Balls (Ball Games #1)

by Andie M. Long

  I raise an eyebrow. 'If you say so. Where are you two going for your date?’

  ‘He suggested a carvery at The Plough. Anyway, I was thinking…’ She quirks an eyebrow and smiles.

  ‘No.’

  ‘You don’t know what I’m suggesting.’

  'The answer is still no.’

  ‘We could double date?’

  ‘Definitely not.'

  Beth whines, ‘But it's been so long since I went on a date. I’ve forgotten what to do.’

  ‘A double date sounds like hell. Also, I want Jack to myself.’

  Beth pouts. She’s good at pouting. ‘We could have the meal together and then go our own way?’

  ‘Nah.’

  She leans in towards me, hand on her knee. Gaze fixed on mine, eyes narrowed. ‘Why? It’s not like you'll put out on the first date. Oh, hang on. Are you planning to put out on the first date?’

  ‘No. I am not.’

  She sits back, hands up. ‘Well, then what does it matter? Plus what if Jack is the most boring person ever and you want to get away? Just because he’s hot doesn’t mean he’s interesting.’

  ‘Can you just drop it?’

  ‘I thought we were best friends? You said you'd always be there for me. Well, your support is needed.’

  I sigh. 'If I kill Dylan, you have to tell the police it was you.'

  'Whatever. I think you should give him a chance.'

  I roll my eyes. ‘Okay then. Against my better judgement, we’ll meet you there. We'll eat together. Then Jack and I will be going elsewhere. On. Our. Own.’

  She hugs me. ‘Yes. Thank you.’

  ‘I’d better text Jack and let him know. He’ll be well impressed I'm sure.’ I say. I rub the back of my neck where a tightness can now be felt.

  I tap the keypad.

  Hope you don't mind. I agreed to a double date with Beth and Dylan. I'll change it if you prefer.

  A few minutes later his reply appears.

  That's fine with me. It'll be great to catch up with Dylan and Beth. Hey, it's a school reunion!

  I change my mind about buying new underwear for my date. Fuck the lot of them. I’ll put my comfiest pants on and stuff my face with a full carvery dinner with second helpings of Yorkshire pudding. I might even belch afterwards if they aren’t careful.

  Beth gets giddier with every passing day. When she calls me on Friday, her voice is loud and she keeps giggling. Her questions come at me like hailstones in a storm. Another hitting before I can focus on the last one.

  ‘What are you wearing? Are you going smart casual? How are you styling your hair? Are you wearing lipstick? What if they kiss us?’

  ‘I’m wearing my onesie. The Dalmatian one.’

  There's a pause. ‘You’re funny. I’m wearing skinny jeans and an off the shoulder over-sized tee.’

  ‘Well I won’t be putting my size fourteen arse in skinny jeans so black cords and a tunic top?’

  ‘Covering yourself up again. Why do that? You’re curvy like Jessica Rabbit. If I swung that way, I’d tap you.’

  I laugh.

  ‘There is no covering. I’m happy and healthy. I don’t accept skinny jeans are for my size. They’re for size ten skinny minnies who need a good dinner.’

  Beth splutters. ‘I do eat. Then I run around after a two-year-old all day. It's a fabulous diet. No Trey, that’s Mummy’s. Trey put it down. I’m trying to talk to Auntie Cam. No you can’t have the phone. God here, play with that.’

  I sigh while I listen to the ensuing conversation. There’s always a three-way, if only the guy wasn’t Beth’s two year old.

  ‘Listen I’ve got to go, I’ll see you at six pm at the carvery.'

  My voice rises. ‘Six? We aren’t meeting until eight. Kid Zone doesn’t close until seven.’

  ‘Please don’t leave me on a brand new date on my own.’

  ‘Oh, for heaven's sake. I’ll text Jack—again—and I’ll ask Gemma to lock up the building.’

  ‘Well isn’t that what deputies are for? To help with shifts?’

  ‘Yes but it’s only the end of our second week. I need to check things are running smoothly and everyone knows what to do.’

  ‘You need a night out as much as anyone. It's a good opportunity for you to test Gemma to see if she can handle the responsibility’ Beth then shouts “Trey stop” so loud she almost bursts my eardrum. Then the line clicks.

