I seethed for a moment and then turned around. I stalked away from the field with Dylan at my side. Neither of us said anything for a minute. I was too mad.
Finally, Dylan said, “So, how’s your day going?”
I didn’t take the bait. Laughing was the last thing I wanted to do right now. “What the hell was that, Dylan?” I demanded. “I did nothing wrong there other than showing up late. That kid was a complete ass to me.”
“So?” Dylan said.
“What do you mean so?” I sputtered. “It’s not fair. Why am I kicked off the team?”
“Fair?” Dylan said. “What does fair matter? Yeah, Bryson can be a dick. The rest of us were able to get past that, though, and the coach let him join the team. Once you’re on the team you are the team. So, what you just proved to coach was that you couldn’t get along with the team. It’s black and white to him. It may not be fair, but that’s the way it is.”
“Screw it. I don’t need this team,” I said bitterly.
“Yeah, you really do,” Dylan said. “Look, I’ll think of a way for you to get back on the team. Coach is not really as much of a hard ass as he pretends to be, he’s just on this crazy kick right now to get us to act like a team. Just stay out of trouble, okay?”
We had reached the primary football field. A group of cross-country girls were stretching on the end of the field closest to us. A few of them were quite good looking. My eyes wandered across their faces. “What kind of trouble?” I said absentmindedly.
“That kind of trouble,” Dylan said. He swatted me lightly between my legs with the back of his hand. The pain from my previous blow to the jewels was still fresh and I groaned and doubled over again. According to the guy code, this was the acceptable, albeit regrettable from my point of view, way to hit a guy in the nuts, almost like a brotherly punch. That didn’t make me feel much better about it, though.
“I take it my brother got to you?” I said in a strained voice.
“Yup, and I owe Aaron a lot so I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure to honor the favor. Understand?” he asked as he raised his hand threateningly.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it.
Geeze,” I said as I cupped my balls protectively with one hand. “For how much everyone keeps on warning me against girls you’d think Lakeville would have the prettiest and most dangerous girls on earth. Like the Greeks’ frickin’ sirens or something. There are some cute girls but I haven’t seen anyone who got me...”
And that’s when I saw her.
An angel. She was the most beautiful thing ever to grace humankind. She had beautiful hair so blond it was nearly platinum, though the color was clearly natural. She had gorgeous blue eyes, a beautiful white smile, and an impossibly cute and sweet face. She had Blake Lively’s rail-thin body; in fact, she looked sort of like a 17-year old version of the actress. I was instantly in love. She was standing amongst the cross-country girls but a number of the guys from the boys’ running team had come over and were swarming around her like paparazzi.
“Who... who is that?” I asked.
Dylan followed my gaze. “Oh no,” he said. “That’s definitely trouble. Don’t even think about it, buddy. Forget you ever saw that girl. Come on; let’s go up to the school.”
Dylan grabbed my arm to pull me along but I shook him off. “No,” I said. “I need to know her name. If you don’t tell me I’ll go up to her right now and ask her myself.”
Dylan sighed. “Her name is Trinity. Trinity London. She and her family are new here this year. And yes, Bryson is her brother. Her twin brother. Now do you see why you can’t even think about it? She’s way too much trouble for you, my friend.”
I had stopped listening as soon as Dylan said the words “Trinity London.” A little bell sounded in my head. She was on the hookup list. It was too perfect. I could screw her, screw
with her brother, and check a name off my list all at the same time. That would prove to everyone that I was a real badass player.
I smiled. Perhaps there was fun to be had at Lakeville after all.
Visions of Trinity London played through my head all the way home. When I walked into my house, however, reality struck.
“Mom!”
I called out as I walked into the house from the garage. “I’m hungry. What’s for dinner?” I walked into the kitchen. Mom was standing behind refrigerator. “Well, what’s for...”
I trailed off as soon as I saw my dad. He wasn’t smiling.
