#Chapter5

“Give me a minute. I will change my clothes and we will go to the game”.– Mia said and went to the bathroom.

Meanwhile I was in my room looking at my clothes. I went to the mirror and looked at myself. I sighed. The skirt was really too short. I have never worn such clothes. It was mid-thigh. And top was just covering my chest and showing off my bare stomach. I came closer to look at my face. As usual I didn’t like how I was looking. I really consider myself ugly and strange. So I just changed everything. I wore a pair of trousers and a T-shirt. Of course there are some people who made me think that I’m awful, but I also made a lot of effort to continue it.

I took a lipgloss from the box under my bed which was hidden really deep. I started putting the lipgloss on my lips. I think it was beautiful, but it looked better on someone who was more beautiful than me. I looked at myself again and I felt really annoyed about how I looked and I just whipped the lipgloss away.

“How do I look?Stop! Have you changed your look?”– Mia asked coming from the bathroom.

She was wearing a green pair of shorts which were also short. She didn’t wear a shirt, nor she wore a top. She wore a bra which was like a top probably. But damn! It was really too open.

“Yes, I have and are you sure you want to go with such revealing clothes?”– I asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Kylie, shut up. I love it. You just don’t like such open clothes, to be honest, you don’t like any girly clothes”.– she said rolling her eyes.

“Yes! I have been saying it to you since you started wearing it!”– I yelled. She rolled her eyes again.

“Let’s go, or the game will start without us being there!”– she said and pulled my hand.

We went to her car and sat inside. She started the car.

“How is Gill?”– I asked about her boyfriend.

“Okay, but we had a little fight. But I hope it is like always nothing important”.– she answered and I heard some cracks in her voice.

I think it’s better not to talk about it.

“How is Raf?”– she asked and smiled at me.

I rolled my eyes and said:

“How should I know? Good probably... as always. Probably with some bimbos!”– I said, rolling down the window and looking outside.

“Riiight. Veeery good”.– she said sprawling every word.

“Why am I friends with you?”– I asked tapping fingers on the window.

“Because you love me and I’m one of a kind for you!”– she answered.

We laughed together. She was really special. Mia was always there with me through the roughest patches of my life. I don’t know what I would do without her.

When we came I saw a lot of boys in uniforms. Our team had blue uniform, the other team had black one. I noticed my brother, Raf and Dylan talking. I looked around to see where to sit, but Mia wrapped my wrist and pulled me to the guys. Yes, I didn’t want to go to them, because I felt strange near them.

The game started. Lincoln threw the ball to Raf who was already far from him. When the ball was coming to Raf I thought that he wouldn’t catch because it was really hard, but he did it! He caught it! Then he started running with it. I saw that he wanted to throw the ball to Dylan, who was behind him, not in front of him, but it was a lie, they wanted to confuse Red Tigers and it was going well. They really thought that Raf would throw the ball to the back and some players ran to Dylan. Doing so there weren’t as many opponents near Raf. So he was running and running until he came to the end and throw the ball down. Yes! Touchdown! Our school started screaming: “Raf! Raf! Raf!” He was really good at it, because he made it easier to win. And I was pretty amazed.

They continued playing. Linc decided to run a little closer to Shawn, so he could catch it and throw it to Raf. Shawn caught it, but someone pushed him hard and he fell down. It was Jordan. Of course, he likes playing dirty. I heard Shawn screaming. I guess he got a trauma.

“Time out!”– Lincoln screamed.

“Are you okay, buddy?”– Dylan asked putting a hand on his shoulder.

Shawn screamed.

“I guess I got a shoulder dislocation!”– Shawn said closing his eyes from pain.

I saw Raf running to Jordan.

“What the fuck?”– Raf screamed and pushed Jordan.

He fell down and started laughing.

“King, do you have a problem?”– Jordan said and smirked.

“You will have them now, idiot!”– Raf said and clenched a fist to hit him, but Lincoln caught it.

“Calm down! He wants it, you know!”– brother said.

Raf backed down and went to Shawn. Mia and I decided to go to them.

“Are you Okay, Shawn?”– I asked.

“Yeah, I will live”.– he said and laughed. I chuckled and put my hand on his shoulder softly so it couldn’t hurt him.

“Okay, let’s show them how bitter will be their loss!”–Raf screamed and went to the field.

