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It doesn’t come as a surprise that Samara is there since they live in the same neighborhood, but I’m suddenly not in a hurry to get over there. I listen as Jocelyn describes the soccer game then let Marcus and Abby go on and on about the homecoming dance next month. Since they are high school royalty, it’s no secret to anyone that they are going to be homecoming king and queen. Aside from being the it couple, Marcus is the quarterback of our football team and Abby is the cheerleading captain. They are so perfect it’s ridiculous.
“What about you, Marjorie?” Abby asks before taking a long lick of her ice cream. “Any prospects for the homecoming dance?”
Why is everyone trying to get me to date? I shake my head and give Abby a sweet smile. “I’ll probably just go with my friends.”
Abby looks oddly happy about this answer, her already wide grin growing even bigger. “That’s great. That will be a lot of fun.” She looks at Marcus as if she’s asking him a silent question and when he subtly nods, she focuses back on me. “We’re getting a limo if you’d like to come with us. There are five of us going as of now.”
It surprises me that my brother is actually cool with me crashing a time for him and his friends, but with Abby watching me expectantly, I can’t say no. “That sounds awesome. I’d love to.”
Abby excitedly claps her hands together as if this is the greatest news in the world. She’s so sweet.
We stay at Fairfield’s for about fifteen more minutes before all piling back into the car. I drop everyone off at our house, then head over to Jazmin’s since I can’t avoid it any longer.
As soon as I get close to the house, I find that Jazmin and Samara are already in the driveway shooting hoops. I park on the street to leave plenty of room in case we end up playing a pick-up game. God knows Samara will most likely suggest it.
As soon as I’m out of my car, Samara sneers at me. “Think fast, Madden.”
She throws the ball without any more warning than that, but luckily my reflexes are quick, so I’m able to catch it. Samara clearly isn’t happy about this and her sneer becomes a frown. Maybe this was a bad idea.
“Let’s go inside and have a snack,” Jazmin says before I can turn around and leave on the spot. “My mom made chocolate chip cookies.”
Jazmin really does know my weakness. There’s no way I’m leaving now. “Sounds wonderful.”
When we get inside, Jazmin’s mom has just pulled another batch of fresh cookies out of the oven. Her mom is a literal superwoman. I grab one of the cookies and moan as it melts in my mouth.
When I open my eyes from enjoying this delectable delight, I realize everyone is staring at me. “Sorry. These are amazing,” I say with a giggle.
Miss Hunte smiles and winks at her daughter, before looking back at me with the same wide grin. “I’m really glad you like them.”
Now she practically shoos us out of the kitchen, insisting we get back to practicing. As soon as we’re outside, Samara unsurprisingly suggests a game. She proclaims Jazmin as the full-time point guard, essentially making it a competition between the two of us. Shocking.
I make sure she regrets that decision by faking her out and taking the ball in for an easy layup. After just ten minutes, I’m up by twenty points, and Samara decides that she needs to go home. Also shocking.
As soon as she’s far enough away not to notice, I glare at Jazmin, who immediately puts both hands in the air in surrender and backs away from me. “I know, I know. I’m sorry. She saw me outside and came down. It’s not like I could tell her to leave. Plus, she’s really nice when it doesn’t come to basketball.” Jazmin starts to laugh. “Correction. She’s really nice when it doesn’t come to you and basketball. She was fine before you got here.”
“I’ve literally done nothing to make her hate me though.”
Jazmin shrugs. “You play the same position as her, but much better. She’s just jealous.” Jazmin smirks and I can only imagine what’s coming next. “Or she has a crush on you. It’s so hard for her to suppress her feelings for you that she channels it into trying to be better than you at basketball.”
What’s everyone’s deal today? “That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard. Samara isn’t even gay.”
“Correction. Samara isn’t out. There’s no way you can believe that you’re actually the only gay one on the basketball team. It’s statistically impossible.”
“Are you trying to tell me something?” I joke.
“That’s… that’s not what I meant. I… obviously I was talking about Samara.”
That’s weird. I was clearly joking, but Jazmin doesn’t seem to have taken it that way at all. It makes me question if maybe she actually is gay. That doesn’t make sense though. Obviously, Jazmin knows she could talk to me if that were the case. There’s no reason to keep it a secret from me.
Jazmin looks at the ground then back toward her house, doing anything possible to avoid eye contact with me. “I should actually probably get inside and see if my mom needs any help with the dishes. I’m sorry.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you.” I take a step toward Jazmin, but she takes a step back. “I’m sorry if my question offended you.”
“Why would it offend me?” Jazmin asks with a laugh that sounds a little too forced. “I obvi love the gays.”
“Of course. I know. I’m sorry.” This has become incredibly awkward, so I decide it really is for the best if I just leave. “Have a good night. See you tomorrow,” I shout behind me as I walk away.
I’m hopeful that this will all blow over and things will be back to normal in English the next morning. When I get to school and find that a note has been shoved through the slats in my locker, I assume it must be from Jazmin.
