THIS IS JAMES'S POV SO IDK HOPE Y'ALL LIKE IT hehehehe
"James!"
I shake my head, not today I am way to tired today. I groan as my door flies open.
"You guys suck." I tell Kyle, Derek, and Steve as they bust into my room.
"And you don't lock your door." Kyle responds ever so loudly. "Were you expecting someone?" he asks slyly.
"Maybe a certain-" I smash my hand over Steve's mouth.
"Oh don't be shy James you chose a good girl. Taylor looked hot last night." Kyle laughs.
I get up and push him over, he doesn't have the right. Doesn't have the right to say I like Taylor and definitively doesn't have the right to call her hot. He doesn't know her.
"Woah, woah there hulk, you can't get too jealous." Derek smirks.
"I don't even like her!" I shout.
"Oh of course not." Kyle laughs, getting up and transitioning into a falsetto, "'Oh I don't know, I just like being around her and she's pretty but oh does she like me?' Pathetic dude."
I push him again, he stays on his feet this time. That is not what I said. Ok maybe it's close. But I made it sound better.
"You are pathetic dude." Steven comments.
"And based off last night-" Derek starts.
"Yeah about last night you could not have been more obvious!" I shout at Kyle.
"She didn't notice." Derek responds.
"And you!" I exclaim, "You just acted creepy!"
"And you protected her! See we made you look like a hero with out even meaning to!" Kyle announces, clapping his hands together.
"You guys are heading towards an early death and shallow graves." I mutter.
"Oh please, if you don't have the guts to ask out a girl like Taylor you don't have the guys to kill us." Steve scoffs.
That ignites something. Who the hell does he think he is? "A girl like Taylor? What the hell is that supposed to mean!" I growl, clenching my fists and walking towards them.
"Oh you know it's just not like she's Eliza Wood or something." Steve answers.
That's it. I swing my fist which momentarily contacts with Steve's jaw until Derek pulls me away.
"What the hell?!" Steve yells. Kyle chuckles, he knows how much I hate Eliza.
She's the most popular and bitchy girl in school who also happens to think I love her. It is my life's goal to see a 'for sale' sign in front of her house. She has a habit of each week pointing out the girl she thought was the nerdiest and ugliest. For five weeks in a row it was Taylor.
The thought alone makes me want to hit her, which, of course, I didn't. I had simply made it very clear I would rather date Taylor than her. Not clear enough though because Eliza was back two weeks later laughing about it.
"Eliza Wood can go-" I get cut off by Derek.
"Woah there little buddy lets not say something we'll regret."
"I wouldn't regret anything." I mutter. Derek only calls me 'little buddy' when he or I am really pissed. It doesn't help Derek is 6'9: over 5 inches taller than me.
"Ok, ok, sorry. Eliza's a bitch. Still I don't know what you see in Taylor." Steve shrugs.
"I don't see anything cause I don't like her!" I snap. That's what I tell myself every day, every time I see her. I know it's a lie. She's beautiful even though she doesn't know it, she's smart even though she does know it, and ever since I first laid my eyes on her when I was 7 I knew I wanted her to like me.
Unfortunately she seemed to think the exact opposite of me.
"Come on." Kyle says genuinely, that's rare, "I saw the way you looked at her when she came through the door last night."
Taylor had looked perfect, I had been frozen in place. But it didn't end well for me did it? "That stupid kid made her flirt with Josh, I told her he liked her. They're probably dating now." I sigh.
"You set her up with Josh?" Derek asks, wide eyed.
"I didn't set her up, I made her aware of how Josh felt." I reply, slumped over on my bed.
"And they got together?" Steve asks sitting down next to me.
"I don't know, probably." I answer, putting my head in my hands. I want to hate Taylor but I can't.
"That's only a maybe." Kyle answers, sitting on the other side of me.
"They've been best friends forever, I don't imagine it would be to hard for then to have taken the next step." I groan.
"Come on, you're not going to brood all day. Put on a shirt and pants, we're taking you out." Kyle announces.
"I have pants on idiot."
"Pajama pants dude. You're wearing grey flannel pajama pants." Derek deadpans.
I gather up a smirk, "Treat for the ladies, me in my pajamas."
"Ladies? Or Taylor?" Steve mutters.
I frown, idiots.
"Just put on a shirt." Kyle rolls his eyes. I smile faintly and pull open my drawer. Mostly t-shirts, a couple band tees shoved to the bottom, a hoodie or two.
Grabbing a light blue shirt I shrug it on then turn to the three guys in my room who are basically watching me get dressed.
"You guys wanna leave? Or are you gonna watch me change pants?" I ask, smirking.
"Leaving." Steve announces and the three guys file out. I roll my eyes and put on jeans, it's just cold enough outside that shorts weren't an option.
