Play With Me

by Piper Shelly

  “Matthews! Your turn!” That was Hunter, and when I turned in his direction, the soccer ball came flying toward me. Praise my mad reflexes. I caught it before it hit my churning stomach. Tony pulled me to my feet and gave me quick instructions on how to hit the ball for best impact.

  Yeah, right. As if I really wanted to know that. I placed the ball on the ground then kicked it toward Frederickson who stood in the goal. It dropped to the lawn several feet in front of him then rolled on as if out for a relaxing stroll before it touched his left shoe.

  My beam at Tony was full of faked enthusiasm. “Hey, what do you know, I got the direction right.”

  “Come on, Matthews.” Ryan came jogging toward me with the ball under his arm. “I’ve seen you kick Mitchell’s butt harder than that.”

  Beaten and exhausted, I was ready to capitulate, but when he offered me the soccer ball, his lips curved to a mocking smile, which prompted me to prove him wrong. I accepted the challenge.

  He planted the ball in front of me, but then he had me taking several steps back. “Now take a short run and put a little more power in your thrust.”

  “Ah no, don’t let him make me do that,” I begged Tony and grabbed his shirt in growing horror. “We both know I will just trip over the damn thing.”

  The boys laughed, and Tony pried my fingers loose from his collar. “No, you won’t. Tell you what, if you hit Frederickson straight in the chest, I’ll buy you a chocolate decadence ice cream sundae. Deal?”

  Ice cream? If there was the right incentive… “Deal.” I started forward and kicked hard, aiming for the redhead guarding the goalie net. The soccer ball dropped neatly in Frederickson’s arms.

  “Well done!” Ryan yelled. Then he sprinted back to the low desk where Susan took her notes and called Sebastian Ramirez to try his luck.

  Unspeakably proud, I turned a smiling face at Tony. But my smile got lost the moment I glimpsed Barbie girl standing with him.

  Hands laced behind her back, she rocked on her heels in front of him. Her boobs pushed out so far, she could have staked him in the heart. “Will you be at Hunter’s party later?” she asked him in a sickly sweet voice.

  I gulped. Ryan Hunter’s parties were legend. I could only rely on the gossip in school of course, but rumor had it his father was friends with Chief Berkley, and so Ryan could turn up the music to a maximum all night. Beer flowed in endless rivers, and he even had his own pool table. The closest I had been to his house was when we drove by to get to the library, but it looked big enough to bear several halls. Getting an invitation to one of those parties meant stepping up into the cool league.

  Not that I cared about hanging out with jerks like Cloey—yuck. But Tony had been to many of his parties, and he never told me much about the events behind those doors. That alone sharpened my curiosity.

  He would go tonight for sure. The fact the Barbie Clone would be there too had my heart slipping to my pants. I put up a nonchalant face when I actually felt like bawling and trudged over to the water cooler to get a drink larger than the fly pee Tony had brought me after the warm-up.

  The afternoon dragged on with more qualifications that involved passing the ball back and forth, zigzagging over the field with short kicks, and finally a count of how often one could kick the ball without losing it. I shot amazing two and a half.

  This was it. I was done with soccer. May the ball rot in hell and the players die of thirst. I didn’t give a damn if I made it onto the team or not. Playing ball in the scorching sun was for morons anyway.

  I wiped the sweat off my face with the towel Tony had brought, then stuffed it back into his backpack, and stomped off.

  “Hey, where do you think you’re going?”

  “Home.”

  Tony caught up with me. “You can’t. Ryan hasn’t announced the new players yet.”

  “Like I care.”

  He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and used my speed to propel me in the opposite direction. “You don’t want to know if you’re on the team?”

  Trying to wiggle from him, I gave him a hard stare. “Nope.”

  “Where’s your spirit gone?”

  “Where has your eyesight gone?” I stopped dead. “You saw what a miserable player I make.”

  “Ah, I’ve seen worse. Actually, I’m pretty proud of you. This was the first time you came into skin-contact with a soccer ball and you almost hit a goal on the second try. All you need is a little training.”

