***
Two hours later, we won the game 42-13. After every game, win or lose, we always went and shook hands with the other team. It sucks to come on someone else’s turf and lose, but hey, we came to win tonight.
I didn’t realize how tall John Ellis was until he approached me. He had to have been over six-feet tall, and his hair was all matted down from the helmet he had on. “Hey man, y’all came to play tonight and I can respect that. Next time we meet on my turf and I will even the score.”
“We’ll see. I’m sure I can beat you on any turf.”
He walked away and the rest of my team came over and lifted me over their shoulders. “Z-man, Z-man,” they cheered. This could never get old.
They brought me in back and coach gave his end game speech. Usually he bored us to death, but tonight he actually said something decent.
“There was a lot of hype surrounding that team, and yes, we did win—today. But we will be facing them again on their turf in six weeks, which could spell trouble. Offense was great tonight, but defense you will be practicing for an extra thirty minutes every night. We all need to be one tight cohesive unit. No weak spots allowed! Now hit the showers and get out of my sight!”
I only lived a few blocks away from the school and decided to walk to clear my mind. My eighteenth birthday was coming up soon and I wanted to do something epic. Not just your regular run of the mill, get drunk and party, something—more. If I could sleep with Ms. Sheppard on or by then, that would be the most epic thing I’ve done this year. I just had to figure out how I’d make that happen.
Before I reached my door, Mindy called me. She wanted to celebrate with me again, but I wasn’t really in the mood.
***
Zeke
“How was the game tonight, Zach?” I asked, pretending to care.
“We smashed the Devils, but I know you didn’t doubt your brother, right?”
“Honestly, I wasn’t sure. I did hear the Devils had a real strong defense.”
“They were okay, but we still pushed right through them,” he said with a smirk on his face, trying not to gloat.
“Well, good for you! The Z-man is untouchable.”
“You know it,” he said, slapping me on the back.
I was in the kitchen when he came home, making myself a snack. I waited until I heard his door shut before I went back upstairs. I didn’t want to hear anything else he had to say tonight.
I picked up my cell phone and saw a message from Rachel. She labeled herself as ‘bestie’ in my phone, and I never bothered to change it.
Bestie: Have u ever been in love?
Me: I’m not sure, y?
Bestie: Because I think I am, but I don’t know how to tell him.
I wasn’t sure what ‘him’ she was referring to, but it did make me a tad jealous, reading her message.
Me: Just tell him how you feel. It never hurts to take a chance once in a while.
Bestie: U r absolutely right. C-ya tomorrow.
Me: Night.
This year brought out a lot of different emotions for me. I never felt jealously over anyone before, and I never felt like I was in love with anyone until now. I did have feelings for Rachel, but I just couldn’t see her as more than a friend, yet I felt like I needed to protect her.
***
Rachel was acting pretty strange today. Usually, I could pin-point what was wrong, but today, I was getting mixed signals from her. One minute she was all over me, and then the next she was cold and distant. I knew I couldn’t have done anything to piss her off. Yet—I started to feel guilty inside.
I grabbed her by her backpack before lunch and demanded answers. “Rach, what’s going on with you today?”
“Nothing—what do you mean?”
“You’ve been acting pretty weird ever since your text last night.”
“Oh—well, I’m just a little distracted today, that’s all,” she said, looking past me.
I turned around to see who she was staring at, and it was Bobby Lund. I had to admit I was a little shocked, and hoped that I was the one she was talking about, but if I wasn’t, at least I gave her some courage.
“You’re in love with him?” I said, trying to hold back the jealousy.
“No. I just wanted to see your reaction, and I have to admit—it was pretty comical.”
“Ha-ha.”
She looked up at me with her crystal blue eyes and opened her arms for a hug. I bent down to wrap my arms around her body and she stood on her tip toes to give me a kiss on the cheek. “What was that for?”
“I’m in love with you—silly.”
Chapter 5
Zeke
After all these years of friendship, not once did I ever think we could fall in love with each other. I wasn’t sure what to say, but I couldn’t admit that I loved her back and it bothered me. I held her in my arms as long as possible and placed a kiss on the top of her head.