When I arrived at school the next morning, ready to tell Alice all about my eventful evening, I saw her standing in the corner with Justin and his friends. Her eyes looked longingly up at him as he told a story. It must have been funny because the guys around him burst into fits of laughter and started to high-five each other. Alice laughed as she looked around, her eyes caught with mine. She smiled and waved me over. I shook my head and waved the book in my hand, hinting that I just wanted to be alone with my book.
I didn't.
Justin and his friends make me nervous; very nervous. I know that I'm the odd one out; I get it. But sometimes being around varsity-jacket-wearing, player-type guys doesn't exactly make me feel welcomed. And it wasn't as if Justin or any of his friends had even spoken to me, let alone try to get to know me.
Instead, I made my way into the cafeteria, ready to sit down with my new project; my copy of 'The Great Gatsby' by F.Scott Fitzgerald. I had had the book for a while; it was a leaving present from Sammy's friends Thomas and Nick from back home.
I had brought Hunter's jacket with me, internet on giving it back to him when I next saw him. I wanted to show it to Alice and have her help me decipher what it meant, but I'm guessing that will have to wait.
The cafeteria was virtually empty. Inevitably, it was the beginning of the day and hardly any other teenager chooses to get up early for school.
A few people from the reading table were sat with their heads in their books, a few cheerleaders sat in uniform gossiping forwards and backwards.
I had just sat and opened the first page when a shadow loomed over me.
"What's the latest project?" Sammy said as he sat down opposite me.
Hailey sat down next to him. "Hey, Riley." She said giving me a small smile.
I gave her a small nod and smiled as I pulled the cover of the book back so Sammy could see.
"'The Great Gatsby'. How's that going?" Sammy said picking up my bookmark and running it through his fingers.
We both looked down at it. It was a present from our gran. Sammy knew how much I cherished that bookmark.
Grandma Nora was one of those grandmas that when you'd visit you'd leave five kilos heavier stuffed with casserole or brisket. And even then you would never leave without being offered a chocolate bar of some sort.
Every time I visited Grandma Nora, she gave me a new book. She had two big bookcases lining the walls, filled from floor to ceiling with books. We'd spend days and hours inside that room, just reading together. Sat in silence, completely absorbed in our own stories.
She gave me the bookmark for my twelfth birthday. Right before she passed. It was one of the few things I had left of hers.
"I haven't read that much of it yet." I signed subtly after grabbing my bookmark back from Sammy and placing it gently in my page. I closed the book and put it next to me on the cafeteria table.
I looked back at Sammy opposite me. I had walked to school on my own today. He had taken his car to pick up Hailey.
"I've got practice today, will you come and watch?" Sammy said. He leant on his elbows, his hands propping his head up. His brown eyes stared sweetly into mine, pleading with me.
I gave him a look of confusion. He had practice most days, usually I wasn't there.
"Apparently there's this big scout coming, and I need to be on my a-game for when he's watching. And you know how I'm always so much better when you're in the stands." He said casually.
I think the shock was evident on my face because Hailey looked over at me and laughed "That was my reaction too." She said.
"What? A scout? That's big!" I signed to Sammy, a little too obviously. We both looked around afterwards to see if anyone had seen. Hailey chuckled opposite me.
"It's not that big a deal. Plus, there's so many good players on this team, who even knows if they'll want me." Sammy said.
"They'll be crazy if they didn't." Hailey said as she interlocked her arm with Sammy's. They smiled at each other and Hailey kissed Sammy's cheek. They were adorable.
"Okay, okay. I'll be there. But quick, leave. Before I throw up my breakfast at your adorableness." I signed back, waving Sammy away.
He chuckled a little and smiled. He pulled Hailey up and out of her chair. "Come on," he said to Hailey. "Apparently Gatsby needs her attention."
"Actually, Fitzgerald does." I signed. He laughed and shook his head as he and Hailey walked away. I watched as they left. "See you later, Loser." Sammy said quickly turning around to face me with a smirk before shutting the cafeteria door behind him.
