You mean you miss me?
That too. She sent it before she could process it and then panicked.
“Whitney!” her dad shouted from the front. “Damn it! Listen to me. This is important. I know your mom doesn’t seem to think so but this is your future. You can make something of yourself. I’m trying to help you!”
“I know,” Whitney said. “I’m listening.”
She tried to listen while waiting impatiently for Jesse’s response, hating every bit of anxiety each guy was causing her.
I miss you too. When are you coming home?
Whitney threw her head against the seat rest. What had she started?
Tomorrow, but we leave Friday for the holiday tournament.
Oh yeah. That sucks. We should hang out when you get back.
For sure. She text back, although she wasn’t sure that’s what she wanted at all. She spent the rest of the ride feeding her dad all the things he wanted to hear and trying to figure out how she could get back to a place where he loved her.
Chapter 6
When practice picked up again the whole team was abuzz with their upcoming annual holiday tournament on the coast. What seemed to entice a large portion of the excitement wasn’t the girl’s desire to win, but instead the boy’s tournament running in conjunction with the girls’. From what she picked up it seemed like the trip usually consisted of hanging out on the Promenade, someone sneaking out to hook up at the boy’s house, a few pranks, outlet shopping, lots of food and possibly some basketball. It actually sounded fun, everything except the spending four nights in the same house as Eva part.
The first twenty minutes of being in Lincoln City set the mood for the whole trip. Eva and Jasmine claimed the master bedroom of their gorgeous five bedroom house and Beth and Ally took the other room with a king bed. Next, they drew names to see who picked next, although: “Freshman don’t get entered into the drawing because we don’t care where you guys sleep.” As Eva had so politely informed them. The juniors and sophomores picked their rooms leaving the three freshman in the smallest room in the house. It was on the backside of the house and painted a horrid color of green. It had one full size bed, which was pushed against a wall to make the room appear larger, although it didn’t work. Whitney put her bag in the corner and plopped onto the hard bed. “This should be fun,” she said to Eve and Bryn with a smile.
Save me…… she text Jesse.
Shut up! Any freshman boy would kill to be with the varsity team right now. I do not feel bad for you, he said.
You’ll miss me when Eva kills me.
Stop flirting with Leif and maybe she won’t hate you so much.
Whitney stared at the text in disbelief.
I don’t flirt with Leif.
Nor am I a threat to her.
Whitney fought against the frustration filling her core. People couldn’t hate her for being from California AND for supossidly flirting with a guy a million leagues above her.
Yes you do and you’re a threat to every girl.
Whitney didn’t know how to respond so she didn’t. Jesse was just so perfect. Although she didn’t flirt with Leif!
◆◆◆
Whitney killed it in the first day of the tournament. She was the high scorer in both of their games, with Eva following her in game one and Brynley in game two. The other teams struggled to defend against both Whitney down under the basket and her roll-out jump shot. When they did manage to get ahead of her she just passed it out to Brynley who drained 70% of the threes she shot in the second game. Their duo was unstoppable, which greatly irritated both the other team and Eva and Jasmine. For years Eva, Jasmine and Beth had been called the terrifying trio by their coach, yet by the end of the second game the coaches had very little to talk about besides the new dynamic duo. The majority of the team seemed less than pumped about Whitney and Brynley’s quick ascent to fame leaving the whole thing with a bitter-sweet feeling.
Team night followed the girl’s first full day of play. Rules were: girls all had to stay and bond; coaches left; upperclassmen were in charge. On their way to the coast, Kristi blabbed on and on about how much fun the second night was. Last year the team had made pizza together and then had a dessert bake-off, which resulted in tons of yummy food. They’d spent the night playing board games and then never-have-I-ever. Kristi claimed it had made the whole team way closer. She was most excited about that night. Knowing the seniors in charge this year, Whitney was cautiously optimistic.
That optimism quickly faded. After the seniors forced the freshman to make dinner, which they complained about, and then clean up, the group gathered in the living room for games.
