Rumor Has It

by RH Tucker

  “Really excellent.” She admires the painting and a sense of pride beams through me. “I meant to tell you earlier, but you’re friends with Micah, right?” I nod. “I was hoping you two would head to the gym and get a layout for how we might set up the art gallery. Sorry, I know it’s short notice.”

  “It’s okay,” I answer, putting away the painting. “Yeah, I can do that.”

  “Thank you. He’s got the paperwork with the plans how I think it will look best, but if you guys think of anything that would make it better, just make a note of it.”

  “Okay.”

  “Thanks, Emma.”

  Heading over to the gym, I send a message to Jen.

  Emma: Hey, I gotta meet Micah at the gym, to go over gallery stuff. Can you wait?

  Jen: Sure. Actually, I’ll meet you there.

  Emma: U sure?

  Jen: Absolutely. The varsity team is practicing. Hopefully, it's shirts vs skins ;P

  I get to the gym but don’t see Micah anywhere, as Jen walks over from the student parking lot.

  “Sorry.”

  "No biggie. I'm super excited about your art show."

  “Jen, it’s not my art show. It’s our classes.”

  “Yeah.” She wraps her hands around my arm. “But your work is the only stuff I want to see.”

  I let out a giggle. “Don’t let Micah hear that.”

  Walking inside, I’m hit front and center with the sight that Jen must have been talking about. I don’t know much about sports, much less basketball. So, when Jen said ‘shirts vs skins’ I didn’t give it a second thought. But taking up half the basketball court is a gaggle of guys. Half of them shirtless. Including Carter.

  Our laughter echoes through the gym, along with the bouncing of a basketball that suddenly stops. All of them turn around, and my eyes stay locked on Carter. Basketball shorts dropping low with no shirt on. Like, shirtless. You know, his chest and abs not covered by any clothing. Whatsoever.

  “I think you’re drooling, Emma,” Jen whispers, laughter in her voice.

  “Shut up.” I finally look away and can feel my face getting hot.

  If the butterflies I felt earlier were just nerves of talking to someone I don't usually talk to, the colossal bowling ball of jitters jumping in my stomach is definitely from me checking him out.

  "Emma! Jen!" Micah calls out and waves us over.

  As we walk over, I can't resist looking over at Carter again. The sweat glistens off his face, and my eyes roam over his chest. I felt how firm it was the day I ran into him, but not those abs. Wow. His eyes met mine, and he flashes that single-dimple grin that I'm starting to like more and more, but it forces me to look away again.

  "Yum," Jen whispers in my ear, and I giggle, even though I know I'm turning red.

  Chapter 25

  Carter

  Damn. Damn in the best and worst possible way that the word could ever be imagined.

  As the laughs hit the gym, everyone turns around. If there are cheerleaders in the gym while we practice, they usually have their own practice going on. When the echoing laughter of girls hit the air, we all stop and turn to see who it is. And there she is. Emma. Walking hand in hand with her friend and they're both looking over at us. Then my eyes meet hers, and it looks like she's blushing. Could Emma have feelings for me? Like, me me? Even if she did, I still have some ways to go to win her over, but our conversation while we walked to history seemed like a good first step.

  I hold the ball, my eyes still watching her as she and her two friends look over an area of the gym. I know the guy is Micah but know him only in name only. The girl is Jennifer Harris, star drama student of Woodbridge. I’m pretty sure Lucas has a major crush on her, though he never says anything. The only reason I know is because he seems to go catatonic whenever she’s around.

  Spinning the ball in my hands, I watch as they look at some papers Micah’s holding. Emma is wearing little shorts with a light hoodie today, and those tan legs look amazing, even with little spots of paint on them. I can feel my face getting red, and I'm just about to turn away when a whistle blows—loudly—right in front of me.

  “Yes, yes, it’s girls!” Coach Hallinan screams. We turn around, trying to hide our embarrassment. “Which is why I told you guys its half-court press today. The art class is going over things for their art show coming up, so we’re sticking to this side.” He turns around. “Now, if you morons can remember how to bounce a ball, let’s get back to it.”

