“And that’s the game!” the overly cheerful voice of the football game’s commentator announced. “The Hazelwood Hawks have pulled off a stunning victory, standing fourteen-to-ten against the Lunenburg Blue Knights!!”
The crowd around me erupted into cheers, thrilled to see our school’s team win a game for once. I clapped politely, only sure of one thing: I was definitely going to break up with him.
I was proud of Ben and everything, but I didn’t feel anything when he won today. I didn’t feel anything when he took me out to Dairy Queen yesterday either. I especially didn’t feel anything when he cluelessly tried to finger me afterwards. It was like he was fumbling for a lightswitch in the dark or something. Plus, what kind of football player lets his nails get as long as that?? I told myself that as long as I got a cute boy from the football team I’d finally feel right, like I’d made it, but… nope. Ben wasn’t doing shit for me, and it kinda just felt like we were both pretending or something.
And, like, it wasn’t as if Ben had some quota to fulfill. It wasn’t even like he was an asshole. We just weren’t working, that was all. He was going to be sad – or maybe pretend to be sad – when I broke things off with him tomorrow, but it was for the best. Sports games were basically just a chance to hang out with people in the bleachers anyway, and I was getting more and more curious what that would feel like when I was single and not tied down.
And it would be fun to get that chance, to be single. I wasn’t exactly the cutest girl in school, but then again, none of my friends actually wanted to be Taylor. Running around like the world’s biggest skank, trying to worm her way into the senior friend groups and ignoring her junior friends just to get ahead, destroying any couple she came across if she found the guy hot enough. Plus, if you weren’t in her immediate friend group, she’d be the sweetest thing ever to your face, then immediately shit-talk you behind your back all to reign supreme as the Queen Slut of the school. No thanks, bitch, I’m happy being an innocent little princess.
Okay, that wasn’t the whole truth. I wasn’t super happy being innocent. But hey, you always hear about newly single girls wanting to go through their slut phase, and I was definitely a little curious. If I just put myself out there, and stopped acting like such a good girl… It’s not like I didn’t have good self-control. What was the worst that could happen?
***
One year later…
***
“Yo, Robyn! You busy afterschool?”
I couldn’t help but smirk confidently, even though my eyes remained coolly at my locker. “I don’t think so, Matthew. Why do you ask?” I murmured smugly
Matthew, a preppy boy with a tall handsome body to juxtapose his baby face, leaned against the locker next to mine. “Oh, you know, we just haven’t chilled in such a long time. I just thought it would be cool to hang out, catch up, you know?”
He wanted me to suck his dick, but I wasn’t opposed to that. “Maybe! It all depends on how much homework I get. I can text you after last class, sound good?”
“Cool, yeah!” he agreed happily, walking away. My smirk didn’t fade. Matthew, huh? It had been a few weeks since we did anything, but I had to admit, he was cute. He was also a bit immature, but I didn’t care about that. We weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend, so I didn’t really mind that he was shallow company. Better than anything, he knew how to not get attached, which was a huge improvement on a lot of the other guys I was doing on-and-off stuff with.
I hurried to English class, sitting down next to Kathy, my best friend. I dramatically flipped back my blond hair and batted my blue eyes as I sat down. “It’s so hard being so popular,” I jokingly complained.
Kathy rolled her eyes, her overbite emphasizing her grin. “Who was it this time?”
“Matthew,” I told her in a hush, grinning. She looked puzzled. “Matthew O’Donovan? The tall guy, me and him were doing stuff a few weeks ago.”
“Which boy weren’t you doing stuff with a few weeks ago?” she joked in response, then her smile turned devilish. “Aside from Jordan.”
My face flushed. “Hey, shut up,” I complained. Me and my big mouth… I should have never told her how I felt, and kept it just for me. And maybe my future therapist or something.
Jordan was the definition of hot. Tan clear skin, bright white perfect teeth which we loved to show off with his arrogant little smiles, deep yet piercing hazel eyes, a skinny but impressive build thanks to being the only halfway talented guy on the basketball team, and confidence oozing out of every pore. What’s more, every girl he ever got with seemed to want nothing more than to get with him just one more time.
I wish I could speak from experience, but annoyingly, Jordan was just about the only boy that never bothered to hit me up and ask to hang out sometime, even after I dropped some pretty clear hints his way at a few parties. I wasn’t even sure if he still knew my name, or if he just knew my face as one of his many classmates. And worst of all, I had English class with him too.
My blush only deepened when Jordan walked in, right on cue. He was wearing a tight tank top that clung to his skin, emphasizing just how yummy he looked, and he was sporting a cocky grin too aimed at someone in the room. I looked over and saw Crystal, one of the girls from that one popular girl’s table. I wanted to be stronger, but still, my heart sank.