“We got a call today from the soccer coach,” he said coldly. “Usually we are happy to get calls from Coach Hayworth because he’s invariably calling to tell us about some new scholarship or opportunity that Aaron has earned. This time, however, he called to tell us that you had started a fight at practice. On your first day!”
I forced myself not to flinch away from my dad’s glare. I wasn’t a little kid anymore. “Calm down Jerry, your personality is starting to show,” I said to him, doing my best to mimic his cold tone. “If you’re not careful you’re going to have to go back for some more therapy.”
My dad stood up quickly but Mom spoke up first. “Enough,” she said quickly. “Nate, we’re not happy about this. Neither of us. We’re going to come up with some sort of punishment. For now just go up to your room.”
“What about dinner?” I asked.
“I think you better go up now,” my mom said, glancing over at my dad. His face was getting dangerously red. “I’ll bring you something a little later.”
“Room service.
Sure, I can live with that,” I said. I looked at Dad to make sure I was getting to him. “I’ll take a glass of ice water with that. Bye Jerry.” There, that should be enough to really ruin his evening. I walked away before he had a chance to react.
As soon as I got into the hallway and was out of view I stopped and sagged down against the wall. I tried to calm myself down and slow my breathing so I could hear my parents’ conversation.
“Jerry, you need to control yourself,” Mom was saying. “He’s just a teenager. They all go through this phase. He doesn’t mean it.”
“Damn right he means it,” Dad fumed.
“Phase? He’s been in this phase his whole life. Aaron never acted like this. We need to find some other place that will take him. I can’t stand having him around.”
“This is good for you,” Mom said. Her voice had suddenly taken on a pleading tone that tugged at my heart. “You’ve been working on this. I know you can do it. This is important for us to be a family.”
“We’ve been bringing him home for holidays,” Dad grumbled.
“And you find some excuse for us to be gone every time he comes home,” Mom said. “I need to spend some time with my son, Jerry. Please. He’s a good boy, he just needs some guidance. He needs a good father figure. Maybe you could make more of an effort? Take him to the city to watch a soccer game or something?”
“Don’t push me, Nancy,” Dad said. “You might not like what happens.”
I had heard enough. Mom had always told me to think of this man as my dad and I did my best for her sake but he made it impossible. I was done trying to imagine that we were some sort of happy family. Too much had happened in the past for that and it was obvious that he hadn’t changed. Henceforth he would just be Jerry to me.
I stood up and quietly walked the rest of the way down the hall to my room. I wanted to laugh at the foolishness of sending a 17-year old guy to his room and expecting him to stay there. If I wanted to leave I would. It just so happened that I had a bit of research I wanted to do online.
I took out my phone and scanned my hookup list. Well, I already knew what
Carly “El Diablo,” Sadie, and Trinity looked like. How about some of the others? Sadie had said that Olivia and Lilly were the smart ones. That was usually code for “I wouldn’t touch her with a ten foot pole.” I logged onto Facebook and searched Sadie’s friends. I was pleasantly surprised. Neither was gorgeous but they weren’t bad either. Olivia was a thin, nerdy-looking girl with long black hair and dark glasses. Lilly was Asian-American and had a timid smile, though it was hard to tell her true personality from just a photo.
I looked up the other girls. Alyssa was actually really cute. She looked tiny but had a very kind, sweet smile. Darcy looked like your typical dumb blonde. I smiled. Those were always fun. Morgan looked pretty athletic, which I also liked. Amanda – a.k.a. “
Mandi – Page was a nervous, mouse-like little girl. She would be easy to seduce and probably not much fun after that. Majestic was not at all what I had expected. From how Sadie described her preferences I thought she would be a beefy chick but she was a very trim, attractive African American. Lastly, I looked up Payton. When I saw her photo I couldn’t stop the grin that spread across my face. She was gorgeous. She had long chestnut hair and beautiful dark eyes. Her body was what really got me excited, however. She had a solid rack and it seemed like she was pretty comfortable wearing clothes that highlighted that feature. Many of her recent photos depicted her with an African American male but I wasn’t worried about that. Girls tended to ditch their boyfriends when I came calling.
