Lone Ranger | Jake Fitzgerald

6| One Last Shot

"Sarah, here's your converse. I ran them through warm water. What happened to them anyways?" Sarah's mother dropped the sneakers onto the ground next to Sarah's bed. Sarah sat at her vanity and applied mascara onto her eyelashes. After she yesterday was attacked by a bucket with red paint and water mixed together, her sneakers were the victim. She had asked her mother to rinse them out so she could wear them to the basketball game, where she'd try to get Jake to perceive her the way she deserved to be.

"I told you, already." Sarah turned to her mother. "I was helping clean graffiti off of my friend's car and the bucket fell and spilled all over my shoes."

Her mother leaned against the door frame. "Which friend?"

"Does it matter?" Sarah sassed but her mother still didn't leave the room as Sarah wanted her to. "Jake Fitzgerald."

"Jake Fitzgerald? Isn't that the boy who used to buy you chocolate and flowers every Valentines Day?" Her mother laughed, tucking a piece of her golden-brown locks behind her right ear and behind her glasses leg.

"He did that to everyone, mom."

"No, he didn't. Remember that Emma cried because nobody gave her anything on Valentine's Day years ago?" Her mother refreshed Sarah's memory, but Sarah didn't want to have her memory refreshed. She wanted her mother to leave the room so she could get dressed quicker so she had some time to talk to Jake before the game started.

"Yes, mom. I remember." Sarah gave her mom a look of annoyance.

"Okay, okay. I get the memo. Be home by nine, okay?" Her mother smiled.

Sarah nodded.

"Have a good time. Dylan and I will miss you."

"What about dad?" Sarah questioned, putting her kabuki brush on the table and cranking her neck to face her mother again.

"He said he was caught up at work, hun. He won't be home until later." She sighed and exited the room, closing the door as she left. Sarah scoffed. Her father had returned home and was already being the distant person he always was, whether she liked it or not. People never change, and Sarah finally understood the saying clearly after so many years.

She continued doing her makeup. Her hair had been curled, her eyelashes had been as well. She was nearly ready, except for her lipstick. She put some red-matte lipstick onto her plumped lips and she kissed a piece of paper a few times until the consistency was as she liked it to be. She gave herself one last look in the mirror before leaving. She did her best to look as jaw-dropping as she could. She needed to catch Jake's attention, as odd as it sounded for her to admit to herself. She wanted him to notice her and find it necessary to speak to her. And with the way she looked, she had a strong feeling it would work out as planned.

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Sarah entered the school gym and was shocked to see that the game had already begun. She was so sure it started at six, but instead it had started at five-thirty. She stood behind the sidelines, watching the game play-out a bit. She watched Jake running and dribbling the ball. She tried her best to get his attention without getting him to lose the ball, but it was difficult. She didn't know how to get boys attention. She had never been that person who was able to, with people being scared of her and all. Her biggest fans were her best friends, but even they weren't so much anymore so the spot was most likely taken by her parents, well, her mother and Dylan.

"Sarah, hey." A soft voice came from the bleachers.

Sarah turned around to witness Emma sitting on the edge of the bleachers, clutching a packet of maltesers and watching Will. "Hi...Emma." She awkwardly replied.