I thanked Mrs. Wright and dashed to the library, poster supplies in hand.
Alex and I spent the entire period putting together posters with sign-up sheets for the softball team. I’d let Alex veto the girly colors of poster board, but I drew the line at glitter.
“We want people to notice the posters, Alex!”
“Yeah, but we’re athletes not beauty queens.”
“Who says you can’t be both?” a strange voice asked.
Alex and I looked up to see a pretty brunette standing over us. She stuck out her hand confidently. “Marissa Munns. I heard you’re the gals to see about the softball team.”
“We are,” I replied brightly.
“Good,” Marissa said. “I want in.”
“Great! We’d love to have you,” I started, but Alex kicked me under the table.
“Do you have any softball experience, Marissa?” Alex asked.
“Not really. Unless you count portraying a softball player?”
Alex and I both looked at each other in confusion.
“I played Kit in a performance of A League of Their Own at my old school,” Marissa explained.
“Oh,” Alex and I both said in unison.
“I just started at Northwood this year. I’m a junior.”
“Me too,” I replied. “Where did you go before Northwood?”
“Lawsome Valley. It’s in Texas with my two-timing dad.” Marissa sighed. “My mom wanted a fresh start. A woman scorned and all that . . . So anywho, here I am in Pennsylvania. Truthfully, I’m more of a drama club kinda gal, but there’s not a whole lot going on with your theater department. I mean just today the theater arts teacher, bless her heart, told me y’all only do one performance a year. Can you believe that? We did six at Lawsome! So I figured I’d give sports a try with all my free time.”
Alex looked appalled. “Softball isn’t really something you just give a try.”
I cleared my throat. “But since we’re starting a team from scratch, we’d be happy to have you try out. We’ll have a table set up in the cafeteria today. Stop by to sign up and grab a waiver to have your mom sign.”
Marissa flashed a Hollywood smile. “Excellent. See you gals at lunch.”
When she’d finally flounced her way out of the library, Alex turned to me. “Are you crazy? We don’t need Little Miss Teen Texas on our team. Did you see her nails?”
I had. They were bubblegum pink. “So what, she paints her nails.”
“Girls that get manicures aren’t going to want to mess them up playing sports, Casey.”
“Well, we won’t know unless we let them try. Besides, it’s not like we have thousands of girls to choose from. Northwood’s not a metropolis and half of the somewhat athletic girls are already part of Lexy’s legion of cheerleaders, so we’re going to have to accept whoever we can get.”
Alex scowled. “I know. I guess this just isn’t what I’m used to.”
“Come on. Remember how hard the guys made it for you because you weren’t what they were used to. Let’s be better than that.”
She sighed. “Sorry. You’re right.” She forced a smile. “We’ll give Marissa a shot.”
“That a girl.” I nudged my best friend with my shoulder. “Worst case scenario, we let her design our uniforms if she can’t play.”
Alex snorted. “I’m not wearing anything that diva designs!”
I laughed. “She wasn’t that bad.”
“She looks more likely to fit in with Lexy than us.”
I laughed again and started packing up our supplies. “She does look like the tiara-wearing type. Better watch out, Alex. She might steal some of your fan club.”
Alex rolled her eyes. “She wishes.”
“Let’s go, Bitter Betty. It’s time to start recruiting our softball team!”
Chapter Eighteen
Casey
As luck would have it, today was also the day the homecoming committee was starting their recruitment. And it was headed up by none other than our former homecoming queen, Lexy Bale.
Kill me now.
“Remind me again why we put our table so close to Lexy’s?” Alex growled.
“Because,” I argued. “We can recruit all the girls Lexy and her henchmaids scare away.”
“Okay, solid plan. But if I have to listen to her talk about her tiara one more time, I’m going to gag her with it.”
I glanced over and was almost blinded by the glare coming off Lexy’s rhinestone tiara. She’d somehow polished her homecoming crown to solar proportions. This was her second crown. Lexy had won homecoming queen for the past two years and from the look in her eye, I imagined she wouldn’t be satisfied unless she captured the junior class crown as well.
When she caught me looking, Lexy met my stare with more disdain than usual.
“Is it just me or does Lexy look like she hates me more than usual today?” I whispered.
“Um, duh! Thanks to the Tattler pics of you and Archer, she’s probably plotting which one of your pets to boil.”
I blanched. “You don’t think she’d go all Fatal Attraction on me, do you?”
“Relax, you don’t have pets. Plus, you didn’t do anything wrong, right?”
I nodded quickly.
“Then I’m sure Archer vouched for you. Lexy just seems to like the way jealousy looks on her.”
“You have no idea,” I muttered.
When we were in grade school, Lexy had a fit because Katie Sawyer threw a nearly identical birthday party at the same roller-skating rink as she had. Lexy was convinced Katie was out to top her party and rather than risk being toppled off her popularity pedestal, she put her little brother’s cold medicine in Katie’s drink and the poor girl threw up all over Lucas.
Lucas . . .
I’d been hoping to run into him today. I wanted to tell him the amazing news about the softball team, but more than that I wanted to make sure he knew the only boy I was interested in kissing was him.
