The Romeo Club (8 page)

I giggled. “Him? Geez, that chick’s shirt might as well be a pair of band aids.”

“I bet if you were on here, you’d probably wear some leopard print bikini with a tail.” He nudged me in the ribs. “You could have some jungle themed music and swing from ropes.”

“You wish.” I took sip of pop then set the can down.

“Yeah, then I could take pictures and embarrass the hell out of you.”

“Like you should talk. You’d be the guy in a leather-thong with your ass cheeks hanging out.”

Trey launched himself at me and caught me in a headlock. He rubbed his fist in my hair.

“Hey, stop.” I laughed, struggling to get out of his grasp. “You’re missing your show.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” He released me.

“Um—maybe.” I nodded toward the new couple wearing matching teal outfits.

“God. Kill me now.” He fell backward covering his face with the back of his hand. “Too. Much. Spandex.”

I busted out laughing. We sat admiring the cool and not so cool costumes. After a few minutes, I glanced at him. “So, why Portia? I mean, she doesn’t really seem like your type.”

Trey shrugged. “She’s nice.”

“And beautiful.” I bumped him with my shoulder. “But seriously, you have nothing in common. I figured you’d go for someone, I don’t know, less flighty and more down to earth. Someone who can have an intelligent conversation with you.”

He bit his fingernail then snorted. “Like you should talk. Rex isn’t exactly Mr. Conversation. The only thing he ever talks about is sports. And if he’s not talking about baseball or football or track then he’s trying to give you a tonsillectomy with his tongue.”

I opened my mouth to protest.
Is he right? Did Rex ever really talk to me about anything meaningful?

“Yeah, but in his defense, sports is what we have in common. I mean, I like them too.”

“But you’re into other things—like video games, Sci-Fi flicks, gardening, swimming. I know you’ve been dating him for a while, but do you two ever talk about real things? Does he even know you?”

“Of course.” I folded my knees and drew them to my chest. For the rest of the show, I pondered whether Trey was right. Did Rex know me at all? Heck, did I really know him?

Chapter 11

Hot cheese strung out in front of me as I took a bite of pizza. The cafeteria buzzed with conversations and laughter. Rex sat beside me, his hand rubbing my shoulder as he talked to Bart Sandersville.

“Did you see Klemintz steal home last night?” Rex said. “He should’ve been tagged out.”

Bart snorted. “You’re just pissed because the Tigers lost again.”

They bantered back and forth about the game, then switched to talking about the Mets. And after that, they switched to golf.

Oh God. Trey’s right.
My boyfriend had a one track mind. Maybe he was just consumed by it today. My mind wandered back, trying to think of other conversations we’d had recently. Let’s see. We’d talked about spending time together. My soccer practice. His track practice. The Tigers game. His golf outing with his dad. His football scholarship in the fall. Every last thing we’d spoken about had to do with sports.

I glanced across the crowded room to where Trey sat with the Nerd Herd. They seemed so confident and okay with who they were. They had no problem being the “dorky guys.” For the first time, I wondered if maybe they should be giving me lessons in how not be shallow, or better yet, how to embrace showing off my inner nerd. As if sensing my gaze, Trey looked up and waved. I smiled and waved back.

“Del, tell Bart about the goal you made against Oakley last week.” Rex tapped my arm. “My girl has mad skills on the field.”

“And in the room?” Bart winked.

“Don’t be a perv.” Rex kicked him under the table.

My face burned. What the heck did Bart mean by that? With a sigh, I pretended to ignore the comment and went on to tell him about my penalty shot.

***

The bus bumped along the road, jarring my knee against the metal side of the vehicle. Kenadi sank down next to me, propping her legs on the seat in front of ours. We had an away game in Cedar today, which lucky for us was only a twenty-five minute ride. Any longer with this bus driver at the wheel and someone would have to peel us off the ceiling. I swear she hit every pothole, curb, and pile of road kill on the street.

“Hey, Ken, do you think it’s weird that the only things Rex and I talk about or do together are sports related?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Uh—yeah.”

I groaned. “What do you and Mikah talk about?”

“School, sports, TV shows, music, movies, pretty much everything. He even plans crazy dates for us.” She laughed. “Remember when he took me to that wax museum last month?” Kenadi took out her earrings and slid them into her soccer bag then shifted her gaze to me. “Uh-oh, is there trouble in paradise?”

