The Game Changer (16 page)

“Let’s just say she will not be bothering you or De anymore.” Then he got more serious, almost as if he felt the need to clarify his relationship with her. “You know… I ended things with her awhile ago, when I was away this summer?”

“Yeah well
... except for the night you showed up on her doorstep,
” I said sarcastically as I gave him a half smile.

“
Except for that
... I’m an idiot. I don’t know why I ran back to her. It was easy, you know? No feelings involved.”

“I guess. I don’t know, Luke; I guess, I just don’t understand that stuff. Let’s just drop it, okay?”

I didn’t want to think of him with her, feelings or no feelings. We’ve been getting along so well, I didn’t want to spoil it by getting in an argument over it.

“Okay.” He dropped the subject and by this time, we were home. After I got inside I thought about what Alexa had said. Why would she say that? I was more concerned with what Deanna thought about it. Did she suspect something?

I didn’t have to wait long, she stopped by after practice. She said everything was fine; there were no snotty remarks, no looks, no nothing.

“Whatever Luke said must have worked,” she said, and then added, “JJ, what do you think she meant by, Luke steals all of my friends?” She seemed like it was bothering her. I had so much guilt about how I felt about him, that I didn’t want to have this conversation with her.

“I don’t know what she meant by that. She’s just trying to cause trouble. You are my best friend and I would never ever want to lose you, you know that, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” she answered, but I could tell she was still bothered by it.

“And, I care about Luke, too. I consider him a good friend and I wouldn’t want to lose him either. You guys mean so much to me. Your whole family,
including Mikey
, believe it or not.” I laughed.

She laughed and gave me a hug. “See, I told you she would hate you.”

(Luke)

I’m deeply distracted by the music and the crowds of people that are piling into the house; my game is definitely off. Alright, so maybe it isn’t the music and people, but I’m distracted none the less. As my quarter once again hits the rim of the glass and lands on the table, I take another sip from my red plastic cup.

“What the fuck is he lookin’ at?” I ask quietly, leaning into Mikey who is sitting to my left.

“What?” His eyes follow mine, which lead right to JJ and the jerk off standing across from her that looks as if he’s about to jump her bones. “He’s not doin’ anything wrong,” Mikey says, laughing at me.

I’ll admit I’m beginning to get wasted ‘cause I am so damn distracted watching Jesse all night long. I’m finding it hard to concentrate. The more my shot is off, the more I have to drink. I can’t help it; she looks so fuckin’ hot tonight in her skin tight jeans and black tank top.

I don’t recognize the guy who is undressing JJ with his eyes. The kid whose party it is graduated last year, it is probably one of his preppy asshole friends from college.

“Yo, jerk off!” I holler out. My friends start laughing, not knowing who the hell I’m talking to, but all of their heads turn at the same time, trying to see who it is.

“Luke… don’t start,” Mikey warns with a sly grin on his face.

Once again, I call out to him; his friend turns around instead and points to himself. “You talking to me?”

“No, the jerk off in the striped sweater next to you.” I laugh, pointing to his friend.

He taps his friend on the shoulder who turns around to look at me. My friends, of course, are egging me on, cracking up. He points to himself, and I wave him over. I know Mikey, while amused by the whole thing, is keeping a close eye. I’ve caught a few people’s attention when I holler out, “Yo, jerk off!” two times. He is a pretty big guy, too; a preppy, douche bag type.

“Did you call me a jerk off?” he asks, walking over as if he’s gonna do somethin’ about it.

I rise from my chair. I’m not the type of guy that gets into fights, but I have to admit, when I stand up, I can be kind of intimidating, I guess. “Yeah, I did. That’s my sister over there, I don’t like the way you’re lookin’ at her,” I say, waving my finger in the direction of JJ and her friends. “They’re off limits.”

I can sense Mikey holding back his laughter, the rest of my friends don’t hold back at all. I can get away with it because Deanna is actually standing in the crowd with them, but it isn’t De he was checking out.

