I like this story. I'm really getting into it. This chapter was fun to write-though I struggled with using past and present tense. I have a bad habit of switching in between the two. I have got to catch myself on those.
This chapter contains a different love story. I always thought Vince and Gretchen would look good together so I decided to explore it further. Hope you all enjoy it!
I forgot to mention last time-I (sadly) don't own Recess or it's characters/ideas.
Chapter2 - A Challenge of Heart
"Arg—no."
For the eighth time that night, Vincent Pierre LaSalle missed his shot. Vince never misses his shots. Never. Well, at least not when he's simply shooting hoops. These should be child's play for him by now, but no. He's missing shots. There are only three reasons for him to miss his shots. One—he is physically incapable of making a shot. Two—he is trying out a new style or a joking style and has not practiced it enough. Three—something so monumental is on his mind that he can't focus enough to make a shot.
Right then, reason number three was why he has to go and retrieve his ball again.
Vince took a deep breath and tried once more, hoping to clear his mind of his predicament. That was one of the reasons he came to the park to shoot some hoops alone. The cool evening gave enough of a chill to keep most children out of the park but enough families to remind him that he was not completely alone in the world. Actually, he's never alone with such great friends as his, but right now he didn't want to see his friends. He needed to not see them in order to get his stupid problem out of his stupid mind that won't stop thinking about it.
Stupid.
With that thought in mind, Vince took another shot. Ninth missed shot of the night. Vince didn't go chasing after the ball this time around. He bent over, palms on his knees, and took a few deep breaths. It wasn't anger that's getting to him. Actually, it was happiness. Too much happiness. His friends were the best in the world. Phenomenal. The only people in the world he really connects with. One in particular, though, has been a little more wonderful lately.
Vince never saw it coming. It was like back in Third Street School when he and his friends were playing hide and go seek, only Spinelli thought of it more like hide-and-go-scare-the-seeker-out-of-his-mind-if-he-gets-near-her-hiding-spot. If nearly found, Spinelli would realize her demise and make a game of it. She would get a step up on the seeker by sneaking up behind them and startling them. That's what happened here. This feeling that causes so much happiness sneaked up on him and scared him out of his wits.
Vince had feelings for Gretchen Grundler.
Oh boy.
"Heads up!"
Those years of practicing made it second nature for Vince to catch that basketball whizzing towards him. He looked up and was stunned for a second when he saw who is before him.
Ashley Spinelli, in person-and in a skirt. A skirt. A red, slightly ruffled skirt with a tank top and boots. Classy boots, not her regular ones that she claims are as comfortable as socks on carpet. Her hair was done up, and the smile on her face only compliments her features. That smile faded, however, when Vince continued to do nothing but stare for a solid minute.
"Hey Spinelli," Spinelli's voice mocked Vince's usual tone. "It's good to see you. I haven't talked to you in person for two months and now that you're here, I am too stunned at your awesomeness for words." Spinelli frowned. She stomped forward and got into Vince's suddenly terrified face. "Hi to you too, Vince!"
"H-Hi, Hey—Hi Spinelli. Hey." Vince took a few steps back and gathered himself. "Sorry about that. I just...when Gus said you had worn a girly dress, I didn't think you would continue the girly tradition. It's...different seeing you dressed up like this."
Spinelli scowled at him. "Don't get used to it. Mom's not done with the laundry, and all my good clothes are in the wash or too ratty to wear in public." Spinelli softened then. She looked to the ground and scuffed her heel against the pavement. "Sorry."
"For what?" Vince couldn't come up with a reason for her to be sorry. Throwing the ball at him? Mocking him?
"Scarin' you. Didn't mean to. Just—nevermind. Gimme that." Spinelli took the ball from Vince and took a shot. She made it which was rather impressive considering her distance from the hoop. "Yes. Nothing but net."
"Not too shabby," Vince said with mild amusement. Spinelli wasn't really one for sports, not too much for organized athletics, but strong nonetheless. Vince had tried to convince her here and there to put that strength to good use on a team. It never got very far, though. He gave up a while ago. He turned to look at her now and that proud look on her face he has seen a million times before, suddenly feeling a surge of happiness. A different kind of happiness. One that reminded him of the simplicity of childhood and lack of stress. It was a relief of stress he greatly needed, and it took Spinelli's presence in order to get it. (Not the kind of happiness that Gretchen somehow now gives him just by gracing him with a glance at her-a happiness that reminds him of the time he took the game-winning shot against one of their school's biggest athletic rivals.)
"What?" Spinelli had caught him staring. Since he had been smiling, she smiled back with a little curiosity as well.
