CHAPTER 14: Sucker Match
"Pass it to Ronaldo! Pass it to Ronaldo!!!" Sage kept shouting at the lifeless screen in front of us.
I've brought a lot of girls home but Sage has got to be the loudest. It's ironic because we're not even doing... what I usually do to make girls scream, yet she's yelling as if her life depended on it.
She is the most annoying gamer ever!
I don't understand how something so small could produce such loud sounds. If she weren't a girl I would have stuffed her controller in her mouth and tied the cord around her neck.
After letting her stay, I invited her to play FIFA to kill the awkwardness and boredom. I plugged the console Louie handed down to me as a gift for my 15th birthday. It's secondhand but it was the best present I ever got. That's what you get when you've got rich friends.
It's an epic match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. If you're a soccer fan, you would already know that Sage is controlling Real Madrid and I'm with Barca.
The scores were 2-4 and I was two points behind but it's only because she keeps shouting orders and profanities at the TV screen and it's making me lose focus.
"Would you shut up?! You're making me lose my game!" I shouted at her with eyes glued to the screen and thumbs furiously murdering the controller.
"Typical noob excuse," she said and kept on shouting at the screen! "Come on, Morata! Show the world you're not just a pretty face with a jersey and thousand-dollar cleats!"
Why was she even shouting? It's not like the players were gonna hear her. Nice pep talk and all, but guess what, Sage. They can't hear you!
"Haha! Suck on that, Dewirth!" I screamed triumphantly as Neymar scored a goal. 3-4! I've got this game in the bag!
"Lucky shot. I was having a hard time seeing the ball because of the glare on the TV," she pathetically excused.
"Typical noob excuse," I copied her.
"Shut up," she said, stretching out her right leg to kick me.
She's pretty feisty for a small person who has just injured her left ankle.
"How's Kaye?" I asked, out of the blue.
"Great. She's going back to school on Tuesday," she answered still focusing on the screen.
Yes!
"Cool. Why was she in the hospital in the first place?" I asked.
"Some problem with her cervix. They said it was torn when she had her abortion," she casually answered, making me drop my controller.
I don't know what shocked me more, the news about Kaye or how calm and nonchalant Sage sounded about it. She didn't even turn to look at me. It's like she just told me something as ordinary as, "Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell."
"What?!" I shrieked. "Kaye had an abortion?! How come we didn't hear abou--"
I was cut off by the applause coming from the TV.
"Christiano Ronaldo scores another goal!" the commentator announced making my head snap back to the TV.
Ronaldo was showboating and the score was 3-5, Real Madrid on the lead.
"You're so gullible!" said Sage then burst out on fits of laughter. "You shoulda seen your face!"
That trickster! I thought as I narrowed my eyes at her. She was ROFL. I grabbed my controller and quickly made Messi charge forward and make the goal. Sage stopped laughing when she heard the Barca fans jeer.
"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.