Contronym

Chapter 27

"Is that my favorite Olympian?!"

Al screeched as she got out of her car in the parking lot of the nail salon. Finn and I had gotten back just in time for Thanksgiving break. It was perfect timing, really. Sam and Chris had picked us up at the airport and they both made a scene as per usual with those two idiots. At least there was no one in the parking lot when Al was making her scene.

She didn't pick us up because she had a track meet. Chris and Sam managed to convince coach to let them skip so they could pick up his 'favorite players'. Usually I would argue that point, but Wilson has been feeling sweet on us ever since the Olympic trials were announced. I don't know what he expected from us, but I'll take his kindness any day.

"I wouldn't call myself an Olympian, but favorite? Hell yeah it's your favorite human being!" I said back loudly, but not yelling like Al.

She ran towards me and wrapped her arms around me while squealing. I hugged her back and laughed. When we parted she looked at me breathlessly. "Girl, thank god you're back. I've been trapped with Chris and Sam all week."

I raised my brow as we walked towards the nail salon. "You mean your boyfriend and your best friend? How tragic." I mocked while holding the door open for her.

She faked offense and walked into the cool salon. This was her favorite place to get her nails done and she had shown it to me about the time we became friends. I wasn't really a nails person but it was something we could do together.

Lacrosse kind of ruined my nails. I was much more of a makeup person despite the fact that I didn't wear it often. But when I did, that was my girly time.

I decided to go for a rose gold polish. Al on the other hand took twenty minutes to decide that she wanted an ocean blue color. "This is why Chris is a god damn national hero." I muttered while sitting in the chair. Al was seated next to me.

"Hmm?"

"Chris. The boyfriend. Fucking hero." I made a silent round of applause with my hands and Al looked at me questioningly. "You're impossible to deal with. 20 minutes to choose a color? Does it take you an hour to decide on a meal when he takes you out?" I ranted playfully.

Al opened her mouth and rolled her eyes. "How was your trip?" She asked trying to change the subject. She knew I was right. Al is the most indecisive person I've ever met.

"It was fine I guess." I shrugged.

Al gave me a side look. "Details. Did you hook up with any hot Olympian guys?" She pried eagerly.

"You do realize I was sharing a room and bed with Finn. I'm not going to sleep with a man in our bed." I said without thinking. It seemed reasonable but the way it came out was wrong.

Al didn't miss the chance to jump on the way I miss spoke. "You make it sound like you two are married."

"It's common curtesy to not fuck anyone on the bed he has to sleep on. Besides, I'm the only woman. I don't want to be that girl that try's to get with the guys she plays with. I have a professional reputation and I won't be known as the slut of the team." I said, getting involuntarily defensive. I didn't mean to but it's how I felt. I couldn't be seen like that. It would ruin my chances at a good college or even a professional career.

I watched as the woman painted the pink tinted gold polish onto my nails and leaned my head back in the chair. This Olympic trial thing was stressing me out even after it had happened.

"Can I ask you why you want to play with the guys so much?" Al asked innocently. It made sense, I suppose people just made up their own reasons instead of asking.

"I don't see why not," I cleared my throat. "I started lacrosse at a camp when I was younger. It was my favorite but they didn't have a girls team in my town. My dad begged them to let me play on the boys team. We were all little kids so there wasn't any issues with gender yet. I guess I just liked the way that the boys played better by the time it mattered what gender I was. I had played the girls game at camps and I hated it. I loved contact sports and I loved watching the men play on TV. In high school, they let me play because I made a solid argument for equality. I mean, it's a sport and if I can play as good as the boys, why can't I be on their team? Because they have dicks?"

"Besides, the argument is usually about how boys have biological advantages or how the girl would get hurt but in reality, I am just as strong and as good of a player as them. I might be smaller, but they don't stop short boys from playing. Do they?"

Al nodded along. "Yeah. That's a good argument actually. How many times have you recited that one?" She joked.

"More times then you can count." I muttered in response. Sadly, that was the truth.

"You never really updated me on the Finn situation." Al brought up while turning her head to look at me fully. "One day you guys hate each other and then after that dinner you guys are best friends. Plus, you traveled together for a week and shared a bed without murdering each other in your sleep. Please explain that to me, because I'm either really stupid or missing some major pieces."

"I don't really know, it just happened." I shrugged my shoulders but Al knew I was lying through my teeth.

"Don't bullshit me." She said bluntly. I almost laughed at her face but I managed to contain myself. When I realized that I needed to be honest with her, I let out a deep breath.

"He apologized for being a dick and kind of opened up that night, I guess. I forgot my keys so I slept over at his house. I'm pretty sure we almost kissed but-"

"You what?!" Her brown eyes went wide and she sat up straight in her chair.

"But," I continued, emphasizing where she cut me off. "We didn't. I don't think it was anything because we never talked about it. Then we went to Atlanta and were best friends now."

"I'm still stuck on the kiss. How close are we talking? Like centimeters? Inches? Lips touching?" She asked like a crazed fan girl gossiping about her favorite celebrity. The poor woman doing her nails looked incredibly awkward during Al's outburst. She tried to avoid looking up, concentrating on her job. To be honest, she looked like that kid trying to avoid getting called on in class by bending their head down and pretending to be busy.

Aka me all the time.

"I don't know....like close enough for my to feel his lips hovering over mine but not close enough for them to touch. Maybe two centimeters? I don't know. My brain wasn't exactly trying to calculate distance and special surroundings." I rambled anxiously.

"Do you even like him? Or was it a heat of the moment thing?" She asked, seeming to have calmed down slightly.

I huffed again and leaned back in the chair while throwing my head back to look at the tiled ceiling. "I have no fucking clue."

"Feelings suck."

"People suck."