Seven

Chapter 1

The Summer of 2018 started out like any other summer. The birds were chirping, the flowers droopy from the Alabama heat, and Franky was up on the roof. Again.

"Franky, come on! This is the third time today!" I screamed at our pet goat exasperatedly. "Come down!"

Much to my despair, that's exactly what he looked like he was about to do. He was going to jump.

"Franky! Franky, no!"

I tried to catch him, I really did. But catching a full-grown male goat after jumping off of the roof of a pretty tall house is no cakewalk.

Before I knew what was happening, I was in a heap on the ground with Franky on top of me.

"Franky!" I grunted. "Get off of me!"

I shoved the goat off of my stomach and rolled over to watch him prance off, as if nothing had happened. I sighed and shook my head. Maybe one day Franky would finally stop trying to fly, maybe he wouldn't. I could never be sure.

"Sup, Macintosh! You out here catching goats, again?"

I looked up and standing over me, with a giant grin on his face, was my good friend Phoenix.

I smiled. "Well, you know Franky!"

He laughed. "I sure do. So, other than babysitting Franky, what are you up to?"

I shrugged, stood up, and brushed myself off. "Nothing much. Shooting some hoops, trying to keep myself in shape for next season."

He rolled his eyes. "You never get OUT of shape."

I crossed my arms. "Yes, I do."

He smirked. "No, you don't. You're as beautiful out of season as in."

I sighed. "Phoenix, when are you EVER gonna stop flirting with me?" I asked him.

He raked a hand through his fiery red hair, still grinning. "When you start going out with me."

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. This had been an ongoing issue for about five years now. Well, ever since Phoenix had moved here from California.

However, I was not ready for a relationship. I mean, Phoenix was hot, no doubt about it, but I just wasn't ready. Besides, I had plenty of time.

"Phoenix, we've talked about this," I began.

"Piper, if you would just give me a chance, you'd see how stupid these arguments are!"

I crossed my arms. "There's no argument. My answer is till no, end if discussion."

I began to walk back to the house.

"You'll fall for me someday," he said, following me. I could hear the grin in his voice. "You can't pretend forever."

"Who says I'm pretending?" I replied casually.

"Ha ha," he said sarcastically.

"Look. If you're serious about this," I said, turning around to face to him and becoming serious, "then don't bring this up anymore and just be my friend, okay?"

I could practically see him deflate.

"Okay," he said finally.

"I'll see you later."

I then went inside to the refuge of my home. My mother was at the stove, baking cupcakes for a baby shower she was attending that afternoon.

"Who's outside?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" I replied, not wanting to admit it was Phoenix. God, she teased me about him enough as it was.

She peeked out of the window. "I heard you talking to someone."

"Oh, well, I was talking to Franky...."

Which, I mean, to an extent, was true.

She arched an eyebrow at me. "Last I checked, Franky couldn't talk back."

I knew I was going to have to tell her. But, just as I was about to open my mouth to explain about Phoenix's sudden appearance, my mom's cell rang.

I prayed a silent prayer of thanks and headed upstairs to my bedroom. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and decided to FaceTime my best friend Carley.

"Hey Mad Mac, wassup?" she answered, smiling.

"Mad Mac" was my basketball nickname. It's also what a lot of my friends called me. My nickname went all the way back to the fourth grade, when I got so mad at a game that I ended up working up enough adrenaline to be able to dunk the last goal of the game. My name is Piper Lee Macintosh, so from then on, I was Mad Mac.

"Guess who stopped by," I asked, a cringy fake smile on my face.

Carley's brow furrowed knowingly.

"Again?" she asked incredulously.

I nodded an exhausted nod. "He keeps asking me out, and I keep saying no. But he won't stop asking me! It's exhausting, trying to get him to stop trying to get me out on a date. I don't know how much of this I can take!"

I flopped down on my bed dramatically. Groaning, I awaited Carley's response.

"Well, just tell him you're tired of his crap and tell him to back off!" she replied while putting her black, curly hair up into a bun on top of her head.

"I did today, and he seemed discouraged, but I doubt it'll change anything."

Carley's white smile flashed in contrast with her ebony skin.

"Good for you! Just stand your ground! Don't let him get to you."

My head whipped up to face the screen. "He's not getting to me."

Carley gave me a "really?" look.

"What?" I said, a little nervous. "He's not."

"Piper, I can tell by the way you look at him and talk about him that you like him at least a little bit. I think you like playing hard-to-get."

"I so do NOT!" I gasped, incredulous. "Carley, are you freaking SERIOUS right now? This is Phoenix Baker we're talking about, for crying out loud!"

"I know, Piper, but, I'm just telling you what I see from the outside. I'm just an innocent bystander, ya know."

Her sassiness was starting to tick me off. I tried not to frown.

"Look, I gotta go, my mom's calling me," I lied.

"Okay, Piper. Whatever you say."

She then ended the call before I could ask her what she meant by that statement.

Happy freaking Monday to me.