A Game Worth Watching (20 page)

“Mentioned
how?” Madison raised her chin to appear stronger than she felt. “Mentioned it
like his parents forced him to ask her or like he really wanted to go with
her?”

“I
don’t know.” Did she have to dissect every word and body movement to satisfy
these girls? He’d asked out another girl. Obviously, he hadn’t felt the same
connection as Madison. “He just said he asked her and she said yes.” He was so
excited about it, he could hardly concentrate on the game, but no way was she
going to be that honest.

Christi
raised her eyebrows. “And you just happened to be in on the conversation?”

Emma
sighed. “I’ve been friends with these guys since elementary school. They talk
about everything around me, especially on the basketball court.”

Steph
leaned forward, like this was the best news she’d heard all year. “Like what
girls they like and stuff?”

Emma
shrugged. “Sometimes.”

Madison
shook her head and slammed her hands on the counter. “I don’t get it! Why do
all the guys love you so much? I mean, you’re not
that
pretty, you break every code of
fashion with your boy clothes, and you spend most of your time scowling at
everyone. Not to mention your financially challenged situation. You’re a total
nobody!”

“Thanks
for that,” Emma muttered.

“I’m
sorry,” Madison practically yelled at her, not sounding sorry at all.
“But do you know what it’s like not to be good at
anything? Or to have guys look right past you when you try so hard to get their
attention? Do you know what it’s like to watch from the sidelines when everyone
cheers for you like the rest of us don’t exist? How are we supposed to compete
with all your fancy dribbling moves and three pointers? It’s not fair that you
have it all.”

“Is
that what you think?” Emma asked in disbelief. She looked into the eyes of each
of her teammates and noticed most of them nod in agreement. All this time Emma
thought the girls hated her because she was poor, not because all her friends
were guys. She shook her head in irritation. “You’re the ones with the rich
parents and the fancy cars and the paid college tuitions, and you think
I’m
the one
who has everything?” Girls!

Emma
tried to remain calm, but she couldn’t stop her fingers from gripping the edge
of the counter or prevent her voice from rising in volume. “Basketball is what
I do, it’s all I’ve ever done. I’ve been friends with these guys since
elementary school. I can’t help it if they would rather play basketball with me
than be alone with you. If you spent half as much time practicing basketball as
you do complaining, you might actually be a decent player, and guys might
actually like you if you didn’t have such a whiny voice or an ego the size of
Mt. Everest.”

Silence
screamed back at Emma as the girls stared at her. She waited for them to shriek
their protests or rise in rebellion against her. When they didn’t, she grabbed
a couple pieces of Hawaiian pizza and squeezed through the herd to reposition
herself on the floor. In twos and threes the rest of the girls joined her.

“Emma’s
turn,” Lauren said with false sweetness, as if the kitchen scene had never
happened.

Emma
knew better. Nothing about this scenario could be good. “I’ll pass.” The last
thing she wanted was to engage in another girl fight. Payback. Revenge. Hatred.
Emma didn’t want any part of it.

“Everyone
plays.” Lauren cocked an eyebrow. “Unless you’re afraid of a little…truth.”

Emma
grasped the concept of the game. Tell the truth and nothing but the truth. But
for Emma, trust was earned not forced, and when the motive for a game was to
extract dirt and gossip to take back to school on Monday, Emma wasn’t in the
mood to be a target. She’d been around girls enough to know they could chew you
up and spit you out without breaking a nail or messing up their hair, especially
after being provoked. But Emma knew she didn’t have a choice—no way would
she let Lauren intimidate her.

As
she watched Lauren exchange looks with half the girls sitting in the circle,
one thought came to mind: ambush.

Stay
calm, she told herself. She had already endured seventeen years of ridicule, so
one night couldn’t be much worse. Her life wasn’t exciting enough to entice
much interest.

With
a smug grin held in place, Lauren cleared her throat to begin the
interrogation. “What’s the
truth
behind your relationship with Riley?”

That’s
it? Her friendship with Riley was what Lauren wanted to know? Riley would get a
kick out of that.

“We’re
just friends.” It sounded more like a question, but Emma couldn’t help thinking
it was too easy.  

