It's the end of the third quarter and our team is only down by a touchdown. I had just finished leading the crowd in a drum roll cheer when I look over and saw Amy and a few of the girls from earlier huddled on the side of the stands next to the band. I waved, her face turned beat red and she shyly waved back. Her friends giggled and she turned away from me. Some of the band members noticed and began to jeer, "Hey Carl, you didn't tell me you had groupies!" I rolled my eyes, wishing I wasn't in uniform so I could use an obscene hand gesture. Just to piss them off, I shouted out "Chicken Dance, measure 17!" Half of the band groaned as I grinned, my friend Mikey looked like he was about to stuff me in the bell of his tuba. Anyone who wasn't playing had to do the dance and the director made it a point to tell the band that whoever he saw not dancing had to go in front of the crowd and dance, so naturally we tried to refrain from playing that particular song...unless someone felt like having a cruel sense of humor that day. Today was that day for me. I had had such a weird week that I needed something to make me laugh.
After the game was over, I quickly changed out of my uniform and into my jeans and hoodie. As I helped the rest of the drumline put their drums and sticks away, I spotted Amy standing just outside the band room door. She was trying to stay out of everyone's way as people rushed between the instrument storage room and the huge uniform closet. I fought through the crowd of band people and finally made it to the door slightly out of breath.
"Hey, did you still want to come eat with us? I have room in my car if you wanted to ride with some band geeks," I gestured towards the crowded room behind me. Amy twisted her hair between her fingers and nodded. She started to flush a bit and bite her lip slightly. I asked her if she was feeling alright, she just nodded again. I shrugged it off and jerked my head around as Mikey called from behind me, "Carl, dude we still going to Taco Bell?" I laugh and reply, "You really have to ask?"
I led Amy to my car with Mikey, his girlfriend Sophie, and our friend Pugs following closely. I opened the passenger door for Amy and she almost looked like she was shaking as she climbed in. It wasn't that cold out, perfect sweatshirt weather. I shrugged it off, maybe I was just imagining things. The rest of the crew climbed in the back as I made my way to the driver side. Before I could even close my door, the backseat drivers loudly chanted for the radio to be turned on. "Sorry, we get a bit rowdy after a performance," I explained to Amy. I appeased the peanut gallery by blasting the CD I had which happened to be our halftime show songs from the previous year. One of the perks of being in the band is that by the time you get changed after a football game, the parking lot is basically empty. We were out of the parking lot and down the road in minutes. I almost forgot Amy was in the car as the rest of us got carried away with singing the song, me drumming my part on the steering wheel of course. I glanced over and immediately stopped drumming, an apologetic look on my face as I turned the radio down. "Sorry again. Like I said, we're a little amped up after we play," I pulled into the Taco Bell parking lot just as Mikey and Pugs began their taunting of how I'm a pussy and can't handle music played at the appropriate volume. Giving no acknowledgment of the taunts, I get out and walk around the front of the car but before I can reach her door, Amy is already standing next to the car.
As we walk inside, Pugs nudges me. I glance over and see him giving me the "ok" sign down by his knee. "Haha you looked! Food's on you this time!" Pugs and Mikey high-fived and I smacked my forehead. I knew that was coming, the first to fall for it has to buy, another band nerd ritual. Trying to figure out what was up with Amy distracted me and I forgot all about The Game. I look at Amy and shrug. As I walk into the restaurant I see the others were just finishing their order. Amy and I tell the cashier what we want and then Amy opens her purse and pulls out her wallet.
"What are you doing? I'm paying. Put that away," I chuckle and playfully slap the wallet out of her hands and it falls back into her purse. Amy's cheeks went scarlet and she looked at the floor. I paid, carried the two heaping trays of food to the table, and sat down. The table was kind of small so I had to hang my legs off to the side as to avoid crushing Amy who was sitting to my left. We ate, laughing and talking about the game and the band performances. Amy slowly entered the conversation, she seemed less nervous now. She even laughed at one of Mikey's lame jokes with the rest of us. Heading back to the car Amy pulls my arm around her shoulders, I didn't really think anything of it. I just figured she was cold. I opened the door for her and smiled before heading back to the driver side. Once again, the radio was cranked and the singing ensued, but to my surprise, Amy joined in this time. I dropped Mikey and Sophie off then took Pugs home. As I backed out of the driveway I turned down the radio and looked at Amy, "Where to?"