  Matt walks over to me. “Well, well.”

  "Shut it."

  He smiles and goes back to playing defense. Lucas and I are going over offensive plays and were assigned the skins team, which is why we don't have our jerseys on. Happy to try and take my mind of Emma, I can see him checking Jen out over my shoulder.

  "What's the deal with you two, anyway? She seems to avoid you, but you can't keep your eyes off her. Why don't you just ask her out?"

  “It’s … complicated.” He lets the word hang there, trying not to look over at her, but his expression is pained. I don’t want to push it, especially in the middle of practice around the guys, so I drop it.

  “Today, gentleman!” Coach yells out and blows his whistle again.

  Practice starts up again, and I do everything I can to forget Emma is standing behind me, but I can’t. I can’t forget it, which means I can’t play. I physically can’t. I’m losing the ball, slipping on the court, and I miss every shot I take.

  By the time coach switches us up to defense, it's worse. Before, Emma and her friends were standing behind me. But now that I'm on defense, the offense has their backs to the girls, but I'm facing them, trying to defend the basket.

  Coach blows his whistle again, and I see him cross his arms. “Come on, Dixon! Move your ass!”

  I don't know if it's the sound of my name or the word ass, but I see Emma's head turns around. Jeremy's trying to take the ball to the hoop, so he's blocking my line of vision, but then I see her. Looking in my direction. I try to block Jeremy's path to the basket but don't plant my feet in time, and Jeremy knocks me down. Of course, Jeremy is known for charging too, so it could've been that. Either way, I grunt on the floor and see Emma flashing a small look of worry. I shoot a smile over at her, and she turns back around.

  “What the hell?” Matt comes over, helping me up. His voice reaffirms that it was a charge on Jeremy’s part.

  “His feet weren’t planted,” Jeremy says.

  “Bullshit,” another player chimes in, grabbing my other arm to help me up.

  "Ten laps!" Coach yells out and points to Jeremy, who grumbles before taking off around the court. I look back over to where Emma was and see her and her friends walking out of the gym.

  "It's our last two weeks of the season, and if you boneheads don't play tighter D, with no penalties, it doesn't matter how good we play. All right, ball up."

  As we make our way to the locker room after practice, I hear someone arguing. Lucas and I are the last to enter, and I know it’s not our coach. He usually leaves the locker room to ourselves, letting us keep each other in line.

  “It wasn’t a low blow; he wasn’t paying attention.” I hear Jeremy.

  “Are you nuts?” I hear Matt’s voice answer back, almost yelling. “What the hell’s your problem? It’s not gonna do us any good if our captain goes down with an injury.”

  "Whatever, Mr. President." Jeremy pushes past him, walking to his locker.

  I shoot Matt a look, unsure what’s going on, but he just shakes his head.

  “You good, Dixon?” Jeremy asks, eyeing me carefully.

  “Nothing a little ice won’t help.”

  "See?" Jeremy looks over at Matt. "He's a big boy. You don't need to cuddle him. You guys probably do enough of that already."

  I look at Matt confused, who looks like he’s about to blow a gasket. Lucas also gives me a weird look.

  “Where the hell did that come from?”

  “My bad.” He puts up his hands bu
t has an expression that says he’s far from sorry. “You were probably just scoping out those two chicks for something to remember later tonight. For your alone time.”

  "Hey, bitch." I step to him, and Matt gets in front of me.

  Jeremy is not one to miss making fun of someone, no matter how crude or tasteless. And that goes for teammates as well. But there's something in his voice. Malice. As if he's trying to put me down somehow, which I don't get. It wouldn't piss me off as much, but he brought up Emma, even if he didn't do it by name.

  “Oh.” Jeremy’s eyes go wide, knowing he’s hit a nerve. “You were. Was it the blond one? You couldn’t dribble the ball because you wanted to remember what her lips looked like.”

  "Jer!" Lucas yells, and I know it's because Jen's the blond one.

  "What the hell, man?" I'm still in front of him, now with Matt, Lucas, and Franco between us. The rest of the team stands back, but everyone's watching. "What the hell's gotten into you."