I squirmed under her scrutiny. “No. Rex and I are great.”

Then why didn’t things feel great? The airbrakes hissed as the big yellow banana came to a stop. I tugged my headband on, then reached down to retrieve my gear from the floor. We filed off the bus and followed Coach to the locker rooms, where we changed into our uniforms. I put on my shin-guards then pulled my purple socks over them. When I finished, I shoved my feet into my purple and gold cleats and tied them up.

“Denson, let’s see some more goals this week,” Hillary Marker hollered.

The other girls whooped.

When everyone was dressed, we lined up and headed onto the field. A warm breeze tugged at my ponytail. The crowd clapped as we came into the stadium. I loved the sight of the field, the feel of the turf beneath my shoes. Fans cheering us on. My pulse quickened. Nothing else mattered while I was out here. It was just me. The defenders. And the ball.

“Hey, Del,” Drake hollered from beside the fence, near the bleachers. Trey and Chloe stood beside him, wearing Greenville’s purple and gold colors.

I jogged over, hoping Coach didn’t yell at me.

“You guys made it.” I smiled.

“We wouldn’t miss a chance to see you lay some girl out on the field.” Trey chuckled.

“I told you, after my last game, it was an accident. The girl stepped in front of me at the last second. I couldn’t stop.”

“Yeah, right.”

Drake’s fingers laced through Chloe’s and she grinned up at him then turned her attention to me. “Good luck today. I hope you score some goals.”

“Don’t worry, she will. My sister’s a machine out there.”

“Listen, I better go before Rafferty has a kitten.” With a final wave, I joined Kenadi.

“I see Trey came to watch you play.” Her mouth turned up at the corners.

“I know that look. Before you say anything, I’m going to point out that he always comes to my games,” I said as we ran to the nearest goal and began warm-ups.

“Yeah, he does. Hmmm … wonder why that is?”

“Because we’re friends.”

“Or, he has a thing for you.”

She was wrong. I mean, Trey always tagged along with my brother. He came to my games to hang out with Drake, nothing more. Right?

Coach had us do a few drills and stretches before the refs blew their whistles and made us form a line to check our cleats and shin-guards.

“Let’s have a clean game, ladies,” one of the ref’s said. “Watch the elbows and pushing, we’ll be keeping an eye on you.” His eyes settled on me and Kenadi.

Okay, so the two of us had a bit of a reputation on the field, but we played hard and sometimes that meant other people got knocked down.

Once they finished, we went to our sidelines and waited for the National Anthem to play. I watched the flag whip in the wind, my hand over my heart. Then the announcer came on to introduce the players.

At last, Coach circled us up. “Okay, Denson, right forward. Green, Midfield. Sharp left defender.” And on she went until she gave out all the positions. “We won the coin toss, so we’ll start with the ball ladies. Let’s get out there and show ’em what the Lady Jackets are made of.” She put her hand in. “Team on three.”

“One. Two. Three. Team,” we shouted.

We found our places on the field and waited for the whistle. As soon as the game started, Carter passed the ball to me. I dribbled forward, cutting to the left around the defender. I smiled as I eased past. Not to sound cocky, but I knew I was faster than any of these girls. Two more players stepped in front of me, I nudged the ball with the outside of my foot and burned past them too. Their mids dropped back, trying to catch me, while the defenders from the other side of the field made their way toward the goal to block me.

But it was too late. By the time they got close enough to take the ball, I’d already sent it flying, into the net.

“Goooal, Jackets,” the announcer said.

My teammates rushed me, giving me high-fives and pats on the back.

The rest of the game, pretty much went like that. I scored two more goals, Kenadi had one, and Ferrera had one.

When we loaded back on the bus, I wiped sweat from my forehead and chugged a bottle of water.

“I so need a fan. I’m roasting,” I said.

“Good game, girls. Saw some great passing. And Kellogg, way to keep them from scoring,” Coach said to our keeper. “If we keep this up we might end up getting into the playoffs this year.”

Kenadi and I tossed our bags in one seat, then flopped down in another. I just got situated when my phone went off. Rex’s ringtone.

“Double-D, just calling to see how your game went before my relay’s up,” he said. “So, did you win?”

