Nessie's Life

Chapter 8: Grounded

When I pulled up to the house, there were already several cars parked out front. There was also a group of kids being dropped by their parents. I parked behind a white SUV and got out of the car. As I walked towards the house I noticed that I was a little underdressed compared to some of the other girls I passed on the way in. But at this moment, I didn't really care. The front door was open so I just walked in behind the group that was dropped off. Julian was near the entrance. 

"Hey, happy birthday." I said as I got nearer to him.

"Thanks." He replied, "You too." He remembered.

"Thanks, have you seen Katie?" I asked.

"No. I haven't seen her yet, but I think her brother is playing basketball in the backyard. You can ask him." Before I could thank him again, he was whisked away in another conversation. Since I didn't really know anyone at the party, I made my way to the back yard. There was a group of girls who were cheering on the guys. They were sitting down by the small concrete slab with a basketball hoop that served as their makeshift court. I recognized most of them from the cafeteria, we have the same lunch period. I stood nearby waiting for the game to end. I think Jeremy's team was winning.

As the game ended, the girls went to congratulate Jeremy and the two guys on his team. And the girlfriends of the guys on the other team went to comfort them I suppose. Jeremy noticed me and came over to where I was standing.

"Hey, I didn't know you were coming tonight." He said.

"I didn't know either." I responded honestly, "Is Katie coming?" 

"Yeah, she should be here soon. She was tutoring some kid when I left. Where's your boyfriend?" He asked trying to be casual.

"We had a fight, and I'm pretty sure we broke up." I replied. I don't know why I was telling him; I guess I was just desperate to talk to someone who didn't already know everything about my life. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. You wanna talk about it?" He asked.

"Not really."

"Hey, Jeremy, you gonna join the next game?" one of the guys shouted from the court. 

"Nah, you guys go ahead." 

"It's fine, you don't have to wait with me." I told him.

"No it's ok. I shouldn't be playing this much anyway. I don't want to get injured before the season really begins. Do you want to go for a walk?" 

"Sure." I didn't have anything else to do, and walking with Jeremy was better than going home. I didn't even want to think about it. We stopped inside so he could get his jacket, it was pretty cool out. We were stopped several times as we tried to make our way outside by people trying to figure out why Jeremy and I were walking together. I guess this is what high school is about, figuring out what was going on with everyone else.

"Hey, Jeremy. How's it going?" A guy who I assumed was on the basketball team as well thanks to his letterman jacket, asked.

"It's good. Just showing Renesmee around a little bit," he replied.

"Renesmee," he said, "I don't think we have had the pleasure of meeting. I'm Luke."

"It's nice to meet you." I responded lightly.

"So what are you doing with Jeremy? I thought you were dating that tall guy." He said being very blunt.

"Dude, shut up." Jeremy hissed.

"What, I'm just curious as to why a beautiful girl like Renesmee would be going somewhere private with someone who wasn't her boyfriend."

"I don't have a boyfriend." I said coldly.