I spent the rest of the week prepping for the interview for the team managing thing. I knew I wasn't going to get paid or anything but, anything worth doing is worth doing good right?
~~~~~~~
I woke up really early on Friday morning to review everything I was going to say at the interview.
Okay. Maybe I was the only one applying. But, I took my jobs seriously.
I took a shower and put on my outfit for the first day of my new job. It was a coral suit with a baggy blazer, paired with white sneakers. I styled my hair into my "eternal bun" and put on some lip gloss. That was the most makeup I had ever worn.
I prepped for the interview again even though I was sure I was the only person applying.
I took my father's car cause I didn't want to get my suit dirty and he was out of town.
I had just gotten my permit. I was pretty proud of myself.
I put on the radio and Truth Hurts by Lizzo started playing. So, I was pretty hyped up.
Isn't it weird how a song can make you feel a certain way even though it doesn't apply to you at all?
For the first time since Juan stopped talking to me, my day had actually been going pretty great.
At least it was until I got to school.
I never really noticed how packed the parking lot at my school was. Blue eyes... I mean Mace Smith was the first person who saw me after I finally got a spot to park.
"Nice car", he said.
"It's my father's", I said. He just smiled. Then his eyes widened a little like he was just seeing me for the first time.
"What's with the suit?", he asked smiling.
"It's for the job interview."
He started laughing.
"Job interview? I never said anything about any interview."
"But, there has to be an interview.", I said, starting to get annoyed. "I looked up the responsibility of a team manager. It's a very serious job."
"I know that. But, you're the only one applying."
"That doesn't mean I automatically get the job." Does it?
"It kind of does." Are you kidding me?
"I spent all that time prepping for nothing?", I said, mentally screaming.
"Yeah," he said, clearly trying to hold back a laugh.
"Great. Now I'm extra too. And I have to wear this stupid suit all day for no reason", I said looking down at my suit, dissapointed.
"You know what? I don't hate the suit", he said, touching the top button of my blazer.
Heck no.
Just as I was about to remove his hand, I saw Juan staring at us. I stared at him, frozen. I didn't know how to look away.
"Green? Are you okay?", Mace Smith said, holding the hand that I kept on his.
"Yeah. Yeah. Let's just go", I said, my eyes still on Juan.
I half-walked, Mace half-dragged me into to my locker. Which by the way was right beside his. How had I never noticed before?
"What was that?", he asked l, opening his locker to get his books.
"What was what?", I asked, closing my locker and walking away. Of course I knew what he was talking about. I just didn't want to talk about it with him. I didn't know him.
Classes went by quickly that day. Which was a good thing because I wasn't really in the mood.
I got to the gym twenty minutes before basketball practice to see the coach.
"Hi," he said. "Jean right?"
"It's Green," I said.
"Really?"
"I think I'd be sure about my own name," I said.
"Okay. If you say so."
He showed me where everything was and told me that, I was to start on Monday. But, I decided to stay and record their practice on my video camera cause I had nothing better to do.
They were good but there was something missing. Like they were working together but, they weren't working together. There was probably something going on with them personally. I'd show it to the coach later.
~~~~~~~
After practice, I was getting into my car, well, my dad's car, when Mace Smith shouted my name.
"Green!"
"What do you want, Mace Smith?" I said, slightly annoyed. I was really tired.
"The guys and I are going to my house," he said.
"Okay. Have fun," I said, getting into my car.
"No," he said, stopping me from shutting the car door. "I... They wanted me to ask you if you want to come."
"Um... No," I said shutting the door and rolling the window down. "But thanks for asking."
I drove to Juan's house but, I decided not to go in. He obviously wasn't ready to talk to me. I was really getting tired of this.
I went home to change and get my home work done. I was getting ready to go out again but, I realised I had no where to go. You don't realize how lonely you are until your best and only friend stops talking to you. I checked my contacts. I only had seven contacts. And one of them was Qually's veterinarian. Ugh. I was a Friday night and I was bored. So bored I did something I never thought I'd do. I texted Gabby. To my surprise she answered immediately.