“Alright, now that we are all here we can finally get to the good stuff,” Beth said. Whitney had learned Beth was a follower. She loved to be a part of the action and would attach herself to any drama she could find, but wasn’t smart enough to start it. Thus, she loved the seniors’ animosity towards the freshman this year and was becoming just as vocal as Eva about it. “We are going to play never-have-I-ever! The first two people to run out of fingers will have to do the dare of our choice.” She stared at the freshman as she spoke. Whitney knew the seniors would be working to get her out first. She reluctantly sat on the ground next to Everley and pulled her knees against her chest trying to imagine what they’d make her do.
“Never have I ever been to a different country.” Beth started the game staring right at Whitney, who put down her first finger in defeat. A couple others also lost a finger, making it less of a blow.
“Never have I ever had a little sister,” Eva said. Finger two down.
“…been homecoming princess,” came from Ally. Finger three.
“…made spaghetti,” was Jasmine’s statement, with a giggle from Eva and Beth. Finger four.
Whitney hoped the other girls wouldn’t be in on it and maybe some of the team would catch up to her before it circled back to the seniors.
“…played on a club basketball team,” said Kathy. Finger five.
“It shows,” Brynley whispered to Whitney with a smile.
“…eaten at a Cheesecake Factory,” said Olivia innocently. But still, finger six.
“…had a brother,” said Kristi smiling at Whitney. Thank GOD!
“…been on a plane,” said Jenn. Finger seven.
“What?” said Whitney turning to Jenn.
“I’ve never been on a plane. We don’t fly places. It’s expensive,” said Jenn.
Whitney turned back around and put her head down on her knees. This was not going to end well for her. She knew it. Everyone knew it.
“…I’ve never been a senior,” Brynley said glaring at Eva. Whitney appreciated the support, but knew they would only add Brynley to their hit list.
“…I haven’t grown up in Millersburg,” Whitney said. Happy to get everyone a little closer to her.
“That doesn’t make you better than us,” Beth said.
“I didn’t say it did. I’m just playing the game,” Whitney said.
“You’re just losing the game,” Beth corrected her with a laugh.
“…I’ve never been fishing,” Everley said moving the game along. Whitney kept another finger although most others lost one.
“…I’ve never eaten sushi,” Jayme said. Finger eight and they were back to the seniors. Everley had seven fingers down and was looking as worried as Whitney. At least maybe she’d have someone she liked to do her dare with.
“…I’ve never had a pool,” said Jasmine. Finger nine.
“…I’ve never worn Leif’s sweatshirt to school,” said Beth letting a huge smile cross her face. The awkwardness of having to put down a finger with Eva made Whitney cringe. Although she smiled remembering she still had it.
“Whelp! Whitney’s out. Who’s going on a dare with her?” Eva asked as her turn came up.
It took five more turns for Everley to lose her last finger and thus the two of them were the victims. The seniors, joined by a few juniors who also wanted in on the fun, g
athered for about ten minutes devising the dare. Shouts, laughter and “we don’t want them to get arrested” came from the huddle in spurts while Whitney and Everley sat awaiting their fate.
“Okay, so here’s the dare,” said Eva, “you have to go over to the boy’s house, find Leif’s lucky bulldog boxers, take a picture of Whitney wearing them and get out without being caught.”
Whitney looked at Everley with terror in her eyes, but Everley stared back with wild excitement.
“Okay!” Everley said. In an instant she was up and reaching out a hand for Whitney.
Her response caught the seniors off guard. They obviously expected some opposition to their dare, at least a complaint or two. Seeing this Whitney grabbed Everley’s hand and popped up with a smile.
Whitney waited until they were out of ear-shot to speak.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Why?” Everley asked.
“Why? Why? Because there’s no way we can get in without being caught, and when we’re caught we will be killed!”
“We won’t get caught and thus we won’t be killed. This is nothing. It’ll be hilarious. Now put on something dark.” Everley said.
