Mutual Hatred - Love Game (16 page)

"Mom, NO! Okay? Everyone needs to stop trying to push us together, because it's not going to work! You think we're compatible, but we're not! We're as different as night and day!" screamed Shelley.

Mrs. Sinclair spoke calmly, as if her daughter hadn't shouted. "You're forgetting that night and day complete each other."

Funny, wasn't that what Destiny had said?

"Please just stop throwing Brandon in my face, mom," Shelley said wearily, obviously too tired to argue. "He's just a thorn in my side that refuses to budge."

So true, so true.

"That's what you think," Mrs. Sinclair said simply.

And what was
that
supposed to mean?

Chapter 13 – Let the Pranks Begin

Shelley was nervous. She had butterflies in her stomach. Why?

Because today was the day.

As in, Wilson had a 'friendly' scrimmage against El Toro High School, which was one of the best teams in the county. When Shelley and Mr. Wise had decided to set up the game, Shelley had envisioned a nice practice match. But now that the day, not to mention El Toro team, was here, she wasn't so sure of herself. Wilson's team had definitely improved, but would they cave in to the pressure?

Actually, did
she
know what she was doing?

Mr. Wise had told her that the best coaches believed in their team, even if no one else did. There was no hope without a positive attitude. If she recalled correctly, Mr. Wise's exact words had been 'Without positive attitudes you have nothing.' Shelley's mind was made up. She couldn't doubt the team now, not when they needed her. So if someone was going to look at the glass half full, it had to be her. Brandon had looked pretty grim when the El Toro team had arrived.

And she didn't blame him. The opponent looked like a pack of angry bulls.

Translation? Not a pretty sight.

But let's cut to the chase. Wilson ended up losing, but by a slim margin. And while the boys were clearly unhappy about it (they were cursing up a storm; Shelley didn't bother reprimanding them), Shelley was quite pleased. She hadn't exactly expected the team to come out on top. In fact, El Toro's head coach had spoken to her after the game. He'd told her that Wilson had put up a good fight and that he was impressed. For such a poor team to have played so well was quite the achievement! The El Toro coach had said, and I quote, "We'll have to watch out for y'all this season!"

So of course Shelley was proud.

She made sure the boys were decent before marching into the locker room for a post-game talk. The unhappy faces were a sorry sight; several of the boys were taken aback when she smiled.

"I don't know why you're all so glum. You all played
really
well and I'm proud of you!" she exclaimed.

"But we didn't
win
!" Brandon said angrily. "Who cares how well we played if we didn't win?"

"Well sure it matters how well you play," Shelley said reasonably, "If you don't try, you're not gonna win. But you guys were playing the number two team in the county. I
know
none of you thought we were going to win. But that's not the point! Defense, don't think I didn't notice that you were doing your damndest to stop the other team from gaining a yard. Everyone worked
so well
together! I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and neither could the other coach."

The teamed seemed to perk up hearing this.

"What'd he say?" asked Johnny.

"He told me he was impressed and that he'd definitely be watching out for us this year. Doesn't that tell us something?"

"That we're still not as good as them?" said James.

"No, silly! It means he's considering us as a threat. How does that make you feel?"

Brandon shook his head stubbornly. "Not any better."

"Oh don't rain on my parade, Brandon! This is
good
news and everyone should be happy! I had this game videotaped so that we can watch for mistakes or anything. I'm going to watch it tonight and we'll watch it as a team tomorrow. But I want you to go home and feel good about yourselves. You did a great job; no one tried to be Mr. Superstar," at this, not-so-subtle coughs were sent Brandon's way, "The teamwork was absolutely unbelievable. Today was just a practice. If you play during the normal season like you did today, we're going to be fine. And of course we'll be making improvements."

Shelley paused, briefly glancing at each member of the team. She noticed that most of the boys had turned their frowns upside down, or at least they were trying to. She appreciated and effort and said, "Okay, that's all for now. See you bright and early tomorrow!"

As the team filed out past her, Brandon stopped to say, "Uh, Morgan wants to know if you want to hang out with her today. She's kind of bored and all her brainy loser friends are busy finding the cure for AIDS. So I guess she's stuck with you."

"Sure, I'd love to!" cried Shelley, "When can I come over?"

"Whenever, I guess," shrugged Brandon. "Or I can tell her you never want to see her again," he said hopefully.

"And why would you want to do that?"

"No idea. Maybe to crush my dear sister's feelings? It's one of my favorite pastimes," he grinned in reply.

"Oh you sadistic boy, you. I'll come over now. Can I follow you home?"

"Stalker."

"Shut up."

"Speaking of stalkers, has Luscious Lloyd talked to you lately?" Brandon asked casually, hands in his pockets.

"No," Shelley said slowly, "But you wouldn't happen to know anything about him, would you?"

"Nope."

"Oh I am
so
sure you don't," said Shelley, poking Brandon's stomach.

"Hey! Do you want to follow me home or not?"

"I do."

"You sound like you're practicing for your wedding," snickered Brandon.

"Yeah, well, it definitely won't be to you."

"You know it's your fantasy to marry me and bear my children. It's
every
girl's fantasy," Brandon smirked.

"How do you walk around with such a ridiculously large head?" asked Shelley.

"Hm," he pretended to ponder, "I manage."

Shelley ended the banter as she pushed past Brandon, making her way out to her car. As Brandon got into his own, he called to her,

"Hey Sinclair, wanna race?"

Shelley shook her head vigorously. "I don't race. Besides, I wouldn't even know where to go."