All in all, it was a pretty good list. I was excited to get started. Payton, Sadie, and Trinity in particular must have been the best looking girls in the school. I searched for Trinity. She wasn’t listed as one of Sadie’s friends but I found her. Unfortunately, her page was privacy protected but her profile
pic was more than enough to get me excited. It showed her wearing a bikini. I could see parts of arms and shoulders of other girls who had obviously been standing beside her when the photo was taken but were later cropped out to get a personal photo of Trinity. I looked hungrily at her little bikini top and her beautiful, taught stomach and abs. She was flawless. I just wanted to...
The door flew open. “Dinner,” Mom chirped happily.
“Mom!” I said as I slammed my computer shut. I wasn’t looking at porn or anything but I didn’t want her to see me staring at a girl in a bikini either. That would be weird. I already had the poster of the exotic model in the bikini beside my bead. I didn’t want my mom to think I was a total hornball. “You need to knock, okay?”
Mom shook her head. “It’s my house. I can go wherever I want in it. That’s the rule.”
I rolled my eyes in irritation. She still thought I was a little kid. “I bet you knocked for Aaron,” I said as she set a plate of food down on my desk.
“Of course,” Mom said. “I never knew if Aaron had a girl over and I wanted to give him some privacy. With you I don’t have to worry about that.”
I frowned. “Why do you think that?”
“Because, notwithstanding your recent expulsion, I think you’ve got no contest, honey,” Mom said with raised eyebrows and a smug smile.
I stared at her in confusion for a moment and then groaned. I buried my face in my hands. “Mom, you’re so not cool. The phrase is ‘got no game,’ not ‘got no contest.’ Seriously. You suck at trash talk. You can’t say a word to any of my friends, okay?”
Mom put her hand on my head and brushed my hair back. “It’s just so hard to think of you boys going out with girls,” she said. “It seems like such a short time ago you were a little baby in my arms. You were a beautiful baby, you know. You were long and had blond hair from the moment you were born. Other mothers used to marvel at your beautiful blue eyes. You and Aaron were so cute together. It’s hard for me to think of you two as grown up men now. Do you know Mindy, that girl next door? The other day her mom told me that she said she and her friends were excited you were home because you were a ‘stud muffin.’ Can you imagine her saying that? She’s only in middle school.”
I smirked. Yes I could imagine her saying that. Everyone thought it. Mindy’s mom, Mrs. Samuelson, probably agreed. She was a cougar if I had ever seen one. She was always offering to pay Aaron and me to come over and mow her yard on the hottest summer days.
“Believe me, I told her mother a few stories about diarrhea and that time you
peed your pants at the church play. That should fix Mindy’s crush.”
“Mom!”
I protested. “You can’t tell people that stuff. Not cool.”
Mom shrugged. “I’m a mom. Cool isn’t in my job description.”
“Whatever, Mom,” I said. Then another thought occurred to me. “Some day you’re going to have to tell me what’s in a dad’s job description,” I said bitterly. “At least that way I can pretend like I know if I have kids of my own.”
My mom’s smile instantly disappeared and I was sorry I had tried to get the last dig in.
A little sorry, anyway.
“Stop aggravating your father,” she said. “He has worked hard at getting better. You remember what it used to be like. It’s not easy for him to have you around. You bring back those memories.”
I stood up and walked to the door. Suddenly I wasn’t hungry anymore. “Uh huh,” I said. “I just remembered that I need to fill up the car before tomorrow.” Mom sighed in exasperation. I turned to go and then stopped. “You were wrong about one thing,” I said.
“What?” Mom asked.
“What you just said. You were wrong about one thing,” I repeated. “Jerry is Aaron’s father. He’s never been mine. No matter how much you want it to, that’s not going to change.” Then I left.
