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Chapter 3: The Extra Mile

Chapter 3: The Extra Mile

I've never been one to go back on my word...much. This may or may not explain why I'm currently sitting in the boy's locker room with Bells curled up asleep on my right-hand side. I'm also pretty certain that she's drooling.

I impatiently check the wall clock to find that we've been sitting here for two and a half hours already.

Where could he possibly be?

I went the extra mile and decided to brush up on some golden facts, facts such as what the latest fashion is, what Brangelina are up to, why the world hasn't stopped spinning yet, and, of course, when does Jay Taylor usually make use of the boy's locker rooms -- clearly all the ordinary day-to-day stuff.

Bell stirs beside me as the doors to the locker room fly open. I, being the impulsive one that I am, immediately spring up to me feet and point my finger at the unexpected crowd accusingly. "Uh-huh!" I yell at the top of my lungs in excitement.

Silence fills the room, the loud chattering dying down under my voice as if I'm the last person any of them were expecting to see. Even after homecoming and the last game, they still practice all year round.

My arm falls back limply at my side when I see that Jay Taylor is not among the group of jocks. The football players shift their focus to Bells and me with wide eyes, shocked.

"What?" I huff indignantly. "You guys act like you've never seen two girls hiding in a boy's locker room before," I conclude knowingly, my expression falling and my excitement wavering at the sight of all of them.

The locker room continues to linger in silence, their previous racket having diminished after having spotted Bells and me. A penny could drop and one would notice. We definitely caught them off guard.

"Is it our lucky day or what?" one of the football players finally comment, breaking the tense atmosphere. He motions to us, "First we win the game and now this."

"Nah, it's just Aqueela Lawson getting up to her usual weirdness," the more well-known player, Laiken Edwards, our school's famous linebacker, remarks in turn. He and I don't have the best history. He's a jerk, to put it bluntly, and I cannot even stand to be in his presence. I end up losing brain cells.

I pull a face at Laiken, unfazed, as I brush his comment off uncaringly, "Meh."

"Why you always got to drag Bella down with you?" Laiken queries, evidently a fan of my best friend. It makes sense seeing as Bells is head cheerleader.

The jocks begin talking again when I don't say anything back to their precious Laiken. I stand back and listen for the meantime as I consider a way out of this unscathed.

"Mason's a beast. You see him with that winning touchdown?"

It was only a friendly game for practice yet they still make a big deal out of it.

I roll my eyes upon hearing the name. Mason Montry happens to be the star quarterback of the team, Laiken's best friend, Bell's boyfriend, and my worst enemy. He's tormented me for years. He puts Laiken to shame with his ways.

"You get used to it," Laiken shrugs, very aware of how talented his friend is.

All the talk on Mason makes me wonder where he is. He and his team are inseparable. They all usually parade down the hallways together as if they own the school.

"We'd be nowhere without him," another one chants in order to give his opinion on his beloved captain, Mason.

I unintentionally scoff loudly in disagreement.