Lost in the Game {Brollins}

| Chapter 9 |

Rebecca was aware of the saying "curiosity killed the cat" but the strange statement often made her wonder if the cat could ever successfully eliminate the curiosity without dying in the process.

She also knew that if she wanted to have the rest of the school year go smoothly, she would have to bury that curiosity that was ever so quietly simmering.

After her eventful morning, the rest of Rebecca's time spent at school seemed to pass in a tedious blur and the only thing that happened to her throughout the afternoon was the thrilling pursuit of trying to stay awake in class.

The clock slowly ticked, her foot impatiently tapped, and her pen repeatedly clicked.

Her class was over in mere seconds and she would finally be able to escape the prison that recaptured her almost every day.

When the bell rang, Rebecca exited the class as quickly as possible. It wasn't rare to get caught up in the halls and have to carefully maneuver around the hundreds of students if you were too slow. Rebecca also despised getting stuck behind the slow walkers, who couldn't care less about taking up everyone's time because of the leisurely and apparently extremely important chats they would have with whoever they were talking to at the time. They were always somehow unaware that they were in a school and people had better things to do the walk at a snail's pace.

Still having to slip by and squeeze between a few groups of people, Rebecca managed to make it outside of the school without wasting too much time. She walked out further and leaned up against a nearby school wall that was still far away enough so she wouldn't have to worry about dealing with anyone unwanted.

As she waited for the girls she saw Jonathan slowly exit the school, looking from side to side before making a detour from the sidewalk and seemingly heading out somewhere behind the school.

Surprisingly when she saw Colby walk out, he was all alone. He followed the sidewalk towards the intersection where he then crossed to the other side, venturing out of sight.

She watched as Ashley strutted out of the school, smirking at every guy that glanced in her direction. Ashley quickly noticed Rebecca and began to speed up with a smile on her face.

"I know what we're doing on Sunday!" Ashley sang as she grabbed onto Rebecca's arms and squealed, making Rebecca wince at the noise.

Rebecca looked at Ashley skeptically, "And what exactly is that?"

"We're going to a party!" Ashley exclaimed, jumping up and down giddily.

"Yeah about that." Rebecca noticed Mercedes and Pamela walking towards them before redirecting her attention to Ashley. "I think what you meant to say was that you know what you are doing Sunday."

Ashley rolled her eyes and threw her arms up in frustration, "Oh come on Becks! Live a little! It'll be fun!"

Rebecca stared unimpressed, as Ashley did her best puppy dog eyes in hopes of guilting Rebecca into it, "You know what..." Rebecca paused for effect, hoping to give Ashley a sense of false hope, "You're right."

"Really?!" Ashley stared with a pure look of joy and her wide eyes gleamed with happiness.

Rebecca looked at Ashley with a fake smile before dropping it, "No."

Ashley's face instantly did a one-eighty and the disappointment on her face almost made Rebecca laugh. Before Ashley could continue to try to persuade Rebecca, Pamela ran up behind Ashley and threw her arm around her shoulder, causing her and Ashley to stumble a bit, as Mercedes made her usual entrance by strutting in nonchalantly.

The girls started walking on their usual path and talked about whatever came to mind. Whether it was Ashley ranting about another boy, Mercedes judging a stranger's fashion advice, or Pamela pointing out another cute dog that passed them, the conversation never stopped.

Rebecca looked at the sidewalk, kicking a pebble as she walked by it, listening to the sound of her boot scuffing on the sidewalk every time she kicked a new stone that was in her path.

When Rebecca went to take their usual path at the further intersection with Ashley by her side, she looked over and noticed Pamela and Mercedes going to take a different turn.

Before Rebecca could ask about it, Ashley beat her to it, "Uh guys, the turn is over here."

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot to tell you guys!" Mercedes looked at them apologetically, "We're heading out to go buy new outfits at the mall for the party." She lowered her sunglasses over her eyes and looked over at Pamela with a smile.

"More like I'm being dragged out." Pamela looked at Mercedes unhappily, and Mercedes dropped her smile before responding with an eye roll. Pamela ignored Mercedes before continuing, "Wanna come so I'm not tortured alone?"

Rebecca and Ashley shook their head in response, both knowing that when you bring Mercedes to the mall it's like bringing a kid to a candy store, hectic and overwhelming.

Mercedes waved toward Pamela dismissively, "Don't listen to her, it's gonna be fun and the party will be too!"

When Mercedes was met with silence from both Ashley and Rebecca, worry started to set in, "Wait, you guys are coming right?"

"Yeah, I'm for sure coming! You know me better than that! Her on the other hand..." Ashley jerked her thumb towards Rebecca as her words trailed off.

Mercedes looked at Rebecca, but before she got the words out, Pamela did. "You're seriously not coming?!"

Rebecca shook her head, "Yeah no I think I'll pass. You guys know parties really aren't my scene."

They all stared at her with a similar look of unhappiness on their faces and Ashley quickly looked towards the other two, "Don't worry, I've got time. I'll persuade her."

Rebecca crossed her arms and rolled her eyes, "Good luck with that."