In the Long Run

"Hey, Alice, do you have your bus pass?"

"Shut up." I said angrily, smooshing my hand into Ray's face.

Ray is a good friend of mine. I've known him since I could remember. He's like my second brother. Good friends with my brother, but since he's my age, we became closer. Lately, all he's be doing is making fun of me. Even though he wasn't the biggest fan of Nathaniel, he was a huge fan of making fun of me.

"Has your brother found out yet?" He asked.

"If he knew there would be Point Grey Football Star Killed by Stratford Football Star in big bold letters in this morning's paper," I joked.

"Word to your mother!" Ray mocked.

"Well, I gotta jet. Volleyball practice." I gave him a quirky smile and made my way down to the PE department.

By the time I was changed and ready, everyone was already in the gymnasium. Coach was swinging a key ring with only one key on it around her finger. We watched as her deadly grin went up.

"I noticed the younger players are having a problem with home games. The whole 'classmates watching you play' thing. Especially the guys." Our coach, Samantha winked. I watched as one of the twins's cheeks blossomed into a fair pink. "So today, I was able to borrow a friend's car and book us a time slot at the beach." She paused, "Flyer's were handed out last week around the neighborhood to watch a round of queen's court."

A large majority of the team groaned unhappily, shoving the soles of their shoes into the gym floors.

We headed our way around the gymnasium and out to the parking lot. We filed into the large van, finding ourselves fitting perfectly. The ride was long and dreadful. The atmosphere was horrible with other girl's bad thoughts and emotions. Also, I was getting claustrophobic.

"Sam? Hurry the fuck up." I yelled from the back seat.

"Language!" She yelled back.

We all rolled our eyes. She was being hypocritical. She always swears. She rarely excuses herself and cusses at the girls when she's angry at them. She's not the most pleasant person, but give her a break. She's not exactly an adult, graduating just a year or two ago.

When we got there, it was pretty dead. The only occupants were owners of seaside homes and the elderly. Seeing as it was a Thursday, people didn't exactly have free time to get a tan at the beach. Of course, since it was later in the year, there was a cold breeze, but the sun was still shining strongly. I could feel it's warmth.

After a bit of warm up, we created a small crowd of seven, consisting of our coach, assistant coach, three elders, and a pair of seaside home owners.

We split into three groups of four.

By the time the sun came down, there was quite a crowd and we were dead tired, face planted into the sand.

"I'm hungry." Courtney, an older teammate, like me, groaned to my left. "I hate beach volleyball."

From this experience, I learned that Courtney has bad balance on sand. She continuously fell and slipped on accident. Obviously, it was her first time playing beach volleyball.

I let out a hearty laugh, "Alright, I'll treat you to the nearby grill."

She nodded and we slipped on on sweats and headed down the coastline. The view was beautiful, I had always dreamed of living down here. When we got there, the place was bursting with life. I imagined that this was where everyone went. Seeing as it was almost dinner time, and this place had fairly good prices, they were quite popular.

We got ourselves a table and were now waiting for our orders.

"Hey, I heard your brother is having the annual Halloween party on the 29th, since the 31st is a Monday." Courtney said.

"Eh, I don't really participate in those," I took a sip of my iced tea, "He usually plans everything and just gives me a costume the morning of. I betcha he's gonna end up being a wedding planner."

"Do you know what you're going to be this year?" Courtney asked, leaning on her elbow, "I'm thinking of being a Disney princess or something."

"Hm, not sure what Jordan's got planned for me." I said, mostly to myself.

By then, our food had arrived. After some small talk, Courtney called for the bill, making me remember something extremely important–I don't have my wallet. That's when I started stressing. Like, freaking out. First of all, the restaurant is gonna hate me and tell me never to come back. Second, they're probably going to force me to wash dishes in the kitchen or something. And third, Courtney is counting on me!

"Uh, Court?" I murmured, "I just realized I don't have my wallet."

Her eyes bugged for a second, "Are you kidding me? I didn't bring my shit. I thought this was on you." She whispered.

"You know what," I said, trying to come with a solution, "Let me make a call."

I slipped my phone out, realizing I just got a text message.

Unknown Number:
Hey cutie-pa-tooty. I see you. You need a loan? I got what you need - Nathan

I hit my head gently on the table as the waitress dropped off the check. She gave me a weird look and I attempted to give her a decent smile.

I called called the number from the text, and waited a few measly seconds, "Hey sweet cheeks."

"How did you get my number?"

Courtney stopped playing with her leftover lettuce and stared up at me, mouthing, "Who are you talking to?"

I held up a finger to silence her for a moment, "Look, I don't care. Where are you?"

"Don't worry about that." Then the line went dead.

The waitress came back, and took the bill and tucked it into her apron pocket. She smiled sweetly and sighed, "A sweet young boy said to thank you for the license. And he paid for the bill."

Courtney deadpanned, then started squealing uncontrollably, "Are you sure he wasn't thanking her?" I asked, pointing towards Courtney.

"He directly said the girl with black hair, dark eyes." On the other hand, Courtney had brown hair and light blue eyes.

"Did you catch his name? What did he look like?"

"He didn't mention his name but he had black hair like yours, covered by a baseball cap. He was wearing a loose football jersey for some high school. He was quite the catch." She winked her wrinkled eye, and walked away.

We dismissed ourselves and exited the restaurant. I promise you, the second we stepped out of the building, Courtney squealed. Again.

"Who's this mystery guy? He sounds cute! Are you gonna introduce me? Does he have a brother?" I could help but snicker at that comment, thinking about Brandon. he wasn't much of a ladies girl, not a romantic guy, "I'm so telling the volleyball team!"

"No!" That's where I draw the line, "They're just gonna annoy me about it. C'mon, let's go." I muttered, grabbing her wrist and heading back to the bus.



I rested my damp head of hair on Jordan's lap.

"I've got football game tomorrow. Are you gonna watch?" He asked, flipping channels on the big screen.

"Have I ever missed one? I always get the front seat. Even better than the cheerleaders." I grinned.

"The game is gonna be at the Point Grey field, so I'll be wearing my away jersey. Are you gonna wear my home jersey?"

I nodded softly, focused on the hockey game my brother put on.