Double Threat My Bleep (Double Threat Series)

by Julie Prestsater

  “At least we don’t have to try out again.”

  “That depends.”

  “On what?”

  Keesh starts in on the explanation. “It depends on if there are a lot of new girls who can play well. We could end up having to compete for spots.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I ask. That’s not a good sign. I don’t want to have to compete for a spot with a bunch of ninth graders. I could very well lose.

  “Don’t worry, Meggie, I heard the competition isn’t that great so I think we’ll be fine.” She stands up and walks over to the door. “Well, what are we going to do now? I thought we were going to need a few hours to hear all the details about your weekend full of hot sweaty dorm room love making, so I didn’t plan anything.”

  I chuckle. “Hot and sweaty.”

  “Dorm room sexfest,” Steph says.

  “Stop, you guys. It was all very innocent,” I say, smirking inside. Sure, the bed wasn’t rocking, but it was still far from innocent.

  “Let’s call the guys. I think I can get Dom to take us all to the movies,” Steph suggests.

  “Sounds good to me,” I respond.

  “Okay, you call him and I’m gonna go get us some drinks.” Keesh heads out of her room while Steph takes out her cell.

  “Hey babe,” Dom says to Steph as we jump in his van. “Hey, girls.”

  “Hi.”

  “There’s been a change of plans. We’re going to go to Denny’s instead. Is that okay?”

  “Why? What happened?” Steph asks.

  “I called the guys and they already had plans to go there and meet. So I thought we’d go too.”

  “Who’s going?” I ask.

  “Ben and Ness are already there. Jon, Josh, and Erica are on their way.” Whew. No Travis tonight. “And we’re gonna pick up Trav on the way.”

  Great.

  We all pile out of the van at Denny’s and head in to meet the rest of the crew. Like usual, everyone is in the back. I wonder if Denny’s does that on purpose. They reserve the far back of the restaurant for teenagers, to isolate them from the well-mannered guests. I swear Denny’s brings out the worst in a group of adolescents. We’d never be this loud and obnoxious at home. There’s just something about this place that urges us to raise our voices, chew with our mouths open, throw food at each other, and use foul language.

  “Awww…here she comes,” Jonathan says. “Does Meggie have a little after sex glow?”

  Keesh smacks him in the back of the head, before leaning down to kiss him. “Not Meggie. She left a big V and came back a big V.”

  Everyone chuckles and stares at me. “So this is what you’ve all been talking about while I’ve been gone. Geez…is there nothing sacred here? Would anyone else like to broadcast their sex stories for the rest of us?” They all look at me blankly. “I didn’t think so.”

  “Maybe none of us have any stories to tell,” Erica says, like she’s as pure as snow.

  “Yeah, I doubt that,” I scoff, looking around at all of them.

  The server interrupts us. “Can I get you all something to drink?” She continues to take orders and then hurries off.

  “So how’s C-High?” Erica does a great job of changing the subject. “Are you all excited about homecoming?”

  “Heck yeah,” Keesh exclaims.

  “Sure,” Steph says.

  “What about you, Meg?” Erica asks. “Do you want to go?”

  “I’d love to but I don’t want to go without Alex,” I admit to them.

  “Yeah, Meggie, doesn’t have too good of a history with homecoming,” Jonathan jokes. Only he’s the only one who’s laughing. Keesh kicks him under the table.

  “Oh, I gotta hear this one,” Travis says. If looks could kill, he’d be six feet under right now. His smile dissipates and he takes a sip of his drink.

  Vanessa excuses herself to go to the restroom.

  “What the hell, Jon?” Ben says, when Ness is far enough away.

  “I’m sorry, dude. I wasn’t thinking,” he pleads.

  “Wow. Really, Jon Jon. Just don’t say anything for the rest of the night, okay?” Keesh says. I don’t know how she’s so patient with his dumb ass sometimes. I hope Vanessa is okay. We never talk about last year’s homecoming. It was a little awkward hanging out with them after Ben came on to me that night, right in front of her, but we’ve all done a good job of pretending like it never happened.

