The Pranksters and the Protectors

Joella’s POV

Beep, beep, beep! You groan and groggily rush to turn off the alarm clock. Sighing you think sarcastically, Great, another day at West Brook High School At least there are only 6 weeks left of school. I wonder what pranks Adam and Slater will play on me today. Stumbling out of bed you walk to the bathroom attached to your room. The cheery pale yellow and light blue walls are a welcome contrast to your mood. Stripping, you step into the shower’s warm stream and sigh. Hopefully this will wake me up. Already in a better mood you start to sing “Ladies Love Country Boys” by Trace Adkins.

“You raise her up a lady,

But there is one thing you can’t avoid,

Ladies love country boysssss!”

Smiling and laughing about your horrible singing voice you are in the middle of washing the shampoo out of your hair when the water turns ice cold. Two voices howl up to you,

“We hope you like cold water Joella!” Your mood turning sour again you curse Adam and Slater. Standing there shivering with shampoo in your eyes you think about your circumstances. Your Dad is gone on a business trip, but what’s new with that? He’s always gone now. Ever since your Mom died when you were four and your brother was six, he always seemed to be gone. After the death you moved from Nevada to California to a large house with a manicured lawn and a pool. The first day you were here a boy who looked six, the same age as your brother, dared you to sit on the tire swing as he pushed you faster and faster. That was a big feat for a 4 and a half-year-old. You were hanging on fine- until the tire swing’s rope broke and you went flying. Even to this day you can’t stand heights of any kind. The distressed boy helped you into the house, where your brother was unpacking. Setting you down he explained what had happened and iced the goose bump you had on your head. Both boys became best friends that day and have spent the last ten years acting as pranksters and protectors to you. Obviously now they decided that prankster was a more fun thing to be. Cold and unhappy, you decide to not let your brother Adam and his best friend Slater get to you. Today in AP 11th Grade English, which unfortunately you had with Slater and Adam, you were starting to read Romeo and Juliet. Even though you are just a freshman, you are very good in English and have to take the advanced class for eleventh graders. The only good thing about that class, besides the fact that the curriculum is interesting, is that Matt Goodman is also in the class. Matt Goodman, the hottest guy in the world! I don’t understand why Adam and Slater don’t like him… Your spirits immediately rise when you think about Matt and his extreme hotness. Throwing on jeans and a red T-shirt you run out of your room, retrieving your backpack and binder from your desk. As you walk out into the hallway, two pairs of hands grab you and drag you down the stairs and onto the couch. Laughing hysterically and cursing the fact that you are so ticklish, you swat at the hands.

“Stop Adam, stop Slater!” You yell between giggles, “I am so going to get you back for the cold shower and now this.” Their laughter fills the room.

“What do you say Pip-squeak?” Both boys ask as you gasp out the answer still laughing hysterically.

“Please stop with a cherry on top Big Bird and Cookie Monster!” You say using their pet names. The two guys stop tickling you and pull you to your feet. Picking you up, Adam swings you into a chair and places wheat toast and yogurt in front of you while he and Slater dig into eggs, bacon, sausage, and pancakes. You shudder in disgust. Man, can those guys eat a lot! You clean up the dishes and throw the keys to Adam as Slater runs next door to tell his mom that they are heading off to school. As happy that you are that Slater has such a great relationship with his mom, sometimes you are envious of it. When he comes back a few minutes later the three of you pile into the van and head off to school.

Still Joella’s POV (At school)

Apprehension settles in on you as you three approach the school. As a freshman you have had a hard year. Painfully shy and studious, all you really focus on is school. The only friends you have are your brother, Slater, and Adam’s girlfriend Rachel. Plus, Adam and Slater are very protective of you; not that guys are constantly rushing to you. Though you are no small girl (not fat but sturdy) at five feet ten inches and 175 pounds, you feel small compared to your brother and Slater. Both are six feet four inches tall and easily two hundred and twenty pounds of bulk and lean muscle. Adam’s light brown hair and golden brown eyes attract the girls, while Slater’s wavy black hair and shining blue eyes have them going crazy. The two good-looking juniors are the complete opposite of you and very popular at school. Their only competition is Matt Goodman, your crush for who knows how long. Both of them dislike him due to his ladies’ man ways, and can’t see why you are so infatuated by him. Oh, but only if they could see his charm. That smile is to die for and his bad boy stigma is exciting. Matt has black hair and gray eyes and is on the punk/skater side. Tall at about six feet three inches but lacking as solid a build as your brother or Slater, he excels at basketball. Another reason for the rivalry is due to the strong competition of the three basketball players. Each insists that they are the best, but in your opinion Matt has the most elegance on the court. But of course that could just be because of my crush on him… You three enter the high school and Slater and Adam greet their friends, including Rachel and the only freshmen in the group named Haley, as you make your way to your science class.

“See you at lunch Joella!” Adam tells you, “And then again for sixth period English.” I can’t wait for English!

Slater’s POV (English Class)

I sit here trying to concentrate, but it is hard to when we’re reading a love story. I would so rather be practicing for next week’s basketball championship. It’s very unusual for the last game to be in May, but because of some problems with the high schools the finals were delayed. With only six weeks left of school, I can’t wait for the summer. A lot of time can be spent on the band and less time on school. As the teacher continues to talk, I lean back in my seat. He splits us up into groups of four people. The group I’m in consists of Rachel, Adam, Joella, and I. The two girls giggle and ask me to move over a bit. They whisper back and forth a bit and I turn to see who they are looking at. Surprise, surprise… I think wryly when I notice that their object of amusement is Matt. I lean back again, blocking their views.

