by Meghan Diane
I shot her a death glare, my eyes just small slits now, but she continued to look straight ahead at the road, suddenly very attentive to driving.
“I hate you,” I seethed, shooting imaginary daggers at her with my eyes. But she wasn’t wrong. That’s exactly what had happened, and that made me even more annoyed. What have I gotten myself into?
When we arrived at the beach I immediately laid my blanket down in the sand. I couldn’t wait to relax and feel the warmth of the sun on me. The coffee had finally started to fade and I was in a good spot to take a nap.
“We’re going to get in the water. It’s hot as Hades out here. Wanna join?” Halley asked, shielding her eyes from the sun. She and Stella were standing in front of me in their swimsuits, hopeful looks on their faces.
“That’s okay.” I smiled up at her. “I think I’m just going to soak up the sun and listen to some music.”
She nodded knowingly. “Okay love, have fun.”
When I opened my eyes some time later, I could feel someone staring. “Hi,” I whispered.
“Hi,” Phoenix whispered back. “You were really knocked out.” She smiled at me, causing dimples to form in her cheeks. “It was adorable.”
“Well,” I started, “maybe I would have slept more if someone, cough cough, hadn’t snored the whole night through.”
Her cheeks flushed and she threw her head into her towel. “Oh no.”
“Oh yes,” I laughed. “Allllll night.”
“That’s so embarrassing,” she whined from under her arm, still hiding her face from me. “I would like to say that it was just because I was drinking, but I’m not sure that would be the truth.”
I laughed. “It’s all good. I’ll be prepared next time.” Next time? Watch it Aurora.
“Oh yeah?”
I just smiled and looked over her shoulder, searching for Halley. My eyes found hers in an instant. She must have gotten out of the water and laid back down when Phoenix arrived.
“Hey.” I grinned.
“Hi,” she replied in a mocking way. “You’re hungry aren’t you?”
This time it was my turn to drop my head into my towel. “How do you know me so well,” I whined. “Of course I am.”
“That’s what best friends are for.” She beamed. “I’ll make you a deal. We can go get food if you get in the water with me first.”
I threw up my fist and groaned. “Why must you torture me like this.”
“So is that a yes?” she asked, teasing.
Phoenix chimed in. “Yeah, let’s get in the water.”
“Fine,” I said defeated. “But only because I like you guys.” I paused. “And ’cause I’m really hungry.”
As we floated in the water I couldn’t help but feel a sense of peace wash over me. It was nice to be out here with them, just relaxing. I snuck a peek at Phoenix in her swimsuit. Damn she looks good. I took in her athletic body once again. I was developing a crush on her, and I knew it. The tattoos that lined her rib cage didn’t help much either.
“Did you play sports in high school?” I asked, trying to sound casual.
“I did actually.”
I watched as she stretched out in the water and began to float on her back, letting the waves take her back and forth.
“I played soccer growing up, and I really enjoyed it. But in my senior year of high school, one of my friends introduced me to rugby and I fell in love. I still play here on the weekends on occasion.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Do you now?”
“Mhm. I really like it. I think to be honest, I like the sense of community more than I like the actual sport. There’s just something different about rugby girls than other girls, you know?”
“You mean besides the fact that all of them are gay?” Stella chimed in.
A grin flashed across my face. I was thinking it but I wasn’t going to say it.
Phoenix splashed water at Stella, before turning back to me. “Yes, a majority of them are gay. But, it’s not that. It’s a sense of family. No matter what happens, my rugby girls always have my back and I love that about them. They’re amazing.”
“I can relate to that. That’s how I feel about this kid.” I turned to Halley and splashed her right in the face, leading to an all-out splashing battle. We probably looked crazy to a bunch of outsiders, but it was moments like these that I lived for.
“Okay!” I threw my hands up in the air. “Someone promised me food!”
This time they didn’t object. They just smiled, and wiped the water away from their faces. I hung back and watched as they slowly made their way to the shore. If every day was like this, I don’t think I’d have much to complain about.
“Oh and Phoenix?” I called to the girl in front of me who I couldn’t stop staring at. “I’m coming to one of those rugby games.”
I watched as her eyes involuntarily flicked from my stomach up to my face, causing my insides to flip.
“I’d like that,” she said with a wink.
My stomach flipped again.
Chapter Seven
I wiped the sand off my feet and hopped into Halley’s car. “So what should we eat? I’m kinda feeling tacos. Anyone else?”
“Me!” three girls chimed, almost in sync.
“And this is why we’re friends.”
Halley pulled out of the parking lot. “Let’s go to that place over by the school. It’s pretty low-key, and they never complain when we keep asking for more and more chips.”
I fist bumped into the air. If there was one thing I loved as much as coffee it was unlimited chips and salsa. And it was always nice to find a place that didn’t mind when you ate three baskets worth instead of rolling their eyes at me like they sometimes did. I’m poor. What do they expect?
“I’m in.” I turned to Phoenix, finding her dark brown eyes waiting for me. I raised my eyebrows in question.
“Oh I’m totally in,” she said.
