Friends Without Benefits

Chapter 7

Chapter Seven             

                “Roberts, can you move any slower?” Coach Wilson yelled as I was carrying the equipment onto the practice field.

                “Yeah, I can,” I mumbled, already tired of the coach’s voice. He was a very irritating man, even on his good days.

                I started setting the cones up when I saw someone walk over to me out of the corner of my eye. “Hey, do you want to go to the mall later? I have to find my mom a birthday gift,” I said, assuming it was Matt who was walking over to me.

                “As much as I’d hate to reject your offer, I’ll already be working at the mall today.”

                I shot up, my eyes wide with fear. That was definitely not Matt’s voice! Cautiously, I turned around, only to see Julian flashing his bright white teeth in the form of a grin.

                “I thought you were Matt!”

                Julian frowned jokingly. “So your offer doesn’t still stand?”

                “I…uh…you…sure?”

                He let out a short laugh and turned to walk away. “Well if you’re feeling up to it, you should visit me at work. I’ll be on shift at Journeys until eight.”

                As he was walking away, I was left speechless. I couldn’t believe my second conversation with Julian happened! Although I’ve been wearing my new clothes for a few days now, I managed to stick to less revealing clothes. Trey’s words were still in the back of my mind, no matter how much I hated thinking of anything Trey ever said to me.

                Before my thoughts could get carried away in my excitement, Coach Wilson ordered me to get off the field and leave the guys to practice. Although the guys’ soccer practice usually felt like it lasted a lifetime, today it was rather short because I was ecstatic for it to end. I needed to go to the mall sometime before eight and visit Julian; this was the perfect opportunity for him to get to know me!

                Once practice was over, I was on the field immediately, collecting all the equipment. I was so focused that I barely noticed Matt come up to me.

                “What’s the hurry?” he asked.

                I beamed up at him, still collecting the cones. “Julian talked to me again!”

                “Okay, so?” he continued, looking confused.

                “Well I thought he was you, so I asked if he wanted to go to the mall later because I need to find my mom a birthday gift. And then he answered that he would like to, if he didn’t have to work at the mall already. But he said I should stop by and visit him at work, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do after I get home and change!” I excitedly explained, talking low enough so no one else heard but Matt.

                My best friend didn’t necessarily look happy. Instead, there was a blank expression on his face. “Oh, cool. I can’t go to the mall with you though.”

                I frowned. “Why not?”

                He rubbed the back of his neck. “I, uh, have plans with my partner to work on my English project.”

                Normally I would attribute his action of rubbing the back of his neck as a form of lying, since he often did that when he was lying. However, this time I just thought he was disappointed that he couldn’t be there with me for this huge opportunity. Therefore, I chose to ignore it and shrug.