So I'm a Double Threat (Double Threat Series) (20 page)

He introduces all the princes one by one, and finally announces the King...Alex...King Alex, at last.
Bleeding Love
screams through the cafeteria, and Alex comes running over.

“Where’s Amy?” he shouts.

We look around. She was just here a minute ago while we were dancing.

“I don’t know...maybe the bathroom...want me to go get her?” Steph asks.

“Oh shit...there’s no time,” he says hurriedly. “I’m supposed to be dancing right now.”

We all look at the dance floor and the rest of the guys are out there with their girlfriends or dates.

“Meg, I know I probably sound like an ass...but will you dance with me?” he asks in despair.

“Uh...I don’t think I should,” I say, looking back for Eric. Where’s Eric? He isn’t at the table anymore.

“Meg, go on. Alex is gonna look
whack
if he’s not out there,” Josh yells at me.

I look from Keesha to Steph.

“Go, Meg.” Steph pushes me toward him.

I take Alex’s hand and he pulls me into the center of the dance floor.

What the hell is going on here? Where’s Amy? Where’s Eric?

They’re going to die if they see us right now. That’s it. I
am
the worst friend and girlfriend in the world.

We dance at a good distance from each other. I keep looking everywhere hoping I won’t see Amy and Eric watching us. And I don’t. Before the song finishes, I have relaxed in Alex’s arms. I look into his eyes and smile. He smiles back and I feel something weird between us. Something different. Something new. I feel...hope.

It
is
hope.

Instantly, all my feelings from the summer come back, all those feelings and more. It isn’t just an obsession with this older guy and his hot body, it’s more. It’s the realization that he, who has become one of my best friends, can maybe become more than just my buddy. Not right now, of course. But maybe...someday.

The song finishes, everyone cheers, and they begin to crowd in as a new song starts. Alex doesn’t let me go right away. He hugs me tight and whispers into my ear, “Thank you, Megan. You’re such a good friend.” He kisses me on my cheek. Our friends reach us as he says, “I’m glad you were the one to be here with me.” His stare is intense as I’m pulled away to dance by Keesh and Steph. I want to say something, but the moment is gone just as quickly as it came. Alex turns to high five the guys and everything goes back to the way it always is, to the way we always are.

We’re all here again, dancing the night away. All but Eric and Amy.

––––––––

C
arver High has an awesome girls’ basketball team. They’re like undefeated and are expected to win CIF. ASB has been making tons of posters—congratulating the team and announcing upcoming games—and putting them up all over school. So when none of us can think of anything to do this Friday, we decide to show our support and make an appearance at the game. It will be a nice change to see a team win, unlike our sad football team.

Basketball fans are wild. This is my first game. Since their season is at the same time as soccer, I can never make it. I usually go home after practice or games, but now the season is over so I have some free time. The fans at soccer games are usually just parents; students rarely go. But it seems like the whole school is here, along with teachers and parents. Huh...maybe it’s because this is the final game for league champs.

The cheerleaders are fairly entertaining with all their stomping and cool cheers.

“We’re heading for a basket, we’re moving down the floor, we are the Bengals, and we know we’re gonna score,” they chant and the fans follow along. It’s like a freakin’ sing along.

It’s intense until the final minutes of the game when our girls pull ahead and end up beating the other team by 12 points.

We all charge out of the gym and into the quad. “So what next?” Steph shouts. We’re away from the crowds already, so Steph doesn’t have to shout. But, you know her.

“Hey. My mom is at another New Kids concert tonight and my dad is at a poker night,” I explain. “So we can just kick back at my house, maybe light a fire again and just chill.”

We all agree and begin the pilgrimage to my house. Everyone seems to be getting along pretty well, even after the dance, when I was sure Amy was going to be pissed with me. Amy and Eric missed the whole thing and were totally okay with me filling in. Amy had to go to the bathroom and didn’t want to walk over to them in the dark by herself. Since Alex was busy, she asked Eric to go with her. Amy actually thanked me for dancing with Alex. She said she would’ve felt bad if he had to look like an idiot standing there by himself because of her.

