Four
Cameron Dallas
As soon as I stepped into the front doors, the bell rung. I rolled my eyes, and hoped that Coach wouldn't be upset before jogging to the gym. Turning the corner, I could hear Coach blowing his whistle, and the sound of running feet. I itched my way around the open gym doors, and tried walking by to get to the boys' locker room without Coach seeing me.
I was just about to pass the doors entirely when I heard his rough voice, "Dallas!"
I closed my eyes, and cursed under my breathe before turning to face him. He twirled his finger in the air, letting the students know to run another lap around the gym before turning, and meeting me at the door. I smiled, "Hey, Coach."
"Why are you late?" He asked, crossing his arms. "You know I have to bench you from the first game if your late more than one more time, Dallas. And, this is the second time you're late after our agreement."
I nodded my head. When I tried out for basketball, and made the team, Coach had always seemed to favor me. He had always let me off with warnings, and such until someone else, who made the team, told the school about unfair treatment. Now, he has to bench anyone who isn't following the rules just to keep his job.
"I know, Coach."
He just stared at me until he sighed. "One more time, Cameron. But, I have to send you to the office to get a late slip."
I grinned, and began walking away. "Thanks."
"Yeah, well, don't let it happen again in my class, or anyone else's."
I waved him off before walking, casually, back to the main foyer. Stuffing my hands into my pockets, I heard voices coming from the opposite end of the hallway. It sounded like Kelsey. I sped my pace until I reached the end of the hallway. I could see Kelsey and some other girl smiling at Carol, the front desk lady, before shutting the door and walking towards me. The girl wore leggings, and a red flannel shirt. Her short brown hair was curled, and her green eyes seemed to be sparked with excitement.
I walked out into the main entrance. Kels, the girl, and I met in the middle, right at the large tiger printed on the floor. The girl's smile began to fade as she just stood there, eyeing me. I smirked, knowing what that meant.
"Hey Cameron," Kels said, biting her lip. I nodded toward her as a greeting, but kept my attention focused on the girl. She seemed to try to regain her confidence as she grinned. "This is Rachel."
"Oh, Rachel," I said, testing the name. I liked it. "You must be the new girl."
"Yeah," she smirked. "I just moved here from Nebraska."
"Ah, well, I'm hoping you can make it to my party. I hear Kelsey has invited you."
She nodded. "I'll be there."
"Glad I can count on it."
Winking, I watched her bit her lip as well. She'll be a piece of cake. I waved off the two, and walked away. Getting closer to the office, I hoped they wouldn't call my parents. The first thing I would hear getting home, would be my mom screaming at me. That's the last thing I wanted. Then, she'd probably ground me, and I'd hate to sneak out just to get to my own party.
I opened the door, and plastered on a cocky smile. Carol looked at me, rolling her eyes. I chuckled to myself slightly as I put on my sunglasses, which I knew bugged her, and sauntered over to the counter, leaning on the edge with my elbows. Smirking, I watched as Carol attempted to keep her calm.
"What, Mr. Dallas?" She said, nearly clenching her teeth. "Did your teachers finally get tired of your behavior?"
I shrugged. "Probably, but that's not why I'm here, Carol. I need a late pass." She went to object, and I held a hand up before she could continue. "Now, now, let's not get testy. Just hand over the pass, and I'll be on my way."
Her eyes burned with fury. "What makes you think I'll grant you with a pass?"
"I don't see what not." She looked at me, little flames of anger seeming to rise in her eyes. Tilting my head slightly, I gave her a side glance, furrowing my eyebrows together. "Come on, Mrs. Smith. The sooner you write the pass, the sooner I'll be out of here."
She finally gave in, snatching the yellow pad of paper, and scribbling her signature down. She yanked the paper off of the pad, and handed the thin slip to me. I took it, stuffing it into my pocket.
"I'll have to log that in, you know," she pointed out.
"That's okay," I reassured her. "Now, was that so hard? Really, Carol, I mean, what's the problem?"
"Cameron Dallas, this is your twelfth tardy this semester!" she chided, looking up at me. "Why are you always late?"
I shrugged, and added in a low voice, "Carol, just be happy that I showed up today."
"That's Mrs. Smith to you." She glared at me. "One more tardy before the break, and I'll have to schedule another meeting with your parents. From there, we'll decide the best way to handle your irrational behavior."
Deciding not to push her any further, I turned, and looked at Cindy. My eyes swept over to the girl next to her. I took the opportunity to size her up. Her dark brown hair was pinned back into a ponytail, her body fitting perfectly into her skinny jeans. Before allowing her to even notice my attention on her, my eyes slid back over to Cindy, who smiled at me. The moment she spotted me, she seemed to remember all the hell I put her through, and her eyes showed just how tired I had made her. Thinking of it, I almost let out a short chuckle. Junior year was the best.
"Cindy, how's it been? Having fun dealing with the new wave of juniors?" I asked her.
"Yeah, though none of them are quite like you, Mr. Dallas."
"Still trying to explain that to my new head counselor, Cindy." I answered her.
I brushed past the two of them, heading towards the door. The quicker I got back to the gym, the better. I didn't need to be benched the first game in my senior year. I needed to play. Who knows what game scouts would be there, and I needed to be ready and out on the court.
"Mr. Dallas," Cindy called out. I froze at the door, turning slowly around. "Please remove your sunglasses, and make sure you're doing good this year. We've got new students, and we want you seniors to provide good examples."
I removed my glasses, and let my eyes focus on the new girl's brown eyes. This had to be the other one Nick had spoken of. I winked, but she showed no reaction. "I'm sure Cindy could tell you plenty of my wild junior year tales. As long as you do exactly the opposite of that, you should be fine."
With that, I turned and left. As soon as I knew I was out of their line of vision, I hurried back to the gym. Within moments, I heard the shouts of dozens of boys, '1 ... 2 ... 3,' followed by the shuffle of their feet as they jumped up and down, side to side. Good for perfecting our jumps, Coach would say. As I rounded the corner, I stepped into the gym. Coach immediately began walking over to me, signaling for the boys to keep going.
I handed Coach the pass. "There you go, big guy."
He looked at me for several moments. "Cam, when are you going to take school seriously?"
"When we lose a game."
A smile broke across his face, and he rolled his eyes. Ruffling my hair, he laughed. "Get dress, Dallas!"