“Did you see the look he gave Crystal?” Kathy asked, oblivious to how it affected me. “Do you think maybe they-”
“Maybe,” I replied forcefully yet with this fake ‘I don’t care’ tone. Shut up, Kathy, shut up. I continued to watch Jordan, now sitting two rows ahead of me, when his attention turned away from Crystal to someone else. It was Kevin Shen, some quirky Chinese guy known for smooth-talking his way into the Student Council crowd this year. I didn’t know him that well, but apparently, even if you didn’t like Kevin, you liked what he could do for you.
Clearly Jordan heard the rumors. I saw him and Kevin talking at their desks, but couldn’t hear any words, until Kevin said a sentence that I caught – “Yeah, got it right here for you.” Kevin produced some kind of piece of paper and handed it to Jordan, who started cracking up in gleeful surprise.
Jordan didn’t catch me staring, but Kevin did. He didn’t lose his smile, but there was definitely perplexion on his face. I tried to play it off like I was looking behind him, but he didn’t let up. Eventually, I decided to acknowledge it. “…Yes?” I asked him with a weirded-out tone, knowing full well I was staring at him first.
Finally, he shrugged and looked away. Life was so unfair – even Kevin got to talk to Jordan, but I could never find a way to hold the guy’s interest. Like, if there was one boy that I would actually settle down with, it was a hundred percent Jordan. Until then, though, I guess my life wasn’t so bad – I got to have boys, but not deal with their bullshit. The best of both worlds.
***
Too many boys at Hazelwood knew by now that Mom and Dad weren’t home until after five. Of course, that didn’t just mean an open invitation; they had to ask me first. Maybe I’d feel generous. And today, for Matthew, I was feeling generous.
I looked around the house, smiling. Serena was nowhere to be found. I took Matthew’s hand in mine and gave him a reassuring smile and a hand squeeze, leading him up the stairs. The house was ours.
“So,” I began, almost making a joke out of the mere idea we’d make small talk. “How’s life?”
“Oh, uh, y’know… classes are fine and all, but…”
I snapped my fingers, pretending to remember. “Hey, weren’t you going out with Morgan Jones? How’s that going?”
“Oh,” he mumbled, turning pink. I hid my smile. Boys were too easy. “We broke up a b-bit ago… I think she’s thinking of going out with Jerrad Sadler or something.”
Wow. Jerrad, the guy with the buck teeth and two brain cells rattling around in that oversized head of his. Couldn’t say I was shocked, but hey, that was Morgan and her gang of friends for you. Knowing her, it would be two dates and then on to the next victim, much like poor Matthew here. Or she’s just run back to her ex Arin for like the fourth time, all while playing victim. At least I was honest about what I was, and picked my boys carefully.
Still, even though I liked to play the easy version, I played the game. “Oh my God!” I exclaimed, sitting next to his leg and rubbing it supportively. “That must have been so hard for you!”
Matthew, unexpectedly, smiled. “C’mon, Robyn, you knew,” he playfully accused. “You didn’t really want to hang out with me to hang out with me, did you?”
Woah. Boldness. This was new. My face flushed. “W-what?”
“Well, I’m just saying, you don’t hang out with guys unless you want to do stuff with them, and like, I’m the same way, so… why pretend, you know?”
Ugh. Maybe I did pick wrong for once. I just stared at Matthew, my face probably reflecting how I felt. “What, so you’re saying I’m lying?” I asked coldly. “And what if I’m not?”
He tilted his head down, still looking at me, smiling cockily. “C’mon,” he coaxed. “You barely talk about anything else with me, and you keep asking about shit that’s weeks old so we immediately go to, like, sex stuff. To me, lying has two big parts: number one, you gotta make it seem like you’re doing one thing when you’re doing another, and number two, if you’re bringing other people into it, they gotta either want to go along with it or they’re just naturally already doing that stuff.”
This was the wordiest Matthew had ever gotten. “What are you trying to say?” I asked, trying to keep my control over the situation.
“I’m saying I enjoy the stuff we get up to but you keep feeling like we gotta bring up my exes and shit before we start, as if, like, the only way we can fool around is because my girlfriend broke up with me or somethin’.” He rolled his shoulders and leaned back on the bed. “And, like, we don’t gotta. We can just go, ‘hey I like your mouth,’ ‘hey I like your dick,’ ‘cool, let’s do stuff,’ y’know?”
I didn’t know why, but what he said made me really angry. “We shouldn’t do this,” I found myself saying. “You should just go.”
“Oh, c’mon!” he replied urgently, sitting up on the bed. “I was just saying all that shit to be, like, upfront and stuff. Isn’t it nice being open and shit?”
I huffed. “If I wanted to be ‘open and shit,’ Matthew, I’d have a boyfriend. You know why they call this kind of thing ‘no strings attached’? Because the strings aren’t attached, Matthew. And now here you are, with your tape and your ball of string, attaching string and going, ‘hey look, string!’, pointing to it with your taping hand. Matthew.”
Matthew was grinning. “Are you done?” he challenged me, still playfully. “Look, I won’t get weird or attached. I just wanted to be honest about this one thing.”