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I hadn't spoken much to Alice all day. She was in my classes, but had sat next to Justin a lot of the time. I had missed gossiping with my best friend through passed notes.
When lunch rolled around, I waited in the queue for the fries when someone came up and stood next to me.
"Hey. I've been looking all over for you." Alice's red hair bounced on her shoulders. Her smile radiated across her face. She was alone, but for how much longer I didn't know.
I waved at her and gave her a small smile. There were two girls in front of me that looked to be deciding on whether to get the fries or the side salad next to it. From the way they looked, both really wanted the fries, but they both picked up a salad each.
I sighed, slightly disappointed with the girls in front. I walked up to the counter and picked the biggest portion of fries on the countertop and placed them neatly on my tray. Then grabbed a bottle of soda and a chocolate bar.
"So, I was wondering whether you wanted to come over and sit with me and Justin this lunch? I've missed you. It feels like I haven't seen you in forever." Alice said, pulling on my right arm for emphasis. She signalled over to Justin's table. It was covered with jocks and cheerleaders. The girls I had seen in the cafeteria earlier that day were all sat around Justin and the hefty, ginger guy next to him. Again, they were all listening to Justin telling a funny story.
Honestly, does that guy ever shut up? He could give Lucas a run for his money!
Alice looked over at me, her eyes pleading with me. "Come on, Ri. Please?"
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and nodded. Alice did a few small jumps of excitement whilst I grabbed another piece of chocolate. If I was sitting with Justin, I would need the extra sweetness.
Alice pulled me over to their table. When we arrived, she introduced me again to some of the people around the table. Nobody really paid attention to me. The guys continued to talk over each other and the cheerleaders dotted around the table gave me weird looks. It was almost as if they thought I didn't belong there.
They were right. I didn't.
Alice pulled me down into an empty seat but before she could sit down next to me, Justin had pulled her around the table and onto his lap. She giggled and played with a strand of hair at the front of her head, and started to join in Justin's conversation with an overly-interested blonde cheerleader.
Just as I was about to get up, convinced that I wouldn't even be noticed leaving the table, two cheerleaders sat down either side of me. One with a short brown bob and the other had a long singular braid that circled the right side of her head. Both girls, of course, were gorgeous. They both wore the signature white cheer outfits with the red cross. Their skirts were short and barely covered their butts, and the tank-top-like shirt was sleeveless and curved around their bodies to make them look even skinnier in person. They looked so skinny, like if the wind blew them in the wrong direction, they would snap. I think their weight combined wouldn't even make up half of my body weight.
"So, you're Riley, right?" The braid girl said, looking me up and down before looking over at the bobbed haired girl the other side of me.
"Riley Davidson? As in football player Sam's sister?" The bobbed haired girl said. I just nodded, unsure of what to do in this situation.
"As in 'The Silent Sister'?" The braid girl had said. Her left eyebrow arched higher almost daring me to speak.
I looked down at the food in front of me, playing with my fingers that were placed gingerly on the tray on the table. I didn't feel like watching what the girls were saying.
I didn't bother looking up until I felt the bobbed haired girl next to me swivel in her seat and talk to whoever was sat the other side of her. The braid hair girl had gone and left an empty seat next to me. When I did look over, I caught eyes with Alice. She looked at me guiltily as she went back to talking with Justin.
I started to eat my fries, completely minding my own business. I felt the bench dip to my left and looking up I was faced with the ginger, burly guy. He gave me a smile and a small nod of the head, before he stole a few of my fries. "You don't mind, do you?" He said as he tucked into my fries.
Great. This was going to be a fun lunch.
The rest of the day went by quite slowly. History and Geometry seemed to drag and by the time the final bell rang it felt like I was crawling my way out of the door; no more energy left in my body. Somehow, I made it over to the football field and up into the bleachers.
Sammy's practice was just beginning to start by the time I had got into my seat. I scanned the audience, poised to look for any scouts, or scout-looking people. Not that I knew what a scout would look like. I imagined that he looked something like my dad; watching every second, notebook in hand, ready to take notes on everything that happened on the field.
