Junior Year Box Set

I’d started to bring my lunch this year. The cafeteria either breaded, fried, or smothered their mystery meat in gravy. Today I brought a salad with shredded chicken on it. Mom had made it, and she’d added raw broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower to the lettuce to give it some flavor and crunch.

“Are you going to eat that whole thing?” Brook asked when she saw the size of my salad container.

“Yep.”

I watched in horror as she stabbed a bite out of my salad. Brook was a food thief!

“Not bad. I think you need to bring me lunch every day. It’s better than what they serve here,” she said as she pointed at today’s offering.

I certainly did not need another girl who thought she could boss me around. I took a mouthful of my salad and took a moment to check the new girl out. Brook was what you expect a teenage cheerleader to look like: she was athletic and cute, just my type. What wasn’t going to work for me was she seemed bossy. I had a feeling she was used to getting her way.

“So, what do you want, Brook?” I asked.

“I just moved here and have been checking out the local talent.”

The way she said it made me think she was looking to get laid. With my recent string of luck, I didn’t need any more trouble, and Brook looked like trouble with a capital ‘T.’ She gave me the same vibe I got around Cora, Pam’s sister. I looked closer and noticed that she was wearing pricey clothes. Doing fashion shoots, you begin to pick up on that sort of stuff. I could tell someone who knew what they were doing cut her hair, and she also had on quality makeup. If I didn’t know what to look for, I would’ve guessed she didn’t have any on. All that told me that Brook came from money. The average teenager wouldn’t have been so well put-together.

“I’m sorry, but what do you mean by local talent?”

“I’m used to dating older guys, but when I moved here, I thought I’d see if any of the high school boys would be worth dating. So far I’m not impressed.”

“Really?” I asked.

“There seem to be only two guys who are single who I’d want to date. I let one take me out this weekend, and, well, he just didn’t measure up. Everyone tells me you’re the real deal and I shouldn’t have wasted my time with the other guy. So I thought I’d give you a chance to ask me out,” she concluded.

I gave her high marks for being confident, which made me like her even more. I was curious as to who she had gone out with over the weekend, though. The only name that I could come up with was Mike, and I had no desire to have his seconds. At the same time, something about Brook that had me interested. The real problem was I didn’t need a girl to verbally spar with right now. I could already tell she’d be high-maintenance.

“Let me save you some time. First, I don’t appreciate being anybody’s second choice. But, more to the point, I’m damaged goods, and you wouldn’t be happy with me. If you want, I could point you towards State. I’m sure my older brother would hook you up with more of what you’re looking for.”

She raised her eyebrows and bit her lower lip. Brook looked like I’d either said the dumbest thing in the world or she thought I was funny. I’d been called a ‘stupid boy’ by the best of them, so Brook didn’t faze me. I just started eating my lunch.

“Okay. I can see you’re not interested. I thought I’d find sterner stuff with you, but obviously, your reputation as a ladies’ man is overblown.”

“Now that is something we can both agree upon.”

Challenges like Brook’s usually would have gotten a rise out of me, but I’d been burned too many times. The last three girls I’d been interested in had picked another guy over me: Peggy had gone for Mitch; Harper wanted the guy she had a crush on when she was younger; and now Tami had gone for my ex-best friend Alan. Well, the last one was a stretch, but she had chosen to play the field over committing to me. If I didn’t get horny, I might actually swear off women.

Brook got up to leave.

“This isn’t over,” she said as her parting shot.

That was what I was afraid of.

◊◊◊

After football practice, Cassidy and I drove to the dojo. Shiggy finally had to stop us because we were “scaring” his beginners class. We had been going after each other, and neither one of us was giving an inch. When I first started, she could take me down at will. At least now I could fend her off unless she got serious. I think she was more amused than anything else that I would take her on. We both were gasping for breath when we were done.

“That was fun,” I moaned.

“You’re getting better. You’re starting to get it instead of just reacting. When you begin to do it without thinking, you’re going to be hard to handle,” Cassidy said.

“How long will that take?”

“You’ll get there,” Cassidy said.