Amy shrugged, "I don't really care. I don't' have a curfew on Fridays."
"Hmm, it's only 10. What do you want to do? I don't have a curfew either. I usually just play video games til I pass out," I chuckled. Surprisingly, this intrigued Amy.
"Really? What games? I'm a Halo addict myself. I play almost every night," Amy smiled, and to my surprise she didn't blush.
"Interesting, bet you five bucks you have less than seven kills when I beat you," I smirk. Amy hits my arm and laughs.
"Fine. You want be like that, make it ten and you've got a deal," it was Amy's turn to smirk. I let her have the moment, soon I'd have ten bucks in my pocket. No one could beat me, let alone get 7 kills before I obliterated them.
When I pulled into my driveway I noticed that neither of my parent's cars were there. Amy noticed too, "Looks like there won't be anyone to see you get your ass handed to you by a girl!" I lightly nudged her arm and rolled my eyes. Upon opening the front door I thought it'd be funny to imitate the cheesy romance movies and say "Welcome to my humble abode." This made the blood rush to Amy's cheeks again. It was kind of fun making her blush. I led her down the hall to my room, panicking slightly because I could not remember if I threw my clothes on the floor or in the hamper after my shower this morning. I prayed it was the hamper, the last thing I needed was for Amy to see my dirty boxers. A sigh of relief escaped me as I turned the light on to reveal a pretty tidy room. I didn't make my bed that morning, just threw my blanket over to cover most of the bed. My desk chair was angled towards the TV with a foot stool right next to it, XBOX controller sitting on top. I offered this seat to Amy and she made her way across the room but she stopped before she sat down. Something on the floor under my chair caught her eye. She bent down and picked up a black book; turning it over in her hands, her eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. I immediately recognized it as the Twilight book I have almost forgotten about.
"You've read Twilight?" inquired Amy, the surprised expression more evident than before. "I loved this book! I've already read it three times," she blushed again.
"Oh, no. I got that for my birthday from my aunt, haven't had a chance to read it yet. I'm guessing it's good?"
Amy nodded slowly, her slight excitement fading. She set the book on my desk and plopped into the chair, snatching up the controller. "Are we playing or what?" she snapped. Damn, what the hell got into her? Just because I didn't read the book yet she's going to bite my head off? I grab the other controller and turn on my TV and XBOX, assuming a position in a bean bag chair on the other side of the room. It was silent except for the background chanting from the game as we selected characters, the type of game, and level at which the battle would ensue. Obliterate her, I shall.
Neither of us spoke. The only sounds heard were my Master Chief killing hers from a sniper spot I discovered. I stole a glance at her while her character respawned; I couldn't read a single emotion. I was up twenty-four kills to five; she was going to lose the bet (not to mention the ten bucks) and yet she didn't look upset at all. I had my character sneak out of the spot and make his way towards Amy's position. She was right out in the open and facing the opposite direction. Perfect for a melee and final kill. I ran at her and just as I was about to hit her, she turned and shot right at my head. I was wounded but not dead yet and I had missed my hit. I go in for another hit and she shoots again, this time we both connect. The screen goes blue and announces we killed each other. Final score: GuitarGod-25kills, Bella07-6 kills.
"Time to pay up," I smirked as I shut the game off. Amy crossed her arms and glared at me. I jabbed my finger at her, "You were the one who raised it to ten and I expect full payment." I gave her a stern look then crossed my eyes. This broke the trance, I saw the muscles at the corners of her mouth tighten as she tried not to laugh. I grinned and she smiled.