  “Okay, okay, don’t trip,” Jon says, “I’ll be cool. I promise.”

  “Why? What happened?” Erica asks. She’s one of the few who hasn’t heard about the incident.

  “Nothing, babe,” Josh says, giving her a look that suggests he’ll tell her later.

  Erica turns to me. “So, Meggie, I was thinking maybe you could go with Josh. I’m gonna be out of town and I don’t want him to miss it. I thought you guys could go as buds, you know.”

  “Better watch out for that,” I hear someone mumble. Vanessa is coming back to the table. Did she really just say that? Ben gives her a nasty look. I look away and pretend not to notice.

  I try to ignore the comment, but that was just stupid. Does she really think Erica has anything to worry about? One…I love my boyfriend. Two…have you seen Erica? And three…Erica and Josh are perfect for each other.

  Forget Ness. I look over at Josh. “Do you really want to go?”

  “Why not, Meggie? You don’t want to miss it, do you? I’ll call Alex if you want, but I don’t think he’ll mind if we go.”

  “You don’t need to. He’ll be cool. Let’s go for it then.”

  Chapter Ten

  Oh goodness. I should’ve really practiced before today. Actually, I don’t think I’ve touched a ball since the final game of the season last year. And the burning in my legs is proof. The one thing I do remember is to drink water. I’ve been chugging it since we got home from our road trip. Alex reminded me.

  Well, I guess there is good news and bad news after today’s soccer tryouts. Good news: I made the team. Bad news: our team sucks so bad that I made the team. There wasn’t even enough decent new players to bump me out of my spot, so it looks like I’m a soccer player for another season. I should probably be more excited, but the thought of spending every day for the next several months after school running back and forth across a field and getting thrown on the ground by some beastly girls doesn’t sound very promising right now.

  Keesh, on the other hand, is thrilled. She, of course, is still on Varsity. And with all the players that graduated last year, it looks like she’s going to be the star, and the captain. That’s not a surprise. She’s a freakin’ awesome player. I wouldn’t be surprised if she continued to play in college.

  “You look like shit, Meg,” Jonathan says, standing over me as I lie flat on my back on the grass.

  “That’s because I feel like shit,” I answer. “You don’t look so great yourself.” He’s dripping with sweat, has grass stains all over his socks, and I’m pretty sure his arm is bleeding.

  “What? This?” he remarks, holding up the arm that’s dripping with blood. “It’s no biggie. Just having fun.”

  “Well if slicing myself into pieces is having fun, I’d rather be bored.” I sit up and try to stretch forward and touch my toes. Omigod, everything feels so tight.

  Keesh jogs up and flings her arms around Jon’s waist from behind to hug his back. “Great practice, huh. Feels good to be back.” He turns around and gives her a peck on the lips. Wow. What’s with the sudden change to public displays of affection? I thought last time was a fluke.

  “Oh yeah, feels great alright.” Jonathan lifts her up and kisses her again.

  “Okay, you guys, I’m right here. Thanks for the show,” I tease. “But can we keep it PG?”

  “PG is all Jon can handle,” Keesh says.

  He smacks her in the booty. “That’s what you think,” he responds.

  “Alright already. You guys are making me sick. Let’s go home.”

  “Well, you hav
e to get up first. Is that possible?” Keesh asks, with a chuckle.

  “I guess I’m going to have to.” I roll over to all fours, and slowly stabilize myself to a standing position. Why do I subject myself to such torture? And it doesn’t get any easier either.

  “You guys want to come over for dinner?” Jon asks.

  “I’d love to, but we have a crap load of reading for Mr. Marino’s class due tomorrow,” I explain.

  “If that guy wasn’t so fine, I’d probably drop down to college prep. I’m barely keeping up,” Keesh tells us. I know what she means.

  “That’s whack. Can’t you guys just fake it? You read half and you read the other half and tell each other about it. Isn’t that what you guys did last year?” That was last year. I’m beginning to wish I was a freshman again.