Me: Hello Gabby.
Gabby Phillips: Hey :)
Me: How are you?
Gabby Phillips: U know u text weird right
Me: What?
Gabby Phillips: Who taught u how to text ur mom
Me: Yes. Why?
Gabby Phillips: We're going to have to fix that. Wanna come over
Me: Yes.
I finally had somewhere to go.
I called my mother to tell her where I was going then, I packed my pajamas and other things then, drove to Gabby's house.
~~~~~~~
I liked Gabby's room. It was big, pink and had two beds. Like it was made for sleepovers. We changed to our pajamas and sat on the floor of her room.
"So," she said. "What's going on with you and Juan?"
"What?" I said, surprised. "I thought you were going to teach me how to text."
"Texting comes after tea so, spill the tea."
"There's really nothing to spill."
She was still looking at me expectantly with her big brown eyes. They were so beautiful. Now that I was really looking at her I realised that Gabby was really beautiful. How had I never noticed before?
"You're really pretty," I said.
She blushed.
"Thanks," she said. "So, what happened?"
I told her everything that happened with Blue eyes stalking me and Juan being all weird about it and the question I asked him.
"You guys slept together?" she said.
"Is that really all you got from the story?" I asked.
"No... But, you guys slept together," she said.
"Well, yeah," I said.
"Okay," she said. "But you guys slept together?"
"Gabby!"
"Fine," she said. "Why did you ask him if he had a crush on you?"
"It's the way he acted when I told him about Mace," I said.
"Did you say Mace as in Mace Smith?" she said.
I nodded.
"OMG Green. Mace Smith is your stalker."
"Was," I said, then told her about the team manager thing.
She stared at me with her mouth open for a while then said, "So, you're telling me, you have full access to the basketball team."
"I'm sorry, did you say full access?" I said,
laughing.
"You get to see them shirtless and talk to them?" she said.
"It's more like they talk to me," I said, still laughing.
"Can I come?" she said, giving me puppy dog eyes. Ugh.
"I thought we were talking about Juan and I."
"Oh, yeah," she said. "You know Juan loves you. He's going to come crawling back any time from now."
"I hope you're right," I said. "I brought my video camera. Do you want to watch the practice footage?"
"Um, yeah!"
I laughed.
I hooked up my camera to her laptop then, we watched the practice footage. She made me re-watch it six times. Twice in slow motion.
Then, we went to her kitchen to get a midnight snack and went to her living room to watch all the twilight movies.
"I'm sorry I was so mean to you in middle school," Gabby said.
"It's okay," I said, my mouth stuffed with frozen pizza that we microwaved. "Everyone was mean to me."
"No," she said, pausing the movie. "It's not. "
"Hey," I said. "I said it's fine."
I turned to her and saw her facial expression was sad.
"We put you through so much," she said. "All of us. Then, we forced you into our group because of Juan and never apologized."
I stayed silent.
"Green?" she said.
"Is that what this is? A guilt sleep over," I said, frowning.
"What? No. I invited you here cause I like you," she said. "Remember I kept trying to invite you but you kept saying no."
"Okay," I said, remembering. "Let's watch the movie then."
She stared at me confused for a while but played the movie.
I know I should have finished having the conversation with her but, it was unnecessary. I was finally getting another friend. I didn't want to ruin it with old wounds.
"You should come with me to practice on Monday," I said. "I would need a little help."
"OMG. Green. Thanks," she said.
We spent the rest of the night watching twilight and arguing about who Bella should have ended up with. Gabby thought she should have ended up with Jacob. I thought she should have run far, far away once she found out that Edward was a vampire. No one needs that kind of stress.
Things were finally looking up for me. I had a new job, a new friend, pizza. If you asked me how I was doing in that moment I would have smoked and said, "My life's going great". It really sucked that it couldn't remain that simple. Why do people always have to complicate things?
Just when we were about to watch Breaking Dawn part one, I got a text from Juan.
Juan Diaz: You were right... We need to talk.
Oh Christ.