“Are you kidding?” my brother, Xavier, asked with a irritating amused look on his face. He popped another piece of popcorn in his mouth and chewed it obnoxiously.
I grimaced just by watching the kernel slosh around in his mouth. “Can you close your mouth when you do that?” I asked suddenly, waving my hand in front of his face.
He pulled his brows together in a questioning look. “Why, does that bother you?”
“You have no idea,”
An arrogant grin stretched across his face. “Good.” He threw a few more pieces into his mouth and chewed on them.
I let out a heavy sigh as I pinched the bridge of my nose. I took a deep breath before shooting my attention back to him. “Anyway, I’m serious about this,”
“Yeah, you totally have me convinced.” He stretched out his legs on the ottoman as he continued to obnoxiously chew on his popcorn.
Here I was, in the living room trying to have a serious conversation with my brother but he was not taking me seriously. The conversation started with him complaining about his obsessive girlfriend and somehow drifted to the topic of soccer, a sport that I loved very much. Well, after being raised in a house full of soccer obsessed boys, it sort of grew on me. The problem is that I’m a girl. And girls don’t often get the recognition they deserve when it comes to the lovely sport.
“I’m not fucking around here!” I shouted, a little louder than necessary. “Why are you constantly putting me down like that?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Uh…I’m your brother.”
“Okay,” I sighed, “Listen. I want to play soccer. But you know they cut the girls team at school because of the lack of participants so it only makes sense that I try out for the boys team!”
Xavier heaved a sigh as he sat up straight in the recliner seat. “Stop talking, Ellie.” His amused expression was gone and it was no replaced with a dead serious face. “Girls can’t play on the boys soccer team. Hence, the name boys. Last time I checked, you have a pair of boobs and a vagina,”
“Bullshit,” I spat, “I’m basically one of the boys anyway! I have three brothers for crying out loud. I swear, if it wasn’t for Mom then I would probably get a sex change by now.”
His eyes widened.
“I’m kidding!” I exclaimed, “I was just trying to prove a point.”
“And the point is, girls can’t play soccer like boys do.” He added, shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth. “End of discussion.”
“Piss off, Xavier.” I reached into his popcorn bag and pulled out a handful of popcorn. “I promise you that I’m going to make it my life goal to be on that team. And when I do, I’ll rub it in your face.”
“I’ll be waiting.” He stood from his seat and walked over to me so that he stood behind of me. He leaned in so that his mouth was at my ear and he blew in my ear.
“God dammit!” I yelled at him, smacking him at the back of his head. “Stop that. You know I don’t like that. I have sensitive ears.”
“Anything for you, Elliot.” He continued to smack on his popcorn as he exited the room and jogged up the stairs.
YOU ARE READING
Scoring Hearts
RomanceElliot Kennedy has always felt out of place. Not only was she a tomboy, she was a girl. And being a girl meant that trying out for the boys soccer team was out of the question. Despite the constant put downs from her brother, she goes on to pursue h...