  "Ha! Me? Oh, yeah, that's great." He looks around the locker room, grinning and waving his hands at the guys. "You hear this asshat who's supposed to be our captain. Shit, I should've been captain, and we both know it. At least I'd be straight up with my team."

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

  I look at Matt, who shakes his head, not having a clue. Neither do I. “We got a game tomorrow, so if you got some issue, you might as well lay it all out now.”

  “We’re supposed to be able to trust you, Carter.”

  Still not having a clue what he’s talking about, I look around the locker room. “What the? My handles sucked today, so what? And so what if I missed a few shots.”

  “Really?” Jeremy looks insulted. “You’re gonna make me say it?”

  Lucas looks at me suspiciously, as if I’m hiding something. But I have no clue what Jeremy is talking about.

  “Say what?!”

  “You’re a liar, that’s what.”

  “About what?”

  “Guess who I hooked up with last night?”

  My face drops. Now I know exactly why he's pissed. I look at Matt, who just raises his eyebrows. He only ever said it once, but he told me I should probably tell the guys that I didn't hook up with Sarah. That lying about it, even if I was just lying by omission, meant that if they found out, they'd either be mad or think I'm lame. All eyes in the locker room land on me. I'm about to get a first-hand lesson in rumors, fake or not, coming back around to bite you in the ass.

  “Shit,” I mumble.

  “Yeah.” Jeremy flashes a triumphant grin.

  “What?” Lucas asks, his eyes floating back and forth between Jeremy and me.

  Jeremy's in his element now. Acting like the big man on campus. I know it bothered him when I was named the captain, but seeing how he smugly looks around, I never realized just how much he hated not being known as captain of the team. Hell, not just the team, but all of us that hung around each other.

  His smug expression hits me first before he looks around the locker room. "First off, in the vein of being honest, before I say this I want everyone to know Carter said it was cool. What were the words, Carter? ‘Sloppy seconds'?"

  “Jeremy.” I shake my head. “It’s not a big deal.”

  He looks at me like I just set someone on fire. “Not a big deal? You’re captain, asshole. If you lied about that, what the hell else would you lie about? So, yeah. I hooked up with Sarah Donovan.” Whispers hit the air, but I keep my eyes locked on him. “And guess what she had to say? Our captain here, Mr. Ladies’ Man, ain’t such a ladies’ man.”

  “Jeremy,” Matt says, urging him to stop.

  He shoots Matt a look and then looks back at me. “Oh, well at least one person knew the truth.”

  “What the hell you talking about, McCormick?” Someone says behind me.

  “Carter Dixon, Mr. Playboy of our senior class, is nothing but a liar. He never hooked up with Sarah at homecoming. They fingered each other a bit and then got caught.”

  “You’re such an asshole,” I mutter.

  I'm not mad at the secret being let out, even if it is embarrassing. I'm more upset at Jeremy and how he's acting.

  “So, tell us, Carter?” He flashes a cocky grin. “How much of what happened with Alicia Thompson is true? And how about Hillary Grayson? Oh, and what about—”

  “Shut up, Jeremy!” Matt yells.

  The silence fills the locker, and I take a long breath. Everyone's staring at me, and it's right now that I have a moment of clarity. Why the hell did I let the rumors take over my life? Why have I been so obsessed with wanting to be looked at as Mr. Cool? Who cares if I hooked up, had sex with, or even just made out with one girl or a dozen? What the hell did it mean? Nothing, in the grand scheme of things.

  I stare back at Jeremy, his smug smile still in place. “Fine. You know what, you’re right. I didn’t bang Sarah at homecoming. Me and Hill just exchanged numbers. And all I did with Alicia was make out with her. Who the hell cares?”

  "I do. Not only are you our captain, but you're also my friend."

  I let out a loud, incredulous scoff. “Friend? Are shitting me? What kind of friend asks another friend if it’s okay if they hook up with an ex?”

  “She wasn’t an ex. You didn’t even have sex.”