Linc and Dylan followed him. It was the last game. If we make a touchdown, we win. Lincoln threw the ball and Dylan caught it. He ran to Raf and threw a ball to him. Raf caught it and continued the way. He was so close to the victory, but Jordan put his leg on his way. Raf fell down and started circling but he still had the ball in his hands. I thought that it was the end and that we lost, but I noticed Raf jumping up with a ball in his hands and he continued running and made the touchdown! “YEEEESSS! RAF! RAF!”– the crowd started screaming. He made it! I can’t believe it! But how? I was really impressed. Mia and I ran down to congratulate boys. “Congratulations!”– I screamed to Lincoln and Dylan. I wanted to find Raf to tell him that he was amazing, but I couldn’t find him. I thought that probably he was in locker room to drink some water or something. He definitely was there, but not for what I assumed. He was there kissing with Charlotte. Ew. Ew. Ew. Can I just get this picture out of my head? I guess no. I went to Dylan and Linc.

“Damn, guys! You were fantastic. You definitely know how to annoy Jordan!”– I said looking around to see Jordan.

He was, as I expected, red as tomato and he was yelling on his teammates about how shitty players they are. Loser.

“Hey, Jordan! I always knew you were a loser, but now I am sure about it!”– Dylan screamed for Jordan to hear.

We laughed.

“Guys, where is Jeremy?”– Mia asked.

I didn’t notice that he wasn’t there during the game, but I definitely saw him in the beginning.

“Shawn, have you seen Jeremy?”– Linc asked.

“No, he went somewhere in the beginning and didn’t return”.– he replied and left the field.

I called Jeremy but he declined the call. I called him again and he answered.

“Jeremy! Damn! Where are you? We are worried!”– I asked, cracking my fingers.

“I am at home. It’s not a good time to talk. I will talk to you later!”– he said and hung up on me.

“Where is he?”– Mia asked.

“At home”.– I answered confusingly.

“What-“– I interrupted Linc from yelling:

“I think something happened. He will explain later”.– I said and looked at my phone, checking if he texted me.

But there weren’t any new messages.

“Guys, let’s celebrate!”– I heard Raf screaming.

He walked to us with Charlotte near him.

“Yeah! Let’s do it!”– Dylan said.

“Let’s go!”– Lincoln said and went to locker room to change.

Mia and I waited for them outside near the car.

“What happened to Jeremy?”– she asked me suddenly, while I was looking down.

“I don’t know. But his voice was really strange and I think he will tell us about it tomorrow!”– I said putting my hands together.

Mia nodded and said:

“Where did you go when we were congratulating guys, by the way?”

“Oh, I went searching for Raf to congratulate him”.– I said, remembering what I had seen and vomiting deep down.

“And did you find him?”– she asked and smirked cunningly.

“Yeah, but I couldn’t bother his and Charlotte’s making out session”.– I said and scrunched my nose with a smile.

“And?”– she asked.

“And... What?”– I asked.

“Oh, come on, we all know that-“– she was interrupted by guys coming out of the school.

“Sis, are you coming with us?”– Linc asked.

“Oh, I don’t know. I have a lot of things to do-“– I was interrupted by Dylan:

“Princess, let’s go. It will be funny!”

I smiled at him and he did the same. I rolled my eyes and said:

“I’m coming!”

Dylan put his hand over my shoulder and said:

“Yeah, Princess, you are cool!” I chuckled and said:

“You too”.

We sat in the car. Mia was driving, Lincoln sat in the passenger seat near Mia. I was in the middle of Raf and Dylan.

“God, I’m tired”.– Dylan said and put his head on my shoulder.

“You are lying. You can’t get tired so easily!”– I said and chuckled.

“You are right, but I still want to have my head on your shoulder”.– he said and caught some strands of my hair.

I was also tired after the work, so I put my head on his one.

“It’s so cute! We are like brother and sister!”– Dylan said.

“Will you shut up?”– Raf asked angrily.

“You are just jealous, jerk!”– Dylan said.

I started laughing.

“Jealous of you?”– Raf asked.

We finally came to the cafe and we got out of the car.

“Yeah, because I have such a friend like Kylie, and you don’t have!”– Dylan said as we stopped near the car. I didn’t really know when we had become friends, but okay.

“Please, I don’t need such a person like Kylie in my life!”– Raf said.

Ouch. I know that we like dislike each other but I didn’t know that he thought about me that way.

“Wow, thank you!”– I said.

“Ky-“– he started, but I didn’t want to listen any more words coming from his mouth.

“Screw you! I won’t bother you anymore. But looking so, you were the one who wanted to talk with me”.– I said and went quickly to the cafe.

“Princess!”– I heard Dylan calling me but I wanted to start and end this celebration as quickly as possible.

This cafe was familiar to me. I was there once with Mia and Jeremy. It was called “Daisy”. This cafe was purple and pink. I liked the style but it was too girly as for me. I sat near Mia and then Dylan came and sat near me. Raf sat near Lincoln.

“I want to wash my hands. Who is coming with me?”– Lincoln said.

Mia and Dylan got up with Lincoln and they went to the bathroom. Great, Raf and I were left alone.

