Chapter 10
"I don't really wanna intrude on a friends' night," I replied. It was nice of Sara to offer but I wasn't really keen on crashing her party. I knew how awkward it could be for someone new.
"It's alright. You know Betty and the rest can get to know you as well. They're all cool." Sara said before she added, "Besides, it's not a night. It's just some hours."
"Sure," I nodded and looked at Mira and asked, "You're coming too, right?"
"I…" Mira was about to reply when Sara interrupted, "Of course, she is."
"If she doesn't want to go, then you shouldn't force her." Aunt Elise said.
"She's a straight A student. She can afford to let loose for one evening." Sara said. Mira was the shy type, well, the last time I saw her she was. This time, she didn't give off any indication of being shy but from the looks of it, there was something else.
"Still…" Mira tried to say something but Sara once again interrupted her, "Oh come on, just for one evening. Tyler is here too."
"If you're too uncomfortable, then I understand but I'd like it if you came as well," I added, not really trying to pressure her.
"Haa…" She sighed and in the end conceded, "Sure."
Sara looked at me appreciatively and said, "Thanks. She doesn't go out much and she wouldn't have this time either if not for you."
"Can I come too?" Sasha asked with beaming eyes.
"You have tennis class, don't you? The coach is coming today. He had to waste a day last time as well." Aunt Elise said.
Sasha pouted but didn't say anything in return. She was childish but she wasn't stubborn. After dinner, I went to dress up which wasn't much. I simply put on a black T-shirt and black dress jeans.
I wasn't really into tight clothes so I didn't have any either but dress pants were a little middle ages and I still wanted to look my age.
"Let's go," I came down and Sara was ready. She was the first woman who got ready before a man in my life. Well, there were only two women in my life, Mom and Grandma. Other than them, there wasn't anyone so close.
I mean, Sara was, but she and I hadn't seen each other for years.
"Ready?" I asked Mira who was dressed in a blue strap shirt and a pair of black loose trousers. Sara was similarly dressed as well, only she was wearing shorts instead of trousers.
I had to say, these two sisters together were a sight to see.
Good thing I couldn't get hard anymore.
We left around four and made our way to the downtown. Pittsburgh was small but it was for the elite and had everything elites needed.
One of those things was a bowling club.
"Here?" I asked as me and the girls got out of the car.
"What did you expect? Bars?" Sara asked before she rolled her eyes and said, "We're eighteen."
"And this is America," I replied.
"Touché." She said with a laugh.
We got inside and the place was almost empty. There was just one group of kids around my age and they were at the far end of the court. Among them, I only recognized one. As for the rest of the five, I had no idea.
Four of them were typical jocks in basketball jerseys and the last one was a girl who was clinging to one jock, signifying she was his girlfriend. But he didn't seem to be the leader of the group.
It was another dark brown-haired dude. He was your typical white kid with an air of arrogance around him.
"Hey, guys," Sara said.
Betty turned to us and said, "Hey! You're late. And who did you bring al--- Tyler!!!"
Betty instantly recognized me and came over to me. She hugged me, her hands above my shoulders as she said, "When the hell did you come?!"
"Just today," I replied before we separated. I noticed she was wearing a full shirt so I made sure to ask, "And I see you've started to wear full clothes."
"Seriously?" She asked me, one hand on her hip, "Is that the only thing you have to say to your friend you haven't seen for years?"
"Well, the said friend was hoping for some eye candy," I replied.
"Haha," She chuckled sweetly before she said, "You're incorrigible."
"It's good to see you, Betty." I once again hugged her which she returned with full vigor.
Betty was about half a foot shorter than me. Dark skinned but more on the whiter side, due to her Dad being black, and her mom being white. Her hair was deep black in color and the same went for her eyes. She was wearing a loose T-shirt that covered her thighs and from there was long black jeans.
We separated and made our way back to the group.
"Who the hell is this?" The boss of the group asked with a frown as he saw me.
"Hey, man, I'm Tyler," I replied with my hand extended.
"I asked who the hell are you." He rudely replied which I didn't really like. He reminded me of Jackson back home.
"Hey man, ignore him. He's not very friendly." The guy with the girl in his arms hurriedly took my hand and said.
"Relax, Jackson." Sara said, "He's my cousin."
Jackson, huh? This guy too? Do all pompous dicks have the same name?
"I don't care who he is. He better not be making moves on you." Jackson said.
And that was enough to tell me whose boyfriend he was.
"He's my cousin, Jackson," Sara said, her tone annoyed and fed up.
She could have done a lot better.
"Hey," The guy who was holding my hand shook it and said, "I'm Donald but you can call me Dan."
"I'm Lucy," The girl in Dan's arms said with a friendly smile.
"I'm Todd," Another guy introduced himself.
"I'm Aaron." Another one said.
"I'm Ross." The last guy introduced himself.
They were all a friendly bunch from the looks of it and the only problem among them was Jackson.
But hey, I didn't want to get into it. I was the outsider after all.
"It's a surprise to see you, Mira," Ross shyly said, his tone giving away his obvious intentions.
"Thanks," Mira said, her expression hard to read but one thing was for sure, she didn't receive Ross's feelings like the rest of us did.
"So, Tyler, where are you from?" Lucy asked.
"L.A," I replied.
"Really? My uncle lives there too. He's an attorney for some big shot company there." Lucy replied.
"Really? If he's an attorney, I'm sure I'd know of him." I replied.
"Yeah, he represents the Harriet Bay Law firm," Lucy replied.
Well, fuck that. Isn't that a small world? He's my lawyer.
"That's good to know," I replied with a smile.
"You play, Tyler?" Aaron, the only dark-skinned dude among them asked.
"Sure," I replied.
"Teams of two?" Todd asked.
"Sure." Betty replied before she clung to my arm, "Tyler's with me."
Was that my imagination? Earlier at the hug too. But it could be just my imagination. Or was it?
"Sure," Todd said before he warned, "But I'll tell you, me and Aaron are a killer team."
I smiled and said, "Well, may the best team win."
"Then the teams have been decided. Lucy and Dan, as always. Sara and Jackson as always. Todd and me as always but unfortunately, Ross is going to have to be with someone new this time." Aaron announced the teams.
Haha. It was cute how they were all trying to bring Mira and Ross close.
"I'm not playing. I'm not very good at that." Unfortunately, Mira's reply made the atmosphere a little awkward.
Everyone turned to Sara who shook her head, signaling that she would stay out of this.
"It's…It's okay. I'm not very good at it either." Ross replied.
Looking at his arms, he definitely was, but no one wanted to convince him while he was that dejected.
"The loser buys the first round," Todd announced.
"Hey, that's not fair." Lucy said before she added, "You know me and Dan aren't that good at it."
Something told me it wasn't Dan who wasn't good at it but it was clear who was the dominant one in their relationship.
"Actually, I was thinking the first round's on me," I said.
"We can't do that man. If anything, we should be the ones treating you." Aaron said.
"It's no big deal." I insisted.
"Well, if you say so, but I'll warn you, I go big for the first round," Dan said.
"Knock yourselves out," I replied.
"Great! Then let's get this show on the road." Dan excitedly said and took the first shot. His form was perfect but just before he threw it, he tilted his hand a bit, causing that shot to be a miss.
He really was the submissive one in that relationship.
~~
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