Mutual Hatred - Love Game (12 page)

"No way!" protested Brandon.

"We're as different as night and day," added Shelley.

"You know what they say. Opposites attract! You guys are like yin and yang! You complete each other," Destiny said knowingly.

Oh that ridiculous smirk was creeping up on Brandon's face again.

"What's so funny?" snapped Shelley.

"Your face is funny," he retorted.

Shelley rolled her eyes. "You face is ugly."

"Ah, can't say the same about you."

It took her a moment to register what he had just said. "See! There you go, saying nice things to me again!" she cried.

"I'd be lying if I said you were ugly. And I try not to lie," shrugged Brandon.

A mischievous smile was taking over Destiny too. "You guys SO have the hots for each other. Just hook up already!" she said, throwing her hands in the air.

"You sound like Taryn," remarked Shelley.

"Do I now? Maybe I've found my partner in crime. Or should I say…matchmaking?"

Brandon groaned and held up a hand, as if to say 'Stop'. "Destiny, no. Don't even think about it."

"Fine," Destiny said unconvincingly, "We'll just let love take its course then, hm?"

- - - - -

An hour later, Shelley was sprawled on Taryn's bed, facing the ceiling.

"So how was your date?" she asked.

Taryn, who was changing into something more comfortable simply said, "Magical."

And great Scot, that lovey-dovey smile was plastered on her face again!

"And I suppose you and Alex are going out again?" asked Shelley, fingering the design on Taryn's bedspread.

"Of course. But you won't need to come. I'm perfectly comfortable with him."

Shelley snorted. "I thought so. Glad you had a good time though. But you know that if this interferes with Alex's focus, I'm going to have to ask you to tone it down."

Taryn waved this comment off with a flick of her hand. "Don't worry about it. So how was your date?"

"James wasn't much of a date, if that's what you mean."

"I wasn't talking about James," said Taryn as she took a seat at the foot of her bed. "I meant Brandon."

"Brandon was with Destiny."

"Funny, it seemed like he couldn't stop staring at you all night."

"How would you have known?" scoffed Shelley. "You and Alex were so wrapped up in each other."

"Hey! We were keeping an eye on you and Brandon every once in awhile! Didn't want my best friend to get into a fight again," Taryn said defensively.

"Oh how thoughtful," grinned Shelley. "I'd do the same for you."

Chapter 10 – Just Add Water

Remember that feeling Shelley had about something being up with the football team? Yeah, well, it wasn't anything
bad
. It was certainly unexpected.

Unexpected is an understatement.

Shelley was stunned. Flabbergasted. Call it what you want; she was still in shock by the time the party was over.

Let's rewind, shall we?

After the dull triple date, the weekend had been a bore. Wasn't summer supposed to be fun? At least football was getting better. The boys seemed to have learned their lesson from the previous week. No one had given her attitude or trouble; even Brandon hadn't been ordered to run extra laps. Every single day of practice so far had been an adventure. Shelley even began to see improvement, especially in the way the team interacted with one another. Some days she'd witness a group of boys huddled together, whispering about something. Shelley knew it wasn't her business, so she let it go. She was relieved things were finally getting better.

And then Friday came.

Something just didn't feel right.

Or maybe Shelley was just giddy because it was her birthday! She was finally turning 18!!

The morning started out normally. Shelley didn't expect the team to know it was her birthday, nor was she one to tell them. Instead, they had a heated discussion about Lucky Charms during stretches.

"Have you ever noticed that the clovers in Lucky Charms aren't actually clovers?" Alex said cheerfully.

"Yeah! They're just Lucky's hat with a friggin' clover on it!" added Chris Torres.

"That's fucking messed up," muttered Brandon.

And then everyone launched into their favorite cereal and the morning progressed from there. All in all, it was a good practice. As Shelley watched them go through their drills, she heard snippets of conversations. Something having to do with 'surprise' and 'pool' kept popping up. But once again, she told herself it wasn't her business what her team talked about, as long as they gave her the right results.

After dismissing the team from practice two hours later, Shelley headed to Mr. Wise's office. He had asked her to drop by this morning, but it completely slipped her mind. She wanted to get it
over with as soon as possible so she could go out with Taryn and the rest of their friends. Shelley knocked on the door to his office and was told "Come in."

Mr. Wise looked up from his work as she entered. "Ah, good morning Shelley."

Shelley grinned and nodded. "It is a good morning, isn't it?"

"I suppose you say that because it's your birthday?" Mr. Wise said knowingly.

"How did you know?"

Mr. Wise leaned back in his seat and said, "I know everything that goes on around here, especially my players. I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I'll be seeing you later, I suppose."

"Bright and early Monday morning!" she said happily.

"Sooner than you think. Don't get too wet later," said Mr. Wise, dismissing her with a wave of his hand.

What was it with Mr. Wise and cryptic messages?
she thought to herself as she made her way to her car.

Funny, the parking lot was deserted except for her own mode of transportation. Usually some of the guys hung around and did god-knows-what. But today it was eerily empty.

And that feeling that something was up came rushing back.

But she tried to push any uneasy feelings aside as she drove home. She saw Taryn's red Honda Civic parked in front and smiled to herself. Today was their little spa day. Manicures, pedicures, waxes galore. And they were going to enjoy every minute of it!

But the moment Shelley stepped inside the house, after nearly tripping over the front steps that lead up to her porch, she was bombarded by her none other than her mother.

"Happy birthday!" she said, enveloping her daughter in a hug, "You leave so early in the morning that I didn't get a chance to tell you!"

