by Segunda L.
Someone sighed, my back was turned on them so I wasn’t sure if it was from TJ or Jared.
“You can’t even walk properly. Come, I’ll walk you to the bench.” TJ moved from his position and came up to me.
Jared grasped my arm. Again. He was so getting used to doing that.
“I’ll walk her. You stay here and change.” Jared said as if it he was forced to do a chore. TJ’s surprise was all over his face. “Coach will go ape shit if he sees us not ready by then.” Jared explained, probably just to make it clear that he was not doing this out of kindness.
Point taken. I mentally noted. I didn’t complain. The basketball coach was known to be a terror and I wouldn’t want TJ to be scolded because of me. I went along with Jared. We left the room with TJ still in shock and Jared’s hand firmly planted on my arms.
Chapter Ten
Samara
The whole team was standing outside of the locker room still talking about the whole embarrassing incident. I was hoping that they banged their heads on the way out and forgot about it, but I guess I was being too optimistic.
“Yo, Jared,” A black guy from the team called out.
“Not now, Frank.” Jared quickly responded, his voice was threatening, as if he was about to explode any minute. This shut up Frank or whatever his name was. The rest of the team followed suit, alarmed by Jared’s unexpected show of fury.
“Assholes.” I heard Jared muttered under his breath. He was really annoyed this time. Normally, I’d see him in school playing a cool façade, he never once let go of his guard. But the way I see him now, he was on the verge of beating up people.
We continued walking. His hands were still on my arms, supporting me. I was expecting him to put too much pressure on his hold, but there was none of that. Instead, his hold on me was light. He probably wanted to avoid skin contact as much as possible. After all, it was humiliating for him to be seen with a loser like me. But why offer to walk me in the first place? Oh right, he didn’t want to get his ass kicked by the coach. I heard that all of them get the same punishment when one of the members was late. TJ still had to change into his gym clothes so he would surely be late if he insisted to walk me to the benches. How could I be so naïve as to think that Jared for once actually thought of other people than himself? It was always about him, Jared Kippling, the guy who walks the earth with overflowing sex, and a warped personality to complete the whole package.
I jerked my arm free from his hold to give myself some dignity. “I can take care of myself.” I said even though my legs were about to plummet.
“No you can’t.” His hand returned to my arm.
“I can.” I insisted. “Get your hands off me!”
“What is wrong with you? Stop being so stubborn Samara.” He said, almost shouting.
“What is wrong with me? Can’t you tell? It’s you! You’re annoying. All you do is make life harder for me. God, I hate you.” Okay, so maybe I was being too dramatic. Blame it on the fatigue kicking in.
He froze for a moment when I delivered my last words.
“Good to know the feeling is mutual.”
“Well, I hate you more. You’re arrogant and you think you’re so cool than everybody else just because you inherited good genetics.” We were screaming at each other’s faces. Anyone who saw us right now would think we wanted to kill each other.
“It’s not my fault if I was born perfect!”
“See what I mean? You think you’re perfect? Ha! You’re far from perfect. You’re the most flawed person I’ve ever meet. You can’t even compare to TJ.” I said without thinking.
I saw a change in his eyes, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.
“Now we’re talking about flaws? Because I can give you a long list of yours. One,” I can tell he was imitating the way I sacked him earlier when we were in the locker, “your massive t-shirts are such a turn off that even my grandmother won’t wear it. Two, your waist is so fucking huge that I can fit twenty basketballs in there. Three, your arms are so flabby that I mistook it for you legs. And four, you’re so damn overweight that your body easily gets strained.” He said in one breath.
“Dick!” I retorted. All he said were true. I had no come back for that.
“Wait, I’m not done yet. Five, you’re so stubborn which I find so fucking annoying but so fucking cute at the same time.”
Jared
She bit me. I could not believe she actually bit me.
My fingers felt like it was going to fall off from my hand. Was she a shark in her previous life? She had sharp teeth, I thought she was really going to tear my fingers off. Luckily, the boys found us and I managed to keep my fingers.