“To me, that’s weird and attached,” I told him, standing up.
He gestured incredulously with his hands. “Being honest about not caring about my girlfriends is weird and attached?”
“Yes.”
“Are you gonna tell me why?”
“No.”
“Well, fuck,” he laughed, still sitting there. “Alright, whatever. I won’t bring it up again. We cool?”
I stood there, arms folded, not answering.
He rolled his eyes, still smiling. “I’ll eat your pussy if I can stay.”
I had a really good poker face, but below the surface, that flipped the switch. I hadn’t gotten a squeamish boy to eat me in so long. Still, I couldn’t give him the victory. I moved my mouth to the side of my face, pretending to mull it over. “I dunno…”
“I mean, if I’m offering, you gotta at least try it, right?” Matthew offered, giving me that cocky smile of his, the smile I was barely acquainted with before today. I hated that he was winning, but what he was offering me was good enough for me to go in on his lie, just this once. “Alright, fine,” I conceded.
Matthew’s big dumb grin was enough to get me to smile myself. He was, admittedly, pretty cute. I didn’t like that he got his way today, but I’d fix that in the future. With him sitting on the edge of the bed and me standing, it was easy to see what I needed to do. My smile turned slutty as I swung my leg around him and sat down on his legs, facing him.
Matthew was grinning right up until the moment our mouths met. We didn’t waste time on closed-mouth kissing – that was for cutesy little couples. We were needy, and we wanted action. Our mouths were open immediately, attacking each other with need. As we kissed and kissed, our needs grew, and soon we were grabbing bunches of each others’ hair or taking off each others’ clothes. We’d barely moved from being on the edge of our bed and both of our tops were off.
I loved the feeling of a boy’s skin on mine. There was something so addictive about the feeling of a boy’s chest against yours, the feeling of skin on skin (or hair if genetics were kind enough to him)… I knew some girls really liked a boy with a really built chest, with a lot of muscles, but I actually liked the skinnier chests. Thank fuck Jordan was skinny-strong. Fuck, Jordan…
I was going to call out the wrong name if I wasn’t careful. I pushed my chest forward, my erect nipples practically tracing lines along Matthew’s chest. As he kissed me, one of his hands raised and played with my nipple, tweaking it ever-so-gently. I moaned feebly into the kiss; my boobs were way more sensitive than anyone else in my grade, maybe even the whole damn school. Luckily, Matthew knew what to do at this point.
I lost track of time, happily kissing Matthew’s lips and neck before realizing just how wet I’d gotten. I was practically humping the poor boy. Our lips departed and we panted, looking deep into each other’s eyes. God damn… If he was smooth today, he might actually convince me to go all the way.
“Fuck, you’re hot…” he panted. “Okay, who’s going first?”
I knew how this went. If a boy came first, he’d do everything afterwards with about half the effort. I noted his first rule of lying – make it seem like I’m doing one thing while I’m doing another. Batting my eyes, I told him, “I really want it so badly, Matthew. Please, sir, can I go first?”
He chuckled cockily. Hook, line, and sinker. It helped that it wasn’t even that much of a lie – I wanted release so badly. I needed a tongue on me or I would die. We didn’t even bother talking or anything, instead I just stood up and ditched my pants, then my underwear.
“So, have you done this before?” I asked, trying to keep up my sexy tone.
Matthew shook his head no. “But hey, first time for everything!”
I didn’t even care. So what if I’d have to give him a few pointers? I laid back on the bed, spreading my legs, showing off my puffy pussy lips to him. They were glistening, inviting him in with their wetness, and he shifted over to me, his eyes flickering up to me in a moment of hesitation.
I smiled, spreading my legs a bit farther for him. “Start slow,” I instructed. “Slow, gentle, long licks up here…” I gestured to my labia. “…then up to the center. Do you know where the clit is?”
He looked at me for a bit and laughed. “This is like class,” he commented. “I’m just gonna go for it.”
Yeah, we weren’t going all the way today, but hey, maybe he would surprise me. He moved forward until I could practically feel his breath on my hungry slit. I bit my lip in anticipation. I really hoped his tongue was more talented here than it was when he spoke.
I closed my eyes and immediately felt it. It was… good. Really good, actually. The first time his tongue made contact with me, I uttered an audible “mmh” and moved my hips. Fuck, Matthew wasn’t bad at all for a first-timer.
He took his mouth off of me. “See?” he asked. “I should just go fo-”
“Shut up and lick me,” I moaned, pushing his mouth back onto me. My hand remained on the back of his head, pushing him into me. I should have insisted on this sooner. He was hesitant at first, as most boys were, but soon he had his hands looped around my legs on the small of my back, supporting him while he dove in, using his tongue in ways that made me question if this was really his first time.