“Of
course you are,” Lauren said, totally not believing her.

“Have
you kissed him yet?” Peyton squeaked from across the circle.

“What?”
Emma shrieked. “No.”

“Has
he kissed you yet?”

“No,”
Emma said firmly. “We’re
just
friends.”

“How
do you explain the dance?” Madison raised her eyes, expecting to catch Emma off
guard.

“What
about the dance?” Emma asked. “You mean because he saved me from you clowns?”

Everyone
had an answer for her.

“He
held your hand.”

“He
slow danced with you.”

“He
couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

They
fired their observations at Emma, causing the room to spin. So much for a dance
between friends. She clutched her head with both hands. “Stop.” Emma waited for
silence. “We. Are. Just. Friends. Nothing more.”

Lauren
snatched her cell phone from the coffee table and flipped it open. “I wonder if
Riley would say the same thing.”

Under
normal conditions, Emma would protect Riley from being dragged into this
situation, but considering the night kept getting worse, she’d give anything to
hear his voice. “Go ahead. Call him up.”

Without
hesitation, Lauren started dialing. Whether she had always known Riley’s number
or memorized it for the occasion, Emma didn’t know, but Lauren punched
speakerphone and all eight girls leaned forward when they heard the phone ring.

“Hello?”
The voice on the other end was unmistakably Riley’s, and Emma breathed a sigh
of relief.

“Hi,
Riley. This is Lauren.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear like she
thought he could see her, like she thought he cared about her appearance. If
Riley ever showed interest in Lauren, Emma would personally beat him up.

Riley
chuckled like he was either expecting her call or picturing Emma at the slumber
party with her sworn enemies. “How’s the party?” he asked.

“Great,”
a few girls said through their laughter.

I
can think of another name for it, Emma thought.

“So,”
Lauren said. “We have a question for you.”

“Okaaay.”
Emma could hear the hesitation in his voice.

“How
would you define your relationship with Emma?”

Silence
rang from Riley’s end of the line. For a minute Emma thought he’d been
disconnected.
“Em, you there?” he finally
asked.

“Having
the time of my life like I told you I would,” Emma responded, knowing he’d hear
the sarcasm.

“You’re
not tied and gagged or anything, are you?”

She
smiled. If only he knew. “Not yet, but the night’s still young.”

Emma
relaxed a bit at the sound of Riley’s laughter, until Lauren cleared her throat
and regained control. “So, back to the question.”

“Yeah,
about that,” he said, stretching the words out. “I’m gonna pass.”

“Don’t
tell me a guy like you is afraid of one simple question.” What was with
Lauren’s manipulative approach?

“What
can I say?” Despite his relaxed tone, Emma heard the hardness to it. Even he
wasn’t fooled by Lauren’s attempt at innocence. “I was never a fan of Q &
A.”

With
a sly smile playing on her lips, Lauren clasped her hands together. “Sounds to
me like you’ve got something to hide.”

This
time when Riley spoke, the hardness won out. “Nothing to hide, just nothing to
share.”

“Okay,
then how about an easier question.” Lauren’s eyes wandered around the circle of
girls until they landed on Emma. Emma froze, knowing she wouldn’t like what
came next. “Did you know Emma’s in love with you?”

“What!”
Riley and Emma exclaimed together. The whole idea was absurd. Emma should have
known Lauren would go for the kill. She’d probably been planning this moment
for weeks.

“Oh,
please,” Lauren said with a roll of her eyes. “Like it’s not totally obvious with
the way she’s always drooling over you. It’s sad. I mean, how can a guy like
you even be
friends
with a girl like her? It doesn’t make sense to me unless, of course, you’re
receiving some sort of,” Lauren paused for effect, “benefit.”

Emma
should’ve laughed. She should’ve crushed Lauren’s whole friends-with-benefits
accusation and not given it another thought, but it wasn’t about the words. It
was the implication. The only reason Riley would slum so low to be friends with
Emma—the picture of poverty, disgrace, and repulsion—would be if
she made it worth his time. How could Lauren taint the only good, pure thing in
Emma’s life?

