“Yeah, this is Kerri’s favorite place. Her family comes here all the time. She introduced me to it.”
Jake nods. “I’ll have to come back again some time. How often do you come here, Kerri?”
“My Dad brings us here almost every Saturday night.” The words come out before I think about how they will sound. Great, now he’s gonna think I’m a loser who spends every Saturday with my dad instead of dating. I quickly backpedal.
“Er, well, he used to. When we were younger. Now, we’re usually busy with… dates… and stuff.”
Okay, I think that helped a little. Jake isn’t looking at me like I’m a dork or anything.
“I’ve got to go to the bathroom,” Austin says, sliding out of the booth.
As soon as he walks away, Jake gets a sneaky grin on his face. “Hey, I’m gonna play a prank on Austin.”
He carefully lifts the cheese and toppings off one of Austin’s pieces of pizza then grabs the red pepper flakes and shakes on a thick layer. When he lays the cheese back on, you can’t even tell.
“Jake, that’s mean!” Mia scolds him, but Jake can’t stop grinning.
“It won’t kill him, and it’ll be hilarious to watch him try to swallow it. Come on, don’t tell, okay?”
Mia rolls her eyes. “Jake is a ten-year-old boy in a teenager’s body, and he still thinks practical jokes are hilarious.”
I chuckle. I must be one too, then, cuz I can’t wait to see Austin’s face when he takes a bite of that.
I turn my attention back to my pizza, and there’s a particularly thick and yummy-looking bite piled with meat that demands my attention. I wrap my lips around it, trying to take it all in without biting the pepperoni in half. Once it’s in my mouth, I realize it’s way too big to chew, though.
I work my jaw around it, half-choked, trying to squish it into a manageable lump, when I suddenly get an explosion of nastiness. OMG, there’s a mushroom in there! I can’t stand mushrooms! They’re slimy, and gross, and vile-tasting, and all I want to do is spit out the entire, half-chewed wad.
Mia gawks at me, and I’m sure my face is green and twisted up in revulsion. Her stare gets Jake’s attention, and he turns to look at me. Now I definitely can’t spit it out! Instead, I force myself to chew and swallow. I hold a napkin to my mouth just in case I barf involuntarily.
As soon as I get the bite down, I reach for my soda, but the glass is wet with condensation and heavy, and it starts to slip out of my hand. Oh no! I can feel it falling like it’s in slow motion, but my other hand can’t move any faster to catch it. All I can do is watch in horror as it hits the table and dumps into my lap, instantly dousing my legs in sticky, sugary soda.
Jake jumps up, so thankfully only a few drops of it get on him, but I’m soaked, and humiliated, and I look like I peed my pants. Oh God, please, just kill me now.
“Oh wow, that totally sucks. Sorry, Kerri.” Jake grabs a napkin and wipes off the drops on the seat. I take my own napkin and dab at my lap, but it’s useless. This is not a little spill, this is a total flood, and my jeans have already soaked it up. I’m gonna have a wet lap for the rest of the evening.
Austin comes back and Mia tells him what happened. He cracks up laughing but then clams up when he sees my sour expression.
“Sorry, but it’s hilarious, Kerri! Did you forget your good luck charm?”
I scowl at him, and he smirks and turns to Jake. “Kerri is cursed with bad luck, or at least she thinks she is. The more I get to know her, the more I think she’s right.” He chuckles.
“Oh yeah? Got any funny stories?” Jake asks.
Mia and I both shoot warning glances Austin’s way, but he’s oblivious.
“Are you kidding? Her life is like an episode of Punk’d. This one time, she tripped and face planted right in the middle of a basketball game.”
Jake and Austin start cracking up, and I’m pretty sure my face looks like the pizza — red, and blotchy, and steaming. But the guys aren’t paying any attention; they’re having too much fun laughing at me.
“And another time—” Austin oomphs, and I’m pretty sure Mia just elbowed him under the table.
“You guys are being mean. Stop it.” Mia scowls at Austin, and he immediately loses the grin.
