The Game Changer (2 page)

Bay Point
seems to be a great little town. My family used to love our summer vacations at the Jersey Shore. The town is only a few miles long, running along the bay. Everything is within walking distance, including what will be my new high school. In the downtown area, there are a few shops, cafes and a library. So here we are, rebuilding our lives in this new place. It is a perfect day for the beach, not so much for moving. Like I said, it is unusually humid for early June. My thoughts are suddenly interrupted by the annoyingly loud beeping sound of the moving truck backing into the driveway.

I make my way into the house, checking out each room. It smells of lemons and fresh paint.
I can’t help thinking how my mom would have loved it. There are a lot of windows, allowing the sunlight to filter into each room. Newly polished, old wooden floors cover every room in the house. The master bedroom is on the second floor with a private bath. Downstairs there are two bedrooms on each side of the house. As you step into the foyer, there is a family room to the left with one of the bedrooms off to the side. To the right is a large open kitchen, which leads to a narrow hallway with an additional bedroom and another full bath. I choose that room for my own. It’s perfect.

***

(Luke)

Finally, the last day of school. I have about a month to just chill and relax before heading to our summer league and camp. We had a great season and another state championship under our belt. It’s a good feeling, Mikey and I have a lot of people watching, keeping a close eye on us. This time next year, we’ll be entering the draft.

While I clean out my locker, Alexa stands behind me, relaying our plans for tonight. It’s the usual end of the year party at the inlet. I’m looking forward to a night of partying. I spot Mikey and Deanna, my sister, walking towards my locker, waiting for me to get the hell out of here.

“What are you doing? Let’s go!” Mikey shouts from the middle of the hall, sounding annoyed, which is normal behavior for him when Alexa is around.

“I’m coming,” I reply, laughing.

“Hi,” Alexa says to them dully, knowing she’s not one of their biggest fans. I shoot them each a look to be nice and they both halfheartedly greet her. Not that I can blame them, Alexa is not the easiest person to get along with. She’s kind of full of herself and is rude to most people. At one time, she and Deanna seemed pretty close, that’s how I got involved with her in the first place. I’m not quite sure what happened, but they’re not too friendly anymore. De thinks she’s a bitch. I guess she can be, but she
is
hot. I have to give her that. Most guys would love to be me. Sometimes, I kind of wish they were.

I kiss her goodbye and we agree to meet up later tonight. As the three of us head out the door, I have to take some bashing from the two of them.

“I think I’m going to meet Sherri Adams at the inlet tonight,” Mikey states as he gives me a sideways glance. He knows I have this side thing going on with her.

“Cool,” I reply casually. It doesn’t matter much to me. I am only fooling around with her anyway. It’s not like I care about her.

He starts laughing, punching me in the arm. “I’m jokin’.”

“No shit... she thinks you’re an asshole,” I joke back.

“Actually, I’m workin’ on her sister, Janelle. She’s going to meet me there tonight.”

“Yeah, she’s hot, too,” I reply.

“Ugh, I can’t stand her, she’s such a bitch,” Deanna chimes in.

“So is her sister,” I add, laughing. Mikey laughs, too. We don’t really care much about that, it’s not like we’re planning on marrying them.

As we turn the corner to our street we spot the moving truck at the house across from ours.

***

(Jesse)

The sun is hot. I’m wiping the sweat from my forehead as I unload boxes out of the
car when the laughter coming from the end of the street catches my attention. From a distance, I can see two boys horsing around, while a girl in the middle of them seems to be reprimanding them.  I panic as I become aware of my appearance. I’m sweaty, wearing cut-off sweat shorts and a baggy t-shirt. Not to mention, my hair is braided in pigtails. It’s too late to run in the house, it will be too obvious. I try to act busy while rummaging around in the trunk. Oh crap, here comes my dad. Mr. Friendly all of the sudden, and… there he goes, waving, again. Well, there's hope for him yet; he suddenly seems to have outgrown his shyness.

He greets them as they approach. I hear the first boy ask if we are moving in. Considering there is a huge moving truck in front of the house, I thought it was a safe bet that we are.
What a genius.

“Yeah, me and my daughter, JJ. I’m David.” He leans over and holds out his hand.

“Jesse,” I correct quietly, peeking my head from behind the trunk.

“Luke,” the first boy answers as he shakes my dad’s hand and glances over in my direction, smiling.

T
he girl speaks up this time, shaking my dad’s hand. "Hi. I'm Luke’s sister, Deanna. This is Mikey."

I poke my head out to at least acknowledge them.
"Hi," I say quietly and then quickly bury my head back in the trunk.

They start conversing about
school and my dad’s ears perk up when they tell him they attend Bay Point High. I can almost hear him thinking,
great. I found some friends for her
.’ He tells them I will be attending Bay Point in the fall.

Then, the nosey brother, the one I think said his name was Luke, asks if I am going to be a
Freshman
. I can feel the heat in my cheeks and this time it isn’t due to the weather. I stop rummaging around in the trunk and shoot him a look. I could swear he smirks at me.

My dad lets out a chuckle. "No… JJ will be a Junior."

I didn’t hear neighbor-boy say anything funny.
I self-consciously go back to fiddling around in the trunk, while they talk as if I’m not there. What doesn't my dad get about keeping quiet? I'm already nervous enough about meeting people my age, let alone looking like I do. Especially,
these people
. Just what I need for a confidence booster. My first day in Bay Point and I have to meet probably the three best looking kids in the school.
Oh, I should fit in great
, I think sarcastically as I listen intently on what they are discussing. The girl will be a Junior come fall and the boys will be Seniors.

