Better Than You | ✔️

34| Did Somebody Say... PORKCHOPS?

"You 2 are friends now, though, right?" My mom asked about Logan.

"Duh!" Amelia exclaimed, grinning widely.

"Yeah, we are," I said. "It's a bit of a rough subject right now. We've always been ultra-competitive."

"Oh," my mom said. "Well, then let's talk about something other than that! Have you started applying to colleges?"

I nodded. "Yeah, a few."

"Is your number one still—"

"Stanford?" I asked, finishing her sentence. "Yep, not much has changed there. I did my early application, but I'm not expecting to hear back any time soon. I'm going for that academic scholarship, and they don't announce who gets it for a while."

"Is that the prestigious scholarship?" My dad asked, wiggling his eyebrows. What a nerd.

"They only give it to one student in the country," I told him. "I probably won't get it, but it's worth a shot."

"Of course," he agreed. "Well, if you don't get it, are you thinking of playing volleyball there? There's no doubt in my mind you'd get a volleyball scholarship."

"Yeah, I would," I said. "I love volleyball. Plus, I've been emailing the Stanford boys coach since last year when they could finally start scouting."

"That's great, honey!" My mom exclaimed. "Well, we'll stop bothering you about all of that boring school stuff. Amelia was going to tell us about her recitals."

"Yay!" Amelia said, clapping her hands together. "It's my turn to be the center of attention."

✯ ✯ ✯

I pulled up to the school parking lot and put my Jeep in park. The annual barbecue was always held on the football field, and this year was no exception. It was around 80 degrees today, also, which was atrociously hot. Although, normal for Georgia.

I got out of my car and immediately was greeted by Cayden and Jordan. "Noah, my man!" Jordan yelled, and we started walking towards the field. I held a grocery bag in my hand that had some raw chicken in it. Everyone was responsible for bringing something, and coach put me in charge of chicken this year.

"Looking forward to the barbecue?" Jordan asked.

"As much as everyone else," I said. "Honestly, I'm pretty excited. Mostly for the food."

"Coach does grill up the best meat," Cayden agreed.

"You would know," Jordan teased, and Cayden proceeded to punch him in the arm. "Um, ow!"

"You make everything sexual. You deserved that," Cayden said, and I just shrugged, agreeing with him. "I am just looking forward to spending some time in the sun. I've been locked up in my house all week with that crazy dog."

"You're dog sitting again?" I asked.

Cayden shook his head. "No, not that dog. I'm talking about Chad. As in football jock, extremely human Chad," he told us. "I've basically been tutoring him night and day."

"You're tutoring Chad?" Jordan asked.

"His parents said he needed help, and since our families our friends, my parents volunteered me," Cayden said, shaking his head. "It's torture. The guy is in Algebra 2 and doesn't even begin to know how to solve for X."

"That's, like, the easiest part of algebra," Jordan said as we walked down the steps to the field.

"I know, right?" Cayden said. "It's ridiculous to me, but at least they're paying me. Nonetheless, I need a day in the sun away from all of Chad's stupidity."