“Hey Slater, please lean forward.” I throw Joella a look. Frowning at them I remind them,

“We’re in English people, let’s try to focus on Romeo and Juliet.” I frown when I hear Joella say something like,

“But we are focusing on Romeo.” She laughs and Rachel’s laughter follows. I just roll my eyes and open the book.

Adam’s POV

It’s a few days before the basketball championship and Slater and I are playing our instruments in the garage when we should really be practicing for the game. Our audience consists of Joella and Rachel, looking bored to death. Both Slater and I are stuck on what to write and are lazily strumming our guitars.

“So everyone,” I say, “The junior prom is in two weeks and I think we should all go together. Joella of course you should come too even though you’re a freshman.” She agrees and smiles at me.

“What should we wear? I don’t have a dress!” Joella says, “And I’m not sure that I really want to wear one… But I will if I have to” . Rachel grins and looks at Joella. Looking back and forth between we two guys and Joella she yells,

“Let’s go shopping!”

Joella’s POV

All of us groan at the word shopping. Even though you are a girl, you hate shopping. (Sorry to those of you who like shopping!) The thought of spending hours looking at yourself in a mirror with an array of clothes on is enough to make you flinch. The two guys look even more depressed than you while Rachel looks pleased. Grabbing you by the hand and telling the boys to hurry, she jumps in the car and throws the keys at Adam.

Slater’s POV

I AM SO SICK OF SHOPPING! For three hours we have been in Kohl’s looking at dresses. Rachel has chosen like five dresses, but Joella hasn’t found one yet. She keeps saying that all the dresses look bad on her, but I think that they look great. Girls…

“Nope, I hate it!” I hear Joella say- again. Loosing patience, I yell from outside the dressing room, “Just get the dang dress!!” She struts out of the room and I freeze. Her beauty in it is amazing.

Why in the world does she wear jeans and guy’s T-shirts all the time when she looks so great in more feminine clothes?

Doing a twirl, she reluctantly agrees to buy the dress. After she changes into her street clothes, Adam pays for the dress with their dad’s credit card and we leave the store-finally!

Slater’s POV (Basketball Championships)

The championship game is finally here and the whole team, though confident about our abilities, is very nervous. I watch as Joella sighs and stares dreamily at Matt as he scores another basket. Something like jealousy creeps into me. I’m not jealous! I am just protective of Joella and do not want her hurt by Matt! At that moment Adam and I are called into the game. I pound down the court in irritation at the way all the girls fawn over Matt. He’s such a jerk and yet he can get any girl he wants! That irritates me even more. I focus back on the game as Adam makes a basket and the crowd cheers. Blocking a member of the other team I gain possession of the ball and dribble down the court. The crowd counts down the time and I count with them. Five…four… I throw the ball three…two…one The ball hits the rim but is goes in! The crowd cheers. Feeling happy with myself I walk over to where Adam is. He gives me a slap on the back, as does every member of the team except Matt. Joella runs down the bleachers toward us. I completely ignore the girls surrounding Adam and I. She’s come to congratulate us. Wait, where is she going? I watch as she runs over to Matt.

“Good job Matt. You were great out there tonight.” She smiles at him with admiration in her eyes. The irritation prickles again. He just looks at her like “Why is a freshmen breathing the same air I am?” She is completely oblivious to this and goes on smiling at him. Finally, too pompous to ignore a compliment he says, “Joella right? You’re Adam’s little sister aren’t you?” Her smile widens because he knows her name, “Are you going to the after party tonight?” She continues to grin and says,

“I was thinking about going.” Matt smirks and says,

“Maybe I’ll see you there.” Um, no way is Matt harassing Joella Walking over to them I grab Joella in a tight hug. She looks up at me with an irritated look.

“Come on pip-squeak, let’s go home. Adam is ready to leave and unless you want to walk then I suggest you get a move on.” Her smile fades and I can tell I’ve embarrassed her. Great going Slater! Way to act like her baby-sitter! Matt looks at me and says,

“I can always bring her home for you and Adam after the party if you want me to.” I hug Joella a little closer to me and say,

“No thanks Matt, I think she’ll just go home with us now.” She gives me a look of outrage and pushes out of my arms as she huffs off. Wow, way to blow that, I think as I follow her out to the car.

Joella’s POV

I am going to kill Slater! How dare he mess up my time with Matt! You hear him walking towards you. Swinging around you pin him with a glare and yell,

“Just who do you think you are? I can’t believe you just did that! Do I look like I need a nanny?” You huff, too angry for tears. Your anger dies down a tad when Slater says,

“I’m really sorry pip-squeak, I just don’t want you to get hurt.” Still angry you say to Slater,

“I know, but Matt Goodman was actually talking to ME! Hot guys never talk to me…” You see Slater grind his teeth and see him fighting for control.

“He’s bad news Joella. I have known this guy for eleven years! He uses girls and then throws them away.”You blush at what Slater says. Giving him a hug you reassure him,

“I’ll be careful Cookie Monster. I’m almost fifteen years old. I’m not the little girl I was when you first met me ten years ago. Give me a little space please.” Smiling, Slater hugs you back reassured that this thing with Matt was under control.