"It's good to see you, Spinelli," Vince said. His voice was so genuine that it caught him and his friend off-guard. Vince gave a small laugh and scratched the back of his head. "Heh, yeah. I...it just hasn't been the same—I mean, we all missed—"
Vince never got a chance to finish. Spinelli had grabbed him and held him in place with a hug containing enough strength to keep a person even of Vince's height and weight in place. Vince got beyond the shock and slight awkwardness of it and hugged her back. Past the strangeness, though, it was actually kind of nice. He definitely missed Spinelli, and he told her as much.
"Missed you too," Spinelli said when she pulled away. "I missed all of you. Can you believe I've only seen you and Gus since getting back yesterday?"
"We tried to come by and see you earlier, but your mom said you were asleep and not to disturb you because of jetlag," Vince said in defense and slight disappointment.
Spinelli thought about that then nodded. "Yeah, probably a good idea. You know how I am when I'm woken up before I'm good and ready."
"I think each of us have made that bad decision." Vince winced at the memory of when he had been given the job of getting Spinelli up on a Saturday morning for a trip out of town the group planned on making. It was such a stupid thing to do. He should have made Gretchen do it. Spinelli was less likely to resort to violence with Gretchen.
At the thought of Gretchen, Vince cleared his throat and picked up the ball to keep himself occupied. He shot it and took a deep breath when it, yet again, bounced off the rim. "How was Italy?"
"I've already told you guys about it over the phone. It was fine. An 'experience' as Mom calls it. And good for college. Whatever. I wanna hear about your summer. How's it going?" Spinelli caught the ball. She eyed Vince suspiciously after the missed shot. Vince tried giving her his most innocent look, but really being a star player and a shoo-in for captain this upcoming year, missing a basket was a big deal.
"Boring. Nothing to report. Not too out-of-the-ordinary. Totally normal." Vince smiled. Spinelli scowled.
He's dead. Spinelli's pretty good about smelling out a lie. She either was completely oblivious to the lie or spot-on in her guess about being lied to. And right now the latter was occurring.
"Spill."
Vince bit his lip. He looked up at the sky instead of Spinelli's accusing eyes.
"I can keep a secret, Vince." Spinelli's quiet voice was enough to bring Vince's gaze back to her. Small. She looked small. Staring at the ground, elbows in, knees together—it looked like she shrunk into herself. Totally unlike Spinelli.
"I know," Vince said. He was sincere. Spinelli can keep a secret if necessary. Vince usually tells his secrets to T.J. However, this was something monumental. Something that could rattle the orientation of the gang. T.J.'s gang-his pride and joy. Vince didn't want to put this weight on his shoulders. Spinelli? Vince hadn't thought about telling Spinelli. She wasn't a possibility before now because of her absence. Actually, she would be a pretty good choice. Mikey would secretly drop hints through quotes of poets if he knew. Gus would squirm whenever she would talk to him or the two of them would be in the same room. T.J.—for the obvious reason of uncertainty in support of the group. Sure, T.J. would support Vince, but Vince wants to be a good friend too. Spinelli...she's close enough to Gretchen as a girl to know her, yet distant enough to see how things could play out. Maybe...
"Just don't...please don't tell anyone. Not yet. And don't get all gushy on me," Vince pleaded.
Spinelli crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like Mikey to you?"
Vince chuckled. "Right." One deep breath later, Vince gathered enough courage to spit out the phrase. "I kind of have...feelings...for Gretchen."
Vince couldn't look at Spinelli right then even if he wanted to. He instead held out his hands for the ball which Spinelli then throws to him. He took another shot and missed. Eleventh. In Spinelli's silence, Vince attempted to belittle the situation. "It's no big deal. I just think she's cool. She's smart. Pretty. Plenty of girls are cool and smart and pretty. I just happen to see it most often in Gretchen because I'm around her the most. It'll pass. Seems like I needed to get it off my chest in order to get beyond it. I'll be fine. There will be other girls. This thing for Gretchen won't last. Whew. Thanks, Spinelli. I'm good now."
Spinelli quickly went to intercept the ball from where it was bouncing back towards Vince. Her glare in his direction was so intense that Vince felt the need to back away from her for the second time that night.
"Don't push Gretchen aside like that. Not cool."
Vince looked at the ground, completely ashamed. "Yeah, I know. Sorry. But it's no big deal."
"Shut up. Stop there. Yes it is." Spinelli dribbled the ball as she aimlessly walked around, not really looking at Vince as she addressed him. "You and I both know how awesome Gretchen is. She's the bomb at so many things. Science is her version of sports, and she's beyond killer at it. And she's nice. She doesn't even kick me out of her house when I annoy her. She's pretty too, huh?"