  I text Jack again. He’s fine with a six pm start. He says it gives him more drinking time. It's okay for some. I’ll be at Kid Zone by seven am Saturday morning so I’d better not have too much to drink.

  Thank goodness The Plough is a five-minute walk away from my house because I rush through my front door at five forty-five after Gemma threw me out and told me to stop fussing. My work clothes are flung on the floor while I change. I stick foundation on to hide the sweaty sheen on my face then add a little blusher and mascara. A quick spray of deodorant under my pits as a safety precaution after all the running around and I'm back out of the door. Big wet patches under my armpits didn’t seem like an attractive first date impression.

  As I enter the pub, I spot the other three. They are already at the bar. All three of them turn towards me.

  ‘What are you drinking?’ asks Dylan.

  ‘I’ll get it,’ says Jack.

  Dylan shrugs and turns back to Beth.

  ‘I’ll have a Guinness, please,’ I tell Jack.

  ‘Pint of Guinness, please love,’ he says to the woman behind the bar.

  ‘A pint? No, I wanted a half.’ My voice trails off as Jack speaks.

  ‘Oh, it saves coming back to the bar as fast. Anyway, Beth says you’re a work bore, so get it down you and loosen up.’

  I glare at Beth, who pretends not to see it and grins as she raises her glass, what appears to be half a lager.

  'Cheers.'

  We spend the next couple of hours exchanging easy banter and enjoying a full carvery. While the others are chatting, I release the top button of my cords. I'm too full to move from my seat. Jack seems happy enough to stay a bit longer. We take turns to buy a round of drinks, or rather the blokes do as they start some sort of pissing contest. They'll be dragging us out of the bar by our hair at this rate. Dylan bought crisps, so on his next round, Jack fetched pork scratchings. We need to call a halt before one of them brings a side of beef.

  Tired, I look at my watch. Ten pm? I’ve had no one-on-one time with Jack. I try to get up but sway, so I stay where I am. I'm rat-arsed. They carried on buying me pints and it's been rather too easy to drink them. I begin to yawn and realise that if I don’t move soon, I'll be asleep. Beth sees the yawn.

  She juts out her chin and shakes her head. ‘No way, Camille. Look at the state of you. Twenty-one years old and falling asleep in The Plough on a Friday night. If I didn’t have to be home by midnight, I’d drag you to a nightclub and pump you full of Vodka Red Bulls.’

  I rub my eye. ‘I’ve got to be at Kid Zone for seven. So I should make a move soon.’

  Jack turns to me, his eyes gleam. ‘Hey, do you know what would be great at your place?’

  Hot dirty sex? ‘No. What?’

  ‘An adult night. Why should kids have all the fun? It’d be fab going down the slides and playing with the balls.’

  Oh, he means the play centre. Spoilsport.

  ‘Don’t you blokes do that anyway?’ I snigger.

  ‘Let’s do it,’ yells Beth, spilling her drink as she bounces from foot to foot.

  I shake my head and find I can't stop doing it. It feels nice, and the room is going a bit swirly. ‘It's not allowed. Insurance. Already thought of it.’ I lick my finger and make a sizzling noise as I touch my face with it.

  ‘I won’t sue if I get hurt. Let’s do it.’ says Jack, chinking glasses with Beth. ‘I’ll sign a disclaimer on my beer mat.’

  Dylan has been quiet and I wonder if he thinks it's a stupid idea. As I look at him, I see he’s also three sheets to the wind and is staring into spa
ce in the general direction of the bar.

  I place my hands around my mouth. ‘Earth to Dylan,’ I yell.

  Beth elbows him. ‘C’mon, we’re going.’

  'What? Is it home time already?’

  ‘Nope. Time to play with the balls.’

  Dylan jumps about a foot away from Beth. ‘What do you mean?’ He looks at me. ‘What’s happening?’

  ‘We’re going to Kid Zone. It’s now Big Kid Zone. We’re going to party.’

  ‘No shit? That's fucking ace. Our Max is too small for the slides so I never get to go on anything good. Let’s go.' He points to the door. 'Right now.’

  We make our way out of the bar and beckon a taxi. I always have the keys on me in case of emergency so in what seems like five seconds flat we’re all standing outside the play centre swaying about.

  ‘Hurry up, it’s bloody freezing,’ yells Beth.

  ‘It’s July,’ I shout back.

  ‘So? I had the central heating on yesterday.’

