by Dana Burkey
Playing For Love
Dana Burkey
Copyright © 2015 Dana Burkey
All rights reserved.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Table of contents:
September
October
November
About The Author
Sneak Peek
September
SEPTEMBER 1ST-MONDAY
With only a few hours until the new school year begins, it’s time to start my new journal. If you're reading this, it means one of two things. You're either reading this without my permission, in which case STOP! Not even Corra and Beth read my journal, so you more than likely shouldn't be right now! Well, the other option is that I'm super famous now and everyone wants to know what my life was like before fame and fortune. If that's the case, then this journal is likely being used to let the whole world see the real me and I gave permission for it to happen. So, I guess if it’s the latter, then I’m okay with that.
In case you don’t already know, my name is Fiona Mealing and I’m a sophomore at North McKinley High School. I live on 5th street with my mom, my dad, and my older brother Ross. My family's always on some kind of adventure since my mom's a travel writer so we get to spend any school break going on fun trips with her, and she always brings us back really cool stuff from the trips we don’t get to join her for. Her blog has a few million subscribers, and she's put out so many books we had to buy a new bookshelf just to hold them all. My dad's an accountant for a local law firm, so that helps us feel a little more normal.
As for Ross, well he can be a real pain sometimes. Okay, more like all the time! He's two years older than me, so every teacher and person at our school meets him before me. Basically from the moment I was born I have been in his shadow. He plays basketball and this year got a spot on student council. So basically, everyone knows him even if they live under a rock. He’s a pretty good brother in that he looks after me when I need help or anything like that, but he also knows just what to do to get under my skin. Last week he called me “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum” after we got into a fight about who had to do dishes after dinner, and then stomped around the kitchen making fun of me while I was working on loading the dishwasher. Beth reminded me I need to pray that he doesn't call me that at school, or it might catch on!
Beth Wells, along with Corra Scott, is my best friends. I've gone to school with both of them since I was in kindergarten. Beth lives a few blocks over, but Corra and I are always at her house. Since she's an only child, it's the best place to go when we need to get away from annoying older brothers. Corra’s brother actually went off to college a few weeks ago, so her house is a close getaway for me as well now since it's right next door. Today, though, as is tradition on Labor Day, everyone was at my house.
Okay, not everyone. One person that I really wanted to see was missing. Having Ross as my brother does have one upside, and that upside is Jordan. Jordan Peterson's been my brother’s best friend as long as I can remember. My whole life he lived down the street, and, for the most part, I never cared. Then four years ago I got home from a summer trip to New York and everything had changed. I was the same, my braces were still working to make my teeth straight and my hair still tried to curl the second I straightening it in the morning. But Jordan, on the other hand, had changed a lot.
His family has been in California when we were in New York and got home the same day as us. Between the Cali sun, and simply growing up, Jordan went from just some guy my brother hung out with, to a drop dead gorgeous man! He was super tan from his trip and it made his sandy brown look even more perfect. But the real thing that made me about flip when I saw him was how tall he was. He grew at least 5 inches over the summer and looked even more buff than I remembered. While he stood there talking about basketball with Ross, I just stared and tried to remember to keep from drooling.
Ever since then it is hard to concentrate around Jordan. I tried not to let it show, but he was so much more than just my brothers friend suddenly. Sadly, I was not the only person to notice the new Jordan. He started dating Susan Newburg when school started that year, and then after that seemed to always have one girlfriend after another. But in a way, it was a good thing. It gave me a lot of people to study. Who was it that Jordan wanted to date? I took notes and waited for my time. Now, with the school year about to start, I'm excited to announce that Jordan's single again, and I even hear him tell my brother he was taking a break from girls for a while.
Okay, so I guess that last part is kind of bad news. If he doesn't want to date anyone, he may not make an exception for me. But then again, if I can win him over enough then he might forget all about trying to focus on school and give me a chance. He already knows a lot about me, and we chat here and there when he's over hanging out with Ross, so this should be easy. In fact, we used his absence from the annual party to do some planning.
“So when does Jordan get home?” Corra asked, making sure Ross couldn't hear us. Thankfully he was in the pool with some of his other friends from school.
“Who’s Jordan?” Taylor Danes asked. She just moved to town a few weeks ago and got to know Beth and Corra while I was gone on vacation. Tonight was only the second time I met her, the first time being yesterday when I hung out with her and Beth right after getting home from the airport.
“Fiona’s future boyfriend,” Beth explained. “He just needs to finally open his eyes and realize it.”
This was not the first time Beth had made a comment like that, but with Taylor sitting there with us I found myself blushing. I guess I was worried how she would react to all of this, being new to town and everything.
“He’s a senior,” I explained, wanting to make her understand that this was not just some random guy. “Him and my brother are best friends so I’ve known him as long as I can remember.”
“So he knows you like him?” she asked, glancing between Corra, Beth, and myself.