Would it really hurt her to smile for me? I knew it was an under handed method but I’d gladly use it anytime if it meant receiving one of her pretty smiles. Did she hate me that much? I think I know the answer to that but I’d rather not think about it.
Just one smile. That was all I wanted and she denied me of this. Instead, she gave me a freaking bite mark. In a way, a bite mark and a smile are somehow related. But I’d rather much have the smile than this. Sure, it hurt like a bitch when she bit me but the pain I felt was more internal rather than external. The pain came from my chest and then spread to all over my body. It hurt so bad I wanted to wail. I was left feeling weak and angry
When I saw how close she was with TJ, it was like she poured acid onto my wound. Double whammy. She added insult to my injury. I was standing there, looking at the two of them while Samara was acting like she wanted to be cuddled which TJ gladly carried out. Were they really just childhood friends? The way I see it, TJ was being overly close, like an extremely protective boyfriend. She let TJ touch her face, and she enjoyed it! Hell, she was expecting him to do it. And what do I get when I was the one touching her face? A disgusted look, that’s what I get and not to mention a freaking bite mark!
I couldn’t help but blame myself when she almost collapsed earlier. Part of it was my fault after all. Key word here, part. So when I saw that she could barely walk, I insisted on taking her to the benches although I was still seething about my rejection.
Rejection?
Was that what it was? Now I finally understood why Sarah was being such a bitch when I turned her down because there was only one word to describe it. Rejection sucked. It sucked big time. It was even worse than Patricia slapping me in front of my friends when I was about to kiss her. This time all I felt was an ache in my heart, like I got punched and I was being smothered that when I breathe, it came out short. There was probably a tiny crack on my heart right now because that’s exactly how I’m feeling.
The idea of having other people laugh at Samara was killing me. It was so unbearable, I couldn’t tolerate anyone being mean to her. I had the exclusive rights to do that. I’d fucking chop off the guy’s head who did that. When the guys’ were convulsing from laughing in the locker room, I was still obsessing from my rejection and ended up not being able to stop them. But I regretted not doing anything about it, especially when I saw that she was holding her tears. TJ came to her rescue, I was thankful for that. Thankful but envious.
I wanted to make it up to her. When we were outside, I was sure the guys were still not over it and they were probably going to say something rude to her. Maybe I was becoming like TJ by being overly protective of her. When Frank opened that damned mouth of his, there was nothing good coming out from it. I was absolutely positive of that. Remembering that they almost made her cry in the locker room was enough to send me into rage, I impulsively lost my cool and snapped at one of my buddies.
But it felt good afterwards. The regret I felt for not defending her earlier was reduced by a small amount.
We walked outside with my hands still on her arms, I was scared she might stumble if I let go of her and hit her head on the floor and die or something. That thought killed me. I didn’t let go of her arms for any second. I held on to her, maintaining as little skin contact as possible because I
knew how much she didn’t want to be touched by me.
Then she suddenly started yelling at me.
“What is wrong with me? Can’t you tell? It’s you! You’re annoying. All you do is make life harder for me.” She said.
Remember what I said about my heart getting a tiny crack? Forget that. My heart just shattered into a million fragments. I can even hear it breaking, like a mirror. The pieces are on the floor now.
“I hate you.” She continued.
Now she was stepping on the pieces of my heart. Making sure I’d never be able to pick it up and put the pieces back.
Have some pride Jared.
“Good to know the feeling is mutual.” I replied.
She started talking about my flaws. My responses were weak, I didn’t really care about what she was saying at this moment.
“You can’t even compare to TJ!”
TJ? Again? Was it always about TJ? She was fucking in love with him. Obviously.
She was sweeping the pieces of my heart and throwing it all over the place.
Keep it together.