At this, Spinelli shot Vince a mischievous look to which Vince sputtered out a few words without actually connecting them into a full thought.
"Thought so. She sure got style when sophomore year hit. I would know, she dragged me to enough stores as her go-to on what looks good." Spinelli turned and made another shot in the opposite hoop. "I kinda figured you had a crush on her when freshman year hit, but even you didn't know what it was. I could tell. You kept sitting next to her and lookin' at her. I only noticed 'cause she got suspicious at the end of sophomore year and asked me if I saw anything. I did, but I didn't get a chance to tell her before my parents sprung this stupid trip on me."
"You knew?!"
"Duh. You weren't exactly discreet. I just didn't know you were hesitant about it." Spinelli tossed the ball to Vince. "So why are you hesitating? I mean, she's got all those smarty-pants at school eyeing her. You will probably lose your chance when school comes around. One of those nerds will have bound to have gathered enough courage to ask her out after this summer."
At the thought, Vince's grip on the ball tightened. "I..." Vince sighed. "I don't know. I guess I'm just afraid of messing up the mojo of the group. We might get off balance or something. I mean, what if we break up? And not to mention the stupid cliques are going to be breathing down our necks the entire time."
Spinelli suddenly launches herself at Vince. The athlete was caught completely off-guard. He managed to turn slightly so the frightening girl latched herself onto her friend's back. She grabs his shoulders and shakes, causing Vince to nearly topple over.
"Spinelli, what are you doing? Stop!"
"You said it-that stupid thing that ruins every chance of relationship ever. Haven't you seen those crummy girly movies? You'll lose her. You'll lose your chance. I gotta shake that nonsense out of you. It is my responsibility as your friend."
"I got it-Spinelli. Ack! I got it."
Spinelli stopped shaking, but her grip did not lessen, keeping Vince's fear for another attack. After a minute of fearful suspense, Spinelli let go of her death-grip and instead wrapped her arms lazily around her friend's neck, settling into a normal piggy-back.
"You listen here, bub. You are a kick-butt athlete and one of the coolest, most fair guys I know. Opposite that-Gretchen is the smartest, prettiest, and nicest girl I know. I think you two are on the same level of awesome-almost to my level. A relationship between the two of you would be great. Not perfect-nothing is perfect-but great. If you break up, then you break up. Call me sappy, but I agree with whatever dude it was that said 'Better to have loved and lost than to live in regret for the rest of your life for not following your very good friend's advice and asking the girl you are totally into out on a date.'"
Vince chuckled. "I don't think that's exactly how it goes, Spin."
"Well, it applies to this situation a lot better with some editing. Besides, I said I wouldn't turn into Mikey for this." Spinelli finally got down from her vantage point. When both feet were planted on solid ground again, the little spit-fire punched her friend in the shoulder. It was more painful than a friendly punch to the shoulder so Vince knew he was still being punished a little. This was confirmed by Spinelli's next phrase. "And don't you ever mention cliques again! Our group has been through a bunch of different stuff with people like those stupid Ashley's breathing down our necks. They haven't gotten to us yet. And don't worry, I got your back if they talk smack. I'm a very persuasive person."
"Yeah, I know." Vince says, rubbing his sore arm. "So...you really think I should do it?"
Spinelli rolls her eyes before smacking her palm against her forehead. "No duh. What have I been saying this whole time? I think you and Gretch would make a pretty great pair."
"You think?"
"Yeah, a lot better than with anyone else we know-better than any of the Ashley's or that one Stephanie girl you thought about asking out, or even someone like me. Gretch is definitely the gal."
Vince shook his head as a small flood of memories came to mind. "That's funny considering I had liked you back in grade school."
That brought Spinelli up short. She looked at him with a look of complete shock and awe. That soon gave way to another punch to the arm. Thankfully this one didn't hurt as much. She wasn't punishing him anymore, instead joking. Spinelli's laughter proved it. "No way!"
"Yep. I thought you were pretty cool," Vince said, joining her in her laughter. "Back in Third Street-near the beginning of fourth grade, I think-I liked you."
"Nah. Really?" When Vince just shrugged, Spinelli lost it. She laughed, laughed more than she had all summer combined.
Vince at first felt a little offended. "It's not that funny," he tried defending himself.
"Yes it is. Can you picture opening doors for me and all that romantic junk? You?" Spinelli fell into another fit of laughter.