  “It doesn’t matter! I’d have never done that to you. Go after a girl you had just gone out with.” A thought hits me. One I should ignore, but I don’t. “Oh, and by the way, she was probably just hooking up with you to make me jealous.”

  “Fuck you. I could get any girl I want. Including those two you kept eyeing during practice.”

  And just like that, I snap. Even if he doesn’t say her name, he’s talking about Emma. About trying to get with her. I lose it and launch myself at him, my fist nailing the side of his cheek.

  Before anyone can move, he throws a punch, hitting me under the left eye. A couple more punches are thrown before everyone swarms, getting between us. We both yell more expletives at one another, swinging wildly.

  “Hey! Hey!” A whistle blows, followed by more shouting.

  When the dust settles, Matt is standing in front of me, with Franco and a couple of others. Lucas is in front of Jeremy and the rest of the team. Between our two groups stands Coach Hallinan.

  “What the hell is going on in here?”

  “Nothing,” Jeremy mutters, but Coach looks at me, making Jeremy give me an even angrier look.

  “Yeah, nothing.” I scowl back at him.

  “Well, this better be the last nothing that I have to separate. Get your guys shit together by tomorrow, or else this nothing will turn into something. Like suspensions."

  “Yes, sir,” I mutter, still staring at Jeremy.

  As everyone changes and starts leaving the locker room, I let everyone clear out before going. I catch a some of the glances from the guys, as I walk to the parking lot. Some are staring at me like I'm a liar, while others look at me like I'm pathetic. I feel like both. And I can only imagine what the rumors are going to be once we get back to school.

  Chapter 26

  Emma

  As we go over the layout of how the gallery will be set up, Jen keeps making remarks about Carter, who she says keeps looking over at me. Then she goes on about Franco and how hot he is. Especially since he isn’t wearing a jersey.

  She also makes it a point to tell me she's already heard from three different people about rumors going around about Carter and me. Specifically, how Carter Dixon is now going out with the ‘art girl', Emma. I try to tell her it's nothing, but she continues to give me suspicious looks, unsure if I'm being honest with her. I keep shushing her while we're in the gym, hoping none of the basketball players, especially Carter, hear her. Thankfully, Micah seems to be oblivious to all of it.

  Jen's so sure I'm keeping the truth from her, she brings it up again after we go to the movies.

  “Come on, Emma, spill the beans alrea
dy,” she whines, as we walk out of the theatre.

  "Jen, there's nothing to spill. I told you in the gym; we walked to class after lunch."

  “See, you said that,” she says as we walk to a Starbucks next to the theatre. “But, I was thinking about that. You didn’t tell us you were meeting him for lunch. And you spent the entire lunch together, going over homework? This is Carter we’re talking about.”

  “I know who we’re talking about. He’s actually really smart. Did you know he’s got nearly a 4.0 GPA?”

  "Really? So, he's hot and smart. That's a plus." I roll my eyes as she laughs. "What? You can't tell me you didn't think that while going over homework.” She makes air quotes with her fingers.

  “Why is it so unbelievable that’s all we were doing? Don’t you think I’d tell you if it was something else.”

  “You would, and to be honest, I don’t think it’s unbelievable. Going over homework is such an Emma thing.” She smirks. “But I saw him looking at us when we were in the gym. He was definitely checking you out.”

  She takes a step forward to the barista behind the counter, and I think back to lunch and the gym. Why in the world would Carter be checking me out? Yes, he seemed to be flirting a little during lunch, but it's Carter. That's what he does. Plus, it's not like I was dressed in anything special. Not like him, half-naked and sweaty—No, Emma. Stop that.

  “And you weren’t too subtle where your eyes were going either,” she adds.

  "What?" My voice is about three octaves higher than usual. I guess she did notice.

  She steps out of the way, smiling at me while I order my drink. After I order, I make my way over to the table she’s at.

  "Hey, no judgments. I was checking him out too. But, Franco?" She closes her eyes, and I don't have to imagine very hard to know what she's thinking. "I always thought it's the football players that were fit. I should've figured basketball players look just as fine all hot and sweaty."