A/N: Sadly I don't own anything related to Tim Riggins or any of the FNL realm. For the record, this is purely fiction. Enjoy, and let me know what you think! :)
Chapter 1
"Are they looking over here?" asked the panicked teen, fighting the urge to peek over her shoulder at the tall, lanky young men in the corner of the cafeteria.
Julie rolled her eyes for what felt like the hundredth time in this particular conversation, glancing over at the table in question with apparent disinterest.
"Not really," she replied, shrugging in response.
Her friend searched her face for signs of dishonesty, sighing in relief (or was that disappointment?) when she found none. Julie turned back to her book, although she knew that it was only a matter of minutes before she was interrupted yet again. She reread the same sentence for the third time before she gave up, simply staring at the words on the page as they blurred together.
Lois was what Julie would call a closet slut; though never in a million years would she share that opinion with the girl sitting in front of her. Lois seemed like one of those quiet, brainy girls who sit in the front of classrooms and hang out at home on Saturday nights, but just like all the other girls in this school, she would go to just about any length to be in the spotlight. It seemed that in Dillon, you were nobody unless you were associated in some way with the famous Panther football team.
Dating Matt was like being with a celebrity. People turned and stared whenever you walked by, offering anything they could from free food and drinks to actually giving up a good seat in a packed movie theater. Sure, there were those who didn't conform to this kind of absurdity, but the community tended to shun those who didn't share their views, especially when it came to Friday night football. Going against the Panthers was like going against God himself.
When the two broke up that all went away, much to Julie's chagrin. She knew the backlash would be inevitable, but she didn't think it would be quite this bad. The attention wasn't anything new; she had already had enough of that being the Coach's daughter. The emotions behind it, however, were little to be desired. She supposed maybe she got it worse because of her dad abandoning the team, abandoning the town. Breaking QB1's heart, for another guy no less, only made matters worse.
However, it didn't take long for another scandal to hit the small town, allowing the rumor mill take a detour away from her personal life. That and Matt had apparently moved on with a Lyla clone. Yes, Julie Taylor was no longer interesting to the general public.
She was snapped out of her daze as her friend waved a hand in front of her face.
"Hello? Earth to Julie! What about now?"
Julie sighed in frustration, her eyes darting over to the same table. "No, they're not even there anymore."
Lois whipped her head around, and Julie wondered if she lost the rest of her brains in the process. Sure enough, the assembly of basketball players was dumping the contents of their lunch trays in the garbage, talking loud and obnoxiously in the process, although not as bad as the group two tables down.
Yes, that's right. Basketball.
You see, the closest Lois had ever got to a football player was making out with Tim Riggins for 2.5 seconds at Smash's pool party about a month ago. If you couldn't make it with Riggins, the biggest man whore probably in the whole state of Texas, then there really was no hope for you. Besides, the majority of football players didn't really go for the non-cheerleader or rally girl types anyway. So Lois went after the next big thing, of course. This is why their lunch period consisted of Julie being a lookout for "wandering eyes" looking Lois' way.
Her friend had decided to tramp it up for the day, making Julie feel unordinary plain. She had a feeling it would only get worse as the week progressed. The girls had spent most of Saturday shopping and picking out outfits for the girl's big plan that started upon arriving this morning at school. Funny thing is, Lois seemed to have thrown Julie's "less is more" suggestions right out the window.
Her friend groaned, tossing her empty bottle of juice onto her tray and stood up.
"If I can't even get Jeff Arnold to look my way, I'm going to kill myself. They only keep him on the team because he's a giant freak, but the boy can't carry a ball worth shit. Maybe I should hang out by the locker room more..."
Julie followed behind Lois, her book clutched in one hand and her tray balanced in the other. She was definitely having lunch in the library tomorrow, she decided.
As the two neared the footballer's table, loud laughter rang out in the now emptying cafeteria. Lois slowed her stride, causing Julie to almost bump into her.
"What are you doing? Move!" Julie ordered, coming up beside her friend as to not trip over her again.
"Oh my God, is Tim Riggins looking at me?"
"What?" Julie asked, her eyes flicking over to the table quickly. Sure enough, the teen was looking at her friend with what seemed like apparent interest, although Julie could detect a little amusement in his stare as well. She had a feeling she knew what that look meant, and no self-respecting girl would ever want Tim Riggins staring at her like that. It was like he was thinking of the many ways to undress her, ugh.
Rolling her eyes, Julie decided to play along for her friend's benefit.
"Play it cool," she reminded her.
Suddenly Lois snapped to attention, turning back to Julie and acting like she was having the conversation of her life, acting indifferent to the Riggin's stare. Julie stopped listening to the other girl babble after a couple seconds, sighing loudly in her mind. As the two walked out the double doors leading to the hallway, Julie snuck a quick glance back to the idolized table, watching as Riggins and another player shook hands, some of the other players shaking their heads in disbelief.
If she didn't know any better, Julie would say some sort of wager was taking place, although what it had to do with Lois she wasn't quite sure. Either way, Julie knew this was going to end badly.