Vince did try to picture it. Ok, it was kinda funny. Actually, it was hilarious. Him opening doors for the tough-as-nails Spinelli? The very thought brought the athlete to near tears with how hard he began to laugh. The two old friends thoroughly enjoyed the topic to its fullest extent, ending up on the ground, sitting next to each other, trying to regain their breath.
"I thought you were cool too," Spinelli said after a brief pause. "Not that I wanted to hang out with you like that, but I thought you were one of the slickest guys around."
"I kind of figured it wasn't really good for either of us. The crush faded pretty fast. Especially when you and..." Vince stopped himself then and there. He almost broke a barrier there.
"What?" Spinelli asked. She turned herself to fully face him. When the athlete said nothing, she gave him a playful shove. "C'mon. Tell me."
"Back then, I thought..." Vince took a moment to weigh the pros and cons of his next phrase and decided a little prodding wouldn't do any harm. Everyone in the group was pretty curious about this subject anyway. "I thought you had a thing for T.J."
Spinelli's playful grin turns into a frown, then changes again into a genuine smile. "I did."
"Really?" Vince asked, totally shocked Spinelli would even admit to anything on the subject.
The rugged girl shrugged. "Sure. I mean, he was our leader. He inspired us all. And I thought I was special to him-like I was his right-hand girl...heh, funny how things like that just sorta slip your mind until something brings them up again. I had almost forgotten about that until you asked me."
Vince grins. It was his turn to give Spinelli a playful shove. "I'm pretty sure he had a crush on you too."
"Yeah?" Spinelli's semi-excitement at that phrase was not lost on Vince.
"Yeah. Good times back then, huh?"
"Yeah. Good times." Spinelli sighed and blew at the hair that came out of her up-do in the scramble with her friend. "So when are you going to ask Gretchen out?"
"Soon." Vince said with certainty, but that wasn't enough for Spinelli.
Spinelli nodded as if in agreement. "Sounds good. I'd better hear that you have a date before school gets here. That's in two weeks. Count 'em. I will be."
"Don't worry. I got this. I'm cool I've been told. How can she resist?"
Spinelli rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. "Beats me. Hey, can I see your phone? I want to see how the pictures I sent you guys turned out on your phones. Italy was beautiful, I admit. I wanna make sure the phone did it justice."
"Sure." Vince took out his phone and handed it to his friend. Spinelli began shuffling through his phone. She casually got to her feet and began walking around her friend until she turned to him with determination and a smirk. Vince suddenly didn't feel so good.
"Alright, listen up pal. I'm going to call her on your phone-"
"Spinelli! No! Not now." Vince got to his feet and tried to catch his friend. It was his quick, practiced feet versus Spinelli's years of fighting experience. Unfortunately, her knowledge in avoidance trumped his maneuvering skills.
"And when I do, I want you to ask to meet her in person. None of this over-the-phone junk. Ask her face-to-face. I know she'll appreciate it. She's classy like that. You picked a good one." Spinelli hit the button and held it to her ear. When she heard it ring, she allowed Vince to take it back.
"Spinelli, I told you I'm-" Vince stopped himself when he heard Gretchen's voice pick up on the other end. For one heart-racing moment, Vince had no idea what to do.
"Answer it, you dimwit!" Spinelli whispered harshly but with humor tracing every syllable. The grin she had on her face made Vince want to punch something. With a deep breath and a small prayer sent upwards, he held the phone up to his ear.
"Hey, Gretchen. How's it going?"
As Gretchen gave her pleasant answer, Spinelli gave Vince the thumb's up before mimicking Vince in his stroll. Vince turned out to be a wanderer with phones. When he talked on it, he felt the need to pace. So when he took three steps forward and had his back to Spinelli for less than twelve seconds, he was surprised that when he turned around, she wasn't there. Gone. Disappeared. It made Vince's mind halt. Where had she gone?
"Vince? Are you still there?" Gretchen's voice brought Vince out of his wondering.
"Sorry, Gretch. Something weird caught my attention. What was your question?"
"I asked what you needed. You were the one who called me, remember?"
"Oh right, right. Heh. Um, yeah I was wondering if you'd be willing to meet me outside of Kelso's in fifteen minutes."
There was a heart-stopping pause before Gretchen answered. "I don't see why not. Any particular reason?"
"Just...something I want to discuss in person. That alright?"
"It's fine with me."
"Great. I'll see you in a few."
"See you."
Vince disconnected the call. His heart was beating as fast as a rabbit's. He felt out of breath though the only real "workout" he did was pacing and a few failed shots. Vince shook off his nerves, internally demanding that he do this as he began walking with purpose in the direction of Kelso's.
Spinelli was right. It was now or never.