I wonder what Taylor- no. I'm not going to wonder about that. As far as I know, she's taken. I'm not going to like a girl with a boyfriend.
When I get downstairs the guys have raided my kitchen for all it's worth, bagels are heating up in the toaster and bottles of Snapple are strewn around the kitchen table.
My mom pulls me aside, "You're cleaning all this up." she whispers and I take a side long glance at the mess.
"I guess." I respond and my mom walks out.
"I'm going grocery shopping, I'll be back in a bit." she announces.
"By Mrs. Spencer." my friends chorus.
That's as polite as they get. The minute she leaves they're back to discussing the football line ups, and occasionally three-part harmonizing to various pop songs.
I fit in with these guys, I love football, I sing loudly and obnoxiously (but I was still best) and I eat just as much as they did. Still, today I was weary of it. Too much noise.
"Dude, Adrian Peterson, deserving of salary or not?" Steve asked.
I shrugged, "He's kinda mediocre." That starts a heated debate.
Bagels pop out of the toaster and cream cheese is slathered on, I mentally noted to ask my mom if she bought more.
"Ok." Kyle says, swallowing bagel and putting a hand to the table, "Down to business."
"Yes!" Derek exclaims.
"You, my lucky friend are teaching our brothers to play football." Kyle announces.
I raise an eyebrow, "This is gonna help me?" I ask.
"Yep, Shayne and Marc need the help too." Kyle smiles.
Shayne is Kyle's 10 year old brother who's set on being just like, well, me. It's weird he and Marc, Stevens brother are best friends and always ask me for tips on playing. They're decent players I guess.
"But first we're going to Starbucks cause you look like a zombie." Steve adds.
"No." I answer wide eyed.
The guys stare at me and I sigh, what's the chance it's her shift.
"I'm not in the mood for coffee." I amend, hoping it's believable.
"Yes, you are. C'mon let's go." Kyle says, shoving his plate forward. The guys ate fast.
With a surprising pace all three of them were out the door and heading to my jeep. I sigh and get behind the wheel.
I dread getting to Starbucks, it's 1:00 does she work then? I really hope not.
When I park the car the guys spring out, five dollar bills going in and out of pockets and wallets.
I peek in the window and survey the baristas. Crap. Oh crap. There she is, making some drink and muttering under her breath.
"Uh dark roast, you guys know, I gotta go to the bathroom." I tell no one in specific, tossing a five dollar bill at Derek.
I speed off before Taylor has the chance to notice me. I get to the bathroom and close the door, leaning against the wall next to it.
Come on, why is she always here? How often does she work?
I must lean there for a solid 5 minutes before I walk out slowly.
"Dark roast Americano!" One barista shouts to Taylor. I squeeze my eyes shut, dammit.
Taylor looks up, head swiveling around the room, her eyes land on me and I bite my lip, why? Why me?
She furrows her brow and I can't help but notice the little crease she gets in her forehead. She looks over at Derek, Kyle, and Steve. Then, all four look back to me.
That's it, the cosmos have singled me out for all the suffering possible. I clench my jaw and spin on my heels, walking right back into the bathroom.
I bang my head against the wall, I'm so stupid. I should have just got my coffee and acted normal. That way I wouldn't have been stuck in a bathroom.
I walk out with as much dignity as I can muster and meet Kyle and the guys.
"So sorry." Steve whispers sympathetically.
I sigh at look at him, "Yeah whatever."
I grab my coffee after the others and I'm about to walk off when something wraps around my wrist.
I turn, Taylor's there, biting her lip. She's holding my wrist. "Uh." She stammers, "Can I just say something?" she asks.
I walk back over, nodding, "Yeah what's up?" I ask, conjuring up a smirk, don't know where that one came from.
"Uh, thanks for telling me about Josh, you were right." she says.
I wince inside, wow that one hurt. "When am I wrong?" I ask. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep up the attitude.
She smiles a bit, "You were only half right, he liked Clara more, they're together now, not us."
What. Oh dear lord wHAT! YES, YES, THIS IS GOOD, YES EVERYTHING IS COMING UP SPENCER! OH THANK GOD. VICTORY DANCE, YESSSSSS!
I smile widely, "Well, I think that's good enough." I laugh.
She smiles too, knitting her brows in a happy confusion. After she lets go of my hand I walk towards the guys.
I'm smiling like an idiot inside but I try to suppress it.
Steve states at me, "Dude do you wanna leave? Like do you wanna, um." he casts a glance at Taylor.
I roll my eyes, "It's unsafe to drink coffee while driving."
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"What was that?" Derek yells as we drive towards his house.
I smile, "Everything's coming up Spencer."