  I take a Kit Kat out of my bag and rip it open. “Yeah, that doesn’t work for his class. He makes us debate everything. And you have to be able to really discuss the topics or else you get docked points. He sucks.” I can’t believe I just said that about the hottest teacher in the world.

  “Wouldn’t you both like to know?” Jonathan takes a jab at us.

  “Don’t be jealous, Jon Jon, you know I love ya,” Keesh tells him. Love? They are in love?

  “I hope I can stay awake long enough to get all of it done. I still need to do math too.” I’m complaining. I know.

  Keesh kicks a rock in her path. “Me too. Junior college is looking pretty good right now.”

  “Hey babe. What’s up?” Alex says. “How was your game?”

  “We won. Barely. I had to play the whole game. The only break I got was at halftime. I’m so tired.” I just walked in the door, so I start peeling off my clothes and unraveling the French braid from my hair.

  “You sound tired. Do you want me to let you go?”

  “No way, I want to talk to you.”

  “Okay,” he says, “good. Did you score any goals?”

  He always asks, and I always say no. But today is different. “Well, today…” I pause for dramatic effect. “Yes, I scored.” As tired as I am, I want to jump up and down.

  “What? You scored? How cool. Tell me about it. How did it happen?”

  I collapse on top of my bed and squeal into the phone. “Omigod. Kathy got hurt, so coach moved me up to center. I actually had really good ball control today and we were passing really good. I got a pass and started dribbling up the middle and I thought oh shit, I’m done. Their sweeper was huge and I was sure she was going to take me out. But I totally juked her and got a clear shot on goal. I kicked it with all my might. But I’m so freakin’ lame that I barely hit it. The goalie was expecting it to go full speed in the other direction and she dove. My sad kick sent the ball slowly into the corner of the goal. I’m still in shock that it went in. It totally looked like it was going to stop just short of the line. It was freakin’ hilarious but hey…a goal is a goal.”

  “You’re right, babe. A goal is a goal. Congrats.”

  “Thanks.”

  “So what are you up to tonight?” he asks.

  “Party. Dominic is gonna take all of us. I gotta get in the shower soon. They’re gonna be here in a couple of hours to pick me up.”

  “What about tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow we’re gonna go shopping for homecoming dresses. Aren’t you so sad you’re missing out on all this?” I say, trying to make light of the fact that he is in fact missing this.

  “Yes, I’m bummed. You think I want Josh to be taking you to the dance?” He sounds a little irritated. Is this really bothering him?

  “Well, you know I’d rather be going with you. Would you rather I stay home? I will if you want me to,” I tell him. And I would. If he didn’t want me to go with Josh, I’d stay home. I doubt Josh would care either way.

  “No, babe, you go. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a dick. I’m just…” He hesitates.

  “You’re what?”

  “I just miss home, I guess. I miss you. And, I guess I’m a little jealous. I keep imagining you going with Josh and all these ideas start popping into my head.” He groans into the phone.

  “Are you kidding me, Alex? You really think something could happen between Josh and me? He has a girlfriend. He has Erica. And I have you. How dumb is that. Why would you even think that?”

  “You might not plan on anything happening but you could just start slow dancing or something and get a little too close and then before you know it, he kisses you and you kiss him back. It’s not entirely impossible, Megan,” he says, raising his voice with each word.

  “Wow Alex, are you serious? You really think I’m going to cheat on you with Josh? What would make you think that? How could you not know I’m completely and utterly in love with you and there’s no chance I would ever get with anyone else?” I can’t believe we are even having this conversation.

  “Look, maybe you shouldn’t go after all. I can make it up to you. When I come home, we can go out and find some place to dance. We can get dressed up and everything.”

  “Okay, now you’re talking crazy. Just a minute ago I was willing to stay home for you, but now…you’re pissing me off. You don’t trust me. That sucks. You’re just gonna have to get over it cause I’m gonna go to the dance.” I’m completely flustered. I have no idea where this is coming from. My boyfriend has just gone psycho on me.

  “Fine. Go. But I better not hear anything about you flirting with Josh. Or Travis. I know he wants to hook up with you,” Alex continues with his jealous rage.

