Pool

Tommy Djilas stood in the billiard parlor, staring at the pool table. It was just there, collecting dust. No one dared to play it, Professor Hill talked about how it was nothing but trouble, but Mayor Shinn refused to sell it. He was darn proud of his pool table, even if it was never used. For Tommy's eighteenth birthday he decided to throw himself a billiard party, inviting his gang and also little Zaneeta along. It was an interesting crew, his gang and Zaneeta. They were thick as thieves.

Tommy picked up the pool cue and lined up a shot on the cue ball. He had found a book with pool in it in the library when he came to visit Zaneeta. Marian always insisted that if he was coming to the library he had best come to read, so he had been reading an awful lot. Tommy's buddies stood back and watched from a safe distance as Tommy made the first shot on the pool table. Dust flew from where it had gathered on the balls. A single striped ball landed in a pocket and he cheered his own actions. He saw his buddies watching. "Well, come on! I can't play by myself! I got stripes, who wants solids!" He threw a pool cue at one of the boys. "Teams, we'll play on teams. Two on two?" The boys stared at Tommy like he was crazy. No one had touched the pool table. Ever. Now he wanted them to play the forbidden and sinful game? It seemed preposterous!

The game went on anyways and Tommy was a pretty good shot. He had read up a little on the game, and knew more than the other boys. That came to his advantage. He was in it to win it when Zaneeta came in, completely in awe of the game itself. "I'm going to hit the eight ball into that pocket." One of the boys on the other team predicted. He lined up his shot and scratched. Tommy started cheering wildly. "I get a do-over, don't I?"

"I won!" Tommy told the boy happily. Tommy did enjoy winning more than just about anything else.

"Ye gods!"

Zaneeta ran up to him and wrapped him in a hug, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Zaneeta, how long have you been here?!"

Zaneeta stepped away from him and smoothed out the front of her dress. "Just long enough to watch you play pool. You're quite good, you know." Tommy felt guilty about that remark. Professor Hill had talked about how bad pool was for a boy, and that good pool players were bad people. Zaneeta knew that too, so did the boys who just played against him. "I never thought you'd end up as a pool playing kind of boy…" There was a hint of anger in Zaneeta's voice, mixed with confusion. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. If her father found out… "I must admit, it's quite exciting!" She wrapped him in another hug.

"Wait, so you're not mad?" Tommy was honestly confused. Professor Hill went on and on about how bad playing pool was, and everyone knew it. How could Zaneeta not be mad at him? Mayor Shinn would kill him if he found out…

"Mad, no!" Zaneeta giggled. "You're the first person to play pool! And you're good too!"

"But Professor Hill said pool was bad for a boy." Tommy reminded her guiltily.

She didn't seem to care. "Boy? I don't see a boy. I see an eighteen-year-old man." She kissed his cheek reassuringly. "Besides, you can't judge a person based on the games they play. Ye gods!" Her joy over his good game made his birthday even better. Man, eighteen was going to be a good year for Tommy Djilas.

Author's Note: This chapter was short, but "Pool" was suggested by one of our dancers. Our Tommy threw a billiard party last weekend, and we had a blast! I learned I'm actually not half bad at pool… anyways, please review!