close enough, lynn loud

4, play hard to get

Fall for her? What was she thinking? Why would I fall for Kiley?

You're under the covers with nothing but the streetlight outside keeping your bedroom ceiling lit. You're in the middle of trying to sleep when you finally allow yourself to think about Lynn. What makes her think you would fall for Kiley? She didn't even know you liked girls.

You shook your head before letting out a deep breath. Whatever, it's not like you were easy to get. Your mind wanders back to the deal you and Mike made.

"What's in it for me?" you finally ask. You don't know why you did, but something was telling you this couldn't just be a simple favor. This was gonna be a deal.

"Well, what do you want?" he grins.

You don't respond for a few seconds, then you see Lynn head towards you from the field so you say the first thing that comes to your mind.

"Get me on the cheer team."

Maybe you should've asked for a better favor. Even when you were planning on setting up Lynn with another guy, the best thing you wanted in return was more time to spend with her.

You had friends, you had lots of friends! It's not like you only hung around her. People ask to sit with you during lunch all the time because you helped them with school work or met them working on projects and events the student council handled. Although, you always ended up declining to sit with Lynn instead.

You might not be able to be with Lynn, but you could be close to her, right?

Since Mike's one of the starters for the men's football team and from what you hear, he was a good player. The coach favored him, and not just that, but the cheerleaders liked him.

That puts your mind at ease. One yawn is all takes until you're knocked out for the day.

-

Lynn is a simple girl. She likes all the good things in life. Sports, food, and winning. That was her big three.

She's had problems in the past with competitiveness and being too aggressive, losing friends because of it. Everyone but you. You've always understood her, better than any of her ten siblings ever could. You could read her like a book. You didn't mind when she was "rowdy and messy" like her sisters complained.

She doesn't know why she hasn't driven you away. What it was that made you stay. You two didn't have much in common except for one thing. Video games.

You had this PlayStation in your room that you two played with for hours on end. You didn't go easy on her or underestimate her, always up for a good challenge. She would win, give or take, sixty percent of the time. Which was low for her! Needless to say, you could handle her without getting butt hurt when you lost.

Sleepovers with you happened more than once a week. She's at your house more than she's at her actual home. What can she say? You're the only person that can handle her insane snoring problem.

She's realized for a long time that you've been her balance. If she had a big three, she wouldn't mind switching one of them out if it was for you. You were her only exception.

She was glad you weren't in a relationship. If you were, would that mean you wouldn't take the time to hang out with her anymore? Would you finally realize how much she lacked as a friend?

Now that Kiley was acting up, asking about you and plotting whatever it was she was plotting. Lynn can't help but get antsy. Of course, people have asked her to set them up with you. You're beautiful and smart and kind. All the best adjectives.

But this time, it's different. This is Kiley we're talking about. She's turned straight girls gay and gay boys straight. She's the number one womanizer, and all of her victims have the same story. Each one of them gets their heart broken in the ending. You couldn't become one of them, she won't allow it.

She couldn't even sleep a wink last night. Lucy had to throw a pillow at her cause she wouldn't stop rolling in bed every ten seconds.

When she told Lucy about it, Lucy said "That seems like a sign of jealousy."

Jealous of what exactly? She was a hundred times a better player than Kiley Kennedy. She scored more goals in practice and in games.

I'm not jealous. I'm just trying to protect her. That's what she said to herself before going over to your house so you two could ride to school together.

She needs to get her act together. She trusts you'll tell her if something happens.

-

Now this was a surprise. I guess Lynn wasn't lying when she said Kiley was interested in me.

She walked up to you in gym class and asked for a hair tie.

"(Y/N), right?" her voice as smooth as butter, an effortless smile to go with it. Typical player. The way she carried herself  was a little intimidating, you could tell she was aware of her effect on people and was confident in herself. She had these thick golden waves and she was a few inches taller than you. Not your type though, you liked them on the brunette side.

Kiley was tying up her hair with the hair tie you lent her and your eyes drop down to her arms. She had nice biceps. She was definitely doing it on purpose cause you could tell she was flexing. "Yeah, you're with Lynn on the soccer team, right?"

"Yes! I'm flattered you know me. Did Lynn tell you about me?"

Lynn didn't have to tell you about her cause enough rumors were circulating the school to inform you. Most of your friends from art club were victims. What can you say? The artsy ones were usually gay.

Stories about how Kiley ghosted them after flirting or how Kiley kissed them at a party and ignored them at school the next day. She was all pretty words but no action.

Lynn did say some things though. Kiley had a bad habit of telling everyone on the team about her escapades and Lynn had a burning hatred for unloyal people. So, it's safe to say you wouldn't be falling for her any time soon.

You smile and hum in response.

Kiley looks at you expectedly but you don't say anything else.

"(Y/N), over here!"

You leave without acknowledging her and Kiley's left there standing. She doesn't move for a few seconds out of pure shock. Did you really disregard her that easily?

You feel her grab onto your wrist and you pull back in surprise. She lets your wrist go, regret takes over her features. When she looks up at you, she looks like a puppy that just got kicked.

"I- sorry." She looks genuinely apologetic and you almost feel bad. "Truth is, I just wanted to let you know I like your hair today. You look good with your hair up."

No wonder girls fall so easily. That was cute. You tell yourself.

You offer her nothing but a smile, jogging over to your friend before she decides to shout at you to come over again.

Kiley is once again, rendered speechless. Has anyone ever done that to her? Not even a thank you?

A small chuckle is all that leaves her. Why did she bother asking if you knew about her?

You knew about her, alright.