My heart may be in pieces right now but I would not let my pride have the same fate. I told her nasty things, offensive stuffs, and insults about her weight, thinking that it would make me feel better. But it didn’t, it made me feel worse. All of the things I said were causing more damage to me than her.
Why couldn’t she just let me walk her in silence?
“Dick!” She screamed.
“Wait, I’m not done yet. Five, you’re so stubborn which I find so fucking annoying but so fucking cute at the same time.”
So much for my pride.
“Good, you guys are still here.” TJ came sprinting towards our spot.
Samara and I were both not talking, stunned by the sudden appearance of TJ. He looked at Samara then to me. He probably felt the tension in the air. I saw Samara relax her stance.
The love of her life is now here, just the person she wanted to see.
“Did I miss something?” TJ asked.
“Nothing. I’m out of here.” I answered and walked away to let the two love birds enjoy each other’s company.
Chapter Eleven
Samara
Jared left looking pissed off. His shoulders were laden and downcast. If this was anime, I’d probably see steams coming out of his head and possibly a gloomy atmosphere trailing on his back. What was his deal anyway? I was the one he insulted so why was he acting like he was the victim here? He was really good in reversing the situation. Now I feel (slightly) guilty because of what I said. His comments were worse anyway, so I know I shouldn’t feel guilty at all but the way he walked out earlier was movie-like, dramatic and highly effective. I couldn’t shake off the expression on his face from my head, the arrogance was gone, I thought I saw a glimpse of his real self.
I was relieved to have TJ’s interruption, honestly, I didn’t know how to react to Jared calling me cute. That was a compliment right? I’d like to think it was, but he said it after giving me about four insults, yeah, I was counting.
Four insults minus one (little) compliment is equals to three insults.
It was a simple equation, you didn’t have to be a math whiz to know that just because he called me cute, it would cancel out all the other bad stuff he said.
So should I feel sorry for him?
Nope. Definitely not.
“What was up with Jared?” TJ asked when Jared was out of ear shot.
“Don’t know. He’s your friend, maybe you should ask him.” I answered in deadpan.
“I heard you guys shouting, Sammy, is there something I should know?” His tone became serious. “Trust me, you can tell me anything.”
“It’s nothing. Just drop it.”
“Is Jared bothering you?” TJ was back on protective mode again. Telling him about Jared will only complicate things. I can handle my own battles, TJ didn’t have to get involved in this. I frantically thought of something to distract him, I realized I didn’t have to search far when I looked at what he was wearing.
“Your shirt’s inside out.” I pointed.
That’s it. Change the topic.
“Oh shoot.” TJ took off his clothes right in front of me. I averted my gaze. He didn’t know how much it bothered me to see his naked torso. It was kind of hard not to look, I mean come on, childhood friend or not, he had a body that would drives any girls’ hormones insane, but if he caught me checking him out, there’d be no end of it from him. Speaking of abs, Jared’s Schwarzenegger pose was not that bad too.
I guess they both believe in the saying when you got it, flaunt it.
“Someone was in a hurry.” I teased.
TJ chuckled, “Yeah, I was worried about you two,” he straightened his shirt and continued talking, “and it turns out I was right to be.”
“There’s nothing you should worry about.”
The way I see it, I was winning the war. Jared was the one who walked out earlier, he retreated. But I know he’d be back again. He was not the type who easily gives up. But who knows? Maybe he got thrown back by my words earlier and decided never to mess with me.
“Yeah, yeah. You and your stubbornness.”
“I am not stubborn.”
“Whatever. I’ll let it go just this time. You’ve made up your mind not to tell me, there’s no changing that.”
“Yup. I’m not telling you anything ‘cause there’s nothing to tell.”
“I’m very curious though, Jared’s not really the helpful type.” TJ said more to himself than me, referring to Jared’s sudden noble offer of help.
I tried to ignore his comment but it was actually gnawing at me. All of Jared’s actions today were conflicting. He makes fun of me, tortures me and insults me all the chances he can get but then he almost kissed me, wanted me to smile for him and called me cute. There was no mathematical equation that I could formulate for his behavior. Okay, maybe there was but it was probably higher mathematics. I was not good in math anyway. Might as well try to analyze his actions using my expertise.
