Lessons Learned I

Joseph and I were sitting on the steps in front of the library when Alex came walking over in his gothic attire and fifty pounds of make up.

Joseph raised his eyebrows as Alex approached us. He began laughing at the zombie-like makeup.

"You look like a character from 'Tales From the Crypt'." Joseph chuckled.

"Har, har..." Alex mumbled. "And you look like a 'Big Wolf On Campus' reject."

Joseph raised his eyebrows.

"Is that so?"

Alex sighed and took a seat next to me.

"She still doesn't notice me," he sighed. "All she does is talk about Adam."

"Well, you know...Adam's on the basketball team. Maybe you should try out for a sports team." Joseph suggested.

"Yeah! That's it...maybe I could be a footballer or something." Alex grinned a little. "She'd have to notice me!"

I rolled my eyes and turned toward him.

"You are such a frickin' IDIOT!" I slapped him across the face. His makeup got all screwed up and all over my hand.

"...ew," I wiped it off on his shirt.

"Hey! This cost me fifty bucks!"

"Jesus, Alex!" I slapped him again.

"Ow! Quit it!" He exclaimed like a big pansy ass.

"If you don't stop dressing like a corpse fucker I'll keep slapping you!"

"Fine!" He exclaimed. "I'll stop the goth thing. Why don't you bitch slap Jake about this?"

"Because that's just who Jake is. He's goth or whatever. You're more of a...mathlete."

He gave me a dull look.

"Mathlete?"

"Yeah. Blue ribbon in biology and all that."

"Ugh!" He exclaimed. "Tori was right..."

I looked over at Joseph, who had a smirk on his face. He started cracking up.

"Hey, Al, I know how you can get Rachel to notice you," he snickered.

"What?!"

"Tattoo 'I'ma fool 4 u' on your face. It's sure-fire and she'll definitely notice. In case she doesn't, make sure it's pink and glue some glitter on it."

I playfully slapped his arm and laughed a little.

"Stop it. Alex is going through a hard time."

Alex rested his head on his hands and sighed.

"I'm so pathetic!" he wailed.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed his arm, pulling him up.

"Come on, let's go see if there's any openings on some sport teams."

"Oh, I have GOT to see this," Joseph laughed as he stood up. We hurried off to the gym.

"Run faster, Dawkins! This isn't rhythmic gymnastics!" A very tall, buff guy shouted.

Joseph, Alex and I stood by the door, staring at all the guys running laps around the gym. They were panting and sweating.

"Cute gym shorts," I snickered, motioning toward the very short, red and white shorts they were wearing. "Wait until Rachel sees you in those..."

"Shut it," Alex whispered harshly.

"I should join the team and get a pair of those. Wouldn't I look sexy?" Joseph whispered. I laughed.

"Yeah, watching your thighs jiggle around on the court would be so hot," I whispered sarcastically.

He gave me an insulted look.

"My thighs are not jiggly! ...are they?"

"Who are you three?" The couch boomed as he approached us. Alex started trembling a little.

"U-Um...I'm Alex Bennett..."

"You here to try out for the basketball team?" The couch eyed him.

"Y-Yes..."

"Wipe that crap off your face and grab a ball, Bennett."

Alex nodded and hurried off to the bathroom to wash his face. The couch stared down at me and Joseph.

"Hmm," he eyed me. "You're a female. What are you doing here?"

"...uhhh, I'm with the CAD and I'm just here to raise everyone's spirit," I replied while looking around.

"CAD?"

"Cheerleaders Ain't Dead! Surely you've heard of us."

"...no."

"Oh. Well, now you have!"

Alex came running back out. He grabbed a basketball and watched the team come running toward him.

"What about you, punk?" The couch stared at Joseph. "You here to straighten up and be commited?"

Joseph eyed him.

"I'm not a punk, you sweaty gorilla."

The couch glared at him.

"Get out of my gym!"

"Ahhh!" Alex screamed while throwing the ball up into the air. He ran away from the guys that were chasing after him.

Forty-five minutes later Alex was dressed in his normal clothes, which consisted of a maroon hoodie, loose-fitting carpenter jeans, a navy blue Tshirt, brown and gray Element shoes and his tan corduroy coat.

We walked down to the football field and saw everyone practicing. The couch blew his whistle and called the team in for a huddle.

"Go over there, Al," I said, shoving him off. He took off running toward the pack of burly guys.

"Think he'll be able to make it?" I mumbled.

"Hell no," Joseph replied, putting his arm around my shoulders.

We watched Alex talk to the couch, who seemed really friendly. After about ten minutes of watching him throw a few passes and run around the field he came back over to us.

"I'm on the team!" He exclaimed happily.

"Good job, Alexander!" I patted him on the back. He grinned.

"Congrats, man," said Joseph.

"Thanks, guys. I gotta go practice with them now and stuff. Catch you later?"

"Yeah, sure," I smiled. He grinned and took off running.