Thank God, I thought to myself. Because I was prepared to ditch Mexican for the rest of my life if she wasn’t.
Twenty-five minutes later we were sitting in a booth in the corner of Los Tres Tacos. It was a small place, and judging by the other occupants it was mainly frequented by college students, which made sense since it was so close to campus. The booths weren’t that much different than those at the Waffle House. The plastic was a deeper red, but it too had holes every now and then, showing some wear. I thought it gave it some character. Sometimes a brand-new place can almost make you feel like you don’t belong. This place was more homey. And for college students who were away from home, homey was a welcomed feeling.
“This place is super cool. I love that there is an outdoor seating area. But more so, I think I love that there’s free chips and salsa,” I said. “Easiest way to my heart.”
“I feel you there,” Phoenix chimed in. “I could eat chips and salsa for days.”
I relaxed a little, mentally relieved that I would not have to give up one of the staples in my diet.
“Me too,” Halley and Stella sang.
“So what should we do with the rest of the day? Any big plans?” My mood instantly fell a few notches. “Today is my last full day, and then it’s back to reality.”
“Eww. That’s the worst,” Stella groaned. “You can just stay with us for the rest of the summer if you’d prefer.”
“Oh, I’d prefer,” I said, struggling to take a bite of my taco as the contents tried to make their big escape. A few tomatoes tumbled out and landed on my lap. God I hope Phoenix didn’t see that. Could I be any more embarrassing?
“Man why is this so good?” Stella moaned, saving me.
“I know right?” Halley added. “I could come here every day.” She then proceeded to wave her taco at me in the air, its contents flying all over the table.
“Easy, killer.”
She rolled her eyes, “You love me, and my mess, so hush.” She pointed what was left of her taco at me for emphasis. “But as for plans, we could go to Nico�
�s later tonight. As long as we bring the cider or beer, he is always down to chill.”
I hadn’t met Nico yet, but by the way Halley had talked about him he seemed pretty chill. I knew that he was in school with the girls and I knew that he and Phoenix were pretty good friends. I also knew that he liked to smoke hookah on occasion. And I liked hookah.
“Sold.”
“That does sound like a pretty good plan,” Phoenix said. “I’ll swing by later after my game.”
“Game?” I asked, openly staring at her.
“Yeah, I told you, sometimes on the weekends I have rugby games. And this is one of those weekends.” She took a chip and dunked it in what was left of the salsa verde. “You’re welcome to come. You could classify it as your pregaming for Nico’s. Everyone always drinks at rugby games. It’s kind of what we do.”
“The truth comes out,” I teased.
“I’d be down for that,” Stella added. “I’m always down for a little day drinking.”
“We know,” Halley said playfully. “But I’ve got to get some work done. My summer class is coming to an end, but you guys can still go. It’ll give you something to do while I finish.”
“Okay,” I said. “It’s settled. We’ll go to Phoenix’s rugby game. I’ll pretend to like sports. Or, I’ll drink until I do. And then we’ll go over to Nico’s after and just chill. Sound good?”
“Sounds perfect.”
The truth was I couldn’t wait to see Phoenix play. I had no idea if she was good or bad, but judging by her athletic build I just had to assume that she was good. Watch yourself, Aurora. Don’t fall for her.
* * *
I don’t know what I was expecting at the rugby game, but it certainly wasn’t this. It was better. Phoenix was right. The second I saw her team get together in a huddle I knew there was something different about them. They took turns playfully swatting each other’s butts and yelling out compliments. They were supportive of each other and even when someone messed up they made a joke about it and kept on playing. There was love there and it was kind of weird.
I pulled out my camera and aimed it at the family I saw in front of me. Now I understood why Phoenix liked it so much.
Stella opened another beer and handed it to me. The team was warming up after halftime and the score was 12-10 in favor of the other team.
I took a sip of the beer, silently thankful for its refreshing taste. It was unbelievably hot out and I had no idea how the two teams were able to play in this heat. I had enough sweat rolling off me and I wasn’t even moving around.
I lifted the viewfinder of my camera to my eye and looked out onto the playing field. I’d never even watched rugby before, so I didn’t understand a lot of what was going on. I just hoped that it was similar enough to football that I could figure it out.
“Do you know the rules?” I asked Stella.
“Oh heck no. I just come for the alcohol.”
“Want to make a game out of this?”
“Of course I do,” she said. “What do you have in mind?”
I looked out onto the field again. What could make this fun? “How about first we pick a few players each on the team. I call Phoenix of course. Whenever one of them makes a tackle you have to run around your chair two times before sitting down.”
“Sounds fair enough,” Stella agreed.
“Only the catch is, say I notice what happened first, if I stand up in my chair and cheer before you make it around twice, I win. And then you have to finish whatever you’re drinking.”
Stella nodded her head again. “Okay, sounds fair. Let the games begin.”
The first few rounds of our game went a little shaky. We were still trying to tell the teammates apart, and so keeping track of our own three players was hard enough. Toward the end of the game we’d finally gotten the hang of it and people were starting to stare.