School was boring. I slept through my calculus class and desperately wished I was tired enough to sleep through history. As I watched the second hand of the clock tick onward with painful slowness, I could think of only one thing that kept my mind occupied and content: girls. It was time to start checking names off my hookup list.
Who would the first target be? I was very eager to hook up with Trinity but she seemed to have a large group of girls and guys surrounding her wherever she went. She might be a take a little more work and I hadn’t hooked up with a girl in weeks, which meant I was looking for someone quicker. The nerdy girls didn’t get excite me. I needed someone with a great body who was an easy get and would be up for a fun romp with no strings attached.
Just as that thought was going through my head, Sadie and couple of her soccer friends walked into my English class and my eyes landed on a pretty, athletic-looking girl with long brown hair and a mischievous smile. Morgan. She seemed perfect for what I had in mind. Yes, she would be a great warm up to the girls at Lakeville High School. Best of all, it would rattle Sadie a bit and let her known that I meant business.
Sadie’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as soon as she saw me. Did the girl think I had switched classes just to be in hers?
Sorry honey
, I thought,
I’m smarter than you think. I can handle AP English. It’s all BS anyway and I can do that with the best of them
. Did she actually think I had switched classes just to have more opportunity to harass her? That was just a nice bonus.
Morgan noticed Sadie’s stare and looked in my direction. As soon as she saw me I gave her a little smile and a head nod. Morgan’s reaction spoke volumes. She didn’t blush and smile nervously like a lot of girls did. Instead, she
pursed her lips and looked me up and down as if sizing me up. My smile grew. This girl clearly wasn’t afraid to go after a guy as soon as she decided she was attracted to him. I would be hooking up with Morgan before the day was over.
Sadie must have sensed that something was up because she led the girls to the other end of the room and sat between me and them. Every time I looked over she was glaring at me. It was hard not to burst out laughing; her angry face was actually kind of cute. Still, she was doing a pretty effective job at cutting me off from Morgan. I needed to get Morgan’s attention.
“So,” Ms. Neuman, our English teacher said, “let’s get into
The Catcher in the Rye
, shall we? What are your initial thoughts? It’s not like any other book you’ve read, is it? What do you think about the way Holden judges people? Is he too hard on Mr. Spencer and Stradlater?”
Sadie raised her hand. “I like Holden,” she said. “He sees people for who they really are.
Stradlater was a spoiled private school creep who was just interested in hooking up with Jane Gallagher. Stradlater didn’t even know her name. Holden is a good guy for sticking up for his friend.”
I had no doubt who that little conversation was intended for. Sadie smiled primly at me, as if to say,
See? I can see through phonies like you.
I raised my hand. In truth, I hadn’t read the book, but Sadie had told me everything I needed to know. “I actually preferred
Stradlater to Holden,” I said.
Ms.
Neuman’s eyebrow’s climbed up her forehead. “Oh?”she said in surprise. “Why is that?”
I smiled and leaned back in my chair. I had the class’s attention now. I could have some fun. “I know how hard it is to be away from your family. My dear classmate,
Maddie, just called Stradlater a ‘spoiled private school creep’...”
“Sadie,” Ms.
Neuman said. Sadie was glaring at me.
“What?” I asked in mock surprise.
“This is Sadie,” Ms. Neuman said, pointing to Sadie. “You said Maddie. But please continue, I love hearing different perspectives. I’m thrilled that you are already engaging with this book so deeply.”
“Sorry,” I said. “From some reason she just looked like a Mad-whatever... well, I don’t even remember what I called her now. Anyway, she said that
Stradlater was a ‘spoiled private school creep’ and it just sounds to me like she is projecting a lot of her own feelings onto Stradlater. We don’t really know what Stradlater’s background is. Maybe he’s desperate for affection because he’s stuck at some private boarding school. I know what that feels like. Perhaps Stradlater chases after girls because he needs someone to show him love and kindness. Sometimes a hug from a pretty girl can make a guy’s day. I know it makes mine.”