Whitney saw there was no use in arguing, and the dark clothes was a good idea so she quickly changed and then headed back downstairs with Everley. Whitney turned towards the living room when Everley grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the back of the house.
“Shhh” Everley whispered with her finger over her mouth. Whitney followed her out the back door slipping into the quiet, dew covered backyard. They tiptoed around the side of the house and under the living room window. The sound of the girls talking floated through the old windows breaking the silence of the night. They quietly unlatched the side gate and snuck through closing it gingerly. They turned left on the sidewalk and walked quickly in the direction of the boy’s house.
“Why did we have to sneak out?” Whitney asked Everley when she felt it was safe.
Everley bounced down the sidewalk in a confident, competitive demeanor new to Whitney. “They don’t want us to succeed,” Everley said. “and both Jasmine and Eva have Leif on speed dial. If we would have told them we were leaving they could have alerted the boys to be on the lookout. This way we might have a chance.”
Whitney thought about it; Everley was a genius! This might actually work.
They headed three blocks north and one block west to the big red house Eva had pointed out during their morning beach walk. As Whitney and Everley approached the house the boys talking and laughing floated out to them. They snuck up towards the side of the garage and froze. Time to make a plan.
“I’m guessing the bedrooms are upstairs, but we will have to figure out how to get up there. I’m going to sneak around back and see if I can find where the boys are at. You stay here and be the look-out. Whistle if someone is coming.” And with that Everley was off around the corner of the house. Whitney didn’t even have time to tell her she couldn’t whistle.
Whitney stood silently pressed up against the house waiting anxiously for Everley to return. The night was clear with hundreds of stars dotting the navy sky above her. The massive number of starts in the Oregon sky still amazed her. The air smelled strongly of the salty pacific ocean and she breathed it in.
“They’re all in the back room,” Everley said coming back around the corner. Whitney jumped at the sound and stumbled forward and into the house’s garbage can. The can fell over crashing loudly on the driveway. Whitney and Everley froze. “Well they were in the back room,” Everley said.
The front porch light clicked on and the door opened spewing boys onto the porch. They couldn’t see them, but the voices told them it was Mike, Leif and Ian. Ian walked across the driveway and returned the can to its upright position. He stood near the can, in the direct sightline of the girls, surveying the street and sidewalk for about twenty seconds. The girls stared at the back of his head praying he didn’t look their way.
“Must have been a raccoon or a cat,” Ian said. The girls breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the door click shut.
“Did you notice that?” Everley said.
“That we almost got caught, yeah I did.”
“No! They didn’t lock the door.” A grin spread slowly and cunningly across Everley’s face.
“You want to just walk in the front door?” Whitney asked.
“Maybe,” Everley said. She snuck past Whitney and towards the door. Whitney reluctantly followed her scanning the driveway, yard and street with each step.
Long parallel windows hugged each side of the front door letting bright streams of light out onto the porch. Everley slipped up the two steps onto the porch and crawled towards the near window letting the light cast her shadow back towards Whitney who stayed glued to the corner of the garage. From where Whitney stood she could see a long hallway in front of the door and stairs to the right. They’d have to make it in the door and up the stairs without being caught. She couldn’t see anyone from her viewpoint, but she knew the hallway had to lead to the living room at the back of the house.
Everley gestured for Whitney to come forward, but instead she stayed glued to her corner scanning the darkness around her.
“Whitney! Psst.” Everley gestured aggressively.
“Stop! They will hear you!” Whitney said. Then she gave in and slowly creeped forward.
“So, I think they are all in that back room and I’m guessing the bedrooms are upstairs. So, we just need to sneak in the door and up the stairs without being caught,” said Everley. She made it sound easy.
“They’re going to hear the door,” Whitney contested.
“No they won’t. Their music is up and they are talking so loud. As long as we do it quietly they won’t.”