Thankfully, a big, burly mover with a beard yells from the house,
"Where do you want the couch?"
Thank God! Saved by the moving guy!

"I'll show you!" I yell
, sounding way too enthusiastic. I quickly turn to my dad’s three new friends. "I better go help... nice to meet you." I mumble, barely looking at them as I race up the driveway.

I
spy through the blinds as the four of them continue chatting casually. The girl makes her way to the Georgian Colonial directly across from ours and the friend soon follows. My dad and the brother continue to chat as if they are old friends.
Please do not let my dad give too much information
, I pray.

When
Dad finally decides to join me in the house, I am glaring at him with
that
look on my face. The one that says,
how could you do that to me
.

"What?" he
asks with a huge grin on his face.

"Please tell me you didn't say anything that I'm going to be embarrassed about
."

"No, of course not.
They seem like nice kids. They were telling me about school and the neighborhood. Apparently, this Luke and Mikey play baseball for Bay Point High, and their team just won the championship last week. From what Luke said his friend, Mikey, and he are supposed to be really good."

My dad is a huge baseball fan. So I’m sure he’s impressed by this.
"Of course, he did," I say sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he says, laughing.

“It’s obvious he’s full of himself. Am I a Freshman? Pleasssse!”

"
So that’s what this is about? He probably couldn’t tell. You wouldn’t take your head out of the trunk long enough for them to get a look at you.” He laughs and then continues, “They seemed nice. The girl, Deanna, seems excited to meet you. She said she was going to get changed and stop over to see if you need some help unpacking."

(Luke)

Nice guy
, I think to myself as I enter the kitchen and make a bee line for my favorite spot, the refrigerator. Mikey has beaten me to it and is already sitting at the counter eating a sandwich. I take out the lunchmeat and rolls and begin to build my own after-school snack
while pondering over the conversation with my new neighbor.

He looks too young to have a daughter that will be a junior in high school, th
ere isn’t much of a resemblance; his features are somewhat darker in comparison to hers. I found him easy to talk with, although something about him tells me he seems a bit lost. There was no mention of any one besides his daughter….

“Checkin’ out the new girl next door?” Mikey interrupts, breaking my train of thought while he inhales his last bite.

“What? No... She didn’t even speak. I could hardly see her. I was tryin’ to figure out what the hell she lost in that trunk that she was so intent on finding.” I laugh and sort of lie, shrugging off the question. I did catch a quick glimpse. At first, I thought she was much younger than us. Then, I caught a better look when I asked if she was going to be a Freshman and she shot those piercing emerald green daggers at me. Definitely cute with her silky, honey-brown hair, braided in pigtails; not as young as I originally thought and definitely cute.

“I thought she was pretty damn cute, if you ask me.”

“I didn’t ask you and… I didn’t notice,” I say casually, searching through the fridge, not sure why I’m lying.

***

(Jesse)

I’m not ready to meet anyone and I’m hoping she changes her mind about stopping by. “I look a mess,” I complain to my dad.

“No, you don’t. You look like you’ve been working hard.” He laughs.

"Oh, thanks,” I reply. “Dad, did you get a good look at them? They don’t look anything like me, that’s for sure."

"
Jesse, have you looked at yourself lately? You are extremely beautiful."

"You have to say
that. You’re my dad."

"You look just like her
, you know."

"
Yeah, right. Why does everyone think that? Aunt Kathy said the same thing to me the last time I saw her."

"It's true
.”

I’m relieved to be interrupted by a
quiet knock on the door, yet, at the same time, I get that nervous feeling. These people make me nervous, they’re overly friendly and I don’t know how to act or what to say. I haven't interacted with kids my age in a really long time. She’ll probably think I’m strange.

"Hey
, Deanna, c'mon in," my dad says, answering the door.

Even with her hair pulled back into a ponytail
, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, she is still beautiful. I meet her at the door so I don’t appear rude.

"I wanted to see if you
could use some help. I can help you unpack boxes or hand you things; whatever you need me to do," She offers.

I invite her in and give her a tour of the house, ending with my room. I try to make conversation without sounding nervous, telling her my plans of decorating the room with a beach theme.

“This house is great JJ. I love it! I’ve always liked it from the outside. I’m glad I finally get to see it on the inside. It’s just how I imagined it would be."

"Yeah,
my dad and I thought the same thing the first time we saw it." Should I correct her and tell her my name is Jesse? Only my mom and dad call me JJ. My friends always called me Jesse. I don't want to embarrass her, if it happens again, I’ll slide it in.

Deanna offers to take me to the boardwalk tomorrow; she thinks it will be the perfect place to find some really cool stuff for my room. I tell her I’ll check with my dad to see if he has plans for us. I’m not ready to commit to a shopping trip with her; although, so far, she seems easy to get along with.

After finishing up with my room, we head for the kitchen. There are boxes in every room and lots of work to be done. The conversation seems to flow easily between us until I am startled by a loud knock on the door, my dad answers it.

"Hey
, David, my mom asked me to bring this over. She thought you may be hungry since you were moving all day.”

"Ahh
… Luke, this is great! There’s so much here, come in, grab something to eat with us, I'll call JJ and Deanna," he says, taking a tray of sandwiches from Luke’s hands.

Oh
, my God. What is he thinking, inviting
everyone
over on the first day? He’s trying way too hard. I would have liked at least a few days to ease my way in before being bombarded by the whole neighborhood.