“You’re right. I’m sorry, Kerri. I shouldn’t mock your misfortune,” he says, but he has to fight to keep his face straight.
He looks at my plate and notices that what’s left of my pizza is floating in soda. “Aww, your food got wet. Here, take this. I haven’t touched it.”
He hands me his plate with a slice of pizza on it, and all I want to do is eat my troubles away. I pick up the slice and shove it into my mouth, taking a giant bite and chewing aggressively. It’s only in there for a second, though, before my mouth catches on fire. The pepper flakes! I spit it out, spewing saliva and half-chewed hunks of pizza across the table.
I spit a few more times just to get every last bit out of my mouth, not caring that I’m being disgusting. Then I grab Jake’s soda and gulp it down, trying to wash my mouth out.
When I finally set it down, soda is dripping from my chin, my mouth is still stinging, and my eyes are watering, the tears dripping down my face. Jake is laughing his head off, Austin looks completely stunned and confused, and Mia’s face is twisted with pity.
“Oh my God, Kerri! I can’t believe you ate that! You knew what I did to it!” Jake is still laughing, and I really want to punch him. Mia was right. His pranks are totally not funny, especially when you’re the victim.
I put my head in my hands and wish I could just disappear. I am completely humiliated. The only thing that could salvage this night is a time machine. I grab a napkin and wipe my face, keeping my head down. I want to go to the bathroom to make sure I didn’t just smear my makeup all over, but I’m too embarrassed to get up since my pants are all wet.
I peek up at Mia and point to my face, and she nods, letting me know I’m okay. I’m not brave enough to lift my head up and look at Jake, though.
“I think we should go.” Mia gives Austin a pointed look and he nods.
Austin waves Marge over and hands her some money.
“Keep the change,” Mia says, pushing Austin out of the booth.
Jake and I slide out too, and I work myself in-between them so the rest of the people in the restaurant can’t see my wet pants. Not that it matters — most of them saw me dump my soda and then spit my food out later.
The ride back to my house is fairly quiet. Normally, I would invite everyone in to hang out for a while, but instead I just say good night and jump out, eager to go wallow in my own mortification. Thank God the house is empty. The last thing I need is my brothers picking on me.
That was definitely my first and last date with Jake Matthews. I’m not sure I’ll even be able to face him at school tomorrow. And seeing how he thinks that kind of stuff is hilarious, he’ll probably tell everybody all about it. He’s not really a bad guy, but I know a date with Connor would’ve never turned out like that.
Of course, Connor isn’t interested in dating me. After my outburst this morning, I think he wants to pretend he doesn’t even know me.
But I’ve got to do something about my escalating bad luck, and so far, being with Connor seems to be the only thing that helps. I yank off my wet jeans and lay on my bed and mope, trying to come up with a way to make him want to help me. I bet if I was Mallory, he’d help me in an instant.
The answer flashes in front of me like a spotlight, and I jerk upright. That’s it! I lay back again, this time rehearsing exactly what I’m going to say tomorrow.
Chapter Ten
Kerri
I stomp down the hall on a mission, my eyes scanning the crowds for my target. When I catch her in my sights, I veer towards her, so determined that I must look half crazed.
Mallory sees me from the corner of her eye and glances my way then does a double take and backs away with a freaked out look on her face when she realizes I’m coming straight for
her. There are a ton of people in the hall around her, though, so she can’t get very far.
“Mallory, I need to talk to you.”
Her eyes dart around, and she pushes a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. We have a game tonight, and she’s wearing our school colors in the form of jeans and a blue and white letterman sweater. She has that custom-made matching ribbon tying back the top section of her hair, and she looks like a perfect, little preppy cheerleader. She’s surrounded by her minion clones.
“In private.” I give them a pointed look, and they wander off.
“Mallory, you and I both know that if we’re going to win the game tonight, I need to be at my best.”
She puffs up her chest and opens her mouth to protest, but I know she doesn’t have a good argument, and a few seconds later she deflates and nods.
“Well, I need you to do something for me.”