“Earth to Casey,” Alex hissed, nudging me under the table.
I snapped out of my daydream about Lucas to see a pair of nervous looking twins standing in front of our table. I couldn’t blame them. Alex Prince was intimidating. And the shade Lexy and her minions were throwing toward our table wasn’t helping.
“Hey,” I said extending my hand. “I’m Casey and this is Alex. We’re starting a softball team if you’re interested in joining.”
“We know,” the taller twin answered.
“And we think it’s awesome,” the shorter one added.
Snarky giggles erupted from Lexy’s table and Alex shot them a glare, but that didn’t stop Lexy from spewing hate. “You know, it’s actually kind of cute the way you think your little sports team matters.”
“Shut up, Lexy.”
She feigned hurt. “Rude, Casey. Do you kiss your daddy with that mouth? Oh wait. That’s right, you’ll kiss anyone for attention, won’t you?”
I balled my hands into fists nearly coming out of my chair before Alex grabbed my arm.
“Is that what this is all about?” Lexy asked gesturing to our softball posters. “You wanting more attention?”
“This is about starting a softball team. Something our school should’ve done a long time ago, so girls could have options other than following the horrible examples you set for them.”
Lexy smiled sweetly. “Let me give you a hint, sweetie. Boys don’t care about softball. You stood a better chance wearing that dress yesterday, even if it was a pity to waste Calvin Klein on someone built like a boy.”
My cheeks were on fire as I rose to my feet searching for words that would cut as deep as Lexy’s. But the voice that came to my rescue wasn’t my own.
“She doesn’t need to wear a dress to prove she’s more woman than you’ll ever be.”
We all turned to stare at Marissa Munns. The fierce little Texan looked like she was ready to throw down as she stood toe to toe with a stunned Lexy Bale.
“Excuse me? Do you
even know who you’re speaking to?” Lexy squawked.
“Someone not worth my time,” Marissa retorted. Then with an expert hair flip she turned her back on Lexy to face my table and picked up a pen. “Is this where I sign?”
Alex grinned. Still shell-shocked, I barely managed a nod.
“Welcome aboard, Texas,” Alex said.
Marissa winked and handed the pen to the stunned twins who were still standing at our table. “See you ladies at tryouts.” Then she sauntered away with so much swagger I nearly drooled.
“Dang!” One of the twins commented. “I guess it’s true.”
“What is?” I asked.
“You don’t mess with Texas.”
At that, we all burst into laughter.
Chapter Nineteen
Lexy
“She’s going to pay!” I hissed as I stomped to my car to stow my tiara.
“We already sent those pics in to the Tattler,” Emily replied wobbling pathetically in her second-hand heels as she tried to match my stride.
I whirled around. “That isn’t enough! She went after Archer! He’s mine! Everyone knows he’s off limits!”
“It honestly looked like an accident,” Jillian added nervously.
“Oh, and I suppose it was an accident that she ruined the shirt I bought him. And I guess it was an accident that she was rubbing her greedy little hands all over his muscles.” I slammed my car door and screamed. “Those are my muscles! Mine!”
The girls took a step back, not wanting to be in my line of fire. I didn’t blame them. Being on my bad side was not an envious place to be and challenging me was the quickest way to get there.
I took a deep breath and smoothed my blonde hair back to perfection.
Looking into the anxious faces of the three girls staring back at me, I contemplated my plan of attack. Both Emily and Jillian had dutifully supplied me with ammunition yesterday in the form of photographs, but Veronica . . . she hadn’t been helpful at all.
As the newest member of my clique she was already on thin ice. It was time she pulled her weight. I had plenty of other girls vying for a spot by my side. I couldn’t afford to carry dead weight.
“Roni, I need you to dig up some dirt on Casey.”
“Like what?” Veronica asked.
“If I knew I wouldn’t be asking you, would I?” I rolled my eyes. “Find something by tomorrow. We need another tip for the Tattler. And speaking of takedowns, that heinous new girl just earned a spot on my hate list. I’m going to need all of you to find the skeletons in her closet.”
“How do you know she has any?” Emily asked stupidly.
“Because, everyone does.” Myself included.
Chapter Twenty
Lucas
I heard someone calling my name as I walked to my truck after practice. I instantly knew it was her, but it still stole my breath when I turned around to see Casey jogging toward me.
“Wait up,” she called.
My stupid heart did a backflip even as I told myself to play it cool.
I hadn’t seen or heard from Casey since the Tattler fiasco. And the more time that passed the more I began to wonder why I was getting the silent treatment. Did it mean the rumors were true? Was that why she’d been avoiding me? Or did I mean so little to her that she hadn’t even given me a thought? My heart began to pound as I wondered if these would be the last steady beats I had left before Casey shattered my heart.
“I’ve been wanting to talk to you, Lucas.”
Her words were like whiskey, instantly dulling any prior concerns.
“Do you have a minute?” she asked.
For you? How about an eternity? “Of course.”
I gestured to my truck and we walked there together in awkward silence.