“Not really,” I said slowly.
“Fiona doesn’t want to be all crazy when it comes to Jordan,” Corra took over. “She wants to win him over before she lets him know how she feels.”
It was an odd way to put it, but it was pretty true. See, in the last few years Jordan has dated three girls that played soccer. And considering he has only had another two girlfriends since he got hot, it’s clear that he has a thing for soccer girls. So, with that in mind, I decided to try out for the team this summer. And, I made the team, even though I have been out of the country for part of the summer practices and even the first few games of the season. Ross said he thinks everyone that tries out makes at least JV, so I shouldn’t think it has anything to do with me actually being good at soccer. So nice of him, right?
Well, whatever, the important thing is that I'm on the team and I get to show Jordan that I’m totally the kind of girl he should be going for! My first game with the team is on Wednesday, so by Thursday he should pretty much be falling in love with me, right? Okay, maybe it won’t work that fast. But it sounded like a good plan when Beth and Corra and I came up with it on our end of the year sleep over a few months ago. Sitting there telling it all to Taylor, however, made me worry I made a bad decision.
“So, he’s not here now?” Taylor glanced over to Ross and his frie
nds who were laughing and joking in the deep end of our in ground pool.
“No, he’s still on vacation,” I explained easily. “His family should be getting home soon, though. I think I heard Ross say their plane lands at 5.”
“Is he stopping by the party then?” Corra asked after glancing at her phone and seeing it was already almost 4.
“I don’t think so,” I shrugged.
“That’s okay, though,” Beth offered. “This means he gets to see you for the first time tomorrow! And hopefully, you can let him know you're on the team!”
“Yeah,” Corra nodded. “And if he doesn't find out tomorrow he will totally see your socks on Wednesday.”
“Your socks?” Taylor asked, once again out of the loop.
As Beth and Corra filled her in on our soccer teams traditions, I tried to judge Taylor’s facial expressions. Did she think I was crazy for my plan to get Jordan to notice me? Taylor mentioned she has an older sister, and I got the feeling she thought our plan with Jordan was a little childish. Sure, it was a little crazy, but it was what all my hopes and dreams were set on right now.
The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful, and we managed to talk about school more, instead of Jordan. Taylor's going to be in a few of my classes, and I thankfully also have at least one class with both Beth and Corra, so we chatted about teachers and lunch tables, and everything tomorrow is going to bring. Talking about it all made me excited to get to school and get started. Not because I actually want summer to be over, but rather because I want to finally see Jordan and get him to fall in love with me already.
When everyone finally left around seven o’clock, I headed to my room to get ready for tomorrow, and also write all of this down. I have my school uniform ironed and hung up and ready to go, and even picked out a cute new pair of earrings I got in Italy that will maybe catch Jordan’s eye. So now, I need to get some sleep so I can get up in time to make my hair cooperate with me and hopefully start impressing Jordan as soon we pick him up in the morning. Hopefully tomorrow will be the start of my future with Jordan!
SEPTEMBER 2ND-TUESDAY
So today was an interesting first day. Not good or bad, just interesting.
First of all, I finally got to see Jordan. Much like all of last year, Ross drives me to school and picks up Jordan on the way. This means I get to sit in the back and try to not lose my hearing over the loud music Ross likes to listen to when he’s driving.
I made sure my hair was lying flat and even added a little more chap stick to my lips right before Jordan got in the car, but he didn't even notice me. His brilliant brown eyes didn't even glance my way as he got in the car and started talking loudly with Ross about everything they missed while apart for most of the summer. I tried not to let it get me down, but I could feel myself deflate a little. It also didn’t help that when we got to school, Ross and Jordan took off towards a group of their friends as I was still climbing out of the car, meaning I had to walk by myself into school and to my locker where my friends were waiting.
“So, are you still single?” Beth joked, brushing her curly red hair out of her face.
“Yes,” I laughed, opening my locker and placing my lunch inside. I took a moment to look in my mirror and was pleased to see my brown hair was still looking pretty good. It was only a matter of time before I gave up and put it in a pony tail though.
“What if this whole time he's been in love with you but just won’t say anything because of your brother?” Corra asked, leaning in close to get a look in my mirror as well. She brought up this idea at least once a week. As usual I just sighed, knowing nothing could be further from the truth.
When the first bell rang, letting us know we only had five minutes to get to class, I closed my locker and frowned. I knew Corra and Beth would head to English while I headed to history. Taylor was in history with me, but since I was still getting to know her, I knew I would have to wait to share the boring car ride story until later in the day.
“Lunch table?” Beth asked, referring to the spot we sat all of freshman year.
“Lunch table,” I agreed before turning and heading to class.
By the time we made it to the lunch table no one was talking about Jordan, thankfully. Instead, we were listening to Taylor talk about how she was enjoying school and who was in her classes and what she thought of her teachers. She really went on and on while I just sat there eating my ham sandwich. Eventually, I more or less toned her out and stared across the room where I knew Jordan was sitting with Ross and their other friends.
