The Boyfriend Game Read online

  Stephie Davis

  The Boyfriend Game

  To all the girls who have found the joy in sports,

  sweating, and accomplishing physical feats they

  never thought they were capable of. Never give up!

  Contents

  1

  The afternoon sun was beating down on my shoulders as…

  2

  He stopped drilling, flicked one of the balls up with…

  3

  Friday night, I found myself sitting between Beth and Sara…

  4

  When we were walking to the soccer field for practice…

  5

  It was almost dark when I walked out of the…

  6

  JV practice Thursday was the worst practice I’d ever had.

  7

  Sara and Beth were waiting for me on the school…

  8

  At seven fifty-five, my mom was done with my makeover.

  9

  Graham paused at my table, his eyes scanning my outfit…

  10

  I almost stayed home from practice with Graham the next…

  11

  Monday was the worst day of my life. Sara ignored…

  12

  The next two days were even worse. I avoided Sara…

  13

  We practiced until almost eleven o’clock Thursday night. My mom…

  About the Author

  Credits

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  1

  The afternoon sun was beating down on my shoulders as I watched an evil leer light up the face of my best friend, Sara Myers. Her long legs were like sticks below her shorts, and there was the faintest gleam of sweat over the upturned nose that she swore was her only decent feature. “Just try and stop me, Trisha,” she taunted, her dark curls bouncing with each step.

  “Just try and get by me,” I shot back, grinning as she got closer. It might be just a routine one-on-one drill on a Thursday afternoon of JV soccer practice, but it was always a lot more than that when I was going one-on-one with Sara.

  Sara was better than me at soccer. And she didn’t even try. I busted my butt. And she was still better. Totally bugged me.

  But she hated the fact that over the summer, I’d gotten a real figure and she was still as skinny as ever, so we were even. Especially since we’d totally make the trade if we could. She’d take all the attention I got from guys in a heartbeat, and I’d give that up in a minute if I could have her soccer skills. Actually, I’d give it up in a minute for free, if I could. Only six weeks into my freshman year of high school and already I was tired of the boys treating me differently than they used to. Hello? What was wrong with noticing I played good defense, instead of commenting on how my shirt fit?

  Sara’s smile faded into concentration, and I focused on every angle of her body, trying to anticipate what move she’d pull to try to get past me. My muscles tensed, and I felt the zip of adrenaline that I loved, the sensation of power that had me running for the soccer field every afternoon, totally pumped to sweat and yell and forget about all the baggage of my day at school. On the soccer field, it wasn’t about boys and girls or how I looked. It was about how good you were. It was my favorite place to be.

  “Hey, Trisha! Looking good out there!”

  Sara sucked in her breath, and I scowled at the sound of Kirk Nichols’ obnoxious voice, not even bothering to glance at the sidelines where I knew he’d be standing with his loyal shadow, Ross Crane. Probably wearing Nike sunglasses, baseball hats, and faded jeans, like they always did, knowing just how to dress to look good.

  Well, they were cute, but they were also idiots, so I shut them out and concentrated on Sara. Her gaze flicked toward Kirk, and I grinned. Oh, she was so busted. Keep yelling, Kirk. One little distraction was more than enough for me to take her out.

  “Trisha! Hey, Trisha Perkins! You gonna come to Pop’s tonight with me, or what?” Kirk shouted.

  Sara scowled at me. I bit my lip and quickly adjusted to her sudden increase in intensity. Great. So now she was going to take it out on me that Kirk was yelling my name and not hers. Classic Kirk. Always screwing up my life.

  “Sara! Tell her she has to come!” Kirk shouted.

  Sara’s cheeks turned pink and she shot a quick look in his direction. I lunged forward to take advantage of the distraction, my cleats grabbing the turf as I plucked the ball from between her feet. She spun around, and I dodged her, making a snarky face at Kirk, who was yelling something about how he liked my new haircut. He should be shouting about my great steal, not making some stupid comment about my hair. So typical of Kirk, and of guys in general. I turned my head to glare at him…and noticed a guy standing next to him and Ross.

