THE FINAL WEEK of summer flew by in a blink of an eye. Kee and I spent most of the time at the beach. The California sun and the Pacific Ocean waves were refreshing after such a long time in the Big City, I couldn't seem to soak up enough of. When we weren't on the white sands, we could usually be found kicking a soccer ball somewhere. The new fitness club that Mikey worked at was right on the Coastline next to all the shops and restaurants so we ended up hanging out with him and the boys often.
I was up bright and early for the first day of school on Monday. I hadn't been able to sleep properly that night, thinking about my first day back to my old high school. I wasn't usually a nervous person but I couldn't help the slight uneasy butterflies. It was only a natural reaction.
What would peoples reactions be when they saw me? Would anyone care? Would anyone even remember? The few people I had run into so far in my time being back here had all been friendly experiences but facing a whole school could be much different.
Mikey, on the other hand, looked like he had no care in the world as he snored loudly from his room. That boy could definitely sleep through a tornado.
I slapped, pounded and pulled at him to wake up and all I got was a sleepy mumble.
"Ugh! How they hell did you survive without me?" I exclaimed after several minutes of useless attempts.
I yanked the pillow from under his head with some difficulty, stumbling back a few steps when it finally pulled out.
"Wake!" Hit.
"Up!" Hit.
"You!" Hit.
"Oaf!" Hit.
Mikey jolted. "Whoa!"
Hit.
"Sam what the fuck?" He grumbled hoarsely, eyes half open now.
"Get the hell up already!" I ordered.
"Five more minutes." He mumbled, turning his back to me and nestling his head back into his arm.
Hit.
"Not gonna work." He spoke.
"Dude if I had my own ride I would leave your ass here."
"Too bad you don't have a car," he said lazily.
"I swear Mikey if you don't get up in five minutes I'm coming back in with cold water." I marched out into the hallway, heading to the second child's room but right as I reached the door it swung open.
Dom stepped out with his hair tousled, shirtless and face slightly red and wrinkled from sleep.
"I'm up," he declared immediately, his voice deeper than usual from sleep. "No cold water for me."
It took a great deal of effort for me to ignore the fact that he could manage to look hot and adorable at the same time, especially when he just woke up less than 30 seconds ago. His defined chest was fully exposed, rippling muscles tracing down under his loosely hung boxers.
This wasn't the first time I'd seen Dom shirtless as he spent a lot of time without a shirt on and honestly, who could blame him? If I had a body like that I'd show it off with no shame too. But there was definitely something different about seeing him half naked early in the morning.
Don't judge me, there was physically no way to not find him attractive. It was science and nothing else.
I glared at him warningly as I walked past him and down to the kitchen.
I didn't bother with breakfast since we'd be stopping by at Bobby's per usual. The restaurant was usually busy all day long and the mornings were one of the busiest times, as teens and kids tried to grab a quick breakfast to go for school or adults needed the morning boost of caffeine to start their work days.
But when the owner was like an uncle to you, you had certain perks like not waiting in line.
As Dom pulled into the parking lot I searched for Kiara's familiar car, hoping I could hitch the rest of the ride to school with her but no such luck as her car was nowhere in sight.
"Hey kids!" Bobby happily greeted the moment he spotted us walk in. He had been busy taking an order to-go for three teenagers I didn't recognize, they looked like freshman. "Harper come take over for a second."
A woman about Bobby's age replaced him, smiling as she took in the next group of orders as Bobby escaped into the back room.
I took a moment to pay attention to the younger crowds of people inside. There was several fresh faces and some familiar ones, a few of the faces I recognized seemed to remember me as well. A girl from my freshman English class smiled and waved, we had never really spoken before but I waved back. A guy who had been my lab partner for a week also smiled hesitantly at me. I was trying to remember his name when Bobby reappeared, holding a paper bag and a tray of coffee's.
"Here you go kids!"
"Bobby you are my hero," Mikey who had been looking like a sleepwalking zombie, wasted no time in taking a gulp from his hot beverage.
"How's the morning rush going?" I asked as Dom handed me my cup.
Bobby shrugged, looking unfazed. For a guy who was always working from dawn till dusk, he always seemed full of energy. It amazed me.
"Eh it's alright, we're used to it. Harper seems to be getting a hang of things." Bobby's smile widened at the mention of the new lady.
"Speaking of Harper..." Mikey trailed off.
"Did you get her number yet?" Dom finished Mikey's sentence.
