Chapter 6: Guys and Goalies
A/N- I gave in. I just couldn't have Julie be a main character without Scooter getting a good part. ^_^ Rat's POV
*****
"He's a friend."
"I'm not a friend?"
"Well, yeah. But you're a boyfriend friend and he's a friend friend."
I'm starting to get annoyed. How difficult a concept is it for me to have a friend, who's a boy, who's not a boyfriend! I'm on a team with sixteen of them, after all. But no, this business with Adam—I guess since we're not teammates—has ticked my real boyfriend off.
I met Jay Diaté, Warrior goalkeeper, when I first joined the soccer team. That seems like a long time ago. Back then, I was still passing English, still passing algebra, and still a Warrior. Jay and I bonded quickly. Only a week later, he'd asked me out.
When your girlfriend's on a sports team dominated by males, you can not be the jealous type. Or you'll go insane. He's usually good about that. But for some reason, Adam seems to bother him.
"As long as you're sure." He frowns and walks away.
Sheesh! I'm sure, I'm extremely sure! I've barely talked to the guy! I don't know why I'm paying any attention to him at all! Well... that's not entirely true. I don't like to see people upset. And the way he's almost always alone, the sadness in his eyes, the melancholy way he carries himself... it bothers me.
Not that he seems particularly grateful for my efforts. Maybe I should lay off. But really, what have I done? I asked him and Charlie to play soccer, and I talked to him for five whole minutes at the Warrior practice Monday.
Which is why Jay's mad, but anyway.
I haven't seen him since, except when he was on the ice Tuesday. I went to the game, to watch Julie. In return, she came and watched the Inferno lose last night. (We have a perfect 50% record now, go us.)
I managed to talk to her for a few minutes after the game. She said they've started having practices in the afternoons now, in preparation for a big game Saturday. (We called it Saturday when she told me about it—now, we call it tomorrow.) I may go to that one, too.
I watch Jay for another moment, then shrug and head to Julie's dorm.
*****
Cat and I have become pretty close. When I explained to her about the difference between the Warriors and the Inferno, she offered to let me study with her. I wasn't sure, at first, whether to take it up.
The Inferno's not so bad, really. We play the same teams as the Warriors, we actually play better than them (that's not saying much, mind you)... we're just a bit more expensive for the school to maintain.
They aren't spending that money on soccer equipment. The Inferno isn't a 'real' team, hell, we're probably illegal but I don't think anyone cares. Being an unofficial squad, and all, we don't have anyone else to play. Eden Hall has to buy the competition, if you get my meaning.
Thanks to that, the Inferno can't be in the state soccer playoffs. (Neither can the Warriors, because they suck, but that's way beside the point.) Not even this school can buy an illicit team into legitimacy.
I'd like a shot. Which means I have to be a Warrior. Which means I have to start passing English and algebra. Algebra's easy enough, I just have to start doing the homework.
English is why I'm taking Julie up on her offer.
Scooter opened the door. Somehow, when Julie said she studied with friends, I expected he would be one of them. "Hey, Rat!" He smiles and lets me in. I'm a little surprised to see that Julie's roommate, Connie, isn't here. A little... but not much. I've only seen her once, she seems to spend most of her time out on dates. (Almost as much time as Linda.)
Speaking of dates, I keep wondering when something's going to happen with Scooter and the Cat. I can tell those two are in love, even if they refuse to admit it.
Scooter strikes me as the clever type, but not especially scholarly. He didn't come into a girl's room—breaking about 20 school rules in the process—just to study. Come to that, he's not studying much at all, he's just helping us. After all, he's already taken these classes.
I actually made myself useful and helped Julie with augmented matrices. (Matrixes, dammit, matrixes!) That's rich, from someone failing the class, but I understand it fine. My 100% test percentage just isn't enough to overcome my 0% homework grade.
Scooter helps me with an English essay (some piece of analytical crap on The Inferno, which I should like), and straightens us out on some biology assignment involving natural selection and frog lungs. Then I decide to leave. Leave the lovebirds alone...
One or both of them would probably kill me if I said that out loud.
*****
I hate almost everything about this school. But especially the Varsity hockey team. (Which of course makes me very different from 3/4 of the school population... right.) I had the misfortune of ending up sitting next to them at the game. Scooter immediately edges towards me. "Hey, Rat, how's it going?"
He looks uncomfortable, and Riley is glaring at him. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's going on. "They didn't catch you with her," I mutter. Then, louder, "Not bad, you?"
"They asked me where I was all yesterday afternoon. I told them I was just helping someone study, but they aren't buying it. Cole says he saw me leaving the girls' dorm." He says all this very low and very quickly.
I like Scooter. He's nice, especially for a Varsity jock, and hey... a friend of Julie's... Besides, I owe him. I never would've gotten that English essay done on my own.
"By the way, thanks for the homework help yesterday." I say it just loud enough for the rest of Varsity to hear. They exchange glances—after all, they've got no way of knowing I'm not in that building.
He flashes me a quick, grateful smile. Any further conversation is cut off because the Ducks take the ice.
Julie is easy enough to pick out, being the only goalie and all. I look for Adam. He's skating near the front of the group, looking supremely confident and collected. It was a real shocker to me, last game, how much different he acts on the ice.
Scooter is watching Julie, I bet he doesn't take his eyes off her the whole game. It dawns on me that with the rest of his team around, he probably wouldn't be able to cheer for the Ducks without fear of death or serious injury. He doesn't dare go against the team's wishes like that.
I feel sorry for Scooter. Not his fault his hockey team's the biggest bunch of jerks in Minnesota. I'll just cheer loud enough for the both of us.
Especially for Julie the Cat.