“Why me?” She looks at me like she barely recognizes me and can’t figure out why I’m talking to her. Mallory and I aren’t friends, barely even acquaintances, but we’re both on the basketball team, so it’s not like we’ve never talked to each other. Still, it’s kind of unusual for me to approach her, especially with a look that says I’m out for blood.
“I need you to convince Connor Murphy to come to the game and wear this sweatshirt.” I hold it up, and she looks confused.
“Who’s Connor Murphy?”
Ouch. Poor Connor. His fantasy girl doesn’t even know who he is.
“Tall, brown hair, nice smile, plays basketball, looks a little bit like a teenage Liam Hemsworth.” She scrunches up her nose at that. I guess she doesn’t see the resemblance. “I was talking to him during practice the other day when Lara got hurt.”
She nods slowly. “Kind of dorky? I think he’s in my English class.”
I smile. We’re making progress. I don’t think Connor’s dorky, but I guess I can see how a girl like Mallory might.
“Why do you need him to wear your sweatshirt?” She glances at it like it’s infected or something, and I know this is not going to be easy. Mallory is more stuck up than I thought.
“Okay, I know this is gonna sound kind of crazy, but this sweatshirt is really good luck for me. When my dad wears it to my games, I always do great. But my dad is in the hospital, and he can’t come tonight, so I need Connor to wear it instead.”
“You’re right; that’s sounds crazy.” She rolls her eyes at me and turns around to dig in her locker, her long hair smacking me in the face.
I grab her shoulder and force her to look at me, and she gawks at me like I’m deranged and possibly dangerous.
“You want to win tonight, right?”
She huffs and rolls her eyes. “Well, yeah, but I don’t believe in lucky sweatshirts. I believe in hard work.”
I sneer at her. Her own lack of effort in practice would say otherwise, but I don’t want to tick her off, so I’m not going to mention that. “You know I work my butt off, and I’m the best player on the team. And I’m not asking you to believe in it, I just need you to persuade Connor to do it.”
“Why Connor?”
“I don’t know why, I just know that he’s good luck for me. Every time I’m with him, my luck improves.”
“So, why don’t you ask him yourself?”
I sigh and clunk my head against the locker. “Because he likes you, not me.”
She scrunches up her face and takes a step back. “Ew, no way. He’ll think I like him, too.”
“So? He’s a really nice guy; you should give him a chance,” I snap back but immediately regret it and then wonder why. Do I like Connor?
I mean, I like him, but do I like him-like him? I can’t worry about that right now, though, because I know he doesn’t like me, so if I have to convince Mallory to give him a shot so he’ll do what I need, then I can’t let my own feelings get in the way of that.
She shuts her locker with a clang of finality and puts her hands on her hips. “I’m not interested in Connor Murphy, and I’m not asking any weird favors of him just because you have some crazy idea that he’s good luck for you. Just play well, Kerri, and we’ll do fine.”
With that, she turns and struts away.
Okay, so that didn’t go so well. I knew there was a chance she might not go for it, but I guess I didn’t really expect her to shut me down so completely. Now what am I going to do?
When I walk into History class, Connor glances at me. For a minute I think maybe he’s reconsidering, and I’m about to go ask him again, but then Jake passes by and sees me and skids to a stop. My face instantly flames, and I’m too humiliated to look at him, but he ducks his head like he’s the one who’s embarrassed.
“Hey Kerri, I just wanted to apologize for last night. You know I wasn’t meaning to prank you. I guess I just take it too far sometimes. I’m sorry I laughed at you.”
When he finally looks up at me there’s pain in his eyes, and I know he’s sincere. I never expected that from him. I figured he’d spend the day making fun of me to all his friends.
“It’s okay, Jake. It’s my own fault. Sorry I ruined the evening.”
He shakes his head. “You didn’t ruin it; I still had a good time. I’m just sorry you didn’t. Maybe we can try again sometime?”
