Surreptitious

Chapter 1

I was walking towards my car in the school's parking lot. It was late August, and it had just been the first day back from the summer break. The sky was turning darker, and the wind blew across the parking lot as I pulled my jacket closer to my body. Even though it was still summer, it was already starting to become cooler outside.

"Avery!" my head snapped up, and I turned around. Lana was running toward me with a big smile on her face. "Guess what! Wade Wilson just asked me to homecoming."

Lana had had a crush on Wade throughout middle school, but Wade had never reciprocated the feelings, no matter how much Lana tried to make him notice her. She spent every day trying to figure out a way to make it happen, but with no luck. When we started High school, Lana began dedicating her time to school activities such as the debate team and soccer rather than chasing a guy who wasn't interested.

"Can you believe it? I spent three years chasing that guy without even getting a hint of interest, and now that my life is finally on track, he has the nerve to ask me to the dance. I don't know whether I should be angry or start laughing."

"Maybe he misses the constant attention from you?" I laughed.

"Yeah, right," Lana snorted, "I stopped paying attention to that guy two years ago, and he still didn't give me the time of day. Then they announced that I would be the co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and he was suddenly interested. Seriously, that guy is only interested in girls who have some influence in the school."

"So I'm assuming you said no?"

"You assume correctly. Besides, I already have a date for the dance."

"You do? Who?" I asked with surprise in my voice.

"You, silly! Don't you remember? We agreed that we would go together at the last homecoming when our dates, or should I say date, was a total bust."

"Please don't remind me of that night," I grunted.

Lana and I had both been asked to the homecoming by the same guy, Bradley Robinson. The baseball team had challenged each other to have two dates for the dance without any of the dates finding out about each other. Most of the guys had been smart enough to ask girls from different cliques and years. Brad, however, had never been the brightest, so he thought it was a good idea to ask Lana and me to be his dates. It didn't take us long to figure out what was going on. Rather than confronting Brad about it, we started planning our revenge. Unfortunately, our scheme didn't go exactly according to plan. Long story short, I ended up with a singed eyebrow, and Lana's white dress got torn and covered in punch at the end of the evening. Luckily nobody got seriously hurt, not even Brad, so Lana and I got off with a week of detention. We later coined the infamous night as 'The Bilious Ball with Bradley'.

"Anyway, I have soccer practice in a bit, so I should probably go. I'll see you later, my little munchkin." Lana started walking towards the soccer field.

"Are you coming over after soccer practice?" I half yelled after her.

"Of course. Where else would I go?" She yelled back.

I turned back around and headed for my car. A low rumble rolled across the sky, and I looked up. The dark sky was a sign of a downpour coming, but for now, it only drizzled. I ran to my car and got in. As soon as my buttocks hit the car seat and the door was closed, the rain started pouring down. I felt sorry for Lana for having to play soccer in the pouring rain, even though I knew she wouldn't care.

When it came to soccer, Lana was a fighter. She had played in all types of weather, even snow, and one time she sprained her ankle pretty badly during a game but kept playing anyway. Her hard work had, nonetheless, paid off, and she was the youngest female to make co-captain on the varsity team in our school's history.