  I found that hard to believe, but the expression in his eyes told me differently. He meant it. Confused, I gave him a sideways glance. Unfortunately, Cloey intruded my view as she came skipping over to us like the tooth fairy. Her perfectly manicured fingers wrapped around his biceps as she bounced up and down before him.

  “Come, quick. Hunter will name the players in a minute. He already told me that I was on the team.”

  “I’m not surprised.” Tony let himself being dragged away from me. “You proved in camp you’re a natural at soccer.”

  “Only at soccer?” She winked at him and skipped away.

  My molars suffered from the hard grinding I did. The thing was I needed to become a member of this team, badly. How else could I fend off this bimbo?

  Ryan Hunter held a list in his hands as he stepped in front of the expecting crowd. “We need eleven new players. I’ll call out the names of those who made it onto the team. If yours is among them, well done. If not, I’m sorry but hope you will try again next year. You’ve all shown great enthusiasm today.” He cleared his throat and reeled off the new players. “Stevenson. Jones. Summers—”

  Since Barbie jumped with her friend at that name, I figured now I knew her last name.

  “—Smith. Jackson. Daniels. Hollister. McNeal. Miller. Matthews. And Warren.”

  My jaw hit the dirt. I pivoted to Tony. “Did he just say Matthews?”

  “Guess he did.” His silly grin made me want to slap some seriousness into his face.

  “I’m going to play?”

  “Yes,” he chuckled. “Now get your things, I owe you a sundae.”

  I really made it, and he owed me ice cream. What a freaking fantastic day. I jogged to the bench and slung my backpack over one shoulder. Certainly, I had the most stupid grin in the world pasted on my lips. It slipped as the word owe got stuck on repeat in my mind. What if he had asked Ryan to let me onto the team even if I was a miserable player? At the thought of depending on Hunter’s mercy, I felt awfully embarrassed.

  I had to know, and Tony would spill—even if it meant I had to threaten to burn his Back to the Future collection.

  Whipping around, I bumped into Ryan.

  “Congrats, Matthews,” he cheered. “You handled the tryout quite well.”

  “Yeah, whatever.” Pissed at something I hadn’t yet proof of, I shoved past him but then stopped. “What does Tony owe you for putting me on the team?”

  For a moment, he looked confused. Then he laughed out loud. “You don’t want to know.”

  My hands fisted around the strap of my backpack. Hell, of course, I wanted to know.

  Turning to leave, he glanced at me over his shoulder. His eyes sparked with a glint of mischief. “See you at my house, Matthews.”

  Holy shit. Did he just invite me to his party?

  CHAPTER

  3

  THE SUNDAE WAS yummy, but so was Tony as he licked vanilla ice-cream off his spoon. I couldn’t take my eyes off his lips the entire hour we sat at Charlie’s. Unfortunately, the boy was like a fortress. Bolted down. He refused to tell me what he had to give Ryan for letting me play in the team. Well, he said he didn’t owe Hunter anything, but I didn’t buy it.

  At eight thirty that evening, Tony picked me up at my door and drove us to Ryan’s house in his mother’s car. I had no idea what people wore to those parties, but since it was still over ninety degrees in the evening—not unusual for North California in August—I chose a dark gray tank top and black hot pants. Judging by the smirk I earned from T
ony, I supposed I had settled on the right clothes.

  As we entered the lane with Hunter’s mansion, a long queue of cars told me just how big this party was. Tony appeared unimpressed and maneuvered into a spot at the corner, but I had a hard time closing my mouth. “How many guests is he expecting?”

  “Can’t say. Usually, there are one hundred to hundred and fifty. If his parents are gone, the number might as well get up to three hundred.”

  Heck, I didn’t even know that many people if I counted all my friends, family, and their pets together. We walked up the drive then climbed the marble steps to the door with the bowed top. The music blasted through the wood so we figured we didn’t need to ring. Tony jiggled the handle, and it opened easily.

  Jean Paul’s She doesn’t mind was blaring from the many speakers as we entered. Bodies bumped and ground against each other in salacious moves I only knew from films. Several boys shouted a conversation over the noise and drank beer from bottles while groping the butts of the girls with them. Some people kissed in the dim light.

  I clung to Tony’s comforting biceps. “Oh my God, don’t leave me alone in this place.”