Kyle tilts his head and I smile.
"Let's just say I might've been wrong in telling Taylor Josh liked her." I say, smiling.
There eyes fly open.
"Great job man!" Steve yells clapping my back.
"That's my boy!" Kyle cries.
"Bloody brilliant!" Derek announces. His dad is British.
They asks for details, slap my back and shoulder in congratulations but I just keep driving.
We reach the house and I jump out, Shayne and Marc are on the lawn.
"Tackle me first!" I yell, running out and slamming into Shayne. I pick him up and whirl him around. The kid squirms out from under my grip and jumps, landing squarely on top of me.
"Got him!" he announces triumphantly.
Marc jumps on too and I grunt, laughing heavily.
"Oh gosh! Boys!" Derek's mother yells.
I laugh, "It's ok Mrs. Jones! They beat me fair and square!"
"Oh yeah we did!" Marc yells.
"Not for long." I grunt, getting up and smashing into the kids. Eventually Derek and Kyle join in with the boys while Steve and I fend them off.
Then Steve, being the traitor he is, switches sides and the group crashes on top of me. I laugh and hold my hands up.
"I surrender!" Shayne and Marc laugh.
I smile, things are good, really good.
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Ok back to Taylor's POV, we learned a lot about James didn't we? ;) Remember: comments make updates come faster!
Clara is rushing around Audrey's room. "He asked me out again! We're at dinner and I'm thinking, I'm being an idiot, then he goes and asks me out again!" she squeals happily.
Me and Audrey exchange a look, Clara's been practically in love with Josh for weeks and them as a couple is really working out.
"I totally ship Closh." Audrey replies.
I snicker, "Although Closh and Jara are both awful ship names; I ship it too."
Clara squeals again.
I smile and glance out the window, I only notice I'm looking at the Spencer's house when James walks into the backyard, holding two kids over his shoulders.
I quirk up my eyebrows. Kyle, Derek, and Steve are following him with footballs in hand.
James puts the kids down after spinning them around, he's smiling a real smile. Not a sarcastic smirk or the sly smile of a boy trying to hard, just a smile. It's kinda pretty.
Did I just think that? My eyes fly open at the revaluation.
I glance over at Clara and Audrey, they're still talking and don't seem to have noticed.
I look out the window. Kyle is placing the guys into two teams. James starts taking off his shirt along with Steve and one of the kids.
Shirts and Skins?
I try really hard. I really do. I listen to Clara, I comment with Audrey, I turn the chair away, but I do. I stare at James. He's, frankly, toned.
His abs, even from this distance, are rather distinct. I close my eyes and look back at Audrey.
I can't think things like this. He's James Spencer.
I listen to Clara talk about the dinner for a while before I look out the window again.
James appears to have been tackled by one of the little kids. He's lying on the ground laughing. I smile, he looks so at ease. He's not making a sarcastic remark or being cold, he's just enjoying himself. It's, it's, well, cute. Kind of adorable.
Oh dear lord. I think, terrified. No. I do not, can not, will not, have a crush on James.
I close the curtains, "To sunny." I lie. Audrey nods.
"So." I smirk, "How's Simon?" Audrey blushes.
Clara's eyes widen, "I did not hear about this."
Ok, Clara's met Simon once.
"Uh, well, he texted me-" As soon as Audrey says 'texted' I dive for her phone.
"Yoink!" I shout, opening her phone to the texts. I know everyone's passcodes, it is not a mutual relationship.
"Simon: 'Hey, uh, wanna get coffee or something sometime?'" I read, "Audrey: 'Oh yeah, thanks. When should I-'" Audrey snatches the phone away.
I laugh as she blushes furiously, "I like this game! For once you guys have something to make gun of and I don't!"
Audrey and Clara scowl and exchange a glance. I chuckle, this is fun.
"What about uh," Audrey bites her lip.
"James!" Clara finishes, the girls nod at each other.
I scowl, ok maybe he's good looking but.
"Really?" I ask incredulous, "That's what you guys are gonna try?" I chuckle a bit.
"Fine, go on, tell me how I like James." I sit back in the beanbag and throw up my hands.
They narrow there eyes, "No really!" I laugh, "Tell me, I'm curious!"
"You went for that coffee with him!" Audrey announces, jabbing her finger in the air.
"He suggested it and my mom was kicking me out of the house." I shrug, "Plus you guys weren't around."
"But you had fun!" Clara shouts.
I scrunch up my nose, "He was annoying as hell." I reply, remembering everything we had in common. Why did it have to be so much?
Audrey scowls.
"I win." I singsong.
But do you really?
Close the window.
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BA friggin BOOM.
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Thanks to @bookcorner who is making this story possible!