The Tale Of A High-school Badass

Chapter 6 - Basketball games and Cheese fries

Landon and I only bumped into each other twice later that day. The first time, he just smiled at me haughtily, stepping closer to me and walking away with a provocative brush of the shoulder. The second time, was more eventful. As he had done before, he took a sideways step closer to my body. I pushed my foot towards him, pushing my shoes under his foot. He lurched forward in a tripping motion, his books threatening to fall over. I walked past him, turning around just to give him the quintessential troublemaker smile. 

The minute the final bell of the day resounds through the jam-packed halls of Blue Water Highschool, I dash through the school's door towards my car.  Food, roars a voice in my mind. I settle down in the worn-out leather seat of my car plugging my discharged phone into the power outlet and turning on the radio. A knock sounds at my window, and a leather covered arm is splayed across the windscreen: Landon holding a carton of curly cheese fries. It is the utter urge for aromatic, crispy fries that drives me to pull the window down. He thrusts his arm to the window, brushing the tantalizing fries past my nose. But I know better. 

'Get those fries away from my nose. What is it going to take for you to give me those fries?' I ask him with a delicate smirk. 

'Aahh, you know me all too well. Get out of the car,' he demands. 

I have two options, I get out of the car and I get fries within the next 10 minutes tops or I drive for the next 20 minutes to get Olive's for the best cheese fries. The ferocious growl that comes from my stomach, indicates that it's not going to be patient. With a huff, I step out of the car, grinding my converse into the gravel. 

'You are going to have to play for the fries,' Landon tells me with a grin on his face. 

'Play what exactly?' I ask him placing a hand on my waist, cocking my hip outwards. 

'Ball,' he says, pointing at the basketball court. 

I run my eyes down my outfit. A white top with the lapels lined with navy blue, a navy blue skirt, and gold-white sneakers. This shouldn't be a problem, and I can't stop the cheshire grin that colours my face. 

'Lead the way,' I say, competitiveness curling around my voice. 

'First person to make a basket wins,' he says decisively. 

We step onto the court, and he throws the ball at me. I catch it, the familiarity of the ball between my palms is oddly comforting. I dribble the ball and ground my sneakers into the gravel, separating my legs and bending my knees like a tiger waiting to lunge. He levels himself with me, rolling the sleeves of his jacket up and extending his arms in my direction. I course through the court, dodging his attempts to grab the ball. I move rapidly across the alley, lifting my arms above his head, swerving and blocking. Landon finally manages to seize the ball from my grip, throwing the ball in precise arc towards the basket. The ball skitters off the orange metal rim. I retreive the ball, sprinting away from the basket to the centre of the court. Here comes my moment. I sweep my arm through the air in a wide arc, and release the ball with a wide whoosh. The orange ball rolls across the rim, circling inwards and falling through the basket. It ricochets upon impact with the red and green gravel, and falls with a loud thud. I raise my arms in victory, and Landon's sharp face contorts into a look of surprise. 

First things first, I run back to my car and grab the cheese fries that are placed on the hood of the car. I inhale a fry, savouring the velvety cheese and the crispy exterior. It is times like these that I understand why food bloggers use the word 'foodgasm.' I groan in delight, oh my god I wish the carton of fries could automatically refill itself. Landon lithely saunters over to me, and places a confident hand on the window, blocking the open exit with his lean body. 

'It was a fluke, don't get so cocky. You had an incentive,' Landon says pointing a finger at the the plate of cheese fries. He attempts to snatch one from my plate and I growl in protest. 

'Down, girl, down,' he says with a chuckle.

'Puck woff,' I tell him, put it comes out different than I intended it to, the cheese and fries impairing my speech. 

'I don't have a drive back home today. My car's at the shop. Could you give me a ride back home?' Landon asks me, scratching the back of his head. 

I nod my head, too preocuppied with my french fries to dignify his question with a verbal response. He sits down in the car, setting his lanky legs atop the dashboard and arrogantly putting on his red headphones. Huh pompous bastard says a voice in my mind. I trash the empty french fry carton and wipe my palms on my skirt. I take the driver's seat, and forcefully push Landon's legs off the dashboard. 

'Sit properly!' I scream at him,

He merely points at his ears and shakes his hands, indicating that he isn't hearing what I am saying, more so he doesn't care what I am saying. I rev up the engine and pull out of parking, rapidly accelerating. The speed nears 80 mph, and Landon rattles off his address in the background. We near the street that he lives on, and he tells me to stop in front a fancy black gate with an intercom on the wall near it. The gates reel open, revealing a short pathway flanked by thick foliage. I career the car through the dirt-packed road, coming to a stop in front of dense garden of roses, oranges and lemons. A rock embedded pathway encircles the garden, I swoop my head around taking in the soft rose quartz petals and the luminescent, sunshine lemons. Loud, waltz music mars the quiet ambience of the garden. 

'Come in,' Landon says politely. 

'No, no it's alright,' I say out of courtesy. 

'I insist. Come in,' he says convincingly.

He steps out of the car, and meanders down pathway to the house. I follow, precariously. This should be quite something, a chance to witness a wild Landon now tamed in his natural habitat.