I did my best to remain silent in case Serena came home, which just meant the faint sounds (and not to mention smells) of tongue meeting pussy met the air. But, to be honest, Matthew’s performance was one I would have gladly moaned for. His tongue swirled and dashed around, hitting the right spots, and right when I thought he would mess it up right at the end… he found the clit.
“Mmmph,” I moaned into my hand, trying to cover my noise, feeling my muscles convulse and my juices flow. Holy shit, Matthew actually made me cum. His fingers weren’t bad but this was a new experience entirely. I squealed into my hand, humping his face, feeling the fireworks explode across my mind.
He slowed his efforts, taking his mouth off of me and looking up at me. “S-so… did I do a good job?” he asked, his insecurity peeking through.
I felt like I couldn’t even open my eyelids all the way. “I’m sucking your… fucking cock…” I moaned with determination. I managed to look down at his face to see a smile breaking out, both in anticipation and thoroughly pleased with himself. Well, hey, he earned that.
Matthew smiled, knowing the drill and pulling down his pants while I regained my strength. As soon as I could see clearly, his cock was already out, with him stroking it in anticipation. I chuckled, shooing his hand away. “That’s my job,” I purred, grabbing his shaft and moving my hand up and down.
“Go right ahead,” he sighed happily, loving the feeling of his cock in my hands. They all did. I smiled to myself, keeping up my efforts, feeling his cock throb in my hands. Well Matthew, you managed to do the unthinkable and impress me with your tongue. It seemed only right that I return the favor.
Matthew had a really nice cock. It wasn’t the longest thing in the world, but it just looked really nice. Thick and suckable, with a cute little birthmark right on the head. Each time I sucked him off, like a ritual, I kissed the little birthmark, and this time was no exception. I leaned forward, kissing the head of his cock, looking him up in the eyes, giggling like a slut. Before long, my head was bobbing up and down on him, and all hope of being quiet got thrown out the window.
“Oh, fuck…” Matthew moaned, getting by far the best blowjob I’d ever given him. I didn’t know if it was the speech or the way he ate me out, but I’d gone from feeling’ meh’ about him to make sure he had a good time. And given the way his eyes were closing on their own and his hands found the back of my head, pleading with me to keep going, I’m guessing that he was having quite the good time indeed.
The sloppy rhythm of my movements, the way my tongue worked with my mouth’s movements, and the way I would moan on his cock pushed Matthew into overdrive. I was happily coating his member with my saliva, serving him and giving him my wettest, sloppiest performance. His hands were alternating from grabbing the back of my head to gripping the bed for support. Like him, I was a natural, but unlike him, I knew it. I gave the best blowjobs, especially when the boy earned it.
I could practically feel his orgasm approaching. Maybe it was just the tightening of his muscles, or the way his cock throbbed in anticipation of his load coming. Either way, my hands went to his thighs, slowly caressing up and down, giving him every stimulation I could find, and practically felt his balls tightening just by having him in my mouth. Before he knew it, he’d groaned and grunted and soon shot after shot of white hot cum was firing into my mouth.
Matthew’s loads tasted good, by cum standards. Not too thick but not too watery, salty but not really bitter. Just like a strong, primal taste. And like a good slut, I made sure to swallow his whole load, opening my mouth to show him after I finished. I saw that in a porn scene once, so I figured guys must like that, right?
I didn’t even need to, considering his eyes were all the way up at the ceiling. “Holy fucking shit, Robyn…” he moaned. I closed my mouth again, feeling a tad silly. “Where the fuck did that comes from? Like, your blowjobs were always good, but that was… next level!”
I waited until he was looking at me again to smile confidently. “If you eat me out like that every time, I’ll blow you like that every time,” I told him sweetly.
“Fuck…” he moaned, hanging his head back again. “I am so glad I talked to you today. Shit…”
I laughed, playing with his still-hard cock lightly. “Why, got a few other girls lined up to talk to?” I paused before adding, “And no, that’s not me tricking you or lying to you or whatever.”
He chuckled, adjusting. “Careful, it’s sensitive,” he noted, gesturing to his cock. “Uh, not really. I just hadn’t done anything with a girl in a while. Why, are you doing anything with any other boys right now? I won’t be jealous or anything.”
“Well I hope not,” I opened, taking my hand off of him and sitting down next to him. “Um…” I pretended to think about it, when in reality I weighed the pros and cons of telling him about Jordan. “I kinda have this… sorta crush right now on this… hypothetical boy…”
“Oh cool! Does he like you too?” he asked, now playing with his own cock.
I smiled at the display he was giving. “It’s the classic story. Dude doesn’t even know I exist, probably,” I admitted. “Do you know Jordan from the basketball team?”
Matthew whistled. “You got eyes for Jordan, huh?” he asked. “That guy could have any girl in Hazelwood he wants.”
“Yeah. Kathy thinks he wants to be with Crystal,” I added with a pout.
Matthew laughed in derision. “That bitch? Hell no. There’s no way.”