I looked back over at Sammy briefly. He was looking straight at me, as if he already knew what I was doing.
I signed the word 'where?' And he subtly signed back 'back row. 3 o'clock'
My eyes darted over to the back row to Sammy's left. Sure enough I saw a man sat with a notebook and pen in hand. He was wearing a red baseball cap, but I couldn't see what logo was on the front. His grey hair poked out from the sides as he sat in a grey-ish, brown-ish suit. He had rolled the sleeves up to the elbows to give him more space to write. As I looked over at him, I could see him scanning the field, taking in all the players and their abilities. He looked like a predator; ready to pounce on the weakest prey.
Nerves bubbled in my stomach for Sammy. This was a big practice for him, as much as he disagreed. I prayed Sammy would get through it, at least in one piece.
I looked over at him and gave him two thumbs up and the biggest smile I could muster. I hope he didn't need the luck, but I felt it best to give it anyway.
Jake came running over to Sammy, clapped him on the shoulder and pulled him over to where the coach was giving a speech to the over teammates.
I fiddled with the rings on my fingers as I watched in anticipation at the practice going on on the field. Every once in a while Sammy would look up over at me and give me a smile and a air fist pump and I would bang on the chairs in celebration with him. I got strange looks, but I didn't mind, it was more important I be there for Sammy.
I had never seen Sammy practice so hard. Everything that Coach asked him to do, he did it to perfection. On laps, he was the fastest one around, on tackles, he managed to keep the ball every time.
When practice finished I picked up my bag and jacket, ready to march down onto the field and hug Sammy. By the time I had reached the bottom of the bleachers, the scout-looking guy was approaching the team, and more importantly, the coach.
I ran over to Sammy, wrapping my arms around him and shaking his shoulders, knowing that he did the best that he could. Ultimately, I was proud of him.
He gave me a massive squeeze back in response as he wrapped his arms around my waist and spun me around.
When he put me down, I saw the Coach walking over to us, alongside the scout-looking guy. I quickly tapped Sammy's arm like crazy and pointed behind him.
As soon as the scout reached us, he extended his hand to Sammy. I had to really concentrate on his mouth in order to read what he was saying to Sammy.
"You did amazing out there." He said, shaking Sammy's hand, a smile dripping on his face.
"Thank you, sir." Sammy replied courteously. "Honestly, it's an honour to even be talking to you, sir. Thank you so much for coming." He said as he let go of the poor man's hand.
"The honour is mine." He said, placing his right hand on his heart. "Listen son, if you perform like that at the next nationals game, you'll be untraceable."
Untraceable?
"I look forward to seeing your next game. Keep on frying."
Frying? What the heck was going on?
I looked over at Sammy, confusion evident on my face.
"You'll be frying?" I signed over to him.
Sammy just chuckled. "Flying. Not frying." He said inbetween laughs. "As in 'We're Soaring, Flying'"
I didn't know what was stranger, the fact that I misread the word 'flying' for 'frying' or the fact that Sammy knew a High School Musical reference.
"Basically, he said that I would be considered if I played my cards right at the next game." He said, excitement showing through his entire body. He was buzzing, and you could clearly see. He deserved it.
"Well done, Sammy." I signed subtly, bringing him back in for another hug before we separated to get home. He took his car back, dropping Hailey off on the way, and I walked back through my favourite walk, my backpack slung over one shoulder and my jacket in the other.
Hunter's jacket still draped over my arm, I had forgotten that I hadn't seen him today. He wasn't sat on his own staring in the cafeteria like he usually was. I didn't see those piercing green eyes watching the chaos of the school corridor. He wasn't even sat in the bleachers, giving disapproving looks to the cheerleaders and the girls in the bleachers cheering extra loudly.
He wasn't there. And he wouldn't be there for the next couple of days.
Did I know that would affect everything? No.
Did I think it would even bother me? No.
Was I prepared for what would happen next? Absolutely not.