  He laughed, or so I thought when his ribcage shook slightly, because I couldn’t really hear him. But his arm pressed my hands tighter to his body as he pulled me into the mass of people. Not all of them were kids. It seemed Hunter had a lot of older friends, too, ranging from sixteen to about twenty-five.

  A small group of girls from my History class gathered in the middle of the room. Simone Simpkins grabbed my arm when we passed them. I had to lip-read to understand that she wanted me to join them.

  “I’ll get you something to drink,” Tony shouted in my ear.

  I nodded and watched him walk away with a weird quiver in my stomach. What if he never found his way back to me in this blasted place? The distance he put between us was quickly filled with throngs of strangers. Shit, I shouldn’t have let him go.

  Turning back to my friends, I tried to join in the conversation, but mostly I just stood there and nodded, pretending to understand what they said. Simone handed me a bottle of Corona when Tony hadn’t come back after ten minutes. Parched by the heat in the room, anything cool was welcome. I wet my lips with the beer then licked it off. Okay, this stuff wasn’t half bad. I took a real sip. A little acerbic, but quite palatable. I had downed half of the bottle when my head started to feel dizzy.

  Across the room I thought I’d spotted Tony. I waved goodbye at my friends and headed off toward the back. The crowd thinned a little there, and I could actually move without rubbing against other people’s sweat. But Tony was nowhere in sight.

  A high arch in the wall connected this room to the kitchen. I headed there and found Ryan standing in the doorway, leaning one shoulder against the wall. The sleeves of his black shirt were rolled up to his elbows, and the jeans he wore were ripped at the hems. Black was a color I loathed on Tony. It made him look way too demonic. With Ryan it was different. The top buttons undone, he looked mysterious. Kind of sexy. Him looking like the devil was cool.

  His gaze flickered my way then stayed as he sipped his beer, watching as I drew closer.

  It would have been plain impolite not to say hello to the host, so I stopped before him and lifted my hand in greeting. The music wasn’t as loud back here, and I actually caught his hi.

  “You have a nice place. So full of…people,” I said, feeling awkward and a little stupid for not knowing how to start a cool conversation.

  “Yeah, thanks.” He moved away from the wall and leaned closer to me so I could hear him. “It was about time Mitchell brought you here. He kept you away from this place long enough.”

  Huh? I frowned. Tony was the reason why I hadn’t been invited to any of Ryan’s parties yet? That bloody wretch. But then he probably figured I wouldn’t feel comfortable among this drinking lot and with all the noise. I, idiot, proved his point the second we came here by clinging to his arm like a frightened cat.

  “Do you know where he is?” I said into Ryan’s ear, thankful that I didn’t need to shout and damage my vocal cords even more.

  “Nope.” He took another draught from his beer.

  Sighing, I sipped mine too, not liking it much any longer. I grimaced. Ryan suddenly took me by the wrist and pulled me into the kitchen. He placed his beer down on a counter, popped a can of soda, then lifted the bottle out of my palm and replaced it with the Sprite, closing my fingers around it.

  “You shouldn’t drink beer,” he said in a stern tone. “Especially not in this place.”

  Yeah, I didn’t want to end up someone’s groping puppet, like most of the other drunken girls. Thankful for the Sprite, I washed away the bitter aftertaste of the Corona in my mouth.

  “You did really well today.” A smile slipped to his lips.

  “I was lousy. And you know it. I still don’t get why you chose me to play in your team.”

  Shrugging, he drank from my discarded bottle. “I don’t know. Maybe I just want you there.”

  Jeez, the teasing in his voice made the hair on my arms stand on end.

  “Do a little endurance training every day, and you’ll be a capable player.”

  I screwed up at athletics. I even tried jogging a few mornings at the beginning of this summer to get in a better shape, but it didn’t work for me. Half a mile was the most I could manage before trudging back home, panting and frustrated. “I guess I’m lacking motivation to do that. I’m like a lame duck at running.”

  “What you need is a personal trainer.”

  That made me laugh. “You want the job?”