I’ve read enough manga and watched anime in my life to know that when the male character bullies the girl, and when the girls fights back it becomes a challenge for the guy and eventually he ends up falling for the girl.
Was that what was happening with Jared?
Was he turning into one of those male characters in manga?
Wow. I was such a dork.
This was real life! Those kinds of things only happen in fantasies, in books and in TV shows. I should really stop reading manga. In real life, provoking a bully never ends up good. If I continue with my tough girl act, I’d probably go home with a bloody nose one of these days. Jared didn’t really strike me as a violent type but he could be, judging by the way he hammered his fist with the locker earlier. Thinking about the locker reminded me of what he said.
If you don’t move, I’m going to end up kissing you.
My insides made a back flip from recalling his words. What would have happened if I didn’t tell him that I was stuck? A shiver ran through my spine with the thought.
“Here we are. I gotta go back to the gym now. Wait for me here, okay?” TJ’s voice pulled me back into reality, I didn’t notice that we were in the benches, the memory of the almost kiss was haunting me.
Blocking the memory from my head, I answered, “I’ll be right here, boss.”
“Go sit there and stay out of trouble, young lady.” With his best imitations of my father’s stern voice, TJ quoted. We laughed at the same time. Whenever I would get into trouble, my father would call me a young lady just like how TJ did right now. Most of the time, TJ was an accomplice with my mischief, my Dad knew that and he blamed TJ as a bad influence on me. Dad was never a fan of TJ after the incident where we almost burned down the tree house on our backyard. He was banned from our house since then, but he sneaked in whenever my dad was not around which was actually most of the time.
“Alright, enough mocking of my dad or I’ll tell o
n you. Go now, I’m sure your coach misses you already.” I shooed him away.
“As if you’re really going to do that.” He said and winked as he added, “You know you love me.”
I felt a small panic from his words. Good thing he didn’t see my reaction since he was already jogging back to the gym. Same arrogance as Jared. They really found themselves in each other.
Looking around the school ground, there were some people who were hanging out on the benches. The girls who saw me with TJ were looking at me, a few of them intrigue, most of them annoyed. I rarely talked to TJ in school, except for the occasional hi and hellos. We were in different classes and the fact that we had different crowds made it even harder for us to meet up.
I chose an empty bench farthest from the crowd. Checking the time, it was around five thirty in the afternoon. The spot I chose had an accompanying table on the side. As soon as reached it, I plopped down and rested my legs. My body was really out of shape. Slowly, I felt the weariness being replaced by drowsiness. The weather was nice for taking a nap. It wasn’t too hot or too cold, just right for a picnic. Only I wasn’t on a picnic. A picnic had to have lots of food, and I got nada. The breeze rocked my hair, a tree shaded me from the sun, giving the place a cozy semblance. I could hear the distant chattering of the students, some laughing and shouting. It seemed music to my ears, like a steady beat of a song. Deeper and deeper, I felt myself getting pulled into sleep. Finally, I gave in and closed my eyes.
Jared
“Kippling!” Coach yelled for the nth time, blowing on his irritating whistle again to catch my attention as if I didn’t hear him shouting my name the first time with his megaphone. He was bald and fat now but during his prime years he was the golden boy of Everson basketball team. Sort of like me, I just hope I wouldn’t end up looking like him when I turn fifty. Coach Roger was a fifty year old man, he’d been the coach ever since the Jurassic era for Everson High. In this court, he was the king.
He’d been on my case since we started with the practice, not without good reason though. I’d been missing my shots and committing fouls, not my usual game at all and coach knew that. The championship games were near, we had to double our efforts if we wanted to snatch first place. Last year, we came in second. I was determined to grab the first place this time but with my performance today, I doubt that would ever happen.