  ‘Yeah, so did I,’ I admit.

  The first thing we notice when we enter the play centre is that without the heating, the converted warehouse is absolutely bollock-freezing.

  ‘Well, I guess it’s like being at the swimming baths,’ says Jack, ‘You have to take the plunge as fast as you can.’

  With that, we leg it toward the play area.

  Chaos ensues. We throw balls at each other. We have races down slides. Then we play hide and seek. I hide under the large slide at the back where there’s a little secret area covered in material strips. It's dark inside and my earlier tiredness creeps up on me. I stir as I hear material move and a shadow crawls nearby. I swear I have night blindness as I can’t make out the person. I jump as fingers stroke the side of my face. Then soft lips touch my own. Jack. I moan and curl my hands around his neck. My mouth opens and our tongues collide. Bloody hell, he’s one amazing kisser.

  ‘Where is everybody? I’m bored with this game now. I want to do another slide race,’ shouts Beth.

  Her shouting breaks the moment. Jack jerks away from me and I see his shadow shift as he leaves. I move towards the curtains to pull them back but get my right foot tangled in it and twist my ankle.

  ‘Owww.’

  I limp out to the others. ‘Help, I've hurt my foot.’ I grimace.

  ‘We’ll give you a head start on the slide,’ says Jack. I walk over to him and wipe lipstick from his mouth. He looks uncomfortable. He must not want the others to know what we got up to, but he’s wearing the evidence. Something is nagging at me, but I can’t think what. Drink has addled my brain. Then Dylan comes out of the bathroom and whatever I was thinking disappears.

  ‘You better have left my bog clean. I know what you blokes are like at missing the toilet bowl.’

  ‘I was careful.’

  ‘Shit. It’s eleven forty-five. I need to be home,’ says Beth, her eyes wide.

  ‘Beth, how are you going to care for Trey when you’re pissed?’ I ask her. I'd not thought of this before.

  ‘Oh, my mum’s stopping over. She wants to know I'm back though otherwise she’d not sleep.’

  ‘Oh. Right.’

  ‘I live over your way. Do you want to share a taxi? Unlike these, I can’t walk to my house,’ says Jack.

  She clutches his arm. ‘That would be great, thank you.’

  ‘Not a problem. You don't mind do you, Camille?’

  'Nope. My best friend.’ I claim Beth in a hug which is more like a stranglehold. ‘You make sure she's safe.' I wag my finger at him and like earlier I can't seem to work out when to stop the motion. It's hypnotic. Dylan pulls my hand down. I snatch my arm away from him and glare.

  'I'll take good care of her,' says Jack.

  We phone for a taxi and as usual, on a Friday night, there’s a forty-five-minute wait. Beth texts her mother and grovels. ‘I bet I’ll not be allowed out again for a year. It was worth it, though,’ she giggles.

  ‘I have to say it’s been a great night,’ says Jack. ‘We must do it again.’

  The taxi arrives and Beth hugs Dylan and me before taking a seat. Jack pecks my cheek and follows her in. I’m disappointed not to get another snog but I know it would have been embarrassing in front of the others.

  Dylan and I start our walk towards our houses. My ankle now only niggles. I can walk on it okay.

  Dylan looks like he wants to say something. He keeps chewing on his lip.

  ‘You and Beth make a good couple,’ I tell him.

  ‘Um, do we?’ He scratches his temple.

  ‘Yeah. She needs a nice bloke after Trey’s father. He was a twat.’

  ‘Well I’m not sure that’s me,’ he says in an uncertain tone.

  ‘What. Aren’t you nice?’

  ‘Not all the time, no.' He sighs. 'Sometimes I take liberties with other people's dates.’

  I punch his arm. ‘You two-timing git.' I screech. 'Stay away from my Beth.’ I sway a little and teeter near the kerb edge. Dylan grabs my arm and steers me back into the middle of the path.

  ‘You’re acting weird,’ he says.

  ‘Knobhead.’

  ‘What did you say?'

  ‘You. You’re a knobhead.’ I put my little finger up to my forehead and wiggle it.

  He runs his hand through his hair.

  As we walk up my driveway, we're met at the front door by Bob, who miaows and rubs his body up against the front door. I act like I understand Cat.