“Yep,” I said. Should I be worried that he didn’t even say hi first? Great, I had the feeling I’d be dissecting every conversation from here on out.

“Gotta give me the details so I can brag about my girl to everyone. Did you score?”

I laughed. “Yeah, I got three goals. Ken had one. We whomped Cedar.”

“That’s my girl. Listen, I gotta go. I’ll give you a celebratory kiss tomorrow.”

Kenadi popped a bite of granola bar in her mouth. “So, what’d he want?”

“To talk about my game.”

She snorted. “That’s it?”

“Yeah. Pretty much.”

She shook her head, but didn’t say anything else. Gah, I blamed Trey for making me question my relationship. Hell, I’d been perfectly happy and okay with mine and Rex’s conversations before he’d mentioned it.

I bent down to put my cell away, when it blared to life once more. For a moment, I thought maybe Rex decided to call back, but when I saw the number, I groaned. C.C.

“Hello?”

“Delyla, it’s C.C. I wondered if you could maybe tell me what outfit to wear to school tomorrow?”

“Go with a pair of your new jeans and that green polo shirt.”

“What shoes?”

“Your tennis shoes.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want my feet to look too big. On second thought, you know what they say about big feet,” he said.

“Ew, I think I just threw up in my mouth. Again.”

He chuckled. “Ah, you think I’m funny. Admit it.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. So, is that all you needed?”

“I decided to try out for the play at school. I’ve been in Drama Club for a while, but never had the guts to go out for one of the leads.”

“Imagine that, you, a drama queen.” I rolled my eyes. “So why did you decide to do it now?”

“Liza’s going out for the female lead. So-so I, you know, thought maybe now would be a good time. D-do you think you might help me rehearse some lines on Sunday too?”

I smiled. It was crazy how nervous he got when he talked about Liza. “Sure.”

“I owe you one,” he said.

“And I’m keeping track of how many times you tell me that.”

“Listen, I have to go. My mom’s hollering for me to take the trash out.”

Geez, the things I did for these guys.

Chapter 12

Steam billowed into the locker room from the showers as girls got dressed and changed out of their gym uniforms. The mixture of sweat, perfume, and body spray nauseated me. All I wanted to do was get some fresh air. However, it was probably better than the stench that came from the boys’ locker room. Sweat. Butt. Cologne. Farts. Yeah, it could definitely be worse.

I hopped up and down, trying to get into my skinny jeans. Today definitely wasn’t the day to wear these things. It was like trying to squeeze a watermelon into a straw. Once, I got them on, I put on a pair of flip-flops and adjusted my T-shirt.

“Oh. My. God, you guys,” Portia said. “Trey Garrett is so adorable.”

“Yes, we know. You’ve only told us like thirty times today,” her BFF Jasmine said.

Portia giggled. “It’s just, he’s been talking to me a lot this week. And it’s kind of cool. I mean, he likes a lot of the same shows I do. Get this, he even watches Celebrity Dance Off.”

“Are you sure he’s not gay?” Jasmine puckered her lips as she dowsed them with gloss.

Portia rolled her eyes. “He’s not. Besides, you’re jealous because Bart hates anything dance related.”

I grinned. This was perfect. The Romeo Club worked. Portia noticed Trey. I so couldn’t wait to tell him. But, as I listened to Portia change the subject to the dance routine she planned to do at her next beauty pageant, I wondered for the zillionth time what he saw in her.

With a sigh, I shoved my uniform into my locker and walked into the hall. I wanted to catch Trey before our next class. Even if I didn’t approve of his choice of girls, I still couldn’t wait to tell him what I’d overheard.

People hurried down the hall toward their next classes, pushing and shoving to get through the crowd. Up ahead, I spotted Trey. He smiled when he saw me and called out, “Hey, I need to talk to you.”

“Me too,” I said.

He pushed his way through the masses. Over his shoulder, I noticed Rex who waved for me to come over. I held up my hand to let him know in a minute. When I did that, he also started toward me. Crap, why was he being so dang clingy lately?

Trey reached me first. “Do me a favor,” I said.

“Yeah?”

“Duck and run.” But before we could, I saw Bart catch Rex first. Thank God. As the two of them talked, Rex kept looking in my direction. “Follow me.” I yanked on Trey’s arm.