Emma’s
body tensed, her hands clenching into fists, her insides boiling with hatred.

Riley,
however, laughed. At least he hadn’t lost his sense of humor during her life
crisis. “It sounds to me like some people underestimate the power of true
friendship.”

“Friendship.”
Lauren laughed a vicious laugh. “Helping the less fortunate must make you feel
pretty good about yourself, Riley. You couldn’t have picked a better charity
case. Emma’s so pathetic you had to buy her basketball shoes so she could play
on the team, she wears her brothers’ recycled clothes, and she doesn’t have a
mom around to teach her how to be a real girl.” Lauren paused, her upper lip
curling in disgust as she met Emma’s glare. “She’s the most pitiful person I’ve
ever met.”

Hundreds
of comebacks fought on Emma’s tongue to be flung like daggers at Lauren. Emma
knew once they started they wouldn’t stop, and she was afraid of what might
happen if she lost control. Ordinarily, she would have shrugged off Lauren’s
comments without a second thought, so why was it so hard this time? Because as
much as she wanted to deny it, it hurt seeing herself through someone else’s eyes.

She
felt the girls watching her, their eyes wide in fear. Not even Riley had a
response.

With
her body shaking, her hands still clenched, Emma forced her words to remain
steady. “I need some air.”

“Emma?”
She could hear the concern in Riley’s voice, but not even he could stop her
from exiting the room in search of solitude. If she stayed a minute longer, she
couldn’t guarantee anyone’s safety.

***

Sitting
on the back patio, surrounded in darkness, Emma searched the stars for answers.
She knew she shouldn’t have come to this stupid slumber party. Girls like her
didn’t mesh with girls like Lauren, no matter how much time passed or how many
games they played together. She wanted nothing more than to leave, but she
refused to give Lauren the satisfaction. She looked at the pool, the manicured
lawn, and the basketball hoop, never feeling more out of place. What would it
be like to live in a world where you could buy everything you needed and still
have enough left over to buy what you wanted?

She
pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. Nothing
Lauren had said was a lie, but maybe the truth was supposed to hurt worse than
lies. Emma tried to imagine what her life would be like if her mom was still
around. Would her family be scraping by just to survive each day? Would
everyone hate her? Would she be more girl and less Emma? Would the garage
double as her bedroom? Maybe not having answers was for the best. Maybe she
wasn’t supposed to have it all.

Maybe
she didn’t deserve it.

“Hey.”

Emma
looked up to find Ashley plop down beside her. The kid handed her a bowl of ice
cream smothered with chocolate sauce, marshmallows, and peanuts. “I figured
dessert was in order.”

“Thanks.”
Emma graciously accepted the dessert. Free food was always a plus.

They
ate their sundaes in silence, staring at the pool and listening to the shrieks
of laughter from inside the house. For a team-building event, the slumber party
fell way below expectations. None of the girls inside cared whether or not two
of their teammates sat outside their little clique; no one cared if the team
splintered.

“You
okay?” Ashley asked, breaking the silence.

“Peachy.”

They
caught one another’s eye and laughed.

“At
least now I know why you hate us so much.”

Emma
looked at the freshman, her forehead scrunched in confusion. Even if she wanted
to scream at her teammates ninety-nine percent of the time and tell them to get
it together, Ashley would be excluded from her extreme distaste of the female
population. “Who said I hated you?”

Ashley
shrugged. “I’ve seen you play with the guys, and I’ve seen you play with the
girls. With the guys, you look like you’re enjoying yourself. With the girls,
you always look so mad. I’ve never seen anyone scowl and shake her head so much.”

The
guys and the girls were two different worlds. If Ashley or anyone else took a
step back to look at the girls, they would glare and shake their heads too.
Emma sighed. “I don’t hate the team. I just don’t relate well to girls.”

“You
don’t relate well to girls,” Ashley repeated. She looked at Emma, questioning
her confession. “That is the lamest excuse I’ve ever heard.”

Emma
couldn’t help but laugh. “What do you expect? I have four brothers, my mom left
when I was a kid, so my dad raised me, and all my friends are guys. Girls are
just too weird for me. Besides, if anything, they’re the ones who hate me.”