One of the Boys

I heard screaming from my spot at the Palm Woods pool. We all did. My cousins’ scream was louder than necessary. The boys and I immediately got up and ran. They ran to the elevator, but I just took the stairs, they were faster anyways. My basketball training kicked in. I ran the stairs like my coach back home was yelling. I could hear his voice “if you don’t run any faster, you’ll be running more while you’re at it!”

Her scream was probably nothing. She probably just looked in the mirror and saw a pimple. My feet pounded on the stairs until I finally found the door that lead to the familiar hall way. I pushed open the door and ran to the end of the hall. Pushing the door open, I was the first one there. Typical boys to take the slow elevator; the stairs were faster.

“Lola! What are you screaming at?!” I was frustrated. She ruined my pool time that I usually spent with the boys Logan. I heard her move around in her room. I jogged slightly over towards the door and opened it. Staring at her was a big spider. It was a big, hairy spider, but it was nothing to scream about.

“Jessica! It’s HUGE. Get it out!” She screamed in my direction. If she wouldn’t stop all this screaming, I was going to tie her up and leave her in the room with the spider. I seen a pair of my Converse and I grabbed the left shoe. My next actions were simple. I would kill the spider and leave by the time that the boys had showed up. I raised my arm but I was stopped by Lola.

“Don’t kill it!” She was worried. She hated them, but she wouldn’t let me kill it. I gave a sigh of annoyance and dropped my shoe right where I found it. I walked out leaving the 16 year old to fend for herself against the spider. I left the room and the boys were looking at me from the main room.

“Spider.” That was all I needed to say before James went to Lola’s rescue. This was more than I wanted to deal with today. I went over towards the remaining three and leaned up against Logan. He knew this story too. It was like a re-run of Full House.

James came out with the spider. My pool time was ruined so I sat on our couch in the air conditioned apartment. The boys followed suit. James and Carlos liked our gaming system that we had here. What it was exactly, I have no idea. All I know is that the boys love to play Call of Duty on it.

“Think you can take us on?” James threw a controller at me.

“Bring it.” I propped my Converse clad feet on the table in front of me and leaned back. The game started and they were losing, badly. Carlos let out a loud belch in the middle of the game hoping it would distract James and I. No such luck. Logan was sitting next to me. I saw his stare go towards my part of the screen. He always liked seeing that I could put these boys into their place.

“Weak!” That was all I needed to say to get a rise out of Carlos. That comment distracted him and I went in for the kill. He was back to square one, last place.

“What do you mean weak?” He was hurt by my previous comment, but he went on playing.

“I can belch the alphabet better than that.” It was a double dog dare that happened not too long ago. They didn’t believe me and I did it.

My fingers hit the buttons. They were used to the quick movements. They were trained to play the guitar. I found that to be so much more rewarding than to take ballet.

Logan and I shared a sly smile whenever the timer was down in the red. We knew that James and Carlos were sitting ducks.

“In yo face!” I threw the controller in front of me and snuggled into the couch. My Kansas University basketball shirt was getting uncomfortable. It scratched against the skin that wasn’t covered by my black under shirt. It had to come off. The combined body heat and the heat that was created by the sun coming in through the windows made my usual cotton t-shirt uncomfortable to wear. I shed the shirt and threw it on the back of the couch.

“Awe can’t stand the heat that I’m packin?” The cocky voice of James rang. He just received an eye roll. I was all about continuing my conversation with Logan. We got back on the subject of who knows what before we decided to go back down to the pool. I left my cousin at her station in front of the mirror. I told my uncle that we might as well move her bed and dresser into the bathroom.

Three of the four boys once again took the elevator. Logan was the one who stayed with me. He would never be interested in me. He looked at me like I was a little sister. He gave me high fives whenever he said goodbye. It hurt. I didn’t want that any more. Though I did have the tendency to be a tom boy. I wore jeans, converse, and t-shirts. That was pretty much my wardrobe. I had dresses set back from different occasions, but they were all wearable with my Converse if need be. I was also a big sports fan. I took all of these suckers down in a game of basketball. Ever since then they played hockey, knowing that I refused to put on a pair of skates. I guess that it was my entire fault in the end.

“Hey, you’ll be okay while you’re here right? You’ll be okay while we’re on tour?” He was concerned. I didn’t have a lot of friends at the Palm Wood. I hung out with the guys and occasionally Camille and Jo. All of my school friends were busy the whole summer. I figured I would just chill by the pool, shoot baskets, something to occupy my time since Logan and the boys wouldn’t be.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine” I looked at him. He wasn’t convinced, but he let it go anyways. He didn’t want to push it. Not yet anyways. We were in the lobby. Before I got a chance to do anything else with Logan a new girl caught his attention.

“Hello new girl” His eyes followed her. I just rolled my eyes and walked out of the Palm Woods. I was making my way towards the park. The blossoming trees and soft grass always allowed me to think. I sat directly on the grass underneath the second shadiest tree that was there. I always sat there because the birds didn’t like the tree.

I didn’t want to be one of his boys. In Logan’s mind, it seemed as if I were actually a boy. I didn’t want to be! I was far from being one of his guys. All he had was to give me a chance, one night and I would prove to him. I was more than just the girl who lived down the hall. I was more than the girl who wore nothing but Converse and jeans. I wanted to be the girl who was pretty in pearls, not one of the boys.