  The guy was taller than them, had short dark hair, and was wearing soccer cleats. And shorts that showed off his oh-so-muscular soccer legs. He was holding a soccer ball against his hip, his arm hanging loosely over it. Who the heck was he?

  Before I knew it, Sara was next to me, her feet were on the ball, then I went flying. I threw up my arms as I went skidding on my left hip and wound up in a face-plant in the grass. Sara crowed in victory and I rolled to a sitting position, spitting grass out of my mouth.

  Kirk and Ross howled with laughter, and I immediately glanced over to them. To the guy.

  Who was gone.

  I made a quick scan of the fields, but I didn’t see him anymore. Where’d he go?

  My other best friend, Beth Stevenson, walked up and peered down at me. She was wearing cleats and a tee shirt like I was, but she was still clean. No sweat and no dirt. Not that it was a surprise. She only played JV soccer to hang out with us. I played to play. Sara played…well…I was never quite sure with Sara.

  “You almost had her,” Beth said.

  I sighed. “I know.” It was always almost when it came to beating Sara at soccer.

  Beth held out her hand and pulled me up. “I mean, you did have her, and then you let her come back and get you. What was up with that?”

  As if I were going to tell her that I’d let a boy distract me. Ha! That was a Sara move, not something I would do. Actually, it was totally embarrassing. So I shrugged. “I felt bad for her. Didn’t want to show her up with Kirk watching.”

  Beth snorted. “Yeah, right. You have no mercy on the soccer field.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing.” My thigh was burning big-time, so I hiked up my shorts and inspected the raspberry that started up by my hip and went halfway down my thigh. It was already bright red. I grinned, loving the badge of honor it gave me. Despite what Kirk might think, there was so much more to me than what I looked like. I was a warrior! “There goes my plan to wear a miniskirt tomorrow,” I joked.

  Kirk and Ross yelled and whistled, so I pulled my shorts back down to cover my leg, my cheeks suddenly hot. Guys were so annoying!

  Beth raised both her eyebrows. They were carefully shaped to augment her bright blue eyes, courtesy of a makeover by Sara last weekend that had ended up with all of us sporting highlights and new haircuts. Not that you could tell with me, except for the fact that some of the layers weren’t staying in my ponytail very well. Well, you could see the auburn highlights in the darker brown of my natural hair color, but that was it.

  “You’ve never owned a skirt in your life,” Beth said. “Of any kind.”

  I grinned. I definitely wasn’t a skirt girl. Especially this year, since guys like Kirk had started bugging me. Nothing like getting a figure over the summer to change the way guys acted around you, I guess. From normal human beings to loud, annoying, and general pests.

  I was sticking with jeans, thanks.

  “Nice raspberry.” Sara flounced toward
us, shooting a flirtatious grin in the direction of the sidelines. “Totally uncool to take advantage of me when Kirk distracted me. If I hadn’t beaten you in the end, I’d make you kiss my toes.” A reference to when we were little and dorky, and we used to make the other one actually kiss our toes when we made up from a fight, or after one of us did something mean to the other.

  “There would have been no toe kissing,” I shot back. “It’s your own fault for not paying attention.”

  Sara was wearing a fitted tee shirt and spandex shorts and was having a successful trial with her new waterproof makeup. She was tall, thin, and had thick curly hair—everything that Beth didn’t, with her short, stockier figure. But Beth was blond, and I knew Sara would kill for Beth’s straight, golden locks.

  They were both totally cute and into the guys. I mean, Sara had dropped her notebook last week and I’d seen that she’d written Kirk’s name all over the inside cover, not that she’d ever admit it out loud. And Beth was right there with her in checking the guys out. They both spent ten minutes doing their makeup before practice, in hopes of getting dorks like Kirk to yell at them.

  Whatever.

  Coach Merrill blew her whistle. “I have an announcement to make.”

