Be My Escape

Volleyball and a New Friend

October 2003

Kaelyn's Perspective

I had been a high schooler for about two months now and I had to admit, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Classes were pretty easy and I had Spanish, Geometry, and Lunch with Alex. Alex and Jack weren't the most studious bunch, especially since they'd started a band called All Time Low with a kid from their class named Rian and a kid from Towson named Zack on bass. They were your typical noisy high school punk band, but I could see they had the potential to be something great.

But when he wasn't practicing with the band, Alex was bugging me to help him with his homework. I wasn't a brainiac or anything, I just found school easy and finished stuff quicker than Alex. Not that I minded helping him. Plus he returned the favor by helping me practice for volleyball tryouts and I'd made the JV team.

I was currently warming up for one of my games, but I was distracted by Alex, who was cheering me on from the stands, even though the game hadn't even started. I swear, he was more supportive and embarrassing than my own mother, who hadn't even gotten here yet. To top it all off, people were staring back and forth between Alex and me. Great.

I was so distracted by Alex, in fact, that I accidentally hit one of the cheerleaders with my volleyball. I ran over to apologize and retrieve my ball. The cheerleader in question was a pretty, olive toned girl with green eyes. I'd seen her cheering at games, but I didn't know her name, since she was a junior.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" I asked, taking the ball from her hands.

I fully expected her to chew me out, but she grinned and shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine! Don't worry about it."

"Are you sure? I can have my lawyer call your lawyer to make arrangements," I said.

She tossed her head back and laughed. "No, seriously. It's all good. Last year, Jason Chambers hit me in the back of the head with a football, so I've had worse."

"Yikes," I said.

"Occupational hazard," she said, holding up one of her pom poms. "I'm Lisa, by the way." She stuck her hand out.

"Kaelyn," I said, shaking her hand.

"Are you a freshman?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I am."

"I thought so, since I don't remember seeing you around. But we should be friends," she said.

"You think so?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, I do. You seem cool."

At this moment, Alex came over, slinging an arm around me. "Just wanted to wish you good luck," he said.

I wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned into his embrace. "Thanks...wait, I'm being rude. Alex, this is my new friend, Lisa. Lisa, this is my best friend and favorite pain-in-the-ass, Alex."

"Hey." He smirked at her. Little shitlord couldn't help himself, I guess.

"Hi." She grinned widely at him.

"Alright, Alex, get back to the bleachers, you're embarrassing me," I said pushing me away.

He gaped. "Fine, I can see when I'm not wanted!"

"Aw come on, you know I love ya," I said, kissing his cheek.

"Ewwwww, girl germs!" He squealed, wiping his cheek with the back of his hand.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, just get outta here."

"You got it, Miller. Good luck." With that, Alex walked back to the stands.

Once he was out of earshot, Lisa turned to me. "Okay, he is seriously cute. Are you guys..."

I hesitated. I had just met her, so I didn't want to tell her I'd had a crush on him for two years, and besides the truth or dare kiss, he had shown no interest in dating me. He was too busy sleeping around. "No. Just best buddies. Why, you gonna go for it?"

"I'm thinking about it," she said. "You think he'd...ya know...like me?"

I thought about asking if she was as easy as the rest of the girls he got with, but I actually wanted her to like me, so I couldn't. I shrugged. "He'd be an idiot not to."

"You think?" She asked.

"Totally."

--

Alex's Perspective

Okay, I'm not gonna lie. Recently, I'd begun to see Kaelyn differently. I'd even dared her to kiss me, just to see if I felt anything, and I did, but she seemed utterly unfazed by it. But she wasn't just my best friend anymore, she was cute and funny and smart and talented and amazing and...fuck, I sounded like a girl.

A normal dude would actually tell the girl he liked her. But I felt like I couldn't. There was too much at stake. So instead, I contented myself with purposely not doing my homework so Kae would have to help me. I wasn't as big of a moron as Jack (sorry, but his mom had dropped him on his head way too many times as a baby) and I probably could have done the work on my own if I put in the effort, but it was more fun watching Kae get frustrated when I didn't understand irregular Spanish verbs or complementary angles in Geometry.

That, and I had begun to sleep around. I know it didn't make me look like a class act, and I know Kae wasn't happy about it, but I needed something to distract me. If only that distraction actually worked for shit.

But Lisa seemed cool and cute. Maybe she could help me get over Kae...