Play No More (Player Next Door sequel) ✓

16 | Boombox

That dancing raccoon with a banjo gets me.  Thank you @babyshepheard for the funky cover!

Chapter 16: Boombox

Austin took me out of English class and straight to the parking lot. He parks his car in the first row, next to Luke's. Their initials were painted red on the concrete.

They've had those spots since I started high school and they were already sophomores. Rumors say they won a bet with some seniors and traded places. I guess I can just ask them now, instead of hearing the rumors.

I glanced at the black jeep wrangler next to us, imagining Luke inside. I missed him already.

"What event am I missing?" I asked Austin.

He popped open the trunk of his car.

"You're not missing it anymore," came the mysterious answer as he rummaged through the trunk.

I saw a small keg in there for 'emergencies.'

My rusty car was parked far back, under a tree somewhere. Maybe I could fill my trunk with an emergency keg of coffee.

"All set." Austin slammed the trunk of his car shut with one hand and, in his other, was a speaker box.

"Why would you need speakers but not a keg?" I asked.

My first question should've been 'why a speaker at all' but I figured we were going to some impulsive party. Austin's the kind of guy who could a turn a classroom into a rave... or an unflattering poster of me into a marketing ploy for a party.

Both of which he's done.

He winked at me. "Alcohol is not always the solution."

"It is in chemistry."

I can't wink without looking like something got stuck in my eye, so I just went for a smile.

He laughed. When Austin laughs... it's contagious.

**

I started to figure out where we were going when we came across the crowds blocking the hallway.

They were heading into the basketball court. Cheerleaders were dressed up and ready to perform, and the noise inside was loud.

"Have you ever seen Luke play?" Austin asked me, guiding me through the chaos.

"Yes, a couple times," I answered, "Once at Chad's garden party and then at that three-on-three game with Chris Hayes."

"Oh yeaah," Austin took a trip down memory lane. "You gave Chris' sister a drink."

Not my favorite memory.

"Anyway," he switched subject, "Luke is coming to your math game in a couple weeks and he's blocked it off in his calendar. So, I thought you may want to come to his."

No one's called my math competition a 'game' before. Makes me sound athletic.

"Thank you. Good idea." I was going to have to know more about sports now that I was with Luke, "And why the speakers?"

He looked down at the giant speakers in his hand and smiled mischievously, "Because we're not going through the front doors."

**

I don't know how many doors lead to a basketball court, but we were going in a different direction to all of them.

It's not second nature for me to think of basketball games and competitions. That was Luke's world and Austin knew it. So, I was grateful that Austin was keeping an eye out for me. He actually wanted Luke and me to work out.