  I noticed Kirk and Ross standing in the distance. Kirk was mouthing something to me and pointing to his hip, where I’d burned mine in the grass. I felt Sara looking at me, so I folded my arms and turned toward Coach Merrill and away from Kirk.

  “Every season at the end of October, I pick two girls from JV to move up to varsity for the rest of the season,” Coach Merrill said. “Two weeks from this Friday, we’ll be having tryouts with the varsity practice. The top five girls on JV will be invited to that practice, and two will move up.”

  No way! I had no idea! Varsity. How awesome would that be? My heart started racing. I inched closer so I wouldn’t miss any of the details.

  “So, I wanted to announce the five short-listed players, so you can tell me if you’re interested in being considered.”

  I stole a glance at Sara. She was better than I was, but she didn’t work nearly as hard. Would Coach take that into account? Five spots weren’t very many when there were over forty girls on the squad.

  Sara was watching Kirk and Ross, not paying any attention to Coach. A little part of me hoped Coach noticed. I mean, I didn’t want Coach to notice, because Sara was my friend and she deserved to be on varsity, but she didn’t want a spot on varsity. Not like I did. So maybe I sort of hoped Coach would call her on it.

  “The players I’m considering are Kathleen Hoffman…”

  “She’s the best player on our team,” Beth whispered.

  I shushed her with my hand, holding my breath.

  “Heidi Maxwell…”

  “Oh, I didn’t think of her. She’s great at defense,” Beth said.

  “Ssh!”

  “Vicky Conant…”

  Sara leaned over. “Beth, I think Ross is checking you out.”

  Beth smacked Sara on the arm. “No way! Really?” She turned bright red and immediately turned her back on the boys. “Trisha, you look at them and tell me if she’s lying.”

  “Shut up!” I stepped away from them, straining to listen as the other girls on the team started whispering.

  “Sara Myers…”

  I bit my lip against the sudden swell of jealousy as I heard Beth squeal behind me. Great. I was so happy for Sara.

  “And Trisha Perkins.”

  Yes!

  Beth threw her arms around me. “Trisha! That’s so awesome! You guys are too cool!”

  Coach said something about practice being over for the day, but I didn’t hear her. My heart was pounding too loudly and Beth was squealing in my ear. She had both me and Sara in a headlock and it took less than a minute for the three of us to end up in a pile on the grass. I was still laughing and trying to get untangled when the sun was blocked and a shadow fell over us.

  Sara got quiet as Kirk leaned over us. “Competition among friends,” he teased. “Who’s going to win? Trish or Sara? Are we going to have a girl fight?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Shut up.”

  See? This is why I avoided Kirk. Total idiot. Hello? Where were the congratulations? The appreciation for being picked for the short list? He had no clue about what was important.

  “You wish, Kirk.” Sara giggled. “But we’ll be sure to call you if we do.”

  Beth and I exchanged a groan, then Kirk grabbed my hand and tugged me to my feet before I could jerk away from him. “How about going to Pop’s for a little celebration, Trisha? A little dancing, maybe?” His gaze flicked to my hair. “A quick shower and a change of clothes and you’ll be smoking.”

  I yanked my hand out of his grip. “No, thanks.” Pop’s was the local hangout for the kids at our high school. They served great pizza, had free refills on soda, and owned a sweet jukebox stocked with all the best tunes, including the newest JamieX CD. I’d been so psyched to start going there once we were freshmen, but lately it totally bummed me out. It was all about guys being loud and obnoxious and checking out the girls, and girls worrying about their hair and their makeup and giggling at the guys. I had no interest in hanging out while everyone flirted with one another. Especially Kirk. Instead, I flaunted the grass stain on my shirt and said, “I’m going to practice some more.”

  “Practice?” Kirk laughed. “Are you kidding? It’s Thursday night. Time to party.”

  Sara fluffed her hair and smiled at him. “I’ll go to Pop’s with you. Trisha might be antisocial, but I’m not.”

