Chapter One: Riley Anne

“Oh, Riley Anne…” I heard a singsong voice call out behind me.

I grimaced and walked faster down the poster-decked hall of Fairview High School.

A different, more carefree voice yelled out, “Yo Rivers, wait up!” I recognized the voice of my longtime best friend and turned around to greet Jared. Then I tilted my head up a few inches to the left and glared into smirking hazel eyes.

“Dylan,” I spat at the guy who stood grinning next to Jared.

“Angel,” he said and tossed his arm over my shoulders. “Charming as always.”

“Cut the crap, O’Connor. It’s only 8:15.”

“Aww, did somebody wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”

“Somebody’s about to shove somebody’s face into a locker if they don’t shut up.”

“Guys!” Jared cut in. “Can’t you at least leave it till lunch?”

I grumbled, threw off Dylan’s arm, and stomped off to our clump of dark blue lockers. I heard some chuckling behind me and hissed “Traitor,” at Jared when he opened up his locker next to mine.

“Chill Riles, you’re such an easy target in the morning.”

I punched him in the arm and cackled as he dropped his books on the floor.

“Good god, Riley Anne, put that away,” Dylan said, and my cackle ended abruptly as my mouth snapped shut.

“What’s wrong with a little laughing at others’ misfortune?” I muttered into my messy locker.

“Nothing, we laugh at yours all the time. But there is something wrong with rehearsing for the Wicked Witch of the East before nine in the morning.”

“Ah, Riley’s been inflicting the cackle on poor, innocent victims again, has she?” I turned to see Sam, Bryce, and Aaron standing behind us. All three were tall and built, much like Jared and Dylan. I felt like I was boxed in between the lockers and their considerable mass.

“I do not cackle. And the Wicked Witch of the East died in like the first five minutes, moron.” I said, facing Dylan again.

“My point exactly, moron.”

“Copycat.” I frowned and turned back to my locker. The guys greeted each other with grins and high fives and funky looking handshakes. I grabbed my books and binder and took off with Jared to our first class, English. We sat in our customary position at the back, the guys plunking themselves around us.

15 minutes later, I clenched my jaw as Dylan flicked another piece of paper that bounced off my nose. Unlike most of the guys in my group, I actually had to pay attention in class. If I did badly in any of my classes, my parents would force me to quit the girls’ soccer team.

A note landed on my papers, so I opened it up.

your such a tightass.

I glared at Dylan and scribbled: what kind of man passes notes.

I was leaning over the aisle and had just tossed the note onto his desk when Mrs. Reynolds barked out, “Riley!” and I almost fell out of my chair in fright.

“Uh, yes ma’am?”

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Um,” I scrabbled for an excuse. “Stretching?”

“Try to keep your hands to yourself next time.”

I flushed bright red and sunk into my chair as the guys erupted in snickers after she returned to the front of the class.

Dylan threw another note onto my desk and I groaned.

the kind you cant keep your hands off.

I blushed again and hurled the paper ball at his head, but I missed and it got stuck in Rachelle Smith’s long curly hair. I was shocked to hear him take the blame and apologize to her, but then rolled my eyes when I realized it was just a flirting tactic. I recommenced my notes, stifling a yawn.

---

“God damn fellas, you seen Hailey’s shirt today?” Sam asked, leaning his chair back onto two legs.

“She’s beggin’ for a fuck, that chick,” Bryce said with a grin as he tipped Sam’s chair over.

I laughed along with the rest of the table as Bryce stole Sam’s fries while Sam recovered from his backwards somersault.

I rested my head in my hand and gazed around the cafeteria while the guys squabbled over the remaining food. I grimaced as I got an eyeful of Hailey’s chest from where she sat a few tables over with the cheerleaders. As usual, we shared our typical glare war before she tossed her hair and returned to her gossip buddies.

I scanned the rest of the cafeteria, but it wasn’t particularly interesting. I figured every high school had the same food pyramid as ours. Ally, my cousin and the school’s head cheerleader/student council president/everything I wasn’t, had once explained it to me, but the only thing I’d really gathered was that she thought I was a weirdo because I sat with guys rather than any girls.

“Riley?”

I turned my attention back to Jared. “Yeah?”

“You coming to our game today?” he asked, making shapes with his macaroni and cheese.

“Of course I am, stupid. I haven’t got anything better to do.”

“Oh.” He put on his mock hurt face.

I slapped him on the shoulder. “Faker. Soccer is the most insanely awesome thing ever, and you guys are the most insanely best team. Except for mine, of course. I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

“Our team is definitely better than yours,” Dylan interrupted.

“No way. We’re undefeated.”

“So are we.”

“So?”

“So what?”

I ignored him and flashed Jared a smile. “Yeah, I’m gonna stay after school and watch your warm-up and all.”