The guys get the fire started and arrange all the chairs, while the girls grab some drinks and munchies. We raid my cupboards for anything salty, like chips, and sweet, like cookies. I’m surprised when we’re able to find a bag of Doritos and Oreos. Now that soccer season is over, my mom stocks less junk since I’m not exercising as much. My mom hates how my full figure is less than desirable. I don’t really care, and neither does Eric, so why should she? Thankfully, my dad loves junk food so my mom still stashes some good stuff in the pantry for him every now and then.

We take the stuff out back and get settled. I plop myself next to Eric and he moves around until we fit comfortably together.

“So what are we gonna do during spring break?” I ask, trying to start up conversation.

“You guys know I’m gonna be gone the whole week?” Steph exclaims.

“What...where you going?” Dominic asks. Dominic is one of Alex’s friends and Steph’s new
friend
. It was only a matter of time before Alex’s friends infiltrated our group. I think it would’ve happened sooner if it wasn’t for Ben turning out to be such an ass, and disappointment.

“Oh shit.” Steph covers her mouth to finish her chocolate chip cookie. “I guess I forgot to tell you. My family goes to Glamis every year so I’ll be gone the whole week.”

“Glamis? Do you ride?” Dominic says, surprised and interested.

Keesh chuckles. “That’s like asking Steph if she breathes.”

“Well...excuse me...but Steph and I don’t know everything about each other,
yet
.” Dominic emphasizes the word
yet
, as he pulls her into his lap. She screams and kicks as he tickles her.

They’re totally cute together. Ever since they met at the dance, they’ve been inseparable. Dominic is this huge guy with wild curly hair. He’s a junior at Carver who plays the offensive line. He is a giant. He makes Steph look as small as Amy. Had she sat in Eric’s lap, she would’ve crushed him, but Dominic holds her like a little puppy.

“So what do you ride, hon?” Dominic asks Steph.

“A Banshee,” she exclaims. “Just call me
Ricky Bobby
, I like to drive fast.”

What a dork. Steph is quoting a movie—
Talladega Nights
—but Dominic thinks it’s hilarious. He lets out a huge laugh, and then says, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”

OMG. These two are perfect for each other.

We all just watch them and smile, everyone except Josh. “So, do you ride too, Dominic?” he asks.

Dominic stops tickling Steph long enough to answer, “Yeah, my family has been going down to Glamis for years. I ride bikes, and quads. My dad just got a rail to take my little brothers out. My mom doesn’t want them to ride on their own yet.”

“How cool. Maybe we’ll see each other up there some time.” Steph gushes.

“Yeah, like spring break, ’cause that’s what I’m doing with my family.” He tickles her again.

“Yeah. Cool,” I hear Josh mutter under his breath—looks like someone’s jealous. I can understand his misery though. This is the first time Steph has brought any of her friends around the whole group. Any guys she went out with besides Josh were usually on the down low. It’s stupid really, because they were never really a couple, so who cares?

“Anyone else skipping town?” Keesh asks.

“Nah...I’ll be around,” Jonathan says.

“Me too,” I add.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Eric tells us.

“Not me,” Alex says.

Amy and Josh both add, “Me either.”

“So what are we gonna do then?” I ask.

“How about the beach?” Alex suggests.

“Great idea,” Amy tells him. “I love the beach.”

That sounds like ass to me. I
hate
the beach. The thought of getting into a bathing suit in front of Eric or Alex, or anyone else for that matter, makes me want to throw up. Seriously, someone change the subject. Amy knows I hate the beach. Who wants sand all up in their crack anyway? I swear, every time I’ve been to the beach I come home with my own collection of sand, which is probably still in my carpet to this day. I probably have tiny grains still stuck in my hair.

Ugh.

Not the
beach
.

“Sounds cool with me,” Eric agrees. “There’s this train thing we can take that goes down to San Clemente. It’d be cool instead of going to Newport.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard about that before. The girls down there are supposed to be hot too,” Jonathan adds. Josh leans over to smack his hand.

“So we’ll go to the beach one of the days,” Keesh agrees. “What about the rest of the week?”

“I hear there’s gonna be some fresh parties on the weekend,” Dominic tells us.

“Yeah. I heard that too,” Alex says, in between eating chips.