“Alright, dude, no problem. I didn’t realize I was staring,” he slurs, holding up his hands as if I have a gun to his chest. It’s clear he is worse off than me.

I offer him my hand to shake and he hesitantly takes it. “Just so we’re on the same page,” I add. He shakes his head and walks in another part of the house with his friend. The guys are still laughing, trying to egg me on more, but it is all in fun.

While our friends move on to the next topic, Mikey leans back in his chair to get my attention. “You’re an asshole.”

“Why? I was just messin’ around,” I defend myself.

“Go talk to her already. Put yourself out of your misery. Week after week, I watch you, watching her, getting all twisted up every time some guy looks at her.”

“Get the hell out of here… I do not.” I laugh, while Zack pushes a glass in front of me once again. Feeling better now that the asshole moved away, I take my shot and it lands dead center inside the glass. About time.

I catch Jesse out of the corner of my eye, making her way to the garage, probably to fill up her cup. I get up from my chair and follow her out. I wait in the laundry room while she fills up and is about to enter the house again, I hold up my arm blocking her path in the doorway.

“Luke, hey, what’s up?” she says cheerfully.

“Nothing. Just wanted to say, hi,” I reply, flashing her a smile, letting her into the laundry room while I purposely back her into a corner behind the door, giving us some privacy.

“Oh,” she says, looking at me suspiciously with those beautiful emerald eyes and red lips that I want to taste so bad.

“You okay? You’re not drinkin’ too much, right?” I ask, trying to keep her near me as long as I can.

“No, I’m good.”

“I know you’re good. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay,” I say, closing the gap between us.

“Yep... What about you? Lori said she thought you were arguing with some guy?”

“Oh, the asshole in the gray sweater who was about to pounce on you?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Good, that’s why I took care of it,” I whisper, unable to remove my eyes from her mouth. She gives me a curious look. “I’m kiddin’, it was all good.”

“You’re actin’ very strange tonight,” she says with a nervous smile.

“Yeah... Well, I lost a lot of rounds tonight.” I chuckle.

“I can see that.” She laughs, taking a step back, till she bumps into the wall.

I take that as an opportunity to move in closer, placing my hand on the wall, next to her head, she has nowhere to go. I can’t help it, but my other hand reaches out and twists her hair around my fingers. I can see her chest rise when I touch her and she holds her breath as she gives me a quizzical look.

“What?” I whisper, lowering my head to her ear, while taking in her scent, which reminds me of summer.

“What are you doing?” she asks, looking up at me innocently.

Then suddenly, I realize I probably shouldn’t be doing this. I told myself I wouldn’t play games with her. I’m drinking and am about to take a huge advantage of the situation. I unravel my fingers from her hair and drop my arm as I take a step back, giving her space to breathe.

“I was testing you. Making sure you weren’t drunk… you passed,” I say, smiling.

“You’re such an ass. You’re the drunk one,” she teases, shoving me.

“No, seriously though, don’t drink too much. How you gettin’ home?” I ask.

“We’re walking. Actually, we’re leaving soon, so I better get back.”

I step back and allow her to pass as I stand there, watching her until she disappears out of view.

***

(
Jesse)

The sky is turning a dark gray; it’s barely noon, but it feels like early evening. The winds are already ripping through the trees, making a loud whistling noise.

“Jesse, I’m worried about leaving you here tonight. The weather reports say this storm is coming quick. Why don’t you come to the restaurant with me? You can help in the kitchen. It’s going to be busy since the convention is in town this weekend.”

We’re due for a severe storm with hurricane winds. November is late in the hurricane season, but this is supposed to be huge.

“Dad, really, I’ll be fine. I’d rather stay here and just chill tonight. I’m going to watch a movie. I’ll check in every hour if it makes you feel better. Besides, Maria and Lucca are right across the street,” I try to ease his mind. Deanna is away at a cheerleading camp this weekend and won’t be back till Sunday night.

