Derbyball

Home.

"Mom and dad, I'm-"

"Hey, Jessie."

I know that voice awfully well. I drop my bag on the floor beside my feet.

Oh my God.

"Joey!" I scream at the top of my longs. I run towards him at full speed and hug my brother as tightly as I can.

"Ah, you've grown so tall, Jess. When did my little sister get so big?" Joey asks with a smirk. I roll my eyes but smile anyway.

I almost want to cry. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you, too. Hey guess what?"

I pull away from Joey and cross my arms. "What?"

"I have someone you might want to meet. Hey, Allison?"

A quiet, mellow voice comes from the kitchen, like the voice of an angel. "Yes, babe?" From the kitchen, in walks a beautiful lady, Allison, with hair the color of sunlight and lips pink as bubble gum. Her eyes are green as freshly cut grass, an almost unnatural color. She's somewhat on the chubbier side, but I think she's beautiful anyway.

Being the awkwardly shy person that I am, I hide behind my brother and peek under his arm. It's funny because I used to do this when I was younger and had to meet one of his girlfriends. In fact, I remember once when I was trying to hide from one, she yanked me from behind him...

... And he dumped her two seconds later.

"Allison, this is Jessie. Jessie, Allison," Joey says, stepping from in front of me.

Allison looks at me with wide eyes and a cocked eyebrow.

Oh god, she probably hates me already.

I stand up straight and raise my hand. "Um, hi there." I'm not usually comfortable meeting new people. It's not exactly a social issue, it's just that I'm afraid they'll already hate me.

"You know, I'm not as intimidating as I look... Come give me a hug," she says, opening up her arms. She smiles widely, which makes me hesitate, but then again...

Who am I to refuse a hug?

I want over to her in short steps and give her a hug. It's like hugging a teddy bear, except with no bear hair- Like little stray hairs prickling from her skin. Yeah, that would be kind of gross. "You smell like cinnabuns," I whisper aloud. After about two seconds of silence, Joey and Allison burst into fits of laughter.

I let go of Allison and look between the two of them. Their co-laugh is beautifully in sync, regardless of the awkward moment they just faced.

"Mom and Dad told me you went to our cousin's house," Joey says suddenly, crossing his arms and raising his left eyebrow in the most suspicious way.

I laugh, "Pfsh, no, I went to San Diego for a Derbyball game, it was-"

I stop myself short when I look over to see Allison still standing there watching us in pure curiosity. Oh crap. What if she decides to tell my parents? They'd kill me. Worse than that, they'd forbid me from playing again.

Worst of all, they'd be disappointed. My parents are carefree most of the time, and I don't think that the skating or game would bother them much... it's more of the lying that I've issued that will disappoint them. They don't tolerate lies, and yet I have been stupid enough to throw them around.

"... Made it on the team?" Joey finishes a sentence that I didn't hear from the start.

I smirk whop-sidedly. "Uh, yeah, I asked if I could join and the guys said yes," I muster. "As long as I practice and keep doing so."