Growing Pains

Chapter 26 - We were on top of the world

A L L O R A

Practice was over at last and neither Kylie nor I could get up from the floor. I was still trying to catch my breath, or at least stop sweating, and Kylie claimed her legs didn't work anymore. It made sense. Coach had forced her to do one too many jumps. She was the star of the new choreograph and he wouldn't let her forget it. I didn't think she would even if Coach stopped trying to remind her.

She was stalking someone's profile on social media next to me, so I moved closer to see who it was, only to find none other than Jacob Miller's profile. I couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" she asked immediately, rolling on her back so I couldn't see the screen of her phone anymore. Too late. I had seen the profile picture already – him shirtless in the locker room – and his most recent posts too. There was him on the stairs of some pool, another one of him hanging from a palm tree on a beach somewhere, and the last one of him playing tennis. He was shirtless for all of them.

"He's really hot." This much was obvious.

She smiled sideways at me, "I know, right?"

"Right," I agreed, "but at what cost?"

She laughed but said nothing, resuming her scrolling through his profile. I started getting up. My heart had gone back to its usual rhythm, and so had my breathing, and I needed a shower and some moisturizing.  

I stretched out a hand towards Kylie and she took it and let me pull her up to her feet. Then off we went. Most of the other girls had already made a run for the locker room, so we took our time in the hallway to avoid the crowded showers, looking out through the windows to see if football practice was still on outside.

Most days it was. Most days we sat on the windowsills and got to watch the boys get all hot and bothered running around for the ball while we waited for the showers to clear. Neither of us liked football, but we liked how serious the boys took it. I liked it too much perhaps. I thought football was the boys' crucible, their own collective experience of mass hysteria. Their great threat? Not being masculine enough. It was pathetic. For years and years, hysteria had been used to oppress women while empowering men. It was a paradox I enjoyed noticing every chance I got, like catching someone in a lie.

"Looking for something?"

We turned around from today's empty field. Practice had probably ended sooner for them because Jacob and Edward were standing in front of us with their gym bags on their shoulders, hair still wet and skin still red from the hot showers.

Kylie smiled, "You caught us. We were looking for you."

"Really?" Jacob asked, a smirk already in the making.

"Yeah," she said, pointing at the both of us. "We watch you guys play all the time."

"Who's your favorite?" Jacob asked. Next to him, Edward sent me a look. I smiled.

Kylie went on, "Well, you, of course." She said this the same way one does when lying to children to make them feel better. Edward caught it and laughed. Jacob didn't and smirked. I didn't think he knew how to genuinely smile. His mouth always had a hidden agenda.

"Right," he said, instead of, thank you. "Did you like the homecoming game?"

"Loved it," she lied. She had spent the entire time worrying about her triple jump. I doubted she even knew who had won in the end. He had to be stupid to still not notice she was lying, or maybe not. Jacob stroked me as somewhat delusional.

"Did you go to Jason's party after?" he asked.

Kylie shook her head, "We don't go to those."

"What? Jason's parties?" 

"Yeah."

"Interesting," he said. "Did you know he's dating again?"

"What?" This was me. I couldn't help myself.

"Yeah, some girl from the glee club, I don't know her name, but she's hot."

I had no words. Edward was looking at me. So was Jacob.

"So," Kylie started. She was looking at Edward. She was going to change the conversation and I loved her for it. "When are you gonna ask Allora out?"

Not for this. I didn't love her for this. Edward looked confused, so I said she was kidding with a smile on my lips. Kylie opened her mouth, probably to say she wasn't, and moved my hand to cover it. I had wanted her to change the conversation yes, but not to this.

"Actually," Jacob jumped in. Of course he did. "I've been wondering that myself."

Edward looked at me. There was a smile on his face.

"Do you want me to ask you out?" he asked. "You don't have to say yes if you don't."

"Do you want me to ask you out?!" Jacob laughed. "Just put your vagina away and ask her out already!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I knew exactly what he meant, but I couldn't help myself.

Jacob turned to me, all of him a waste of good genetics, and asked, very seriously, "What?"

"Put your vagina away." I repeated. He just laughed. I didn't think it was funny. 

"It means he's being a pussy, basically," he explained.

"And what does that mean?" I also knew what that meant, but I wanted to see how far I could go with him. Most people realized they had fucked up as soon as I asked them to explain themselves, but not Jacob. Jacob really was delusional.

"It's a manner of speaking," he said, right before, "Relax."

"I'm relaxed," I assured him, even though I definitely wasn't.

"I don't think–"

"Just stop talking," Edward stopped him, rolling his eyes, and then turning to me again, "You didn't answer my question."

"I don't even remember your question." I was lying. I remembered it, but I wanted him to ask me again. Next to me, Kylie had a world-eating grin on her face.

"Do you want me to ask you out?"

I smiled, "Sure, why not?"

"Right," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Would you like to go to the movies with me then?"

I smiled some more, "Yes, that could be nice."

"Very nice," Jacob cut in yet again, turning to Kylie. "What about you? Would you like to go to the movies with me?"

Kylie laughed and said, "No."

I laughed too. We were on top of the world.