I shrugged. “I dunno, the look he gave her-”
“No, like, she’s still with Mitchell. If Jordan wants her, it’s because, well…” He trailed off.
I looked at him. He knew something. “Because what?”
He shrugged sheepishly, even while still casually stroking himself. “Because Jordan kinda sorta has a thing for girls in relationships. At least, based on what I’ve seen of him…”
Oh, wow. That was new information. Jordan liked taken girls. That seemed on brand for a cocky popular guy, to just take advantage of the sanctity of relationships like that. And I would not have admitted this to another soul in a million years, but it was… incredibly hot. What a bad boy. Like some shit you’d read about in a bad teen drama.
“Wow, that’s disappointing,” I lied. “I would have thought Jordan would be better than that.”
“…Why?” Matthew laughed. “He’s a bad person. He’s just, y’know, handsome, so girls kinda forgive him. You can do anything at Hazelwood if you’re hot.” He paused for a bit. “Jordan in particular can be kind of an egomaniac. Like, I only know he’s into girls in relationships because a buddy of mine used to be on the team with him and they got talking after games.”
“Which buddy?”
“Jake, Jake Van Weelden,” he answered. “He said that Jordan was talking about some girl while in the locker rooms, and it turns out she’s dating one of the other guys there. Now, Jordan clearly doesn’t know that, right? So someone brings up how the girl is in a relationship already, and Jordan? He just laughs and says he’s not looking for a relationship, just to ‘rock her world,’ those words.”
“Wow, how arrogant,” I replied. I was getting wetter already.
“So her boyfriend goes and points out, ‘hey, if she’s in a relationship, maybe you should respect that.’ And he says, I kid you not, ‘just because there’s a goalie doesn’t mean you can’t score.’”
“He didn’t!” I replied, surprised.
“He sure did,” Matthew replied, nodding. “And like, that’s already a bad thing to say, so the guy kinda gets up in Jordan’s face, yelling about how she’s taken and that he’ll kick Jordan in the balls if he tries anything with her. Jordan just tells him how it’s a joke and that he’ll leave his girlfriend alone, blah blah blah.”
“And did he?” I asked, invested. I almost hoped Jordan got with her. Wow, I was learning a lot about myself in real time here.
Matthew chuckled. “I dunno. Probably, knowing him. I don’t think those two lasted too long as a couple anyways, so hey.” Matthew stopped stroking himself and reached for his pants. “The guys used to joke with Jordan that if he kept chasing taken girls he’d never get a girlfriend of his own. He’d always just reply with the same response.”
“What’s that?” I asked, trying not to hide my eagerness.
It shone through anyway, if Matthew’s smirk was anything to go by. “He always said that he’d only let himself get tied down to the girl that ‘truly gets him, every part of him,’” he replied, using air quotes.
“…What does that mean?” I asked, finding my own pants.
“It probably just means he’s cheesy and wants a girl that already knows him before he opens up to ‘em, if I’m being completely honest,” Matthew replied bluntly.
That sounded very plausible, but… something held me back. I couldn’t recall Jordan ever being in a relationship in my working memory. He could get any girl he wanted, so surely he found a girl that ‘got him’ by now. It must have been some kind of secret… ‘every part of him’? What could that have meant?
“Yo! Robyn. Earth to Robyn…?” Matthew asked, snapping his fingers in front of my face.
I shook my head to see Matthew, fully clothed. He chuckled and threw my shirt in my face. “You were thinking about him, huh?”
I blushed, putting on the shirt. “Don’t make this weird,” I replied uneasily.
“You have a huge crush, don’t you?” he asked. I nodded. “Well, don’t get your hopes up. I’m not saying that to be mean, I’m just giving you friendly advice. Jordan’s an asshole anyways, you could do better.”
I gave him a disapproving smile. “No, Matthew, this is just no strings attached,” I told him jokingly.
“Oh, ha ha,” he replied sarcastically. “Although, if you want your cunt eate-”
“Oh my God, Matthew, literally any other word, please,” I chided him.
He rolled his eyes. “If you want your pussy eaten more often, I’d be down to make this, like, a regular thing,” he offered.
“Maybe! We’ll have to see,” I told him honestly. I hopped off the bed, the both of us knowing we were good to end it here. We both walked down the stairs, with me in front to look out for either my parents or Serena.
Serena was on the couch, watching TV. I gave the okay sign to Matthew and he nodded, waving to me before exiting out the front door as quietly as he could. As soon as everything was all good, I joined Serena on the couch.
Some sisters, especially little sisters Serena’s age, were nosy, which could be a problem when you wanted to live through your slut phase. Luckily, in Serena’s case…
“Garbage is full.”
…she didn’t care about what was going on around her, just things that benefitted her. She could be a pain, but hey, she didn’t rat me out to mom and dad, and she wasn’t weirdly intrigued in my sex life or wanting to know every sex fact like some sisters in the horror stories classmates told me tended to do. Thank fuck.