“
Ohhh,” several of the girls’ in the room sighed together. I managed to hide my smile and give them all a sad look. They were looking at me with sympathy. All except for Sadie. She rolled her eyes.
“You realize
Stradlater beat up Holden, right?” Sadie interjected. “He really was a jerk.”
I shrugged. “He was probably just acting out because he was angry that Holden was judging him,” I said. “Making blanket accusations about people is how wars start.”
“Well said!” Ms. Neuman cried enthusiastically. “I love this passion! Thank you for sharing that, Nathan. You really thought about the character in a new way. I approve.”
I gave Sadie a smug look. She tried her best to ignore me but I could tell she noticed and was annoyed. I couldn’t see Morgan but I was sure I had her swooning with the rest of the girls. How could she not?
I wanted to see if I could catch Morgan at the end of class but Sadie too quick for me. She whisked the soccer girls out of the room almost before the tones had sounded signaling that the class period was over. I walked out after them but Dylan grabbed me as soon as I entered the hallway.
“Dude, good news,” he said. “I convinced Coach Hayworth to let you train with the JV team for now. If you put in the work I’m sure he’ll bump you back up to Varsity in no time.”
“What?” I said idly as I watched Sadie escape with my target. “Wait, JV? I don’t think so.”
“Come on,” Dylan said with a hint of frustration in his voice. “Don’t be a douche. Put in the work and you’ll earn your spot. Show up at the regular time, got it?”
I looked at Dylan’s floppy hair and goofy face. The guy was just trying to impress my brother by showing he could manage me. Fine, I would go along for now, but only until I could prove to Coach Hayworth what a mistake he had made. “Alright,” I said. “I’ll be there.”
A big grin spread across Dylan’s face. “Excellent,” he said. He smacked me on the shoulder playfully like we were old friends and walked away.
The rest of the day passed with painful slowness. Soon the prospect of playing with the JV guys grew on me. At least I would get a chance to show off. By the time I got to the field after school I was raring to go.
The JV coach, Coach Dayton, was nothing like Coach Hayworth. Dayton was young, mellow, and seemed to have a smile perpetually on his face. There was no endurance training with him. We went right to the game.
I couldn’t have been happier. Of course, the JV guys offered no real competition. There were a few stellar freshmen who had been moved up from the freshman team who were pretty speedy and aggressive but they didn’t have the physical size to compete with me. It quickly became clear that I was the dominant force on the field.
Coach Dayton watched me play with excitement. When he finally blew his whistle to give us a break he gave a mighty sigh. “You are the best player I have ever seen come through the program, which means you won’t be on my team for long,” he said.
Unlike the varsity guys, the JV guys instantly seemed to understand that I wasn’t competition for them. I was too good. This put me in the realm of being worthy of hero worship. That was something I was used to and comfortable with. Soon I was socializing, generously clapping a guy on the back and giving him a moment of my attention before moving on to someone else. The guys couldn’t get enough of me. Young guys who look up to older guys are almost like girls who like a guy. By the time practice ended they were practically falling over themselves to talk with me, show me how cool they were, and be around me.
My attention, however, was elsewhere. The girls’ varsity team was practicing on the field next to us and I had been glancing over at the girls from time to time. I picked out Morgan easily. She was a dynamic and aggressive player. I liked that. I also liked the way her legs looked in her small soccer shorts. They were long, tan, and perfectly smooth. I imagined shivers of pleasure going through her as I gently brushed my hand against the soft skin on her inner thigh. She would be lying down, of course, and I gently stroke her thigh as I pulled my body on top of hers. She would have her shirt off, naturally, and I would kiss her navel and then nuzzle my face against her neck as I reached behind to undo her bra and...
well, why was I wasting time imagining it all when I could be doing it? I had noticed when the girls took a break that Morgan was using a pink athletic duffel bag. That gave me an idea to get some one-on-one time with her.