I can’t believe he wants to be seen in public with me again. I really don’t blame him for what happened, though, and since he’s my best friend’s boyfriend’s best friend, it would be cool if he and I were together. I’d fit in better with Austin and Mia if I was dating someone in their echelon. Plus, he’s super cute, and funny, and today he smells like sexy cologne instead of soap. How could I ever turn down a chance to go out with him again? Half the girls in this school have a crush on him, especially now that Austin’s taken.
“Uh, sure, yeah, okay.”
He smiles, hazel eyes full of a depth I didn’t expect shining down on me. “Great. I’ll call you, okay?”
I nod as the bell rings and Jake takes off, late for his own class.
When I turn back around, Connor is staring intently at his textbook, and he doesn’t look up even when I stare right at him. I don’t want to make another scene in class, so I don’t approach him. Maybe I’ll get a chance later.
At lunch, I sit with Mia, Austin, Jake, and their popular friends, and we have a pretty good time. I’m able to laugh about last night when Jake makes little jokes about it, although I still give him a stern look when he acts like he’s going to tell the whole table everything that happened.
I see Connor exit the lunch line, and I think about going to talk to him, but he takes one glance my way then makes a beeline for his usual table to sit with Eric and some of the other guys from the basketball team. I need to talk to him when he’s alone, not surrounded by people.
Maybe he’ll come to the basketball game, anyway, to watch Mallory play. He won’t be wearing Dad’s sweatshirt, but he wasn’t wearing it when he saved me from getting ripped off by that mechanic. I kind of wonder if Connor is just as lucky for me even without the sweatshirt.
I bumble through practice, worse than I’ve ever played before, and I can tell that Coach Kavanagh and my teammates are starting to get irritated with me, but I just can’t seem to help it. When Coach corners me and wants to know what’s going on, I know she won’t buy my story about bad luck, so instead I just tell her I’m under a lot of stress with my dad being in the hospital.
She gives me one brief look of sympathy but then starts in on the same mind over matter lecture about not letting the stuff in my head take me down.
When it’s time for the game, I try to convince myself that she’s right, that how I play depends on my skills and talents and not on luck or chance, but I still scan the crowds, desperately hoping Connor is here. I don’t see him, though.
We’re playing the Hillcrest Highlanders, and we can usually take them without a problem, but right away I know tonight is not going to be so easy. We miss the jump shot, get one foul after another, and by the 4th quarter
we’re down by 10. I’m not the only one playing badly, but the team counts on me to carry them, so when I’m not at my peak, the whole team flounders.
Mallory stalks over to me during our last time out, looking just as fierce as I did this morning. I didn’t know preppy girls could look so scary.
“Okay, Kerri, I know you’re trying to throw this game to prove your point, and it’s not cool.”
I shake my head and roll my eyes at her. “Mallory, I want to win just as bad as you do, probably more since I actually care about basketball.”
I probably shouldn’t have said that, but I know it’s true. Mallory doesn’t even like playing, she just wants to participate in a sport so her college application will look well-rounded. She chose basketball because she knew our team usually wins, and she didn’t want to be on a losing team.
“Well, you need to get your act together, then. I’ll try to talk to Connor tomorrow if it’s that important to you, but you have to promise to win this game.”
I want to tell her that I’m doing my best, and talking to Connor tomorrow isn’t going to help me tonight, but the buzzer rings, and she whirls away.
I kick my butt into gear and we manage to score a couple points, but we’re still down by four, and my teammates’ defeated attitude isn’t helping anything. With five seconds left on the clock, I’m making one last ditch effort to get the ball away from the other team when I accidentally trip and stumble into the girl in possession, earning a big, fat foul. She makes her free throws, racking up another two points, and the timer runs out.
We’ve lost a game we definitely should have won. I feel like it’s all my fault, even though we were going to lose, anyway, and I hustle to the locker room as soon as we’re done congratulating the other team.
Mallory’s shrill voice echoes through the locker room, and I can hear her long before I can see her. “Kerri O’Connor, I told you I would talk to him, now why didn’t you win this game?”
I stomp towards her in my sports bra and lucky shamrock undies, my hands on my hips and a killer scowl on my face.
Good Luck Charm Page 9