"But don't get any funny ideas now that you're 18," barked Shelley's dad, coming from out of his office.

It was odd that her father was home today. Sean Sinclair was a private-practice lawyer who spent most of the work day in his office at the firm he worked at. So why the heck was he at home, dressed in Hawaiian print shorts and an oversized shirt?

Day off, perhaps?

It wasn't a surprise to find her mom at home. Claudia Sinclair was a fashion designer (the next Anna Sui or Donatella Versace, just you watch!) who was going to 'take the fashion world by storm', or so said Christina Jackson, Claudia's boss. Every so often, Shelley's mom went to New York or Paris to see a fashion show, always returning with new ideas. Shelley had already been her mom's guinea pig for countless designs. Most outfits had gotten many compliments; the remaining few hadn't. Mrs. Sinclair's motto was "fashion is architecture." And of course, this slogan had been borrowed straight from the mouth of Coco Chanel, Claudia's idol.

Shelley heard Taryn's footsteps bound up behind her. Suddenly, her vision plunged into complete darkness.

"Augh!" screamed Shelley, "What the heck is the blindfold for?"

"It's a surprise," Taryn simply said, taking Shelley's hand. "Just follow where I go, okay? I'll try to warn you if you might trip over something."

Oooh, surprises! Shelley liked surprises; at least the good kind, anyway.

She vaguely heard Taryn ask, "Did you get everything, Mrs. Sinclair?"

"Yes, take her out to the car," whispered Claudia.

Taryn guided Shelley to god-knows-where (Shelley figured it must have been the car; they were taking her somewhere!) and buckled the seatbelt.

"We're going for a little drive," said Taryn.

God, the suspense was nearly killing Shelley.

After what seemed like they had driven for hours, Taryn cut the ignition and announced, "We're here! But I can't take off your blindfold until we get inside, okay?"

Taryn lead Shelley up a set of steps. The door opened immediately; it didn't sound like they were at a restaurant or anything of the sort. Instead, Taryn took off Shelley's blindfold and stepped back.

"SURPRISE!!!"

It took Shelley a moment to adjust to the light; when she finally focused, she realized that they were standing in her spacious living room. Practically everyone she knew was crowded in there.

At first, Shelley didn't understand what was going on. Yes, she realized that her family and friends had planned a surprise party for her. But later on, Shelley found out Taryn was just supposed to drive Shelley around town for a few hours while the house was decorated and everyone came over. Oh, the scheming twits! But she didn't mind. It was a nice birthday surprise, and she definitely wouldn't forget it anytime soon.

It was shocking. Oh,
so, so
shocking. Everyone had done this for
her
? She didn't deserve it.

Apparently, people thought otherwise.

Taryn grinned at Shelley smugly. "Like it?"

Throwing her arms around her best friend, Shelley cried, "Like it? I LOVE IT! Oh, you're the best Tare!"

"Hey now, don't be taking all the credit, Tare bear! We were the ones who thought of it!" said Alex, throwing an arm around Taryn.

"We as in…?" asked Shelley.

"The team. Well, Mr. Wise suggested a surprise party. Brandon thought of Taryn driving you around," supplied Johnny Nickol.

"We've been planning for ages!" shouted Mr. Wise from across the room, "I'll admit, those four hour practices were only two hours long."

That explained a lot.

It was unbelievable. Shelley still couldn't believe her eyes. The entire football team had shown up; all of her relatives had congregated in one corner of the room, talking and laughing; and her closest friends, most of them from cheer, were waiting for her by the door. She felt truly blessed.

"Go change! The sun's already out; let's go swimming!" said Taryn, pulling Shelley up the stairs that led to her room. The other girls followed suit.

"We've already picked out your clothes for you, if you don't mind," drawled Brianna Lawler.

"Bree! I thought you were in Europe! What are you doing back so soon?" cried Shelley, pulling her long time friend into a bear hug.

"And miss the party of the century?" Brianna shook her head, "I don't think so. I fly back tomorrow."

Several girls had raided Shelley's closet, returning with a bright turquoise, two piece swimsuit and a matching sundress to wear over it. They presented the articles of clothing to Shelley, who shook her head.

"Don't you think the swimsuit is a little…I don't know, risqué? I've got family over!" she protested.

Meg Heaney scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous. Risqué would be skinny dipping while they're here. Besides, it's your party. Who cares?"

Typical Meg. She lived as if she had not a care in the world.

"Put it on," ordered Taryn, "Now!"

"And I thought it was my birthday!" Shelley mumbled. "Guess not."

Brianna playfully pushed Shelley into her closet. Shelley quickly changed and pulled the sundress over her head and inspected herself in the mirror. Perfect.

"Gosh you're so freaking gorgeous!" howled Lindsay Buckley.

"She's got like the most toned legs ever!" added Meg. "Must be from the running you do with football, huh?"

Shelley nodded. "You're one to talk. You've got the hardest stomach I've ever poked!"

The girls bounded downstairs. Taryn dragged Shelley to her backyard, where there were already people in the pool. After slathering on sunblock, Shelley felt someone's eyes on her. She turned around and met Brandon, eye to eye. Without a word, he scooped her up in his arms and called to no one in particular,

"Bomb's away!"

Brandon effortlessly tossed Shelley in the pool, sundress and all. Shelley was still sputtering as she resurfaced, "Oh, I'm going to get you for that!"

Too late. Johnny Nickol got to him first. Whereas Brandon had taken care when he threw Shelley in the pool, Johnny merely shoved Brandon in.

"Nickol, this is war!" shouted Brandon. He splashed everyone in the vicinity and
laughed
.