What Would You Do For Love?

A New Day: Part 4

As I entered the gym I was panting hard. I sat down on the bleachers for a few minutes to catch my breath. That's when Holly came up to me, with Phyllis Cameron and Carrie Moore.

"Hi, Buttercup," Holly said. "So I heard you had lunch with the new guy."

"His name is Butch, and I did not," I said, getting defensive.

"Oh, come on, BC," Carrie said accusingly. "Everyone has been talking about that little scene in the lunchroom."

"That was just Mitch being jealous," I said. "It pissed me off, so I left."

"So, did you and Mitch break up?" Phyllis asked. "Maybe it'll give the rest of us a chance with him."

I just groaned and took off to the locker room to change. I didn't fare better in there. All the girls kept gossiping about Butch.

"Isn't he a dream?" a short girl with blonde curly hair said. She put her hair in a ponytail and straightened out her gym uniform. "I wouldn't mind wrapping my lips around him."

"Hey," a tall girl with short brown said. "He is a bad boy. Did you see that motorcycle of his?" Both girls giggled like two lovesick puppies.

The chatter continued. "What's wrong with that?" I heard another voice called out as I changed into my uniform. "He can ride me anytime." At that I slammed my locker door. After lacing my shoes I stormed out. I sat down on the bleachers and waited for class to begin.

Coach Tanby came out of her office and blew her whistle. "Okay, girls," she said. "Everyone gather around." The girls from the locker room came running out and formed a crowd near Couch Tanby. "As you know, tryouts for the girls' basketball team are next week. So, I want you all to make an effort. I see our captain is here, BC, front and center."

"Right here, Coach," I said. I gave a sort of solute. She always liked that.

"Okay, girls, we're going to split up into two teams. This will be good practice for the tryouts."

Coach Tanby rattled off the names for the first team. Holly, who was also on the basketball team was captain of the first team, and I was the captain of the second.

"Okay, everyone else is on BC's team." She blew her whistle again, signifying the start of the game.

That's what a needed, a good game to get my mind off things. I tried to block out all the so-called rumors, but the girls in my class were whispering and laughing. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I knew it was about Butch. I wondered if anyone knew about our almost kiss in the hallway. I hoped to god they didn't.

I was so preoccupied with my own thoughts that I couldn't concentrate on the game. Holly and Phyllis actually got a basket passed me. Couch Tanby blew her whistle.

"BC, over here, please," she said. "I need to talk to you."

I swallowed hard, knowing the coach wasn't happy with my performance. "Yeah, coach."

"What was going on out there?" she demanded to know. "Have you been slacking off all summer?"

"No, Coach, I just got some things on my mind." It was the truth, but only part of it. How could I tell her I was having boy problems? Until Mitch I never even had a boyfriend, now I wished it had never started.

"Well, get your mind on the game," she said. "It doesn't look good for the captain of the basketball team to play so badly, and this is just a friendly game."

"Sure, Coach," I said, feeling a little ashamed about letting her down.

I cleared my head and got back to the game. My performance improved and my team won by just two points. "Great, game," Holly said as Coach Tanby blow her whistle.

"Okay, girls, get changed!" she shouted.

As I entered the locker room I heard some of the girls snickering. "Did you see how badly BC was playing? I bet she gets bumped as Captain before too long."

"Oh, shut up, Tiffany," Holly said. "Everybody is entitled to a bad day, but that didn't stop her from scoring the winning point."

"Whatever," Tiffany said and stomped off to her locker.

After I changed I came up to Holly. "Thanks," I said. "But you didn't have to defend me."

"Hey, we're friends, right?" Holly said. "And anyway, since you're sort of friendly with the new guy, do you think you could set something up?"

"Well, I don't know," I said, not wanting to commit to anything. I didn't want Holly dating Butch, but why not? I had Mitch, so why was I being jealous of Holly liking him? Oh, god, I was so confused.

"Oh, please," Holly said. "I'll owe you big time."

"I'll see what I can do," I said, but didn't have any real intention of doing it. I felt guilty about that, but not guilty enough to fix her up with Butch.

I walked out of the gym to my next class.

This is the end of chapter one. I have nine more chapters written. I post the next one soon.