“Okay, see you tomorrow boys,” I said to the JV guys and walked away from their disappointed faces. I headed directly towards the girls’ field just as they finished practices and were heading back to their bags. I made sure Morgan saw me and then, without breaking stride, I scooped up her duffel bag, slung it over my shoulder, and strolled back towards the school.
“Hey!” someone yelled at me. I knew it was Morgan but I continued walking like I hadn’t heard anything. A second later she ran around in front of me and planted a hand firmly on my chest to stop me in my tracks. Score. She had touched me. Now I just had to change the nature of the encounter into a flirtatious one.
“Can I help you?” I asked innocently.
“Uh, yeah,” Morgan said angrily. “You can give me my bag back.”
“Hmmm?
Sorry? Your bag?”
“Yeah, jerk,” she said as she grabbed the bag and wrenched it away from me. “This is mine.”
I stared at the bag in confusion. “Oh I’m sorry,” I said. “I could have sworn that was my bag.”
Morgan stared at me with incredulity.
“Your bag? It’s hot pink. You have a hot pink bag?”
“Maybe,” I said. I smiled at her. “I guess I must have left it back at my place. Do you want to come home with me and see it? I’m pretty sure it’s in my bedroom.”
Morgan’s expression and posture changed ever so slightly. She pursed her lips a little more and her eyes flickered up and down as though she was looking me over. I had seen her give me that look earlier this morning, which meant she was giving me a second look. She shifted her body weight back on one foot and folded her arms. To another person the changes might have been overlooked. To a hunter like me, however, this was a clear signal that Morgan was interested in me. I had her attention. Now I needed to close.
“I don’t think so,” she said. “You’re not my type.” She didn’t walk away, however.
“How do you know?” I asked. “What’s your type?”
“I like football players,” Morgan said. “You know, real men with actual muscles, not male lawn fairies like you soccer boys. My last boyfriend played football and my dad and brothers played. I love being around the sport.
Can’t get enough of it. That includes my men.”
“Oh, okay, well that’s good because you’re not my type either,” I said.
Morgan’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?” she asked dangerously.
“Well, no offense, but you seem a bit too... I don’t know, what’s the word? Innocent, I guess,” I said. “I like girls who are a little more experienced and who know what they want. But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find some really nice football guy who is a virgin and wants to hold hands with you and maybe after a while he’ll let you kiss him and you can learn about all that kind of stuff. I just don’t want to waste time being the teacher, you know? Sorry.”
“Hold the phone,” Morgan said. “Are you serious with me right now? You’re sorry? I don’t think so. I’ve been with plenty of guys, Mr. Pretty Boy.”
“Seriously, it’s not a big deal,” I said. “I know I probably intimidate you. There’s nothing wrong with waiting for the right guy to come along. Find a nice football player – I’m guessing you’ll have to go for a heavy defensive lineman or a scrawny little wide r
eceiver, but that’s fine – and learn how to kiss. By the time you get to college you might even be ready to do some over-the-pants grinding.”
Morgan glared at me. “I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work,” she said. “The rest of the soccer girls might think you’re hot stuff but I see right through you. Sadie warned me about you. You can take those pretty blue eyes and try them out on another girl. And for the record, lots of football boys are interested in me. The quarterback and homecoming king was pretty interested in me last year when I was making out with him.”
“Oh sure,” I pretended to scoff. “Now you’re just making up stories.”
“I did,” Morgan said firmly. “I made out with Graham Knight, the team quarterback. All of us varsity girls did.”
“Sure, sure,” I said. “And just what do you call making out? A quick peck on the cheek at some sort of school kissing booth? Lame.”
That pushed Morgan over the edge. “Okay mister,” she said. “I’ll show you exactly what I did and we’ll see who the inexperienced one is.”