It’s Saturday night; already a busy night at the restaurant, let alone with a convention in town. The last thing I feel like doing is hanging out at the restaurant. I’m looking forward to the storm, laying on the couch and watching a good movie.

Actually, there is a party tonight, my friends are going; I’m just not up for it. The weather is rainy, windy and cold. Who feels like going out in that? I hate winter.

After cleaning the house and doing some laundry, I plan to work on a drawing I need to complete for class, but once I get comfortable on the couch, I fall asleep. I awaken several hours later to the sound of the wind and rain beating against the house. The house was dark, except from the light from the TV. I have to admit, I’m somewhat scared. I hurry through the house and turned on all the lights. Okay, so, maybe the storm is bigger than I realized. I decide to take a quick shower before the lightning starts. For some reason my mom and dad
always told me not to shower if there is lightning; something about getting electrocuted. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I don’t chance it.

The lights flicker a couple of times while I’m in there, which in turn makes me hurry through even faster. When I’m done, I put on my favorite flannel shorts and tee, I towel dry my hair and throw it up in a ponytail. I put on my slippers and hurry into the kitchen to look for a flashlight. I jump out of my skin by the sound of the phone ringing.

I laugh to myself as I answer, “Hello?”

“Hi, Sweetie, why haven’t you called?”

“Hi, Dad. Sorry, I fell asleep. I just got out of the shower and was about to heat up dinner,” I say calmly. I don’t want him to know I was scaring myself. “How is it there?”

“Busy. I hear we are getting hit pretty hard right now, but since everyone is stuck inside, it’s extra busy for us. I’m not sure what time I’ll get out of here. How’s it lookin’ outside?”

I open the front door to peak out into the angry storm. The wind must have knocked the street lamps out. It’s pitch black out and the porch light is not working. As I’m about to give my dad the report on the weather, a huge dark figure runs towards me. I scream at the top of my lungs, scaring my dad to death.

“JJ, are you alright?!” I hear my dad screaming into the phone.

“Oh, my God! You gave me a heart attack! What are you doing?!” I laugh, holding my chest as the huge dark figure comes into sight. I then remember my poor dad still hanging on. “Dad, oh, my God, I’m sorry... It’s Luke. He scared the heck out of me! It was pitch black and he was running up to the porch with his hoodie pulled over his head. I didn’t know it was him!” I can barely get the words out, I’m laughing so hard.

“Oh, good, is he stayin’?” my dad asks, sounding relieved.

“I didn’t talk to him yet. I’ll give you a call in a little while, okay? I love you... Bye.”

I hang up the phone and turn to Luke. “What are you doing here?”

“Did I scare you?” he asks, still laughing. “My mom asked me to check on you. I just got home about a half hour ago. Mikey’s car got a flat and we had to fix it in the rain. You had to see us; it was comical! He dropped me off so I could jump in the shower. His dad just got back to town, so he stopped by to see him. He should be back to pick me up in a little while. We’re heading to that party, want to come?” he asks while shaking the water off his hoodie.

I’m reminded about the party last week and how strange Luke was acting with me. I’m tempted, I think it will be fun hanging out with them, but then I decide against it. “No thanks, I just got comfortable. I was about to eat dinner and watch a movie.”

“That sounds good... I don’t know if I’m up for going out tonight, either. The weather sucks. Do you want me to stay with you?”

“It’s up to you. If you feel like it.” I would love for him to stay with me, but I’m not going to tell him that. The lights flicker again.

“Yeah, I do. I’ll stay,” he says, grinning.

“Do you want to eat first? My dad made dinner.”

“Do you even have to ask me that question,” he says sarcastically as he pulls his soaked hoodie over his head and kicks off his sneaks.

I have to remind myself to stop staring as he lifts his hoodie over his head, revealing his fitted gray t-shirt that shows off his arms and chest. Even though it is November, his skin is still tan from summer. He smells good, too, like soap.
Okay, breathe… breathe
, I tell myself.