Secondary Characters (Novella) - By Rachel Schieffelbein Page 0,3
us to head back up to the locker room.
When the team runs up the hill back to the school I see Mabel. She’s got one arm linked with Amber and they’re both screaming and hollering at all the guys as we run past. She’s wearing a big, comfy looking sweater and her hair is in two long, dark braids. Her cheeks are pink from the cold and her nose is cherry red. She looks adorable. I wish I could wrap her in my arms and warm her up. Kiss her cold nose and warm her lips.
The kicker runs into my back, knocking me right out of my daydream.
“What the hell, man?” he asks, giving me a shove. “Keep moving.”
I start running up the hill again, losing sight of Maybie. I don’t know how the hell I’m going to make it through the next week.
Chapter Three
Days left until I’m stuck going on this stupid double date: five.
Amber spent the weekend trying to convince me to go along with the whole double date thing. And then explaining that I have no real choice in the matter anyway.
And since I’m nuts (and, ya know, a good friend and all), I’m actually thinking about it.
Lance is in front of me as we walk into English class, and I find myself checking him out. He’s tall, lean but muscular, with light brown hair and broad shoulders. He turns around and sees me watching him. He smiles a little, one side of his mouth curling up. I quickly look away, pretending there’s something really fascinating about the nerd-girl cartoon on the cover of my notebook.
The thing is, he’s not bad looking. It’s his mouth that’s the problem. Specifically, his inability to turn it off.
On Tuesday Lance makes a fart joke in English class that causes every guy in the room to laugh like a hyena. And every girl’s eyes to roll into the back of her head.
Why do guys always laugh at stuff like that? God, I hope they get better when they get older. I really don’t want a lifetime of fart jokes. I’m done thinking about it. Decision made. Amber doesn’t need me and Lance hanging around anyway.
After class I beeline to Amber. “Tell Nick that it’s not happening. I am not going out with Lance.”
She laughs and keeps walking down the hall. She is far too used to getting her way.
“Amber, I’m serious,” I say, planting my feet.
She turns, comes back to me, and puts her hands on my shoulders with an exasperated sigh. “Mabel, it’ll be fun. Besides, it’s not like it’s a real date. Ya know, Lance might not be looking forward to going out with you, either.” She raises her eyebrows with a “so there” snort and turns back around.
“Gee thanks!” I holler after her. She laughs.
She’s obnoxious, but she’s right. It’s not a real date. But it is a real block of time, my time, that I have to spend with some doofus when I could be, well, doing something.
By Wednesday, the whole school knows about the date on Saturday. Not mine and Lance’s non-date. I mean, they know about that one too, but they don’t care. I mean Nick and Amber’s. The whole school is buzzing.
“I heard you guys are going on a double date with Nick and Lance,” one of the cheerleaders squeals, running up to Amber and me, a bunch of girls behind her. What do you call a bunch of cheerleaders? A flock? A gaggle? A swarm?
The rest of the girls catch up, focusing their excitement on Amber. “You and Nick are so cute together!” “You’re totally perfect for each other!” “Oh my gosh, can you imagine how cute your kids will be?”
Because of course this one date totally means they will fall madly in love, get married, and have eight kids. But people need something to talk about, I guess.
None of them says a word to me about my date. Not that I care. Not really. I mean, it’s not like it’s a real date anyway. I know that. But do they all know that? Does the whole school know Lance and I are just being dragged along to keep the conversation flowing in case the real stars of the show run out of compliments for each other?
Not that I care.
In English class on Thursday Mrs. Sandberg gives us time to read some Shakespearean sonnets. Since I’ve already read most of them, I find my eyes drifting between Lance and Nick.
I can see why