sunsets with jude

chapter seven - next to nothing

chapter 7 / next to nothing

"Oh, V. The fact you're not setting your feet when you throw would make my mom lose her shit." Having a die-hard softball fan as a mom earns me a lot of yelling at for sucking ass, but it turned me into the "helpful" teammate I am.

Tori flashes me her middle finger. "You caught it, didn't you, EJ?"

"I had to chase the motherfucking ball down to catch it." I stand with my feet decently far away from each other, the neon yellow ball landing in Tori's glove seconds later. "Just like that, babe."

Her throw back to me was almost identical to mine. "How's that, Coach Shapiro?"

I laugh at the nickname I earned. "Beautiful." My phone buzzes in the pocket of my shorts. Annoyed, I realize Tori spent three hours listening to my help. "My bad, V. I'm turning into Coach Miller with his ridiculous throwing drills."

Tori chuckles. "Emi, you're far nicer than that annoying old man."

A roar from a group of girls a couple years younger than us pierces my ears. The cheer came from the soccer field on the other side of the park. "It's like travel ball all over again."

"We were so loud after we won that it's no surprise the other team was being sore losers." Tori recalls, taking a seat at a nearby table. "Want to get food and hit the beach club later? My mom is letting me go out again."

I nod excitedly and join her at the table. "It's hotter than the devil's coochie these days. I'd love to."

Another girl joins in on our excitement. From the way she almost jumps for joy to the partially taken out French braids in her hair, I can tell she's the culprit of the yelling earlier. She turns toward us and decides to talk to me.

"Hey. Congrats on the win." I say, trying not to freak out.

The girl thanks me and her grin touches both corners of her eyes. "I should introduce myself since this is pretty awkward. I'm Abbey."

"Nice to meet you, Abbey. I'm Emilia." My gut tells me Abbey is awfully familiar. Did she tour the school a while back and I saw her then? Is she someone's sister? I can't put my finger on it, but I've definitely seen her face.

"Oh yeah!" Abbey gasps, her face lighting up. "You're really pretty, Emilia. Don't you attend my brother's school?"

I'm flattered. I swear, my heart is so full. Ever since I turned pretty, the sweet girls and the occasional sleazy boy at my school pay me compliments. Hearing that from a younger girl is the icing on the cake. 

"I appreciate it." I reply, curious to know who her brother was. 

Jude's arrival makes it all make sense. He's wearing the same tank top from last night with a pair of shorts. He quickly greets me, then turns to his little sister. "Abbey. We don't have time to make friends.

"Be quiet." She snaps, making Tori nearly spit out her water.

"Don't let her charisma fool you. She's literally demonic."

"He's a good tutor, but even better at making a fool of himself." Abbey retorts, earning an eye roll from Jude. From their full pink lips to the dimples on both siblings' cheeks, there's no questioning whether they're related. Abbey is literally the female version of her brother, even though her hair is more on the dark blonde side and her eyes are pools of hazel.

A voice with an English accent pierced my ears again. "Children! Mum probably thinks we're dead because we're taking forever!"

"My bad, Dad. Jude got busy talking to our neighbor." Abbey snitches, a smirk playing on her lips as she throws her brother under the bus. Embarrassed, Jude covers his face by lifting up the wife beater. At this point, I feel my cheeks reddening.