“So . . .” I started, unable to wait a moment longer to find out if once again my terrible timing had cost me the girl of my dreams.
“Can I go first?” she blurted out, her cheeks instantly flaming.
“Sure.”
“I just wanted to apologize.”
My heart plummeted. Guilty people apologized. “For what?”
She bit her lip and looked down blowing out a breath before meeting my eyes again. “I’m assuming you saw the Tattler post yesterday.”
I nodded.
“Then I definitely need to apologize because I don’t want you thinking I’m that kind of person.”
“What kind of person?”
“One who goes around kissing people. I mean obviously I kissed you, not yesterday, but in the past. But it’s not like a habit of mine and especially not three people in one day. I mean I haven’t even kissed three people total! Which sounds super embarrassing now that I’m saying it out loud,” she mumbled more to herself than me. “But I just thought you should know. Nothing happened. Especially with Tyler!” She paused for a breath and I could barely contain my grin.
“Wait.” Her bright brown eyes filled with confusion. “Why are you smiling at me like that?”
“No reason.” I shoved my hands in my pockets. “Continue.”
Casey blew out another adorable breath of frustration. “What I’m trying to say is that I didn’t kiss Tyler or Archer or you, obviously. But . . .” she winced.
“But?”
“But I really wished I had . . . kissed you, I mean.”
Her eyes lifted bashfully to meet mine, the fading sunlight turning them to molten chocolate. I could stare into those eyes forever.
She blinked. “Really?”
Oh dear God! Did I actually say that thought aloud?
From the growing smile on Casey’s adorable face it was evident that I had. But did I really care?
Not if it made her look at me like she was now—full of light and joy.
She launched herself into my arms! I got my hands out of my pockets just in time to catch her and capture her lips when they met mine. I held her against me never wanting to let go.
I knew it, Casey! I knew you were mine!
The world faded away taking all my worries with it as I kissed Casey in the parking lot, letting her push me against the hard steel of my truck. A breeze twisted her copper hair around us, warning that the fickle fall weather was already chasing away the summer. But I couldn’t be bothered about the weather with Casey’s warmth engulfing me.
The sun sunk lower, blotted out by the brick buildings on campus. The darkness brought a chill that I barely felt, but when Casey began to shiver, I pulled away.
“Do you want to talk in my truck?”
She nodded. “I have so much to tell you!”
We climbed inside and as much as I wanted to pull Casey back into my arms I resisted, letting her rattle off all I’d missed in the past twenty-four hours.
“I can’t believe I’m starting a softball team!” she exclaimed.
“I can.”
“Really?”
“I’m pretty sure I already told you that I think you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.”
She grinned so wide she was practically glowing. It made not kissing her even harder.
“So, I guess this means you won’t be trying out for the boys’ team now?”
She wrinkled her freckled nose. “Relieved?”
“Actually no. I’ll miss seeing you at all our practices.”
She grinned. “You won’t miss me too much considering we’ll be sharing the same facilities.”
“You’re playing on our field?”
She crossed her arms. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“Nope.”
“I know it’s not ideal, but my dad said it’ll take about a year to get a field ready for us.”
“So how many girls signed up so far?”
“Sixteen! We would’ve had more if Lexy wasn’t scaring them away during lunch. Speaking of, where were you today? I looked for you in the cafeteria.”
“I was meeting with my guidance counselor.”
Casey paled. “Is everything still okay with Ha
rvard?”
I squeezed her knee. “Stop worrying about me. Everything’s fine. We were just looking through the course catalog.”
A glimmer of sorrow flickered across her face so quickly I almost doubted I saw it. “So, you’re definitely going then?”
“Seems so.”
She looked out the window toward the school. “It’s going to be weird next year when you and Alex and Grant are all gone.”
I felt my throat tighten. “Yeah. I’m not sure I’m ready for it.”
She faced me. “Really? I figured you’d be psyched to go to Harvard.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s a great opportunity, but . . .”
“You’re not sure it’s the one you want?” she asked.
Her ability to pinpoint my exact fears so effortlessly floored me. “Yeah.”
“What do you want to do?”
I huffed a laugh. “You know, I don’t think anyone’s ever asked me that before.”
Casey smiled sweetly. “Then don’t wait for them to ask.”
There she went again, making everything sound so simple.
“The thing is, I’m not sure I know what I want.”
“Sure you do. I think deep down we all do. Sometimes it’s just scary to admit it out loud.”
My eyes met hers, her gaze piercing straight to my heart. Man, this girl was good for me! She gave me confidence and clarity. And more than anything, she made me want to ask for exactly what I wanted, which at the moment was a date with her.
Too bad my epically poor timing had other ideas.
I pulled her closer and tucked a lock of her copper hair behind her ear. “I think the thing I want most—”
Tap! Tap! Tap!
A loud rapping on the passenger side window made us both jump.
I glanced around Casey to see her father’s face glaring at me through the window.
Perfect!
He pinned Casey with a disgruntled look and pointed to his watch impatiently.
“Sorry, Lucas. I gotta go.”
Tomboys Don't Wear Pink: How To Date A Tomboy Page 7
