“I don’t” Alex spoke up, “Logan looked like an abomination that time. He sounded like one too.”
“Hey, what I did was for the sake of authenticity” Logan defended.
“So since then you started to hang out?” Emily asked. If she didn’t, the two of them might retreat in their own world again.
Alex shrugged, “Yeah, we usually spend lunch together.”
“Well, sometimes I’d help Alex with her homework” Logan added.
Angeline felt like crying. Those two simple sentences made her heart soar. They sounded far from Alex’s previous stories where she spent most of her time alone in school.
“Lilly also said I’m welcome to drop by the house anytime.”
They also saw each other after school! Angeline couldn’t want anything more.
“Ah, you’ve met my sister?” Ethan said. It was the first time he spoke since they started eating.
“Yes, sir” Logan nodded, “Alex and I did most of our practice for the presentation at her place.”
The knife Ethan held slipped off the slab of lamb and landed on his plate. He had used too much force.
He repositioned it over the meat, “Quite convenient too since she spends most of her time at work.”
“Yes, Alex and I were able to concentrate with little supervision.”
“I could imagine since you have the house mostly to yourselves.”
“Logan actually has basketball practice everyday. By the time he drops by, Aunt Lilly already reached home” Alex intervened. The last thing she wanted was for her parents to misunderstand their relationship.
“Ah, yes. She comes around to check on us whenever Alex hits me.”
“That’s because you’d scream like a girl.”
“That was called acting.”
The corner of Ethan’s lips curved up. He felt secretly pleased by his daughter’s use of violence—around boys.
“Anyway” Emily interrupted again. She had a feeling she’ll be doing this for the rest of the evening, “Which scene did you guys pick?”
Angeline rejoined the conversation, “Oh, that’s right. Did you kiss?”
Both Alex and Logan choked in unison.
“I remember that play had a lot of kissing scenes” Angeline continued.
Alex recovered first and wiped her mouth with a napkin, “Well, since neither of us wanted to be thought of as gay, we didn’t choose a kissing scene.”
“Such a thing exists?” Emily asked.
Alex glared at her innocent expression, “Yes. We did the balcony scene.”
“Huh…” Emily thought out loud, “Isn’t it that remake with Leonardo DiCaprio contained kissing for that scene?”
“Well, the original script didn’t say such a thing” Alex smiled without humor.
===
Lauren’s Friday night had a bit more noise than Alex. The benches screamed loudly as the football game commenced. With the scores close to each other, the crowd’s enthusiasm didn’t surprise her.
The field lights shined on the grassy field. The key players ran all over the field, blocking each other’s paths and tackling whoever came close.
She held her two pom poms close to her chest. Each time the Woodlands team scored, she’d cheer along with her own team. Some of her teammates’ boyfriends were among the players. They were the ones who cheered with the most energy, backflips and splits.
Next to her, the school mascot jumped up and down with its fists up in the air. He’d point at their quarterback, supporting him with hand gestures. Every time Lauren cheered so did the Chipmunk. Sometimes it would wag its tail towards the other team’s mascot.
Lauren stood on her toes and shouted over the screams, “They weren’t kidding when they said Burkendall’s Football Team were like wolves.”
“Yeah, their foreplay looks like predators hunting for their prey” Colin’s voice echoed out of the Chipmunk’s mouth, “Not to mention how fast that Erick guy is. He’s pretty buff too compared to most guys.”
Lauren snickered, “I didn’t know you had man crushes.”
“Har-har.”
For the game, Carla thought it would be a good idea to let the Chipmunk more exposure. The mascot would become part of a few stunts. Lauren was surprised when Colin showed up during their practice.
Who knew that he had been the Chipmunk mascot all this time?
“It’s almost half-time” Colin remarked.
Lauren smirked, “You ready, spotter?”
“Well, at least, this costume cushions your body when you fall into my arms.”
“I think you hang out with Max too much.”
The referee blew the whistle and the cheerleaders—plus Colin—took center field. With the mascot in the middle, the music started.
He stood among the dancers of the group. They started out the routine with simple moves and slowly they became complex. Colin did his best to keep up with their routine.
If they shook their hips, the Chipmunk shook its hips.
If they cartwheeled, the Chipmunk cartwheeled.
If they did a jump split, the Chipmunk did a jump split.
Thankfully, the night air was cool. Their dress rehearsal had been under the heat of the sun. Safe to say, it did little to provide Colin comfort in his costume.
For the finale, Colin positioned himself as Lauren’s base for a heel stretch. He lifted up her foot in one hand while Lauren held her other foot and extended its leg, pulling the foot as close to her eye level as possible.
The crowd cheered for an outstanding routine—especially the Dancing Chipmunk.
The music ended and Colin tossed Lauren in the air, catching her in his arms.
She couldn’t see him behind the mask but she could imagine the grin on his face when he said, “I told you I’d catch you.”
Lauren made an eye roll, suppressing a smile.
They walked back to their benches and chugged on some water. Colin removed the head mask to have a drink. His hair stuck out in different directions and his back bathed in sweat.
Lauren was almost tempted to pour the water over him.
“I didn’t know you can shake your booty like that, man” Max said, walking up to them.
Lauren glared at him, “What are you even doing here?”
He held up his hands in surrender, “Honestly, I wouldn’t be here if Jae hadn’t bailed on me. I also didn’t feel like spending this wonderful Friday night alone so I came here. It seems like I came just in time too.”
He grinned and punched Colin on the shoulder, “You killed it out there, man. You have to do that again for your basketball buddies.”
“Good thing that’s not any time soon or I won’t just kill it. I’d die” Colin replied, draining one bottle of water.
“Oh, and you did good too, Lauren” Max blinked twice and blew her a kiss.
Lauren shook her hand as if she swatted a fly.
“Max!”
Max turned his head towards the source of his name. Carla jogged up to him and hugged the back of his torso.
“You, dummy, I didn’t know you were coming” she said, nudging his side.
Max wrapped an arm around her shoulder and beamed, “Carla baby, you totally outdid yourself with this one. I expect an even better one for our championship game.”
“Why? Do I get a reward?” Carle smiled sweetly.
“How about we find out after the championship game?”
“I’m gonna barf” Lauren mumbled. She made up an excuse about going to the restroom and left.
Colin shook his head at the ground. How Max could act the way he does in front of the girl he loves was beyond Colin’s comprehension. Wouldn’t it be more natural to impress the person someone likes?
Just then, another cheerleader approached them. She held out a cellphone towards Carla.
Carla glared at it, “Is that Courtney begging for forgiveness since she didn’t show up?”
“Oh, you know how her family is. She couldn’t get out of their arrangement” the cheerleader answered gently, “Besides, it’s not her.”
She placed the phone in Carla’s hand and walked away.
Carla peeked at the screen. She raised her eyebrows. To say she was surprised would be an understatement.
She answered the call and held the phone to her ear, “Hello?”
Max stood by awkwardly while Carla talked on the phone. She didn’t seem bothered by the idea of them overhearing.
“The restaurant? It’s at the outskirts of town. Why?” Carla made a face, “Wait, are you serious, Jae?”
The sound of his best friend’s name caught Max’s attention. Colin also lifted his head, listening in.
“Are you sure about this?” Carla asked.
…
…
…
“Fine. I’ll tell you about the restaurant but that is it. You have to stop or you’ll turn crazy someday. You should be smarter than that.”
…
…
…
Carla rolled her eyes, “Yeah, yeah, I’m amazing. I’ll text you the details. Buh-bye now.”
The call ended and Carla typed a message with one hand. Beside her, Max peeked over her shoulder. Did his best friend have a secret date that he should know about?