I got up off the couch, doing the garbage before mom and dad got home. Even as I did that, my mind remained fixated on Jordan. So, all a girl had to do was learn everything about him and she had the key to his heart, huh? Interesting…
And if I knew anything, from experience, about sporty boys, it’s that going to other sporty boys’ games was an obligation for them. It was social suicide not to go. The next football game was happening shortly, but I knew a way to get into the bleachers last minute…
***
“Thanks again for this,” I told Ben, smiling at him. “I really appreciate it. Did you want to maybe catch up after the game?”
“That would be really cool,” Ben replied, smiling and blushing. He was cute. I really wish we could have worked out together. “I should probably go, Coach is gonna kill me if I’m not there soon.”
“Totally! See ya!” I replied, waving to him as he disappeared. And there it was, I had my ticket to the game, a full day after they stopped selling them. Was there anything Robyn Cooper couldn’t do?
Poor Ben had no idea I was in my slut phase, nor that it began more or less immediately after dumping him. He didn’t need to know. He was clueless, and selfish, but not malicious. He was a sweet guy. Plus, even though Kathy liked to play it up, I’d only been with four guys since. It’s just that… to some girls, having sex with four guys in a year was a lot. I guess some girls finished high school before even doing one. Their loss!
About an hour later, the bleachers were full, and the game was about to start. I had no clue who Hazelwood was going against today, but it kinda didn’t matter. Sports games were basically just good for catching up with friends and having an excuse to scream and cheer. Half the people here weren’t going to pay attention to the game. Hell, some of them even went to different schools, but I wasn’t there for them. I was here for Jordan.
The bleachers weren’t that big, nor that packed – it was Hazelwood, after all – so it was clear when he arrived, alongside several of the other basketball players, and a couple of the cute boys from the baseball team. Hazelwood’s baseball team was the definition of terrible, but the boys on the team definitely looked pretty cute. Maybe if I struck out with Jordan… maybe. But that was if. There was nothing Robyn Cooper couldn’t do.
A bunch of the Student Council crowd arrived too, no doubt here to support their boy Eric, the wide receiver and their treasurer. Abby, the President, of course, along with her annoying little assistant. Arin, the VP and the school’s biggest horndog; even Jackson, a plucky musical theater nerd who seemed way over his head, not to mention way out of place here. Although, no one seemed more out of place than the guy that came directly after.
Kevin. Kevin Shen, again. Kevin Shen came to the football game. Granted, I didn’t know too much about the guy, but I bet he couldn’t tell you the difference between a running back and a linebacker. When he arrived, he greeted the Student Council crowd in that way a schmoozing lawyer greets a judge he wants to suck up to. Abby seemed wise to his bullshit, but Jackson was all too happy to see him, shaking his hand and talking eagerly with him.
Their conversation only died down when they played the National Anthem, and then it was back to business, with the crowd only growing… around Kevin. Was this guy the secret President or something?
To make matters even weirder, as soon as Jordan saw him, he waved to him and waded through the crowd to get to him. He called out something to Kevin – I couldn’t hear what, the opposing team did something to earn a chorus of boos from the portion of the crowd that was actually paying attention – and as soon as the two met, Kevin held up a finger and produced a piece of paper from his pocket.
These two couldn’t have looked more suspicious if they tried, and they were just doing this in plain sight! It was clear Kevin had some kind of hold over Jordan – I never saw Jordan bend to anyone’s will, ever, and here he was following Kevin on sight like some kind of lost puppy. It was insanity, it was –
As if he could hear my thoughts, Kevin locked eyes with me again. Once again, his face took on this puzzled look, staring a hole through my soul. I couldn’t help but blush and look away, actually paying attention to whatever was happening on the football field… yeah, Ben’s team was getting trampled already. I wasn’t surprised.
Still embarrassed, I tried to earnestly watch the game, cheering for Ben and ignoring whatever schmoozing was going on nearby. Unfortunately, curiosity got the better of someone other than me, and he sat down next to me.
“Did you need something?” Kevin asked. “You’ve been, uh, staring at me. I’m flattered, but…”
“You wish,” I replied, staring at the game. “I just, uh, know about the little deal you and Jordan have going on.” It was a complete lie, but he didn’t know that. I just wanted any details I could.
Kevin just laughed. “Alright, make my day. What little deal, pray tell, do Jordan and I have going on?”
Crap. I tried not to sweat or squirm as I replied, “I don’t have to tell you.”
“I’ll cut you in on it if you do. In fact, tell ya what, name me one little detail of the operation and I’ll change my tune.” Kevin’s voice was confident, arrogant. I could see why he and Jordan got along.
“It’s…” I stammered, watching the game. My grip on my thigh tightened. “It has to do with class. A cheat sheet for an upcoming test.”
“Yeah, see? You don’t know at all,” Kevin laughed. “So why are you so interested in it?”
