Seventeen Things

2) Gettin' Sparky

I don't even really know what I was reading. My head was so far up in the clouds a plane might fly in my ear. I had been mindlessly turning the pages of my book, and not paying attention at all. My mind was on other things. What I was thinking about so deeply, I couldn't tell you. I honestly didn't know myself. I was sitting on the bench on the side of the field, waiting for practice to get over. Well, for James' practice to get over at least. The other guys left like fifteen minutes ago, but James has extra because we climbed the goalpost. Again. O'Dell was not happy. Again. And I would probably have to come clean the locker rooms as my punishment on Saturday. Again. James and I have gotten in trouble for this before, obviously. I think O'Dell was used to it, but that didn't mean he liked it. Oh well.

"Oh Miss Lee! Come give your best friend a hug. Please?" James said grinning as he walked over to me.

"No way. Uh-uh. You stink. You're all sweaty and covered in grass. I am not hugging you," I got up and started backing away. "You stay away from me Mister James! No, no.." I turned around and ran.

"Lee get your skinny little ass back here! I want a hug!" He yelled and ran after me.

I ducked into the girls locker room thinking I'd be safe there. After all, James is a guy.

"Oh Miss Lee. Are you going to come out and hug me or do I have to go in there?" His voice sounded dangerously close to the door.

"Oh Mister James, you can't come in. This is the girls locker room, or didn't you know?" I backed up and was hiding behind the lockers.

"Lee, you're the only girl that's been around for hours. There are no other girls in that locker room so.." And he opened the door.

"Crap," I muttered. I laid down on the floor and scooted under the bench, hoping against hope he wouldn't look there. I closed my eyes and let out a breath of relief when I heard no footsteps. I opened my eyes.

And nearly peed myself.

Because right directly in my line of vision, were a pair of laughing blue eyes. The same pair that belonged to James.

"James! You scared me! Not fair," I mumbled. He laughed.

"Come on out of there. You'll be covered in dust," He said. He pulled me out, stood me up, then dusted me off. "Better?"

I nodded. "I guess I can hug you now," I said. I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around his middle. He hugged me back. "But James,"

"Yeah?" He leaned back a bit to look at me.

"You really do stink." I told him very seriously.

He just laughed.

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"You, started a storm.

Like a pornstar you better preform.

Feeling out of control.

A night in Paris Ready to go.

Shut your mouth boy you are gonna love it!

I'm feelin' freaky boy you know you want it!

My heart is taking off just like a rocket.

So baby turn up the lights so I can Rock It

Rock it!"

I erupted in giggles. "James! Please... please... no m-more... singing!" I choked out in between giggles. My shoulders shook and my red hair was falling in my face, but I didn't care. James could be one of the worst singers in the world when he wanted to be. This was one of those times. But oh man, we had so much fun singing.

My face was bright red and I was gasping for breath by the time he dropped me off at my house. I ran my fingers through my hair and straightened out my shirt before grabbing my bag and hopping out.

"There's supposed to be a storm tonight, James. If there is I'll call you, and we can go out to the field and enjoy it, 'kay?" I told him through the open window of the truck.

"Sounds good to me, Miss Lee. Should be fun!" He said with a grin. "See ya later Lee!"

I laughed and watched him drive away. I skipped up the sidewalk to the front door and walked in.

"Oh mother dear! I'm home!" I called into the big open house. I walked up the stairs and into my room. I dumped my bag on my slipper chair, and swapped my pants for a pair of sweats, then traded my shirt for a lime green sports bra. Whipping my hair up into a messy bun, I sat down at my desk and turned on my Apple desktop. I pulled up the Yahoo! weather page. Sure enough, there was supposed to be a storm tonight. Heavy rain, thunder, and lightning. I love lightning. It's just so magical. Powerful. It's truly amazing. My whole life I would stay up at night sitting on a chair with a blanket and just watch the lightning storms. Ten years ago I met James. This goofy little boy took a liking to me, and I decided we could be friends. Turns out, he shared my fascination with lightning. Ever since, we either watched the storms together, or talked on the phone the whole time. It has become out ritual. And tonight, we would do it again. I closed out the window and shut off my computer. After exiting my room, I made my way down the hall to my moms room. I got a running start and jumped really high, to land spread-eagle on her big, fluffy bed.