“Earth to Fiona,” Beth laughed, waving her hands in front of my face. “Are you okay?”
“What?” I asked, blinking and looking around quickly.
“Oh,” Corra laughed, looking where I had been staring. “Jordan.”
Following her gaze, I saw that Jordan had stood up and was heading to the trash can to get rid of his lunch. It was the first time I actually saw him during the lunch period, although I'd been looking in his direction the whole time. While Taylor, Beth, and Corra all watched him as well, I felt my cheeks redden immediately.
“Wow,” Taylor gasped. “He's hot!”
“If you like that sort of thing,” Corra shrugged before going back into a conversation about Mr. Starn, a teacher Taylor had for biology.
I was thankful for Corra’s comment. Although it was true that Jordan was not her type, I knew she was changing the subject to help me out. I never liked talking about Jordan at school. What if someone overheard us? What if word got to him that I had a massive crush on him? It wouldn't be good if he found out that way.
As Beth and Corra continued the conversation they were having with Taylor I tried to pay attention. But, I couldn’t help but notice that Taylor was glancing over at Jordan now as well. And I have to say, it made me a little wary. I mean, she looked a lot more like the kind of girl Jordan would go for. She is at least three inches taller than me, has the perfect tan, is much more endowed in certain areas, and looks like girls I see in magazines. She has perfectly shiny and healthy looking black hair and bright blue eyes that really pop with the way she does her makeup. It made me feel like a watered down version of her. I mean, my hair is a dull brown, even after vacation my tan in't nearly as dark as hers, and even my blue eyes aren't even half as pretty as hers.
Okay, I have to admit, I don’t know where all of the jealous feelings came from. Maybe it was the idea that Corra and Beth kind of replaced me with Taylor while I was on vacation, or maybe it was just me being upset that Jordan hadn't said hello to me in the morning. Either way, I wasn't happy at myself for being so catty that quickly. Pushing the feelings aside, I tried not to let it get to me the rest of the day. It more or less worked and before I knew it was time for soccer practice.
I wish I could say that soccer practice was great and fun and all that, but it was really hard! Especially after being on vacation for two weeks where I didn’t do much physical activity besides sailing and shopping at little shops in Venice. I did my best to do the drills and conditioning my coach put me through, but it was clear that I wasn't in as good of shape as the other girls. Heather, the JV coach, even told me I needed to work on my cardio when I was climbing into my mom's car. Which means my mom heard it and will give me lots of reminders if I forget. Ugh!
So, all in all, it wasn't the best start to the school year. Not too bad, though, since I got to see Jordan and it looks like he’s holding to his no-dating thing. Okay, again, that isn't a great thing. But hopefully once he sees how perfect we are together he will decide dating me is way more important than his idea to be single for a while!
SEPTEMBER 3RD-WEDNESDAY
Today was much better than yesterday! First of all, I borrowed some of my mom's old makeup and tried to put on just enough to look cute without trying. It was weird since I've never really worn makeup aside for at slumber parties and New Years when Corra insists she gives me a makeover or occationally on vacation when my mom lets me play around with her stuff. But,
I was able to figure out how to apply a little bit of mascara and blush thanks to some YouTube videos that helped make me look a little more put together. Taylor even complimented my hair when I saw her at my locker! It was back in a french braid that my mom did for me so it would be ready for my game tonight, but I kept that fact to myself.
Well, it was after that, on our way to history, that things got even better. As Taylor and I walked to the steps that lead to our class, I turned the corner and slammed right into someone. I was startled since I was chatting with Taylor as I walked and didn’t even know who it was I ran into until I looked up to see Jordan standing in front of me.
“Sorry Fi,” he said quickly placing his hands on my arms as if to steady me. “You okay?”
“Uh, yeah,” I managed, blinking a few times to make sure I wasn't imagining it all. It was the first time he had said anything to me, since in the morning car ride he once again didn’t even glance at me in the back seat. But now he was talking to me and had one of his gorgeous and muscular hands on my arm to make sure I was okay! “I’m fine.”
“Cool,” he grinned. “See you later, little Mealing.”
That was the moment that I knew it had to be real life and I wasn't dreaming that I was in the hallway with Jordan. It was like a slap in the face. I was “little Mealing.” Nothing more than Ross’s little sister. But, I tried not to let it get to me as Taylor and I headed up the flight of stairs in front of us.
“Oh my goodness,” Taylor said breathlessly. “His smile just about melted me right on the spot!”
I nodded silently, my mixed emotions trying still to sort the moment out. It was nice that he stopped to see if I was okay, but he didn’t seem to notice how great I looked. And he certainly didn’t notice that I was wearing lime green soccer socks, something everyone on the team was wearing today for good luck at our games after school.