"Alright, I'll pay you five now and five when you finish Twilight," Amy waved a five dollar bill in front of my face as she stood up. I rolled my eyes and sighed.
"If that's what it takes to get you to pay up I'll have it done by Sunday so be ready to pay up at school on Monday."
"Fine. Oh and it's written from Bella's perspective. Have fun being inside the mind of a 17 year-old girl all weekend!" Amy laughed and stepped closer to me, still holding out the five.
"Are you kidding me? Take the book with you, I ain't reading that!" Why the hell would my aunt send me a book written from a girl's point of view? Wait. If I do read it I might finally figure out why the girls at school are acting weird. It's a costly price to pay, but I think I can handle it.
"I knew you'd chicken out if you knew how it was written. Looks like I get to keep five bucks," Amy snickered. I look her in the eye, which was slightly difficult considering I was about six inches taller than her.
"You shouldn't spend that five. I'll need it for lunch Monday." For a second Amy looked as if she was contemplating something but then she smirked.
"Be ready to show proof you read it." She shoved the bill into my hand.
"Rawr." I couldn't resist saying it and both of us almost fell to the floor in hysterical laughter. I picked the book off my desk and flipped through the pages. "Almost 500 pages, nice." I skimmed through the chapter list and read through the Preface. "Hmm, I actually might enjoy this book, and not just because I get five bucks to finish it." I look up at Amy and her cheeks are slightly rosy. I run my fingers through my hair to scratch my head and the slight rosy-ness immediately turns bright red and Amy nervously bites the left corner of her lip. I give her a puzzled look.
"You ok? I didn't want to say anything but you've been acting kind of funny all day. I don't mean to offend you but if you feel sick or something tell me ok? I can take you home if you want." I take my phone out of my pocket to verify the time. "It's almost 11:30." I look up and see she is looking at the ground.
"Sorry. I'm fine, I don't feel sick. I've just never spent a whole lot of time with you outside school and I, uh, wasn't sure you'd want to hang out." I couldn't believe it. A girl was nervous to hang out with me. Maybe she has a crush on me. She is cute, and we have a lot in common. I may have to consider the fact that I'm on the dating scene now. Later I will definitely consider the possibilities of Amy and I.
"Why wouldn't I want to hang out with you? You're a cool person. I didn't mean to make it sound that you had to leave."
"I'd like to stay but I'm actually getting a little tired so I should get home, plus you've got a book to read," Amy finally looked up and her smirk was back. She started towards the door and I followed, tossing the book on my bed. Before I locked the front door Amy was already sitting in the passenger seat. I jump off the porch and jog the few steps to the car. Upon opening the door I hear that Amy has turned on the radio and was singing along to "The Anthem" by Good Charlotte.
"I haven't heard this song in awhile," I interject during a guitar solo. When the vocals came back in Amy and I both sang along and laughed. When the song ended I told Amy I had a great time hanging out tonight. Of course she blushed.
"I had a great time too. I'll practice my Halo skills and next time I'll win the bet."
"We'll see about that one. So where do you live?" I chuckled. She directed me to her house and we made small talk about the next video game battle. I pulled up in front of her house and opened my door the same time Amy opened hers. She gave me a confused look.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, a gentleman walks the lady to the door. I figured you knew this." I closed my door and made my way around to walk her up the sidewalk and onto the porch.
"Thanks for walking me to the door. I really did have a good time tonight."
"No problem. Have a good rest of the weekend, alright?" I don't know what came over me but I leaned down and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Don't forget that five bucks on Monday." It was my turn to blush and look at the ground. I turn to walk back to me car when Amy pulls my arm.
"Let me see your phone real quick," she says, holding out her hand. Slightly confused I give her my phone. I stand with one foot on the porch and one on the step, glancing between her and the ground. After a moment of her clicking away she handed my phone back.
"Good night," she said as she opened the door and went inside. When I got in my car I checked my phone. On the screen was her number and Master Chief Amy typed underneath. I got a girl's number, without asking. I really needed to get home and start reading that book.