  “Alex, c’mon. What the hell. Why are you acting like this?”

  “I’m not acting anyway. I’m just telling you how I feel. I trust you. I just don’t trust all the guys around you.”

  “That doesn’t make sense. If you trust me, then you should know nothing is gonna happen. Maybe I shouldn’t trust you then.”

  “C’mon Meg, you know you can trust me,” he replies.

  “Sure, but what about all those chicks in your classes, or at the parties, or the ones who live on your floor walking around in their panties for crying out loud. You’re super hot and I’m sure they want to get their claws into you. So maybe I’m the one who should be worried.”

  “You know what,” he pauses. I still don’t get what the hell is going on here. “Let’s just forget about it. Have fun tonight. Have fun shopping for your dress. I can’t wait to hear all about it.”

  “I don’t want to fight with you, Alex. This isn’t cool. We’ve never fought before. It sucks. I want things to be okay. I don’t want to just forget about it.” This is our first fight and it feels like crap.

  “I’m sorry, babe. I think the distance is finally getting to me. It was awesome when you came up here and I’ve felt like shit since you left. It seems like Thanksgiving is so far away. I’m ready to come home and see you.”

  “I’m ready for you to come home too. Just chill out okay. Stop trippin’ cause you know everything is gonna be okay.”

  “You’re right,” he tells me. I can hear him sigh on the other end. Something is really bothering him. “Look, go get ready for your party. I’m going out later too, so I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow? You know I’ll be texting you by the end of the night,” I joke.

  “And I’ll be waiting.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Getting all beautified for the homecoming dance should be exciting. Or at least fun. But I’m so preoccupied with Alex and his sudden lack of trust in me it’s hard to be enthused. He’s totally been on edge since our fight a couple of weeks ago. We haven’t fought like that again, but he’s been a little snippy. I talked to my mom about it. She reminded me to be considerate of his feelings. She said it has to be difficult for Alex to be so far away, and he probably feels like the world is moving on without him.

  Like my world could move on without Alex. I talk to the guy every day. I text him when I’m not talking to him. I can’t even think of a day I’ve gone to sleep without first saying good night. How
can he doubt me?

  “Earth to Meggie.” I hear Keesh shout. “Meeeeeggieeeeee. Hello, are you there?”

  “Huh, whuh?” I mutter. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I was just thinking.”

  “Do you want a flower or what? The lady is waiting for you to answer,” she explains.

  I look down and I see my perfectly manicured toes. The nail lady is looking up at me all wide-eyed and smiles. “Oh, no thank you. No flower.” She continues to add the top coat. I can’t wait to be finished. Keesh is still busy getting white polka dots on her hot pink toes, and cute little daisies are dotted on Steph’s French manicure.

  Sporting fake nail salon flip flops, we stumble our way through the mall to the hair salon. We only have three hours left before we’re going to be picked up so this better be a quick one. The less bobby pins the better. I probably still have a remnant pin in my hair from last year, kind of like a grain of sand stays with you forever after visiting the beach.

  Robby, my stylist, has a new toy. I tell him I have no ideas for today’s do, and he busts out with this crazy new curling iron, that’s not really a curling iron. I’m not sure what you call it. I just know that if I were to use it, I’d probably have third degree burns on my fingertips before I even got a fourth of the way done with my hair.

  When we’re finished, I picture us walking out of the salon looking like the chicks in House Bunny after they got their makeovers. Only we’re not in slow motion and our bras aren’t shoving our boobs up to our chins. We do look good though. Keesh’s hair is up in both braids and curls, while Steph’s looks smooth as silk after her gal straightened every single strand. Robby curled mine with his spiral curling thingy, and then pulled it to one side with one fresh Gerbera daisy pinned for a nice natural look. I love it.

  At Steph’s house we spill our makeup across the floor and begin the process of covering up every zit, freckle, and flaw with tons of various tinted minerals. Like always, I go for the smoky eye. I just love the look, so elegant, so grownup, and so not me. It turns me from this goofy little kid into a confident young woman. Just a dab of plumping lip gloss and I’m done.