“Awesome. You can chase the balls when we practice penalties.”

“As if, Jared.”

Sam stood up then and yelled, “Party at my house tonight after the game!” which raised quite a few cheers from the cafeteria.

“This should be interesting.” I said, smacking Dylan’s hand as he tried to steal my pizza crust.

“What are you talking about? It’s gonna be wicked. Plus now I’ve got someplace to take Rachelle tonight,” said Dylan.

“Oh god, how romantic,” I drawled.

Jared chuckled. “She’s got a point.”

“Rachelle’s not that kinda girl anyway. This party’s gonna rock,” Dylan said with a satisfied smirk.

---

Friday and Saturday were game days for Fairview High School, and this week the game was scheduled for Friday at 4. The guys were playing Stone Valley, a high school in the neighboring suburb. SV was sixth in the ranks, so Fairview was pretty confident.

Jared had coerced me into chasing the stray soccer balls while they practiced their shots. The guys were talented and didn’t miss much, so most of the time I practiced dribbling and faking behind the goal.

“Heads up, Riley Anne!”

I looked through the net at Dylan’s grin and then up at the soccer ball flying way over my head.

“Dickhead,” I muttered. Dylan was a striker, he almost never missed. I started jogging after the ball he’d kicked a good 50 yards past the goal.

I dribbled it back and waited for him to take a shot and get back in line.

“Heads up, jackass!” I yelled as I kicked it at his back.

He turned around and grunted as the ball hit him in the chest. I had a good old hoot behind the net at the startled look on his face.

“Rivers, get off the pitch if you’re just going to distract the boys!” Coach Miller roared, but I could tell he was struggling not to smile.

“And O’Connor, that’s two laps for not taking warm-up seriously.”

“What? Coach—”

“Get running, Mr. O’Connor!”

I stuck my tongue out at Dylan and went to play keep away with Jared. My best bud played center mid, while I was a striker like Dylan. I had yet to win a game against Jared; his ball handling skills far outweighed my own, or anyone’s on the team for that matter.

---

“Reed is lagging,” Coach said to me as we paced around at the sideline, halfway through the second half.

I looked over to the other side of the pitch and saw that Brandon seemed to be slowing down. “How ‘bout you sub in a sophomore, its 3-1, we can risk it easy.”

“Tyler was playing pretty well during warm-up, I’ll give him a shot.”

Coach waited for a throw in and then subbed Sampson for Reed.

Jared thumped Tyler on the shoulder as he jogged past and gave me and Coach a nod.

I sat down with the rest of the subs and looked around. The stands were packed; Fairview was definitely a soccer town. I smiled slightly at a group of middle school girls with a “We Love Jared” sign waving crazily above their heads. Even though I wasn’t playing, I still enjoyed the atmosphere.

Fairview High School had given up on football a few years back, it just didn’t seem to keep up the interest anymore. All of a sudden, soccer had become the new “in” thing. The guys were only too happy to have the cheerleaders at their games instead.

Ally was leading the squad in yet another cheer. Cheerleading was definitely not my thing; I’d never be caught dead in a skirt. But I had to admit, they must have had to be pretty fit to dance all game and perform some of the more complicated moves.

However, that was the only good thing I’d say about the cheerleaders, looking at them with distaste. Besides Ally, I did not get along with any of them. And besides Ally, it was pretty much mutual.

Hailey and her best friend Erin Matthews moved their hips provocatively to the beat of Ally’s newest cheer. I almost gagged when they each blew a kiss in Dylan’s direction, and he smiled cockily. Keep your eyes on the ball, O’Connor.

I was glad to see Tyler get some ball contact. The sophomores often lacked confidence, because they felt they couldn’t compete with the high and mighty upperclassmen. I wished they’d just forget about reputations and realize they could be just as good with a little more experience.

The crowd let out an “Oooh…” as Dylan took a shot at goal, but Stone Valley’s goalie managed to get a hold on the ball. The guys kept up the pressure for the remaining 10 minutes, hardly letting SV past their defense and finished off still at 3-1.

They walked off the pitch, patting each other’s backs, all grins.

I tossed Jared a towel. “Good game, Lowe.”

“Yeah, not bad.” He encased me in a one-armed hug, and we headed towards the guys lockers.

“You stink. Go take a shower.”

Dylan came up on my other side and wrapped his arm around my waist. “Only if you join me, angel.”

“In your dreams,” I said and pushed them both towards the door.

“How did you know?”

“Urgh! Piss off, Dylan.”

Jared looked at me. “You goin’ to Sam’s tonight? You should.”

“Last time, the cops came at 11, and I had to spend the rest of the night helping him clean up the trash.” I shrugged. “Why not?”