to the girls.

I said nothing, instead focusing on looking at anything but the new girl.

“Okay, chicks,” announced Kootch, “the men have arrived.  Get ready to lose this two-on-two in a matter of fifteen minutes, max.”

Jasmine was all about getting down to business.  “What’re the rules?  I don’t want you crying later when you lose that we broke some imaginary rule.”

“There will be no crying unless it’s by you two, but here are the rules.  First team to five wins.  No elbows, no touching the jewels, and no leaving the half-court here.”

“Jewels?” asked the new girl.

“The nads.  Testicles.  Man muffins.  You know, jewels.  Hands off the merchandise.”

“Wow, you guys play rough here,” she said.

Jasmine snorted.  “He wishes.  He keeps laying that rule out every week hoping to tempt someone into actually touching them, but so far no joy.”

“Shut up,
Butts
.  What do you know about my nads?  They get touched all the time.”

“I know nothing, thank the Lord. And no, before you decide to volunteer the information, we don’t want to know who’s been touching your junk.  Come on, are we going to play or stand around talking about your hairy bean bags all day?”

I laughed.  I couldn’t help myself.  Glancing up, I caught the new girl’s eye.  She was laughing too. 
Damn.  That dimple again.

I looked away and snagged the ball out of Kootch’s hands.  “Come on.  We got the ball.”

I dribbled it over to the half-court line and waited for Kootch to get in position.

“I’m open!” he yelled, moving over to stand to the right of the basket.

Jasmine ran over and stood between him and me, blocking his access to my pass.

“Aw, come on, Butts.  Go get Malcolm.  Rae’s got me covered over here.”

Rae was standing closer to me, not doing much of anything.

“Play basketball and shut up,” Jasmine said, arms flapping all over the place.  The ripped pieces of cloth that served as her bracelets looked like tiny banners flying in the wind, a rainbow blur covering Kootch’s face.

Kootch tried to run around her, but she checked him with her hip and sent him flying.

“Hey!  Foul, man!  Butts is using her butt to block me!”

“Can’t hack it?  Stay off the court,” she responded, turned around and flapping her arms in his face again.

The new girl - Rae - started coming for me.  She looked so innocent and sweet jogging over in those huge baggy sweatpants and funky sneakers, it distracted me or something.  It was only after she dove at me and slapped the ball away that I realized she might know more about the sport than I’d given her credit for.

“Hey!” I shouted as the ball spun out of my hands and she ran by, recovering it and turning it into a nice dribble by her side.

“Yes!” yelled Jasmine.  “Go, Rae, go!”

Rae dribbled the ball towards the net, leaving me in the dust.  She was totally focused on her goal of getting that first point; I could tell by the determined expression on her face.  Her tongue was stuck out in concentration.

But Kootch had other ideas.  He spun away from Jasmine and lunged towards Rae.

She saw him coming and screamed, launching the ball up into the air.

It sailed over his head and arched towards the basket, but the force she’d put on it wasn’t enough to get it all the way there, and it angled down a foot away from the rim.

Jasmine had already moved and was standing under the net.  She caught the ball and granny-shot it up onto the backboard, earning their first point.

“Yes!  Take
that
, Kootch!”  Jasmine strutted over and high-fived Rae.

“Thanks for covering for me,” said Rae to Jasmine.  She grabbed the ball off a bounce and passed it to me.

Kootch punched me in the arm.  “Come on.  Half-court.  Time to stop fucking around.”  He wasn’t laughing anymore.

I rolled my eyes, knowing we were in for a serious game now.  Kootch wasn’t the losing type, especially when there were girls on the other team.

I passed him the ball and walked parallel with him to the net.

He was doing all kinds of fancy moves with the ball, passing it between his legs, spinning around, juking-out no one at all.  The girls just stood back and watched him, shaking their heads.

“You want a piece-a this?  You want a piece-a this?  Come on now, girls.  You got lucky once.  You aren’t gonna get lucky twice.  Unless the Kootch decides to
let
you get lucky.”

He accidentally bounced the ball off the top of his toe, and it went rolling straight over the court to Rae.

She picked it up, pivoted, and tossed it up into the net.

“That’s what we call a swish, bitches.”  Jasmine held up her hand for a high-five and Rae slapped it without even moving her feet.

“That’s two,” said Rae, looking back at us and grinning.  She caught my eye and stopped, turning to face me.  Reaching up, she tucked some hair behind her ear.  “Ready to surrender?” she asked.

My heart stopped beating for a second, and then it raced to catch up.  Before I could answer, Kootch was there in our faces.

“Surrender?  You must be outta your mind, woman.  Never surrender!  Never say die!”

“I think I heard that in a movie once,” said Jasmine, staring at him with no expression on her face.

“Yeah, best movie ever.  I wrote it.  It’s called
Kootch Is Going to Fucking Win This Game
.”  He snagged the ball out of Jasmine’s hands and ran to the half court line.  “Come on, Malcolm!  Get your ass in gear!  You’re giving them the game!”

I jogged over, the whole time wondering if that double meaning in Rae’s question was intentional or if I was just imagining things.  It had to be me just dreaming, because there’s nothing to surrender.  There is no game or challenge or anything like that between us, other than this stupid basketball match.  She’s just naturally sexy or something.  She acts like she doesn’t even realize it about herself.  She’s totally going to take Kootch down, and he’ll have no idea it’s happening until it’s all over.  Hopefully, she’ll be gentle with him.  He’s a dipshit a lot of the time, but underneath it all, I think he’s a good guy.