I have come to the conclusion that I'm not the sporty type.
Sporting requires so much strength and body fitness. I lack those two terms.
In high school, I once joined the junior soccer team because Simone always spent too much with basketball and I didn't want to feel left out. Shane Dawson, our soccer captain, kicked me out just a week later after I kept running from the goal post instead of stopping the ball from going through the net.
I never gave up though.
I signed up for cheerleading auditions next. Lacey was the cheerleading captain back then and I knew she was going to take me in because I always let her copy my history homework. The audition was going successfully until she told me to do a split.
I couldn't do a split. I wasn't about to tear open my anus because I wanted to hang out with some group of cheerleading bimbos.
Long story short; she didn't take me in, I no longer let her copy my homework, she failed history that semester.
"Allie, what's your problem? You're supposed to put the ball through our hoop, not theirs!" I scrunch my face and stare up at Noah through ragged breaths.
We're currently having a game of basketball this afternoon. We split ourselves into two groups. I got picked last and the Kingston's team put me in theirs probably because they have no clue how bad I am at sports. And now, it's looking like they're starting to regret it.
"Are you crazy? I've been cluelessly running around this field and when I finally get the chance to score a point, you tell me that's not our hoop? When the hell did we talk about whose basketball hoop is who's? I think you're being unfair here."
"You want to know what I think?" He wipes sweat from his forehead. "I think you should just stick to washing dishes and taking out kitchen garbage. It seems that's the only thing you're good at."
"What did you just say to me?"
"Children! Children! Children!" Lacey steps into our middle and gives an exasperated sigh. "This interminable bickering was amusing at first, but it's getting very stale and we still got a long game ahead of us. So why don't you two cut the horseshit and get to the part where you admit your sexual feelings for one another."
"Whoa! That's way off the line," I say. Is this girl serious?
"Oh, spare me! Yes, he's a feral, I know. Probably reminds you of a bad relationship, and gosh, you really like a sweet, caring dude. So basically, he's not your type. But admit it, you're curious to know what he's like in the sack." She turns to Noah, who looks taken aback by her outburst. "And you, well, you're just a big man-baby who'd rather act tough than show his true feelings, because the last time you opened your heart, you got hurt."
He doesn't say anything. I expect him to deny but he doesn't.
"And now, rather than admit these feelings, you're dancing around one another with this mind-numbing and frankly boorish mating ritual. So please, for my sake, either quit your bickering or go upstairs, tear off those clothes and get it over with already!"
And that's how she makes fifteen people speechless.
"Let's take five," Noah announces after minutes of long silence, keeping his eyes anywhere but on me. I want to say something before he trudges past Lacey and I, making me clamp my mouth shut.
"Thanks a lot for embarrassing us. You deserve a Grammy award."
Lacey gives an innocent look. "What'd I do?"
"Screw you."
"Oh, come on. I know you guys got the hots for each other. I can feel it in my bones."
"Feel this in your bones." I punch her on the arm
"Ow! That was not necessary."
Simone picks up a ball and rolls it on a finger, laughing at something she hears Tom say. They head over to get their water bottles across the gym.
"Hey, is there something you want to tell me?" I ask Lacey, remembering their fight in the kitchen yesterday.
"No. I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"Lacey, you know you can tell me anything, right?"
She stays silent while biting the insides of her cheek, like she's contemplating if to tell me what's bugging her or not.
"Ok, fine! I'm not okay."
"I figured that out. Is it about Tom?"
Lacey sighs. "I like that she and Tom are a thing now, it's just... I was jealous at first, and angry, and that's why I said all those stupid stuffs yesterday. It's like I wanted her all to myself, and I realized how selfish that was."
My frown deepens. I have absolutely no idea what she's talking about.
"I just... like... I've never felt like this, you know, with anyone before. And... you know they do say it makes you crazy."
"What makes you crazy?"
"You know... like the phrase... 'blank makes you crazy'... like the word..."
I chuckle. "What are you talking about? Simone's a girl."
She gives me a 'duh' look and my face contorts into further confusion. And then it hits me, like a lightbulb is being turned on above my head.
"Oh." Is all I can say.
"Yeah. Oh." Lacey smiles. "One more thing. This stays between us. You tell her, I murder you, you die a virgin, you never get to see what a dick looks like..."
"OKAY," I drag out in a loud voice. "I think you've made your point pretty clear enough."
"Good. I'll be down by the field if you need me."
I watch her go as I think about what she told me. I've been so consumed in my own emotional and social crisis that I couldn't even see what was right in my face. Is this a love triangle I sense? Sounds like a bad plot from a cliche movie. How in the world did she get herself in this mess? That's my thing, actually. Crushing on people who'd never reciprocate the feeling.
My life is one big mess.
But I'd rather figure out someone's else's life than fix my own. That 'someone' being Noah. If my suspicions about him and Miss Renee are wrong, then he wouldn't be so comfortable with her daughter. I see Jane, Miss Renee's five year old, skateboard towards him to give him a high-five.
Something warm bubbles in my stomach when his face lights up a smile as he looks down at her. Noah's not friendly with children. He's hardly friendly with anybody. I only got lucky probably because I kept pushing his buttons.
I think I deserve some accolades.
I'm curious to know about him, just like Lacey said, but no, it's not about what he's like in the sack— whatever she meant by that. It's about what he's not telling me. Who's Miss Renee? How does she know about his brother? They're not even that close for him to tell her that kind of information.
So many unlocked mysteries that I'm starting to feel like Sherlock Holmes. Maybe I should ditch Law school and open my own investigation agency.
Puzzles fascinate me. Locating pieces, shuffling them around, trying new angles until they slipped into place, is a challenge that always satisfies me. Noah is one big puzzle I've been trying to arrange ever since my neck-chain ended up in his hands first week of summer.
So as I step out into the night in my black outfit and mask, looking like I'm about to rob a bank, I reassure myself that it's worth the risk.
Breaking into Miss Renee's house is worth the risk.
We've all done stupid things once in our lives. Don't judge me.
I climb over her fence and land on my face on the opposite side. Aren't I supposed to land right on my feet and look badass like I watch in movies? I've been believing a lie.
Groaning, I struggle to get back on my feet and limp all the way to the front door. I twist the knob but it's locked, so I go for the window instead.
Fortunately for me, the window slides open with ease when I push it upward and climb into the house, landing on my feet. Not my face this time.
I can't make out what the apartment looks like because of the darkness but that's definitely freshly baked rice cake I smell.
I take a step further into the house and continue trying to find my way in the pitch black apartment when I feel the unmistakably cold barrel of a gun pressed tightly against the back of my head.
I freeze.
"Don't. Move."
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