Just Try It

Chapter 5- Friendly Advice

Sunday, February 12 10:00am

Swisher Park Public Tennis courts

One girl that was watching the guys' tennis practice was tall, beautiful, and moved with an exotic sensuality. She didn't smile much, but with her looks and body, guys turned to stare anyways. With a sigh and frown, she glanced over at her complaining friend.
Her friend had brown hair and eyes. People had a tendency to overlook her. She was pretty, but she didn't even try to shine. She even seemed to go out of her way to avoid the spotlight. Somehow, she usually got everything she wanted anyway. Too bad she never seemed happy. Her dissatisfaction was especially clear on her face now. Just in case she wasn't making her feelings obvious, she complained, "I'm bored. Why are we here anyway, Susie?"

Susie watched Terrence serve, and considered letting Nancy know that she had picked up her best moves from watching the guys team. With hardly a thought, she decided against that. Right now, Nancy believed that Susie was naturally gifted. She didn't know how hard Susie had worked to get to the level she was at. One thing that she had learned in the last year was not to show any weakness. Instead, she gave a cocky smile and said in her sultry voice, "I like watching the guys play. It helps me pick out my next boyfriend, especially when they play without their shirts. You should have a look, Nancy. You are pretty and popular. You can do better than one night stands or hooking up at one of your parties."

Nancy shrugged without interest and said, "I would have to find the right guy first, but why are you looking? Malcolm won't be gone forever. Besides, it is too cold for them to play without shirts. "

Susie gave a shiver at the thought of Malcolm returning, but covered the reaction by saying smoothly, "Yeah, it is cold today." She tried to sound carefree as she replied, "Malcolm isn't here now though, and there is a dance coming up."

Nancy scanned the group on the courts and sneered, "The pickings out here are pretty slim. They never party, and always follow the rules. There is no way they would fit in with our crowd. I don't know why you want to go to a high school dance when there will be a more interesting party we could go to instead."

Susie ignored Nancy and just watched the guys play. She couldn't tell her best friend that that was the whole idea. Leaving the party crowd and going back to focusing on sports and following the rules sounded wonderful. Nancy wouldn't understand that though. Susie wasn't sure why, but Nancy and her brother were extremely popular in the party scene. Actually, they almost ruled it. No one crossed them on anything. The only one with more power might have been Malcolm.

No, Nancy would not like her best friend avoiding parties. The best way to avoid hurt feelings was to start dating someone outside their group. But if she was going to start dating again she wanted it to be someone she could control. That meant that she would look for a younger guy. Finally, she forced a smile and told Nancy, "Nah. There are some cute Juniors out there."

Nancy smiled and her eyes lit up as she began plotting, "We could use that to our advantage. Moe or Korbin would be perfect for you. That way, when Malcolm comes back, I'll get to enjoy it when he kicks your new guy out of your life. They deserve it for messing with my brother."

Susie considered Korbin, and swallowed. He wasn't as big as Malcolm, but he was just as scary. Even if he hadn't been dating Jamie she would never have gone out with him. Susie had tried to warn Jamie away from him, but Jamie hadn't listened. Jamie had even broken Susie's nose after she had gone out of her way to give good advice. For awhile, Susie had only wanted revenge.

Now that she had some time to calm down, she realized how pointless that had been. Jamie would regret dating Korbin, just like she had regretted dating Malcolm. She didn't have to get revenge. In fact, she hoped Jamie got out before anything too bad happened. No one deserved to be in a dangerous relationship. Susie cleared her throat as she turned from Korbin to focus on Moe. He was tall and good looking, and he was nice in a way that Malcolm had never been. Susie nodded and cautiously said, "Moe might do."