“Do you think we should stop?” Stella asked. “I think they’re getting annoyed with us.”
“Oh heck no. I’m just getting good.” And I was getting good. Which is why when Phoenix made a tackle I shot up as fast as I could to run around my chair. But, I wasn’t fast enough. Stella was already trying to stand up on her chair. Luckily for me she was failing miserably at the standing up part.
By now I had become so competitive that I accidently ran right into her chair, causing both of us to go flying into the air. Our arms and legs fell into a tangled mess as we tumbled to the ground and into a heap of laughter.
“Okay, okay, maybe now we can stop,” I wheezed.
“That’s a good plan. But I think I’m going to sit down here one second longer, on account of I can’t convince my body that it should get up.”
I reached for my camera, snapping a few shots of her lying hopelessly on the ground. This was going to be the hit of the party later.
By the time there were three minutes left in the game, we were still losing. I still hadn’t picked up on the actual rules of the game but it was fun nonetheless. I was quickly realizing that I really liked hanging out with Stella. She was fun and she wasn’t afraid to let loose a little.
I tried to focus back on the game in front of us. From what I assumed, Phoenix was playing well. It was hard to say but one thing I could tell was how cute she looked in her uniform. I would have to tease her about that later. I snapped a few more pictures so that I could remember this moment.
Then, before I could stop myself, I zoned out, thinking about what it might be like to finally kiss her. I knew that I wasn’t ready but I couldn’t stop my mind from thinking it. I was just about to pull her lips to mine in the daydream I was having when I heard all the shouting.
Phoenix had the ball and she was making a run for it. By the looks of it, she was doing something good. When she crossed the line I stood up in my chair so fast that the legs became unstable and collapsed right out from under me.
I fell in what can only be described as slow motion. My upper body quickly leading the way as my legs flew up above me. I landed with a definitive thud. God, could I be any more embarrassing?
Stella tumbled to the ground beside me, but it wasn’t because her chair was unstable too. It was because she was laughing too hard to hold herself up.
I moaned as she convulsed beside me.
“Have I mentioned you’re, like, the best?” I asked her. My eyes turned to slits.
“Dude, that was awesome.”
“Again, have I mentioned how great you are?”
She simply pulled me to my feet. “Hey on the bright side, your girl scored, and we won.”
Phoenix had run the whole length of the field. I couldn’t help but think how cliché it was that the girl I had a crush on was the one to win the game. The “all-star.”
“Would you look at that?” Stella pointed. “Your girl’s got game. Good for you.”
My cheeks flushed. As her friends ran to her on the field I imagined what it would be like to be her girl. Would she run to me after a victory like this? Would she run into my arms and kiss me in front of everyone? Did I want her to? I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts.
My brain must still have been foggy from the fall because I knew I wasn’t ready for that. I wasn’t even sure it was something that I wanted ever. But I couldn’t help but think it might be nice.
I was brought out of my daydream when I realized Phoenix actually was running toward me. A sense of pride rushed through me. She wasn’t going to kiss me, but she was still coming to me just the same. Maybe I do want it.
“You didn’t tell me you were the superstar of the team,” I said, pulling her into a hug. Man did she smell good. How is that possible after playing an entire game?
“Oh, I’m not. That was luck.” She pulled away and pointed toward the field. “You didn’t tell me you had such great balance,” she teased. “Don’t think for a second I didn’t see that.”
My head dropped to my chest. “Oh God.”
“Don’t worry,” Phoenix laughed, lifting my eyes back up to m
eet hers, “I thought you were adorable.”
My stomach flipped in my chest.
Stella stood up and pulled Phoenix in a hug too. “You did great. But next time I’m going to need you to score a few more points. I want the other team to really feel it.”
Phoenix swatted at Stella. “Shut up. That wasn’t enough for you?”
As they playfully quipped back and forth, I began gathering our possessions together: the empty beer bottles, the cooler, and our chairs.
Phoenix reached out and took one of the chairs from my arm. “So tell me,” she mused, “who wants to explain what you guys were doing during the game? Because my teammates said they wanted to play whatever game you guys were playing, or drink whatever you were drinking. And I have to agree it looked like fun.”
Stella and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. Yeah, it was a lot of fun, and dangerous too apparently.
Chapter Eight
“We’ve got the cider!” I cheered as we walked into Nico’s apartment. “And the all-star too, apparently.”
“Stopppp,” Phoenix pleaded, tossing her bangs to the side. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Oh it so was.”
We stood there grinning awkwardly at each other until a boy I didn’t recognize started walking in our direction. He gave Phoenix a quick hug before turning to me.
“You must be Nico,” I sang, still high from teasing Phoenix, who was now making her way across the room toward Halley.
“And you must be Aurora. I’ve heard so much about you.” He took me into a quick hug too.
“All bad I hope?”
“Oh definitely. I may have heard about an incident where you fell off a chair this afternoon?”
“What! Are you kidding me? I’m going to kill Phoenix.” I began looking around for her, ready to tackle her when I saw her, but she must have escaped to the living room.
“It’s all good,” he said. “We only invite the crazy ones here anyway.”