A Great Perhaps

Two.

FRIDAY MARCH 11 (6:14 PM)

I pulled into the parking lot of Brookstone Country Club, leaning back into the drivers' seat as I glanced around at the ginormous oak trees that surrounded the tennis courts. I glanced down at my phone, skimming the notification I had received; informing me that Masen had written a new blog post. As I began to read, I noticed that the tone of this post was angrier than usual, as she complained about college applications and soccer offers from various schools.

"Noah!" A voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up to see Quinn's flushed cheeks and brown ponytail flouncing as she ran towards my car, her pink tennis racket at her side. I grinned slightly, she was small and adorable and her smile overtook her entire face.

"Hey Q," I say, starting the car as she turned the radio to a pop station, "How was tennis?" I glance over at her white tennis skirt, which contrasted against her tanned skin.

"It was so fun, Noah, we played this game and I won three times! It was awesome." She grins, throwing her racket in the backseat.

"Wow, three times, huh? That must be some kind of record!" I say, reaching to give her a high-five as I turned out of the parking lot. "Cold Stone?" I ask and Quinn nods furiously. I smile to myself as she rolls down the window and leans her head against it.

I put the car in park and glanced around, immediately recognizing Masen's car parked in a place caddy-cornered to mine. I sighed and ran a hand over my face as Q climbed out and tugged a jacket over her shoulders.

"Come on!" She exclaimed, throwing open the door and walking immediately towards the counter. I followed quickly to keep up with her, glancing towards the table in the corner where Masen, Blake, and Riley Scott sat, all wearing leggings and Nikes.

Masen's eyes lit up when she saw Quinn and I enter, "Noah!" She called, a wide smile expanding over her flawless complexion. Her perfect white teeth showed as Quinn ran over to hug her.

"Hi Masen!" Quinn exclaimed as she pulled back from the hug, "You look pretty."

"Oh, Q you look so pretty. Love your jacket." She grinned slightly, glancing up at me. I smiled as Quinn looked up to me.

"We just came from tennis," I say and Masen nods in understanding, "What have you guys been up to?" I glance to Riley, she smiles slightly, dark lashes framing her blue eyes. Riley's pretty, in a muted kind of way, nowhere near Masen or Blake, but she was sweet and had pretty dark hair.

"Nothing really, we've just been at Riley's. Probably see a movie or something later tonight. We should probably get going though," Masen says checking the time on her phone, "Oh, it's already 6:45." Blake stood up, throwing her cup in the trash can and fixing her blonde hair through the reflection in the window.

"Bye, Noah. Nice seeing you." Riley says, and Blake waves over her shoulder. Masen lingers an extra second, gathering her things quite slowly.

"I'll see you around, okay? Don't be a stranger." Masen says, biting her lip, "Bye, Q." She fiddles with her car keys and walks out.

SATURDAY MARCH 12 (7:42 PM)

"Emerson, you son of a bitch!" I shouted as the TV screen turned black, throwing my Xbox remote to the floor. He grinned, taking a drink of the Dr. Pepper 2 liter we had bought this morning along with three bags of Sour Patch Kids and a party pail of sherbet ice cream. Emerson and I liked to spend Saturdays playing Call of Duty and eating shit.

Asher usually tags along, since he has shitty parents that are always on business trips or fucking their coworkers, and because he usually supplies the alcohol. He screwed the lid onto the bottle of Grey Goose and dropped it onto the carpet, leaning back on the wraparound couch in my basement.