"Are we doing anything after school?" I asked before taking a bite of my pizza.
"What should we do?" Finn turned to us.
"Let's go to the park after school," Carter said.
"Why?" I heard Garrett.
"Breathe in some fresh air. Besides the rain already stopped and the weather is nice."
"Yeah. We can play basketball."
"Yeah, I agree with Ryan. Let's play some basketball," Carter said.
"I'm down. Rox, Garrett?"
"I'll go."
Garrett sighed. "Fine. I'll go, too."
####
"But, mom, I had a date," he spoke into the phone. "If Saturday isn't the actual funeral and it's something else why can't—" he rolled his eyes and nodded. "But, mom, she's not just some girl." He continued to nod. "Alright, fine." He hung up the phone and walked towards me. "Man..."
"What?" I asked.
"I can't go on the date with Roxy."
I raised my eyebrows, before speaking, "Dude, if Garrett finds out, he'll—"
"What?" Garrett walked over to us where we stood in front of the school under a tree.
"I can't go on the date with Roxy."
"Carter, I swear if—"
"No. One of my great aunts passed away and her wake is on Saturday. My mom is making me go. I told her I had a date, and I asked her why I had to go if I didn't even know her."
"What'd she say?" I asked.
"Well when I told her in person earlier, she smacked me upside the head."
I stifled a laugh.
"But I was just on the phone trying to convince her again. She won't budge. Can one of you take her on the date?" His eyes switched back and forth between the two of us. "I already bought the movie tickets. After the movie I was going to take her to Moe's. I even called Moe's and asked them to reserve a table for two just in case they were busy."
"Moe's?" Garrett asked.
"Yeah. Roxy doesn't care about fancy places. Besides, she loves pizza. More than you." He pointed at Garrett.
"You planned all of that?" Garrett asked.
"Of course. It's Roxy. I wasn't going to half-ass it. She deserves a good date. So?"
Garrett turned to look at me and then switched his gaze over to Carter.
"I'll take my Roxanne on a date."
"Great. I'll transfer you the movie tickets later."
Garrett nodded.
We all walked over to the parking lot where we waited for Roxy and Finn to show up. Roxy had been getting some extra credit work from one of her teachers. When they showed up in the parking lot, we all waved goodbye and got into our cars. I made my way home.
When I got home, it was empty. My mom had texted me letting me know she was out with one of her friends. I went up to my room and grabbed a smaller duffel bag. I put in a few hand towels, extra pair of clothes, and the basketball I had. I quickly changed into a black pair of basketball shorts and a navy athletic shirt. I changed my shoes into my workout shoes. I grabbed everything I needed and walked out of my house.
I had picked up Carter since his house was on the way to the park. We sat down at the closest picnic table to the courts, set our stuff down, and waited for the rest to show up.
Finn and Roxy showed up. I looked down at her black leggings and purple yoga mat in her hands.
"You're not playing basketball?"
She shook her head. "I'm just going to do yoga."
"Alright."
She walked over to Garrett just as he was getting here as well and spread out her yoga mat beside him, next to the picnic table where we had set our stuff down.
I turned over to Garrett. He was spreading out a black yoga mat on the ground next to Roxy.
"Garrett."
"What?" he called.
"You too?" I asked.
"Yeah. Roxy didn't want to do it by herself." He shrugged his shoulders.
"How are we going to play? We need another person." Carter turned to me, hands on his hips.
I looked around, looking for another player. There was a guy off to our right, setting a duffle bag on a bench.
"Hey!" I waved him over.
He jogged over. "What's up?" He was my height, had blonde hair, and green eyes.
"We're short of one person. Care to play?"
"Yeah, man. I was actually going to wait for you guys to finish but since you invited me..."
"Alright. I'm Ryan. That's Carter and this is Finn."
"I'm Wyatt."
"Come on, let's play," Carter urged.
We all nodded and did just that. It was Carter and me against Wyatt and Finn.
We kept playing, we were trying to keep up with Wyatt. Who would've known he was really good? He was kicking our butts and it didn't seem like he was breaking a sweat while doing so.
Every few chances I got, I would catch a glimpse of Roxy doing her yoga. Maybe that's where I went wrong because Garrett will always be Garrett.
"Ryan. Why do you keep looking over here? Are you checking us out? I know my form is good but I'm not comfortable with you checking me out."
I rolled my eyes.
Roxy couldn't contain her laughter. She lost form and fell on her yoga mat.
I quickly got back into the game and made an attempt to keep up with Wyatt. It was over before we knew it.
The four of us took a break and sat at the table where we had our stuff.
"Dude, Wyatt, you play a good game," I heard Carter.
"Thanks. I'm captain of my basketball team at school. Varsity."
"Now I know why you won," I said.
"You guys were good too. Do you guys play on your school team?"
We shook our heads.
"I played baseball last year."
"You guys graduated or you're still in high school?" he asked.
"We're seniors in high school," Finn replied. "You?"
"Same with me."
"Hey, hey." Roxy walked over to us, with Garrett right behind her. They each carried their rolled up yoga mats.
"Rox, Garrett, this is Wyatt."
"Hey." Roxy gave a small smile, shaking his hand. She sat beside me and Carter.
"Hey, man." Garrett gave a small nod, sitting beside Wyatt and Finn on the opposite side.
"Crap," we heard Wyatt. He grabbed his phone. "Oh. I though it was late."
"You alright?" Carter questioned.
"Yeah. I thought time slipped from me. My friend is going to meet me here," he said, looking around.
We nodded our heads.
"She should be here by now." He turned, looking for her. "I see her." He stood. "I'll be back." He walked away.
"Is that the guy you guys were playing basketball with?" Roxy asked.
"Yeah."
"Hey, guys, this is Lauren." Wyatt walked back to the table. There was a tall girl beside him. She wore a black and gray tank top and black basketball shorts with her brunette hair tied up in a ponytail.
Wyatt took his seat from before.
"Lauren, you can sit on my lap." He had a cheeky smile.
She rolled her eyes, sighing.
"What? I'm joking." He laughed.
"You can sit beside me," Roxy said. "Carter, can you scoot over?"
He was siting at the end. He nodded his head and scooted a bit. I scooted as well and so did Roxy, making room for Lauren at the end.
"Thanks," she said.
"Hey." Roxy turned to her. "If you don't mind me asking, how tall are you?"
"I'm five feet tall with ten inches."
"What? No way. So am I." Roxy beamed.
"Really?"
"Yeah." Roxy stood and so did Lauren.
They both compared height. They were both the same height. They were actually similar. With their height and hair color except the eyes. Roxy had green eyes while Lauren had blue eyes.
"That's so cool. I found someone who's my height," I heard Roxy, as they both sat down.
We ended up talking to Wyatt and Lauren for a while. They were pretty cool people. I could tell Wyatt liked Lauren by the way he would look at her when she spoke.
Lauren was a junior in school and also played on her schools varsity team. They told us they didn't go to the same school but were friends because of basketball. That's why she was going to meet Wyatt at the park. They were going to play basketball but instead we all ended up chilling and talking. She let us know she didn't mind though.
When it started getting late, we packed up our stuff. The guys and I exchanged numbers with Wyatt, which Roxy and Lauren exchanged numbers.
We told Wyatt that we would invite him to another of Rogelio's parties, but in true Rogelio fashion, Wyatt already knew him and had been to his parties before.
People from different schools attended Rogelio's parties so it was no surprise Wyatt already knew him.
"Maybe we'll see you at his next party," Wyatt said, waving, as he and Lauren got into his truck.