Riverside High

Chapter 12: I don't like football

Ryan threw the football at me. "I'd rather play basketball," I complained.

"How could you like that better than this?" Ryan said. He was a quarterback on the school's football team. We were hanging out in my backyard.

I threw the football back. "I just do," I laughed. "I'm going to get a basketball," I said, walking to the fence so I could get to the garage.

"Never!" Ryan screamed, running towards me. He tackled me.

"Ow! I still have that bruise on my arm from the last time you did that," I said. I pushed him off me.

"Hey, I need to ask you something," I said.

"What is it?" He said.

"Well...umm....you know that new girl, Brittany Greene?"

"Yeah, she's best friends with my girlfriend, Elise," he said.

"Why did you go out with Elise? Just asking, I'm not being mean."

"Ehh, I don't know. My friend dared me to. She's okay," he said. "Anyway, what about Brittany?"

"Oh, well...for some reason I've been acting really weird around her in science class. Has that ever happened to you?"

"Yeah. Are you like, nervous?"

"Uhh," I scratched my neck. "Kinda."

"Dude, this is so obvious," Ryan said, picking up the football. He threw it to me. "You like her."

•••

"Hi guys, my name is Luke Fletcher. I'm a-"

"Wait! Are you related to Emily Fletcher?" I interrupted.

Luke sighed. "Yes. Now, may I continue?" he asked.

"Yeah, sorry." I said.

"As I was saying, my name is Luke Fletcher, I'm a senior, and I will be your basketball mentor. Welcome to the freshman team, guys," he said to everyone. He led us through some basketball drills for about half an hour, and then for the rest of practice, we played a scrimmage.

When practice was over, I walked over to the soccer field outside. Emily was sitting down on the benches. "You're Luke's sister?!" I said to Emily. I sat down.

Emily sighed the same way Luke did. "Yes," she said.

"He's cool," I said.

"Not really...." Emily mumbled. I smirked.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" I wondered.

"Well, I'm waiting for Luke, because he's going to drive me home. But I'm also watching Brittany play soccer."

"Brittany plays soccer?" I asked.

"Yeah."

I watched her on the field. She dribbled the ball down the field, passing other players. She then shot it in the goal, over the goalie's head. "Yes!" she yelled, high-fiving her friends.

Whoa, she's good. I look over to see Emily screaming wildly. "That's the wildest I've ever seen you," Brittany said, walking over to us. As soon as she saw me, she looked at the ground. Her face got red. Was she blushing?

"Oh, hey Brittany," Emily said.

"Hi," I said. "Nice goal by the way."

"Oh, thanks," she said.

"We were just talking about how Emily is related to Luke," I said.

"What?! You lied to me!" Brittany said. "You said you didn't have any siblings." She crossed her arms.

"I know. I was bored at the moment. Plus everyone asks about me and Luke. It's SO annoying." Emily complained. "Speaking of my brother, LUKE!!!" she called.

"What?!" Luke yelled back, as he ran out of the gym. Emily waited until he got to the bleachers.

"Can we go now?" she asked.

"Yeah," Luke said, grabbing car keys out of his pocket. They started to walk away.

"Bye guys!" Emily called back to us. She walked towards the parking lot. "Wait!" She ran back. "Want to see my dog?"