I take a big swig of my Diet Coke, and burp. Seriously, I just burped. Out loud. For everyone to hear. OMG. I can’t believe I belched. It just came out.

“Damn girl.” Keesh laughs. “That was a good one.”

“That was sick, Meg.” Eric pushes me away. I can’t tell if he is serious or kidding.

Dominic burps too. It makes mine sound like a squeak. I laugh, my face burning with embarrassment. Everyone starts to laugh.

Then, Steph burps too. She looks at me and nods. She’s got my back. Dominic high-fives her. It isn’t long before everyone is chugging their sodas and trying to out-burp one another. What a good guy Dominic is...he saved me. Eric and Amy look annoyed. They don’t join our contest. For a minute, we sound like a chorus of burps.

We continue our night talking, laughing, stuffing our faces, burping here and there, which starts an upheaval of laughter each time. We decide to just see what comes up during spring break, but going to the beach is inevitable. Ugh.

By the time the fire goes out, it’s late, and everyone decides to go home. Eric stays behind to help me clean up. I’m afraid of what being alone will mean to him, but he just kisses me good night. It’s a nice kiss, not at all a “let me rip off your clothes right now” kinda kiss like they have been lately. I guess he’s finally given up on his goal to introduce me to womanhood. He even stopped bringing up ways to get me alone or trying to get me to talk about sex. I don’t know what changed his mind, but I’m glad it did.

I go to bed thinking about spring break.

It isn’t for another two weeks. Maybe I can drop a size or two by then.

I get out of bed and hit the floor to do some sit-ups and push-ups. That’s it. Diet starts tomorrow; nothing but salads and water.

I’m not about to let my fat hang out all over the place. A lot of girls at school don’t mind showing off their
muffin tops
, but I’m not one of them. I don’t get how some girls squeeze themselves into a size seven or nine, when they’re clearly a thirteen or fifteen. I don’t even get the girls who are a size five or seven and try to get into a one or three. They just make themselves look fat when they’re really skinny. Since when did fat hanging over the side of your jeans become a fashion statement? I’m not about to go there.

Why can’t we go somewhere else? For the love of God, why do we have to go to the beach?

OMG.

Kill me now...seriously...kill me now.

I HATE the beach.

––––––––

T
oday is the day I get to be humiliated and disgusted all at the same time. I get to spend the day sucking in my fat while sand finds its way into every orifice of my body. Seriously. The FREAKIN’ beach. My friends must hate me. The only one who despises the beach as much as me is Steph, but she’s down in Glamis riding away on her dang quad. Turns out, Dominic’s parents know hers, and they’re going to meet up down there, so they get to spend the whole dang break together. At least, she’ll probably end up with sand in her crack,
too
, from the dunes.

I hate my friends for dragging me to the beach. I hope they all come home with a rash in their asses from sand burn. Did I mention, I HATE the beach?

Actually, I hope Ms. Gelson gets a rash. Can you believe she actually assigned us a novel to read during break? We have to read
To Kill a Mockingbird
. This totally sucks. I’m going to have to
Sparknote
this one. There is no way I’m going to spend my break reading some stupid old book. Why can’t we read stuff that’s interesting? Books with characters who talk and act like people in this decade, or even this century. My dad says
To Kill a Mockingbird
is a great book. He said he hated it when he read it in high school, but grew to love it as an adult.

It’s one of his favorites.

Then why are we reading it now? I’m barely in high school. I’m not an adult yet.

Why can’t we read authors who are still breathing? Like Laurie Halse Anderson, or Walter Dean Myers, Jerry Spinelli, or Stephenie Meyer. I would cry out in happiness if any teacher in my lifetime assigned
Twilight
. I can just picture it...Team Edward and Team Jacob debates. Team Edward would win, of course. We could totally read the whole series in a year. Seriously, they should change the freshmen English curriculum to include one
Twilight
book a quarter. Even the guys would like it, and I bet students would actually read for once.

We decide to head to Huntington Beach instead of San Clemente like Eric had mentioned. The train thing ended up being way too complicated. Besides, the guys want a fire pit to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. This is apparently going to be an all-day thing. Ugh. Why can’t we just go at night?