Ugh, I hated that he could see right through me. Still, there was no point in outright lying anymore. It was time to just withhold and see where it went. I shrugged. “I’m curious,” I told him. “You see something like that where people are exchanging paper secretly and anyone is going to ask questions.”
“Secret? It’s out in the open. It’s not like we’re meeting in secret or anything,” he replied, laughing a little too hard afterwards in self-assurance. I gave him a look. “Plus, you’re not even a curious person,” he continued with a bit of a blush. “I’ve seen you in English class. You keep to yourself. You shut down – is her name Kathy? – like half the time she tries to gossip. Gossip is gossip and everyone loves it, that’s one of the things that makes this country great, but you only seem as interested in it as the average person.” He shook his head. “Nah, there’s something else there.”
“Okay dude, whatever you want,” I replied dismissively. Internally, I noted that I got a valuable piece of info – Kevin and Jordan were definitely meeting in private. “Tell you what, Sherlock – if you’re not going to tell me, I don’t see why I’d waste my time telling you anything either.”
Kevin laughed again. “You’re fun, Robyn,” he told me. “We should talk more. Anytime you want. Later!” With that, he got up, leaving me be, surrounded by cheering fans. It was weird, but… I wasn’t sure how to take that. Was he hitting on me? Was he trying to give me some kind of clue? I wasn’t sure. It seemed like… something.
Jordan was now sitting in some section of the bleachers, laughing something up with a friend of his. Occasionally, he’d sit back and stretch, giving me quite the view. God, to have his strong arms wrapped around me…
Wow. I was down bad. I blushed, looking away, trying to recapture my dignity. Still, images in my mind couldn’t help but play out. Jordan, pinning me to the wall, smiling cockily as he always did, letting his fingertips run down my body, looking intensely at the exposed skin of my waist, pulling my shirt slowly up…
I squeezed my legs together. Maybe I’d need to text Matthew sooner than I thought. My interest in Jordan was quickly becoming an obsession, and all it was doing was making me even more of a slut. And, most frustratingly of all, he barely knew I existed.
It was time to change that. Swallowing my pride, I got up from my seat and joined Jordan’s little gang, hoping that knowing a few of the guys there wouldn’t make my sudden intrusion too awkward.
“Hey!” I called out once I got close enough, smiling. “Hey, Jordan!”
He looked from his conversation to me, making one slow confident head turn. His slight smile was plastered on his face. “Sup?” His voice oozed control. I could have grunted on the spot if I wasn’t careful.
“Um, we have English together, right?” I asked, putting my hair behind my ear. “Do you remember if the test is Monday or Wednesday?”
He shrugged, still looking right at me with those addictive hazel eyes. “No clue!”
“Right?” I laughed supportively. “Like, I actually find that class so stressful. Isn’t Jefferson like, such a jerk?”
“I guess so,” Jordan replied simply. “Never talked to him that much.”
“That’s probably smart,” I replied. I paused, and so did he. “Um, so, it’s cool to see you here. I know you’re on the basketball team, right? It’s so nice when our sports teams support each other.”
Jordan’s smile grew. “I bet Mohammed fifty bucks that the Hawks’ll lose,” he told me.
Wow. Zero shame in his eyes. His command over… everything was intoxicating. “Wow,” I openly admired. “So you just… do whatever you want, and like, fcuk the rules, huh?”
Jordan laughed along with any of his little gang that were paying attention. “Fuck the rules,” he repeated affirmatively. “You only get one life. Why spend it being dishonest?”
“Yeah, totally,” I breathed in agreement. “I think I really wanna be like that. Would you… maybe sometime, would you maybe wanna g-”
“Ayo, Jordan,” one of his friends cut in, tapping his shoulder, then pointing off behind me. I whirled around to see Kevin and Arin, with Arin waving him over.
“Ah shit, here we go,” Jordan mumbled, his eyes completely focussed on them. Without saying so much as a ‘goodbye’ to me, he launched himself off the bench and hurried towards the duo, leaving me standing there like an idiot.
Fucking Kevin. I stood there, feeling the heat of my anger rising through my body. I slowly turned around to see the three talking, then Jordan shrugging, then him and Kevin walking off in a direction.
Kevin was maybe a bit flamboyant, but one thing I did know about him was that he beat the gay accusations pretty clearly this year… even though the idea of Jordan giving it to a guy was a really fucking hot visual. Still, it was clear the two weren’t going off to a closet, so why were they walking to another location…? This called for some sleuthing.
As stealthily yes as naturally as I could, I started to walk in the same direction, even if I, like them, was leaving the game behind. They disappeared into the parking lot, and I followed. I almost lost them once or twice, but eventually, they regrouped near the school and went inside, of all places, the sports equipment shed.