  Ryan pursed his lips and studied me for a moment as though I had just offered him good money for stinking work. He shrugged. “Sure, why not? If you promise to show some enthusiasm, I promise to be there.”

  That sounded like an interesting offer. After all, I had to work on my endurance if I wanted to last during an entire soccer game. I certainly didn’t want to give Blondie any more ammunition to use against me, especially if I broke down after the first half. Her satisfaction would ruin me. And Tony needed to see I was fit for more than just watching Spielberg with him.

  Yeah. Training, it is.

  Strangely enough, the thought of having Hunter coaching me sent a shiver of anticipation through me. He was the captain of the soccer team. It felt like an honor to personally train with him, and it sure would lift my status at school from average to super cool.

  “Okay, deal.”

  He gave a slow nod. “We’ll start Monday morning.”

  Great. That meant suicide was delayed one more day. His gaze locking with mine promised I wouldn’t entirely regret my decision.

  Someone shouted his name behind me. “We’re starting a game of pool. Are you in?”

  Ryan pushed away from the counter. “There in a sec.” Then he ran the cool mouth of his bottle along my cheek. “Enjoy the night. And whatever you do, stay away from the strawberries.”

  Dumbstruck, I stood rooted to the spot as he brushed past me and walked away, chuckling.

  I swallowed a huge draught of Sprite to cool down. Susan Miller came in at that moment. Her face lit up when her gaze fell on me. She rushed over. “Hey, what do you say? Now we’re both on the team. And honestly—” She paused, and her eyes darted left then right to make sure we were alone in the room. Her voice dropped a notch, too. “I’ve never seen a prettier house than this. I wanted to come to Hunter’s parties for ages, but he never noticed me in school. I think he didn’t even know my name until I told him at the tryouts.”

  “Yeah, me too.” Or so I thought until I found out he actually knew my name yesterday.

  “Will you wear your sports clothes for the training or get a real soccer dress?” Susan seemed so excited, I couldn’t understand her enthusiasm. Which girl would voluntarily play soccer? Well, if there wasn’t a guy on the team she wanted to recognize her anyway.

  I shrugged. “No idea. Think I’ll start with what I have. Just shorts and a te
e. Anything else is too expensive to buy with my pocket money.” And no way would I wear those horrible shoes with spikes on their soles. But the outfit was nothing that really concerned me. “Listen, did you see Tony anywhere this evening?”

  “Not after you came in with him earlier. Why?”

  “Haven’t seen him much. I just wonder where he is.” I threw my empty soda can in the trash and pulled an apologetic face. “Mind if I go looking for him?”

  Susan was cool. “Do that. I’ll find you later.”

  I went back into the hall and wandered around the ground floor, hoping to find Tony somewhere. But the shoving and bumping of sweat drenched people soon got on my nerves, and I kept closer to the walls instead. When I reached an arch leading to another room, I peeked inside. No blond caught my eye. My shoulders slumped with disappointment. But then a few guys shifted to the side, and I spotted a pool table and someone leaning over it in an eye-catching way.

  By now I was pretty good at recognizing Hunter’s black hair.

  He held the cue low over the green felt, aiming the tip at the white ball. Some colored balls fanned out on the table too, but as it looked he went for the black eight.

  “Come on, Ryan, give a friend a chance. You can’t hole the ball just yet.”

  I pivoted to the left to see who was pleading with Hunter. I didn’t know the tall boy’s name, but he had Algebra with Tony. The look on his face was hilarious. One would think his life depended on Ryan’s hit or fail.

  “What’s your problem, Justin?” Still working on positioning the cue perfectly, Hunter grinned. “Afraid, your Mama’s going to find out you’re playing for money?”

  Just then I noticed the stack of dollar bills at the edge of the table. They seemed to have a sum of about one hundred bucks in the pot. My jaw dropped. Fifty from each? I didn’t get half as much pocket money in one month.

  “My Mama doesn’t give a damn. But I really, really need this Spiderman comic. It’s an original,” Justin whined.

  I felt really bad for him. Intrigued how the game would end, I moved around the edge of the wall and stood face to face with Hunter across the room. Narrowed eyes and knitted brows gave away his tension. The cue moved backward just a couple of inches. He’d shoot any moment.