Chapter 3
After the cheerleaders finished their practice, Fanny and Kuki climbed up the stairs and sat in the top row of bleachers. They did this every week for the couple minutes in between their practice ending and basketball practice ending. Usually, they met up with Abby and Hoagie to grab dinner before the game. Occasionally, Rachel came along too, which Fanny hated. Kuki had a hard time agreeing with her friend on that matter.
"Kuki, I'm cold," Fanny whined, running her freckled hands along her equally freckled legs. Earlier, she had pulled a sweatshirt over her cheerleading top, but only her skirt covered her legs.
Sighing, Kuki slid the ponytail out of her hair. "Put some pants on or something, silly," she replied. The Asian teen shook her head around in order to fix her part.
When her hair had settled around her pale face, Kuki was greeted by a strange look from Fanny. "You look like you're insane when you shake your head like that." Kuki rolled her eyes at her friend.
Moments later, the door of the gym opened at Abby Lincoln strolled in. Her camera swung back and forth against her hip, as her dark braid swung back and forth as well. On her way up the bleachers, she paused to talk to Rachel (Kuki gave Fanny a pointed look), before joining her friends. Fanny grabbed the camera off Abby's shoulder. "Zoom in on Patton, please and thanks," the girl commanded. She glanced down at the unfamiliar device in confusion and handed it back to its owner.
"Don't worry, girl. I got shots of your man candy," the dark skinned girl said, grinning slightly. "The new kid is what we need." She focused in on Wally with her camera and snapped a quick picture.
Abby showed Kuki the picture, earning a smile. "He is my type, isn't he?" she smiled.
Fanny flapped her arms. "Yes, yes, Kuki. We all have established that I am always right. Now, Patton." The redhead pointed. "There, the one with the ball."
Abby focused the camera again and snapped several action shots of Fanny's boyfriend. Fanny reviewed them quickly and smiled. "Nice work, Abby," she praised, before noticing that Rachel was climbing the bleachers to join them. Her smile easily morphed into a frown.
"Hey, do you know when practice ends?" the blonde asked.
Fanny scowled and muttered, "Never," under her breath, to which Kuki rolled her eyes. "Soon. Four, I think," the ebony haired girl told Rachel.
Rachel nodded.
"We're going to grab a bite to eat after," Kuki continued. "You should come. Bring Nigel too!"
The blonde girl's smile threatened to overtake her face. "Yeah, sounds fun," Rachel commented. "I'll go call Nigel." She turned and walked back down the bleachers, a slight skip in her step.
Kuki shifted her body and stared at her best friend. "She wants you to like her, Fanny."
"Well, I don't," was Fanny's pointed reply.
She sighed, knowing a lost cause when she saw one. She noticed that the team was cooling down. Taking a sip of her water, Kuki stood up and started walking down the stairs. Abby and Fanny followed close behind. "Where's Hoagie?" Kuki asked her dark skinned friend.
Abby pulled her braid over her shoulder and rolled her eyes. "Science Olympiad. He's meeting us at the restaurant when he's done," she replied.
Fanny giggled slightly, never the best at withholding judgment. "Abby, you know you're dating one of the school's biggest nerds right?"
The glare that comment earned the redhead may have been made of daggers. "Nah, girl. Abby didn't know," Abby responded sarcastically.
"Well, he is pretty cute for a nerd," Fanny commented, trying to redeem herself.
Abby and Kuki shared a look that spoke volumes. The two girls loved Fanny immensely, she was their best friend, but sometimes they longed for the bossy, tomboyish Fanny they had known as kids.
"Who's cute?" Patton asked as he came over to the girls and kissed Fanny's forehead.
One of the other players whipped a t-shirt at Patton's ass. "You, Drilovsky."
Patton smirked, turning in time to smack the boy's head. "Nice one, moron." The built teenager turned towards the bleachers. "Rach, you almost ready?"
Rachel looked up from her book and smiled. "Just a second, Sergeant."
Without even glancing in her general direction, Kuki could feel Fanny's eyes roll and her face take on a red-ish hue. The Oriental girl spotted Wally having a conversation with the coach and hoped he would come over by them after. She wanted to invite him out to dinner. Fanny's elbow made a slightly painful contact with Kuki's side. "Invite Wally," she ordered.
Wally was now on his way over to the group. He was smiling, a friendly, slightly goofy smile, but Kuki could see a little worry in his eyes as well. And that made her worry. "Hey, Wally, do you want to come eat with us?" Kuki asked.
The blonde pulled her to the side of the group. "I'd like to, but I have to pick up Lucy from daycare, feed her, and figure out what I'm going to do with her during the game," Wally explained. He turned away from her with a mumbled 'sorry'.
"Wait," Kuki said, taking a step to remain next to him. "Pick her up and meet us at Darla's Diner. And, the cheerleaders would be more than happy to watch her. There's always someone sitting out." In her head, she was chanting 'please' over and over. Kuki couldn't explain why yet, but she really wanted things to happen with Wally. Suddenly, she noticed that her hand was resting against his arm. Kuki drew her small hand back, not even remembering when it had gotten there in the first place.
When the goofy grin from moments earlier spread across Wally's face, Kuki was more than relieved. "OK, yeah," he said. "Thanks, Kuki." The boy jogged off in the direction of the locker room.
"Sucks that he can't come," Fanny mumbled, sounding less than interested as Kuki returned to her friends and Patton pressed a kiss into the his girlfriend's shoulder.
Kuki smiled at her friend, shaking her ebony hair. "He's meeting us there. After he picks up his daughter," she said, nonchalantly. The Oriental girl watched with a hint of a smirk as four jaws dropped. She picked at a nail. "Her name's Lucy. You know, like the Beatles song."
A/N: Short chapter, sorry. But! The secret's out. This Rachel makes me giggle. She's so desperate or something that it's cute :D
~Terra