  ‘Yes, Bob sweetie. You're hungry aren't you? You’ve been out flirting with Bessie from three doors up haven’t you? That’s why I had you snipped.’ I make scissor fingers. ‘Snip, snip, snip.’ I don't know how it's happened but my hand is in front of Dylan’s trouser zipper.

  I stand back. Lightheadedness hits and I sway. 'Whoa.'

  ‘Well, I’ll see you into your house and I’ll be off,’ Dylan says.

  I wander over my doorstep and make shooing motions with my hands. ‘Off you go, back to your own house, knobhead.' I do the scissors again. 'Snip, snip, snip.’

  ‘I’ll never understand women,’ he mutters under his breath and stomps off.

  I stumble around the house, feed my noisy cat and then grab a mug of water. Finally, I once again hit the sack fully clothed. It’s a good job my alarm is still set from the day before otherwise I’d have overlaid the next morning. When the alarm goes off, I spend ten minutes in the bathroom trying not to vomit. I order a taxi to take me to the play centre as I don’t know whether I’m over the limit. God—did we tidy up the play centre before we left? My memory is hazy. I can hardly remember a thing after leaving the pub. Other than a lovely snog under the slide. That I can remember. I keep thinking about it while I’m working. It takes my mind off the loud voices of little kids which make me wince. Neither Beth, Dylan or Jack appear at Kid Zone, although it’s not Jack’s turn to have his children this weekend. I presume Beth is nursing a sore head and Dylan is childless unless he pinches his nephew. The centre is so busy with three birthday parties and a full house that before long I’m so busy that all thoughts of last night are gone. I walk past a child playing cards with her father and hear her yell, ‘Snap. Snap. Daddy. I got Snap.’ It sounds strangely familiar but I can’t think where from.

  Chapter Six

  Week three of the school holidays is already upon us. The weather is being particularly cruel to parents. There hasn’t been more than five minutes of sunshine over the past four days, which has meant a busy play centre.

  I texted Jack to thank him for a nice evening. He replied that it had been good fun, but he didn't ask me on a further date. I need Beth's advice about what I should do next. I don't want to appear desperate. Does it even count as a date bearing in mind we weren’t on our own? If it wasn’t for the kiss, I’d reckon he wasn’t all that interested to be honest. He seemed to spend more time chatting to Beth than me. Beth had been in the same Athletics team as Jack at school so was more familiar with him, whereas I’d only ever gazed at him from afar.

&
nbsp; Dylan is also missing in action. For someone whose face I imagined, I would punch on sight just a few weeks ago, I’d got used to seeing him around and I missed him. His banter kept me on my toes and it was quiet without it.

  Today was the first I would see of Beth since last Friday night. She’s been acting like Mother of the Year after turning up drunk on the doorstep last Friday night/Saturday morning.

  A few minutes after eleven she pushes Trey’s buggy through the door. Her forehead is creased, and she's huffing.

  ‘You okay?’

  ‘Knackered. We’ve come straight from the Church playgroup. We've collected three birthday invites today. It never ends.'

  'Are any of them for here?'

  'Not had time to check. I'll do it later.' She dumps her bags down at the side of a table near the counter and takes off her coat, placing it on the back of her chair. 'I want Trey to go as its good for him to mix with other kids, with him being an only child. I can’t afford all the presents, though. What do you think about me making little bags or something for the girls? I used to be good at sewing.’

  ‘That’s a great idea. Do you remember that bag you made me for my sixteenth? It was gorgeous.’

  ‘What could I make for boys? I need something easy and cheap.’

  ‘You’re seriously not asking for my opinion on the male species are you? My track record should tell you I’m not the person to answer your queries.’

  Beth takes a brush and mirror from her bag and brushes her windswept hair. I watch as long brown hairs float onto the table top and floor. ‘Has Jack not been in touch?’

  ‘No. I can’t understand it. Before we left here on Friday, he kissed me. Why would he do that if he wasn't interested?’

  Beth halts brushing, her hand in midair. ‘You never mentioned that.’

  ‘Well we were pissed weren’t we?’

  ‘When did he kiss you?’

  ‘During hide and seek. I was hiding under the slide in the dark. He snuck in.’

  Beth smiles. ‘Right. Okay. What was he like?’

  I stare into space as I recollect the kiss. ‘God, his mouth. It was lush. I swear my whole body ignited when his lips touched mine.’

  Beth giggles.