  I frowned at her remark. She hadn’t made comments like that before this fall, when Kirk had started noticing me. “I take soccer seriously. That’s a good thing.”

  “Unless it gets in the way of fun,” Sara said. “Come on, Beth. Let’s go shower.” She gave Kirk a special smile. “We’ll be ready in twenty minutes. Can you wait?”

  “Sure.” He took another look at me, then headed off toward the gym with Ross in tow.

  I leveled a look at Sara. “I’m not fun?”

  “If you pick soccer over hanging out with Kirk at Pop’s, yeah.”

  I folded my arms, a sudden hope flaring in my chest. “So, does that mean you’re going to turn down Coach for the varsity thing?”

  She glanced at Kirk’s receding back, then met my gaze. “Do you want me to?”

  “Ha. Of course not.” But even as I said the words, I realized I was sort of lying. If Sara dropped out, I had a much better chance at making varsity. I was probably tied with Heidi as the third best on the team, behind Sara and Kathleen. But I wanted Sara on there with me. Together.

  But if it came down to her or me…No. She was my friend. I wanted her to get it too. I swallowed hard and managed a smile. “Why don’t you stay and practice with me? I could really use your help to bone up on my skills in the next two weeks.”

  She cocked her head, actually considering it, then Kirk ruined it.

  “Hey, Trisha!” Kirk yelled, and Sara’s mouth tightened. “I’ll save you a seat in case you change your mind. You know you can’t resist me forever!”

  Sara hesitated. “I’m going for varsity, but I’m not going to miss out on fun by staying late to practice. I’m going with Kirk and Ross.” Then she turned away and broke into a jog to run after the guys.

  Beth hugged me. “Congrats again, Trish. I’m so psyched for you. I know you can make it.”

  Yeah, maybe. But it was going to be a lot harder if I had to practice by myself. I couldn’t help but watch as Sara caught up to the boys. I didn’t want them going out without me. I mean, I didn’t want to go, but I wanted them to stay with me. All girls, like it used to be. “Do you want to stay and practice with me?”

  Beth wrinkled her nose. “Sorry, but more than an hour of soccer a day gives me hives. You sure you don’t want to come to Pop’s?”

  I kicked my toe in the dirt. “Yeah. Are you sure you don’t want to stay here?”

  “Totally sure. Have fun.
” She patted my shoulder and ran off, hollering at Sara to wait up. I watched as she caught up, shooting a shy glance at Ross before settling in next to Sara. I could hear their laughter all the way across the field.

  I sighed and started to get majorly depressed, then suddenly realized that the varsity girls were jogging toward me on their way to take over our field for practice. Oh, cool.

  I forgot all about my friends and Kirk as I watched the varsity players start drilling. For a few minutes, I was in awe of their footwork and their ball-handling skills. They were joking around and having fun, but they were totally serious too. I’d miss JV, but this was so my world. I belonged.

  Then I realized how much better they were than I was.

  How much I needed to improve to have a chance with them.

  Shoot. I didn’t belong. Not yet. Not by a long shot.

  Even Sara needed to get better.

  And she wasn’t practicing, was she? I should run to the gym and tell her.

  I should.

  But I didn’t. She’d made her choice, right? Instead, I snagged a ball and headed over to the smaller practice field behind the equipment shed. I heard Sara screech and I jerked my gaze to the gym in time to see her and Beth duck inside, giggling about something.

  My stomach curled up in a little knot, but I ground my teeth and spun back toward the field. I loved soccer. I wanted varsity. Giving up a little time with my friends rotted, but it was worth it. They didn’t get me, not this part of me. The part of me that loved to have grass stains on my shorts and sweat rolling down my temples. The part that loved being out there with the ball, in a world where nothing mattered except how you played.

  I broke into a jog, dribbling the ball in front of me, a sense of rightness settling over me as my muscles started to work. No Kirk around to judge me and make me feel stupid for not caring about my hair. No boys to make dumb comments about girl fights instead of appreciating that a girl could be athletic…