This Diary I Found

14 :: Sucker Match

"Cheater!" she pointed an accusing finger at me.

I raised an eyebrow at her. I held my left hand to my ear like a phone and mimicked, "Hi, kettle. This is pot. You're black."

"Touché," she said, nodding her head.

"So, to make things clear. Kaye didn't get an abortion?" I asked once we were sucked in the game again.

"No," she answering, laughing lightly.

Whew! Relief, relief.

"Good," I whispered, recovering from the slight heart attack.

"Why the sudden interest on my best friend's cervical conditions?" she questioned.

I just grinned sheepishly.

"Ah. The mystery writer," she said, getting what I was thinking.

"Yep. Oh, Hey! You're her best friend, you should know a lot about her, right?" I asked.

"Yeah. But I am not in liberty to divulge any information about her to a person I don't actually trust," she said, faking a posh accent. "I charge for that kind of service, remember?"

I rolled my eyes and asked anyway, "Does she have a diary? Maybe a green one?"

There was a small pause that came along with Sage missing the goal by a mile. She must've pushed the wrong button on her controller.

"If you wanna know, you should ask her. Not me," she said. "And why are you so interested about the diary owner?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly. At first it was just to find out if she were pregnant. Then, it became about apologizing for being such a piece of shit. Now, I don't know what the search is all for. Was it just for apologizing or something else entirely?

"I just want to know her," I added. "More correctly re-know her, you know? It just sucks that I've already met such an awesome person but let her slip through my fingers because I was too drunk."

"Hmm. Maybe next time I can read the diary. Find out how awesome this girl is," her tone went a little cynical at the word awesome.

"Yeah. Sure." I nodded absentmindedly.

The match was about to end with only added time left and the score was 6-6. Things just got interesting.

"Prepare to get your heinie kicked, Jettison," she said, furiously staring at the screen. "You're gonna lose."

"When hell freezes over. I could win this game like I win every girl in town," I countered confidently.

"You seem pretty cocky. Wanna bet?"

"What'd you have in mind?"

She thought about it for a while and while she was out of focus, I went in for a goal. Her goalee easily blocked it.

"I don't know. What do you want?"

"I want a car because mine broke down and I have a date with Emma tomorrow," I said sarcastically with a hint of bitterness because it was true.

"What?!" she shrieked. "I thought you were going after my best friend."

"That's not until Tuesday," I pointed out.

She scoffed. "I don't really like how you jump from one girl to another but, okay!" she chirped, to my surprise. "I'll let you borrow my brother's car tomorrow if you win."

"Seriously?" I questioned, risking staring off the screen just to see if she were serious.

She was. "Yeah! But, if I win I want your weekend."

"My weekend?" I asked, pausing the game because all the talk was getting too distracting and I sure wasn't gonna lose because of that.

Sage whined and reluctantly lowered her controller.

"Your weekend," she repeated. "I want you to render your whole weekend helping out at the Montaño Theater."

"That dump next to the dairy queen?" I questioned, my nose scrunching up.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "That dump is practically my home."

"Fine. What am I gonna do there? Assuming that you actually miraculously beat me at this game."

"We're having our last production for the year," she explained, "and we're packed with making props and backdrops, sewing costumes, the whole shebang. You'll just help around. You can hand out fliers or sweep floors. We need more manpower."

"You want me to be an errand boy for theater nerds?"

"Yes."

"Well, you're gonna need to win this first."

I pushed play. Let the games begin.