Bobby's eyes slighted, the skin around his eyes crinkling as he glared at the boys lightheartedly.
This obviously wasn't a new conversation.
"Will you two drop this already?" He pleaded with them but his voice remained airy as if it were empty words. He obviously knew there was no use.
"Not until you get those digits," Mikey ordered.
Bobby let out an exasperated huff. "I already have her number!"
Mikey and Dom simultaneously made a strange noise that seemed like a cross between a whistle and a howl. Dom patted Bobby on the back of his shoulder with a force that made Bobby take a step forward. "That's my boy!"
"I knew you had it in you!" Mikey smirked excitedly. "Bobby boy has all the moves."
"You idiots I'm her boss, of course I have her number." Bobby huffed out, shaking his head disappointedly as if the guys were ridiculous to even think such thoughts. I wouldn't have taken them seriously either if it weren't for the frequent glances over at the counter and the rising red on Bobby's cheeks.
"Hey it doesn't matter how you got it as long as you don't waste it," Dom responded immediately, smirking at him.
A part of me wanted to jump in and helped the poor man out but I was too shocked at the revelation that Bobby was actually flustered, the same man who had never blushed a single day of his life since I'd known him. Bobby, who had never been in a serious relationship before was actually sweating right now.
Bobby let out an exasperated air of annoyance but couldn't stop the smile from forming on his lips as he shook his head at Mikey and Dom. "You boys are truly something else."
"We know," they spoke in unison which made me slightly chuckle at them. They actually looked proud of themselves.
"Good luck with these two Sammy," Bobby laughed.
"Trust me I'm going to need more than luck to survive unscathed by them," I responded.
"Don't pretend that you don't love us," Dom smirked at me.
When they reached for their wallets, I knew that was my cue to leave. "Thanks bro," I patted Mikey's shoulder as I walked past him to the door. "Thank you Bobby!"
My talk with Ozzy wasn't long as I handed him my bagel and went back to the car. The guys were already there waiting for me.
"Where'd you go?" Mikey asked.
"None of your business," I could have told him but it was more fun not to. "Chop chop! We're going to be late!" I motioned with my hands.
The first day back had been good so far, despite the frequent staring and whispering. It was nice to see so many familiar faces and I had no problem adjusting to the place. Classes were going by pretty quickly since so I had at least one or two people to catch up with in each class. Mostly everyone wanted to know how New York was and they all seemed happy to see me.
I hadn't had any classes with Kee yet but we had caught up in the halls between second and third period and knew we had Chemistry together after lunch.
Jeremy and I made our way to the cafeteria together. We had so far had two classes together and it had been fun having him around. Jeremy was a very outspoken and funny person who you couldn't help but feel good vibes around him.
"I can't wait to eat crappy cafeteria food," he remarked.
"Honestly I'm too hungry to have standards right now," I responded.
"Dude food is the only thing I have standards for."
I chuckled at him as I paid for my food and turned to figure out where to sit. It didn't take long to spot them because unfortunately they were hard to miss.
"One of these days someone's going to sue the school for food poisoning. You mark my words, they—" He paused behind me, wondering where I was going. "Where are you...? Oh we're sitting here now. Okay, I'm definitely not complaining." Jeremy said in a pleasant matter of fact tone as I approached the rectangular table.
"Sam do chicks look at guys asses?" Carlos asked as I placed my tray down at the table.
"One, I don't want to even know what conversation you weirdos were having and two, I wouldn't know since we aren't chicks." I responded.
"Right," he rolled his eyes. "Ladies, then."
"Sam? A lady? Since when?" Dom didn't miss his chance, he smirked widely as I sat in front of him.
I scowled back at him. "Let me know when your balls finally drop."
Everyone at the table sniggered.
"My balls dropped right around the time your breasts sprouted." He responded immediately.
Carlos snorted water out of his nose, Dixon suddenly looked down uncomfortably and Mikey made a noise of disgust. "Dude shut up!" He barked.
Dom shrugged casually at him.
I was about to retort but Kee interrupted as she sat down next to me, followed by Vanny who I had yet to reunite with.
The pretty bushy haired girl let out an excited squeal that mirrored my own.
"Vanny!" I jumped up excitedly.
We pulled each other into a hug immediately. "Hi girl! It's so good to see you!"
"I was wondering when I'd finally run into you!"
"I know, I was starting to think I'd imagined you coming back," Vanny said as we sat back down.
