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I'm sorry for the long delay, but I had to finish up (read: start) my summer reading.
Thank you mia5081, Tigerlillium, and Just Breathing for reviewing the last chapter.
Thank you ski bird for beta-ing this.
RECAP
One of the seats at our table squeaked, signaling somebody had sat down. It was Victoria. Brendan, her boyfriend who was sitting at another table, was glaring at us, or Vic more specifically.
Mig laughed and said, "You broke up with him, too?"
Victoria, embarrassed, nodded her head. I wasn't surprised. She had been going out with him for about two weeks, longer than some of her other relationships. They had on gone two, maybe three dates.
"But he was so boring. Not at all romantic," she justified. Miguel looked at her incredulously.
He asked, "Victoria, just exactly what do you want in a guy? You've dated almost every one in this school!"
She mumbled, "Not everyone..."
Jesse, who had been listening to the entire exchange, started, "I'm fairly sure she hasn't dated Corin..." Mig, Vic, and I all grimaced. "Or Miguel or me." Much to Jesse's amusement, Vic burst into giggles.
"Is it so very entertaining to imagine dating me?" Jesse queried.
Victoria, who's always loved eloquence, nodded her head. In the meanwhile, Tina came and sat between Victoria and me.
"Hey Vic, we have basketball tryouts tomorrow. Ready to show the freshmen what their captains expect?" Though they were often cavalier and frivolous, Tina and Victoria took their captaincy seriously, often staying up late into the night strategizing. Not that Miguel and I didn't. In fact, it wasn't uncommon to find the Ultimate team and Varsity Girls Basketball team using similar defenses and offenses.
"Tryouts already? It's too early!"
Jesse, who had memorized game nights for pep band purposes, stated, "I believe the first game is in a month." In band class, we had been practicing for almost two months, going through each grueling phrase of each demanding piece ad nauseum until the teacher was satisfied. Nobody complained; it was a matter of school spirit and personal pride. Half the thrill of a high school basketball game was listening to each school's band try to prove their superiority over the other team's!
Tina added, "Oh yeah, homecoming's next weekend." I was certain both Victoria and Tina would be part of the Homecoming court, even though they weren't cheerleaders.
"Who are you going with?" Victoria inquired, mildly curious.
"I'm planning on going with Paul. I think he's free that weekend." Tina showed us exactly what 'dreamy eyes' meant.
"Lucky! You already have someone. Must scan halls for possibilities," Victoria commented with a sigh.
Wholeheartedly believing it was his right to intrude upon the conversation, Mig sarcastically added, "Right, for possibilities. Jeez, you make us sound like science fair projects or something."
Vic, exasperated, whined, "Mig, you know what I meant."
I piped up, "Uh Vic, this morning Calvin what's-his-name asked about you."
"Ugh...he's the tall one with the dark hair, right?" A nod from me confirmed the accurate but vague description.
Jesse declared, "Five minutes til bell." I stuffed the rest of my sandwich in my mouth, causing my sister to wrinkle her nose, and packed up my stuff. I studied as much as I could for the test and was as prepared as I was going to be.
Once the tardy bell rang, a cacophony of warm-up scales invaded the room. It'd sound much better in a few minutes after everyone had tuned their instruments.
The teacher, whose name I forgot, announced, "So who's ready for the test line today?"
Groans came from forgetful students while the studious ones were just barely checking their eagerness. Teachers' pets, the lot of them. But that included me as well. It's been proven (by envious school kids) that happy teachers and high grades share a direct relationship.
Of course, Miguel and I aced the test, with perfect crescendos and slurs. Miguel barely looked at the stand, instead choosing to trust his memory, which he could actually do. My friend could have passed the test even if he had to perform blindfolded in the aisle of a uproarious packed-past-capacity school bus.
After testing was complete, the teacher began, "As all of you know, we have our first basketball game in a month." I caught Jesse's guilty eyes. "I wanted to just try out these other two pieces and see if we might play them at the game." Marching band and pep band songs were slightly different, but more than half of them were the same arrangement.
The teacher handed out "The Star-Spangled Banner" and our school cheer, "Go Chargers Go." I aired them on my trumpet while the teacher finished distributing parts.