"Or maybe you're just afraid you'll lose," taunted Brandon.

"Or maybe I'm sparing you from being beaten by a
girl
," retorted Shelley. "I'm saving you from humiliation."

"Shove it, Sinclair," Brandon waved his hand aimlessly above his head, "Let's roll. I'm hot-in more ways than one, sweaty, and I want to go home."

Shelley followed Brandon home, which proved to be a difficult the task because Brandon liked to drive fast. So naturally it was hard to keep up with him. Eventually they wandered into a fancy, upscale neighborhood not too far from Shelley's house. As she pulled up in front of the white washed house with what seemed like hundreds of windows, Morgan threw open the front door and came flying out.

"Shelley! Oh thank god, I thought you'd never get here!" cried Morgan. "I've been extremely bored without you."

"Yeah, I guess life would be dull without me around," grinned Shelley, cutting off the engine.

"Well now you're starting to sound like my dumbass brother," frowned Morgan, swatting Shelley's arm playfully, "Heaven knows we don't need two of him."

"Morgan, I am appalled that you would insult me like that!" cried Shelley, following Morgan up the steps and inside the foyer.

"My deepest regrets," Morgan said sarcastically, "I'd hate being compared to Brandon too. Unfortunately, it happens every day of my life."

Morgan stopped abruptly, causing Shelley to bump into her. But this gave Shelley a chance to survey the house. She concluded that the Miller's were obviously well off, especially since they lived in such a big house (Did four people really need that much space?). Morgan gave Shelley a quick tour of the house, where Shelley noticed that everything (and she meant
everything
) matched. They ended the tour at Morgan's room, barely peeking in Brandon's room before he threw them out.

Shelley decided then and there that Morgan had the coolest room she'd ever seen. Posters of Morgan's favorite bands and singers adorned the wall, along with pictures of friends and family. A computer sat whirring on a desk in one corner, while a king size bed stood smack in the middle of the room. There were two doors next to each other; Shelley figured they led to the bathroom and closet. The walls were painted a happy yellow-not too bright, but not pale either. Bookshelves lined one wall of the room. In one corner there were bean bags and pillows on the floor across from a plasma TV hanging on the wall.

Damn. Morgan had it good.

As Shelley stood in awe of Morgan's room, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Morgan yelled loudly.

Shelley vaguely heard Brandon say, "No, it's the guys", followed by a pair of footsteps racing down the stairs. She went and stood at the top of the stairs as Morgan flung the door open.

"Hey boys!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Go play somewhere else, Morgan," Brandon said irritably, opening the door wider so his friends could come inside.

Brandon's' friends, mostly comprised of members of the football team plus a few other jocks, filed in, mumbling 'hellos' to Morgan.

"Run along, Morgan," repeated Brandon, pushing his twin out of his way, "Go talk gossip with Shelley. You're the one who wanted her to come over!"

"What, I can't say hi to your friends?" Morgan said stubbornly, "They're my friends too you butthole. And we all know you don't mind Shelley coming over because you have a
crush
on her!"

"Coach is here?" Alex said loudly, "Oh, fun!"

"Shut up, she might hear you fag!" hushed Brandon, "Come on, let's go to the game room."

The boys followed Brandon while Morgan bounded up the stairs.

"Brandon's such a fucking asshole sometimes," snarled Morgan, throwing herself on her bed, "He does
not
know how to treat girls."

"I thought you said he did," teased Shelley, settling herself on one of the bean bags in the corner.

"Fine. Brandon doesn't know how to treat his
sister
. He gets all different when his friends are around. But he's pretty okay when it's just the family."

Shelley nodded her head in understanding, although not quite understanding. It was hard to when she didn't have any siblings.

She and Morgan ended up having a fun afternoon, spying on neighbors from Morgan's window, watching TV, and talking about random things.

"Kyle Stanford is one
fine
man," declared Morgan. "Don't you think?"

"Kyle? Uh, no! I've known him forever!" Shelley cried in disgust.

"Well I've known him forever too, but I still think he's pretty doable."

"I don't see him that way," Shelley shook her head, "I don't think I ever could. But if you want I'll talk to him for you."

"Not necessary," Morgan said dreamily, "I'm not interested in him romantically. Just physically attracted. Although we
could
make very beautiful babies."

Shelley picked up one of the pillows lying nearby and threw it at Morgan. Morgan caught it and tossed it back at Shelley. A pillow fight ensued. The two got so rowdy that they didn't hear a knock on the door, or around ten boys staring wide-eyed at the girls.

"Damn, that's hot!" howled Kyle Stanford.

"Hey, that's my sister you're talking about!" said Brandon.

Shelley finally noticed the new presences and looked up. Morgan whirled around and demanded, "What do you want?"

Brandon held out two bowls of ice cream. "Mom told us to ask you if you wanted ice cream," he said innocently.

Morgan snatched them away from her brother and said in a sugary tone, "Now run along, boys."

"Not so fast," said Alex, handing Shelley two spoons. "Enjoy."

The boys shuffled out, laughing about something. Morgan slammed her door shut and handed Shelley a bowl, taking a spoon for herself. Shelley was about to take a bite when Morgan screamed.

"AHHHH! Brandon Andrew Miller, I'm going to get you for this!" she yelled at the door.

"What's wrong?" asked Shelley.

"Those idiots dumped
salt
all over the ice cream," huffed Morgan, "Oh my god, I think I'm gonna be sick!"

Morgan covered her mouth and headed straight for one of the closed doors Shelley had noticed before. Moments later, Morgan came out, looking both composed and determined.