Kee turned to me immediately. "Try outs are right after school today on the small field," she informed excitedly. "Make sure you get there on time because Coach hates tardiness."
"Hold up, when did we invite all of you to sit with us?" Mikey looked around at all of us, his brow raised in a half hearted question.
Kee rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up."
"You didn't sit with us last year," He noted pointedly.
She shrugged back casually. "You didn't have anyone interesting here last year."
I smirked at Kee and then at Mikey. "She means me," I clarified overly smugly.
"I can vouch for that. She's definitely interesting," a male voice commented from behind us.
It was Jack. He smiled sweetly at me as he took a seat. "Hey Sam."
I returned the smile. "Hi Jack."
Damn, he was so cute with those dimples of his. Sensing someone staring, my eyes trailed over to Dom who had an expression of mixed amusement and something I couldn't quite point out.
I raised an eyebrow in silent question but he just continued to munch of his chips in silence.
"You know I'd love to be there after school and support but I'll be watching the boys practice," Jeremy explained to me.
I chuckled lightly. "Totally understandable."
"Our tryouts are postponed till tomorrow actually," Mikey said.
"Why?" Vanny asked.
The guys all shrugged. "Beats me," Dixon said.
I didn't miss my opportunity. "I guess that's a good thing since Dom needs the extra day of practice," I couldn't help it, honestly.
Everyone at the table chuckled, clearly enjoying our banter. If I was being honest, I had missed the back and forth with him way too much.
I looked at Dom, silently challenging him as his eyes met mine, his own glinting with a hint of amusement mixed with another expression I was unsure of. Was it awe? Was it something else?
He smirked at me but didn't respond. Hmm, interesting.
The lunch period flew by with the guys cracking joke after joke. I'd never admit it out loud but those boys were pretty entertaining.
The bell for class rang and we all departed our separate ways. Kee, Vanny and I had our first class together and Jeremy walked down with us since our class was in the same direction.
"See you girls! Good luck with tryouts!" He shouted before we entered the room.
We were excitedly talking about the tryouts as we waiting for class to start when something across the room caught my eye.
It was the girl from last week at Bobby's. That time, she had chosen to ignore my existence but today she opted to shoot me dirty looks as she scowled at me.
"What the hell is her problem?" I muttered, suddenly distracted.
Kee and Vanny both turned to see who I was talking about before they both let out scuffs and turning back to me.
"That's Natalie, she moved here last summer right after you left." Kee explained.
"She probably heard about how good you play and is scared you're going to take back your spot on the team, you both play the same position." Vanny added.
I raised an eyebrow in interest, looking back at the blonde. She hadn't pegged me as the athletic type but that just goes to show you shouldn't judge a book based on it's cover. "Is she good?"
Kee shrugged nonchalantly, clearly not worried. "You're better, trust me."
"Yeah just ignore her like everyone else does," Vanny said.
I was reminded of the pained expression on Dom's face when she had showed up that day at Bobby's. "Dom definitely tried to."
"What do you mean?" Kee asked, confused.
I explained what had happened that day.
Kee's eyebrows shot up, intrigued.
"You should have seen the look on his face, I don't think I've ever seen him so uncomfortable around a girl."
"They went out once when she first got here, but it ended really quickly. I don't know the details because I wasn't really hanging around them last year." Kee explained. "It was really strange though, they went on like one date and then Dom started to completely ignore her afterwards and ever since then he always looks uncomfortable around her."
That definitely was strange. Even though Dom wasn't the serious dating type of guy, it wasn't typical behavior for him to ignore anyone after a single date, much less look uncomfortable about it.
"She clearly didn't get the hint," I said.
"That's Natalie. She'll do anything to be relevant, she even shot her chances with Mikey."
I cringed with disgust. "Oh please tell me he didn't," my brother and his friends were definitely pigs but hooking up with the same girls was something even they didn't typically do.
Kee shook her head.
"Is it weird that I'm strangely proud of him?" I said, slightly relieved.
They both laughed. "You might as well take what you can get," Kee offered.
I could still feel her shooting pathetic daggers at me so I turned to look at her, raising a eyebrow in question.
She stared for a moment longer before rolling her eyes and looking away.
Typical. All bark and no bite.
Author's Note:
What did you think?? This was definitely a shorter, filler chapter but still very fun to write! We gotta get through the little moments to get to the important parts lol.
Please like and comment! I would really really appreciate the feedback! :)
Next chapter will be up Saturday night!
Thank you!