We played it through twice before the dismissal bell rang and the teacher vociferated to the hastily-leaving students, "Don't forget to practice!" Rather unneeded. Those who were even going to practice didn't need to be reminded, and those that did need to be wouldn't even open their books.
Imagine my shock when I sighted Tina and her boyfriend Paul at the heart of the spectacle.
Rivulets of tears stained black were streaming down her face, her hands hastily brushing them away. She swatted Paul's hands every time he tried to get close to her.
"Baby, come on, Rachel was just a little fun. You know I love only you." Rachel stood a little way off, almost into the crowd.
"Paul, just get away from me. I don't want anything to do with you, especially after you cheated on me," Tina hissed, eliciting catcalls. Attagirl! You don't need any cheating bastard, I thought.
"You're breaking up with me?" the idiot asked incredulously. A majority of the bystanders turned to their friends and murmured something unintelligible but to them.
I stepped behind Tina, like any brother would do for his sister, or her best friend in this case, "Yes, Paul, she is. You're welcome to go back to...Rachel, was it?" Tina instantaneously turned around and latched onto my waist, burying her head into my shoulder. My arms circled her, offering the comfort she clearly needed but no one else was willing or able to give.
Paul glared pointedly at me. "Who are you? Another nobody who wants my girl?"
Tina explained, "Paul, I'm not your girl anymore. And that's Victoria's brother. But that doesn't matter, does it? To you, he's just a nobody." Acceptance and determination now colored her face, replacing the tears. By cheating on Tina and insulting Victoria indirectly, Paul had shot any chance he had had of being part of the school's elite, the ones everybody idolized.
The clanging of the two-minute warning bell dispatched the watchers, leaving just Miguel, Tina, and me in the middle of the hallway. Miguel said, "Corin, go ahead. I'll tell Teach you got held up." He left.
Tina pulled away from me, her arms still loosely hanging from my waist, and whispered, "Thanks for standing up for me, Cor."
I whispered back, "Hey, hey, it's alright. I'm just happy you terminated your relationship with that knave."
Tina chuckled lightly and teased, "You know Corin, you could just say dumped that bastard like everyone else."
"But that's no fun and it wouldn't have made you smile, would it?" I responded, gently flicking her nose. Escorting her to the bathroom, I directed, "Go clean up. I gotta get to class, alright?" She nodded, a ghost smile still on her lips, and disappeared into the girls' bathroom. I ripped open my locker, grabbed my textbooks, slammed it shut, and raced to my next class, just barely making it.
The after lunch events made it difficult for me to refuse her. Her facade hadn't fooled me; she was still reeling from Paul. They had been going out for about eight months.
"Hey Tina, I just wanted to ask you about Paul. I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but I think you'd feel better if you did."
The tears that had been suppressed all day spilled down her cheeks. "I found him kissing Rachel, and then he says it was just a little fun. Boys are stupid and mean." I felt compelled to defend my gender, but doing so wouldn't help Tina at all. I could rant and rave about equalism later after she had gotten over Paul.
"If you want, Miguel and I could get some people to hurt him." It was true; one of the required skills in Ultimate was the ability to covertly (legally!) exploit the rules: running into opponents, accidentally tripping them, breaking their concentration, double-teaming them, etc.
Tina argued, "Don't. That'll tell him he hurt me. I'd rather show him that I couldn't care less about him and his relationship with Rachel." A nod asserted my assent. "Anyway, we really need to work on math."
I asked, "Where's Victoria?"
"She got Miguel to drive her home, said something about needing help with English..." Tina placed her textbook on the library table.
"Oh yeah, yesterday I had told her to ask him for help with diagramming."
"You told Victoria to ask Miguel for help?" she asked incredulously.
"Uh...yeah," I answered, confused.
"Oh lord," Tina exclaimed, slapping her forehead.
"What?"
She stared at me as if I were an escapee from Bedlam and then just said, "Never mind. I don't think you'd get it. Let's just get back to..." she glanced at her textbook, "...polynomial systems."
We spent the next two hours carefully solving quadratic systems, sometimes with algebra and other times with pictures. Tedious, but that's what she needed help with.
UPDATES WILL BECOME A LITTLE SLOWER DUE TO SCHOOL BEGINNING. SORRY.