Whitney stared at Everley in admiration of her fearlessness. Her light brown hair had been pulled back in the jumbled way it always was and pieces fell near her face framing her hazel eyes which shown with excitement. Everley was contagious, emitting mind-altering energy from her very being. Whitney felt care-free and indestructible around Everley. There was no judgement, no need to be anything people wanted you to be. She liked it, it was freeing and intoxicating. Intoxicating enough to make Whitney agree to this death mission.
Whitney smiled broadly, “Okay.”
Everley opened the door silently and gestured Whitney in before her. Whitney took two quick, silent steps from the door to the bottom of the stairs. Everley was immediately by her side and the door was closed. How had she done that Whitney wondered, but before much thought could be put into it Everley was floating up the stairs. Whitney took a step and the floor creaked below her. She froze. It had sounded SO loud to her, yet the boys didn’t even seem to notice. Whitney continued slowly, unsure how Everley was already laying across the floor of the landing at the top of the stairs. Both intrigue and fear encouraged Whitney’s decision to take the rest of the stairs in one fluid movement.
Inside the first room they found two twin beds and a mess of clothes. They checked the MHS basketball bags on the floor for names and determined the room did not belong to Leif. Strike one. As Everley opened the door to move to their next room they heard voices.
“I’m just gonna grab my phone. I’ll be right back,” hollered an unfamiliar voice from the stairs. Everley closed the door and pushed back into Whitney. They both struggled to stay upright and not make noise as they stumbled across the scattered clothing, and each other, searching for a hiding spot. At the last moment Everley dropped to the floor and rolled under the nearest bed. Whitney following suite in complete fear. Whitney looked across the worn carpet at Everley underneath the other bed, and the two ugly boy feet behind her. She tried to keep her breathing normal while the boy feet circled the room but it was hard with the horrid smell emerging from the carpet and the looks Everley kept making. The boy sat on the edge of Everley’s bed causing it to sag and hit Everley’s, rather nice, butt. Everley winced and Whitney turned her head the other way to try a
nd control the laughter trying to explode from within. Beyond the fear of being killed by the boys, her coaches or her parents, the humor of the situation was outstanding.
Finally the boy unplugged his phone, stood and headed out of the room.
“Yo, Kevin!” he yelled descending the stairs, “What the hell kind of girly shit did you bring? Our whole room smells like flowers and shit.”
Whitney couldn’t hold it in. She slid out from under the bed and lay on the floor laughing as silently as possible. Everley emerged from her bed rubbing her back and they sat for a moment trying to contain the laughter with tears running down their faces.
“Let’s find his room, get the picture and get out!” Everley said. They checked the room across the landing without luck and then moved quickly to the last upstairs room feeling their ability to stay hidden slipping away with each minute. The last room looked just like the first and against the far wall they found what they wanted: Leif’s bag. Everley showed no hesitation in ripping open the zipper and searching through. Whitney sifted through the open blue duffle sitting next to Leif’s basketball bag.
“She said they had bulldogs on them?” Everley asked.
“Yeah.” Whitney said. Had she taken the time to think about the situation she would have felt extremely weird about ruffling through her crush’s bag. Boxers, socks, worn tee-shirts all being handled with such disconnect.
“Here!” Everley said. She immediately covered her mouth and they froze waiting to hear footsteps on the stairs, but they didn’t come. Whitney moved silently across the room to see what Everley was pointing to. There they were. Leif’s lucky bulldog boxers lay on the floor, still inside his basketball shorts. Whitney shook her head and backed up a step.
“Those are dirty!” she whispered.
“Just do it! You love him anyways, so love his sweat,” Everley said.
“I don’t love him!” Whitney crossed her arms in protest.
“Okay. Just put them on!”
“You put them on if it’s not a big deal!” Whitney said.
“I can’t. The dare is for you to put them on. Whit, just do it. We need to get out of here!” Everley’s worry concerned Whitney so she gave in. With two fingers held at arm’s length Whitney carefully grabbed the band of the boxers and then immediately dropped them.
Being Whitney (Book one of the Being Series): A Young Adult Novel Page 9