My eyebrows shot up. Maybe they were going there to kiss. I mean, Kevin wasn’t the worst-looking guy on the planet, even if he was out of Jordan’s league. Then again, Kevin was single, so he probably wasn’t Jordan’s type. I tiptoed up to the shed, trying to press my ear against the wall to hear something. Sadly, Hazelwood’s shed was old and made of some kind of brick – no dice. I had to get all the way to the door and press my ear against it to hear some muffled conversation happening on the other side.
“And you swear it’s good?” That was Jordan’s voice. His constant confidence was… absent. It almost sounded like a different voice entirely.
“When have I steered you wrong?” Kevin’s voice in turn sounded more confident. “When I’m your fixer, I can make anything happen. You gotta know that by now. Trust me.”
“Alright, but if it’s not a match-”
“It is, man. It is.” There was a pause. “Thank you very much,” Kevin’s voice added, as if something just changed hands. “We can meet again on Tuesday if you need anything else.”
“Nah, I’ll be good,” Jordan’s voice echoed, getting closer. Shit! I darted out of the way, running behind the shed just in time to hear the door swing open. So, they met in person and then met in private, huh? I had the upper hand over Kevin, finally.
I heard one set of footprints, then two, getting more and more distant. Eventually I got the confidence to peek around the corner – both of them were leaving. I guess I missed my chance to learn anything specific, unless…
I eyed the shed door, then opened it. Maybe I had an active imagination, but they clearly already knew where to go. Maybe they met here often. And if they met here often enough, they might not forget any evidence accidentally, but even leave stuff there intentionally, for their own nefarious mysterious purposes. I started pawing through everything in there – just sports stuff, everything from baseball bats to a nasty-looking spare jersey from, like, years ago.
I looked below some table in the corner to find a scrap of paper. I picked it up, looking it over, my eyes widening as I read it.
“GENERAL,
We are good to proceed. FIXER and PRETTYBOY are in position.
Waiting to hear back from you and CANARY. Council is in. None of the Council knows any details, as instructed. Staff remain oblivious.
Hazelwood Underground Forever.”
My heartbeat grew faster as I read. This was, like, spy novel shit. Codenames, infiltrating the Council, none of the teachers knowing about this… I… I needed to take this paper with me and show it to Kevin!! Wait, no, I needed to keep this here. Kevin was obviously this Fixer, which meant Jordan must have been Prettyboy (and, I mean, yeah, reasonable). Even if I used his codename with him, that would be enough to show him I knew what was going on. Then I could be the one to ask him questions.
My heart beat faster still as something dawned on me. This was it. This was the hidden side of Jordan’s life. This was maybe even why he never had a girlfriend, and kept treating all the girls like they didn’t exist. Maybe… maybe he was even holding out for a girl who could best him, and be smarter than this apparent agent of the… Hazelwood Underground. I could be the first girl to call him out, and if nothing else, at least he’d have a reason to know my fucking name.
I clutched the piece of paper, thinking it over. Who should I run to? Kevin or Jordan? I read over the letter again, and chuckled to myself. It was funny when you think about it. I was so obsessed with one-upping Kevin and impressing Jordan that I didn’t even consider the biggest thing about this… clearly, the two of them were planning… no, conspiring… to do something. Something huge.
I put the piece of paper back, trying to leave it in the exact same position as it was in when I found it. I bit my lip in excitement, exiting the shed and walking back to the bleachers.
I took the long way around so Kevin wouldn’t see me come back. I couldn’t afford to give him any advantage at all. Fuck, this was fun, knowing this level of secret. I could do so many things with all this info, and I didn’t even know what was going on yet. After Kevin toying with me, I had the perfect ammo to toy with him right back. I could be honest – hey, I found this note in the shed, what are you planning? – or I could play to win and be mysterious – hey Fixer, I know what’s going on. Tell me more about this plan of yours. Fuck, the possibilities were endless!
But I could also run to Jordan. Hey Jordan, I know you think you can’t be surprised, you probably think all girls are the same, but… we both know that you’re just waiting for the one that can take you by surprise, isn’t that right, Prettyboy? Unf. I’d love to see the look of shock on his face. And I’ll savor the way I’ll walk away and he’ll follow after me, looking all serious, asking me questions and needing me to answer. Maybe I’ll be the one giving him short cold detached responses and driving him crazy!
I sat back down, looking off at Jordan’s gang where he took on the same nonchalant leaning position. I couldn’t help but smile confidently. I scanned the crowd looking for Kevin and… couldn’t find him. Maybe he left. He didn’t seem like the type to enjoy sports, and hey, I guess his big meeting was over. If I was going to go after Kevin, I guess I’d need to wait until tomorrow… but I could just talk to Jordan now. My eyes darted from Jordan’s gang to the parking lot, trying to decide in my head. Seduce the cute mysterious hottie now, or one-up this Fixer? Which one should I choose? No matter which one, I knew that this was going to be the start of a very interesting turn of events. I wanted Jordan, and I wanted to think circles around Kevin. And there was nothing Robyn Cooper couldn’t do.
Bashful Scribe 