“Listen, Peanut. I-“– I interrupted him and said:

“Stop it! I understand that I’m not as cool as Charlotte, that’s why you don’t want to talk to me. You know, I’m used to it. Whole my life everyone made it clear that they don’t want me in their life. Probably it’s because my glasses, like I look like a nerd or something. But I just want people who really care about me. And you are definitely not the one. You will now say that you are sorry, but you are not”.– I trailed off and put my legs on the seat, playing with my fingers nervously.

“I am”.– he said and I lifted up my head.

“I am sorry. I just was angry because of Jordan and I wanted to hurt someone. You appeared to be the one!”–he said and looked out the window.

We sat in the silence. I was disappointed, but why? He was exactly that type of person who “judges the book by its cover”, the look is the priority for him and nothing more and nothing less is needed. I guess, I was stupid to believe that he wasn’t like that. I felt bad, like my throat was tightening because I got tired of such conversations. He said that he didn’t mean it, maybe it was the truth? No! Kylie, stop! You know what people like him need.

Guys came and we started ordering the food. A blonde girl came to take the order. She was looking at Raf and smiling. Raf was looking at his phone and he didn’t notice her.

“Can I take your order?”– she asked really loudly, probably for Raf to hear.

“Yeah...”– Linc started telling her what we want. We just ordered 3 pizzas and 5 bottles of Coke.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything else?”– she asked coming closer to Raf.

“I think my friends have already said that that’s all!”– he answered, tapping something in the phone. When the girl saw that Raf wasn’t paying any attention on her she left angrily. We started eating. Suddenly my phone started ringing. I took it and saw “Mom” on it. I was looking at the screen. Lincoln asked:

“Who is it? Take it!”

I didn’t want to take it. Lincoln took the phone from my hands and looked at the screen:

“You still haven’t changed the name of this number?”

“No, and I won’t do it. You know why!”– I said adjusting my glasses.

He accepted the call and went out to talk.

“Who was it?”– Mia asked. I shook my head and put my head in my hands.

I looked around and saw Dylan and Raf staring at me.

“Are you Okay, Princess?”– Dylan asked and Raf rolled his eyes.

“I’m okay”.– I answered.

Lincoln came back and gave me the phone. We continued talking. I was quiet as Raf was too.

“Guys, I gotta go. You can stay and I will go home. Congratulations again, boys!”– I said and everyone got up.

I hugged Mia and Dylan and went out of the cafe. I was going to the bus stop, but then I heard Raf coming my way.

“Wait! Peanut!”– he screamed.

“What? And why are you calling me peanut?”– I asked.

“It’s a secret!”– he said.

“What do you want, Raf. I am tired and I want to sleep!”– I said.

“I wanted to give you a lift”.– he said and stretched the back of his neck.

“No, thank you. Go to the guys. I will wait for a bus”.– I said and continued going.

He grabbed my hand and pulled it.

“No, it’s dangerous at this late hour, I will give you a lift. Let’s go!”– he said and pulled me to the car.

I pulled out my hand from his and said:

“What do you want? You can’t just be the jerk one second, and then be a good boy another second. You made it clear that we shouldn’t be friends. And I agree with you finally”.– I said and turned my back.

“I guess you didn’t forgive me, but I want to drive you home. And then it’s your choice to forgive me or not”.– he was saying loudly and strictly.

I went to the car and sat inside. We started driving. I was looking outside the window not to meet his eyes.

“Did you like the game?”– Raf asked me, breaking the silence.

“Yeah”.– I answered.

“Have you seen Jordan’s face?”– he asked me.

“Yes, he was angry”.– I said and put a little smile on my face.

Then he looked at me and understood that I don’t want to talk to him.

We came to my home. “Thank you!”– I said and opened the doors.

“I hope you will forgive me eventually!”– he said and I closed the doors.

I went to the doors of my house and knocked at the doors. I looked back to see him in the car still there. It looked like dad hasn’t been at home yet. I took the keys and opened the doors. I glared at him one last time and closed the doors. I quickly went to the windows to see if he had already driven away. But he was still there. I went to my room and changed my clothes. I looked at the window and he was still there. Why? I went to the bathroom, had a quick shower and brushed my teeth. Then I changed into my pajamas and lied down on my bed. I remembered again the words, which Raf had said to me earlier. I just felt so weird, but now it got worse. I went to the mirror to look at myself. Yeah, I didn’t change. I was still the nerdy Kylie, ugly girl. I look at the mirror really often with hope of seeing something new and something that I will like. But it’s senseless. I’m not a character of a happy book in which the nerd changes and becomes the most popular person in the world.

I looked out the window again. He wasn’t there. He left.