Everyone murmured agreement.
Almost everyone. “Um,” Joey said again.
“You’re just who we need,” the right fielder with candy corn toenails told Zach. Okay, playing to Zach’s ego was always a good idea, but the right fielder sucked at being charming. “Who’s a better player than you?”
“No one,” Zach replied promptly. Rude. At least that was in character.
“Yeah, you’re just as good if not better than Chambers and you’re alsostraight.”
“Um, guys,” Joey said. I agreed again.
“Alright, so,” Sam started, pointedly ignoring Joey.
Joey would not be pointedly ignored. “UM,” he basically yelled, as forcefully as he could. “UM!” It was pretty forceful. Zach’s eyebrows rose at that, but he didn’t start laughing, so I was grudgingly impressed with his restraint.
“What, Joey, what?” Sam glared at him, not appreciating the interruption. “If you could occasionally string a sentence together that’s not about Megan Fox, who isn’t even very hot anymore, maybe we would be coming to you instead.” He gestured impatiently. “Spit it out, man.”
Joey sent him a murderous look and opened his mouth to speak, then shook his head. “No, never mind.” And he didn’t seem mad, more like he knew something they didn’t. That rarely happened.
Everyone was being so weird today. I wasn’t even sure Joey knew his own address. “Megan Fox is still hot,” he muttered, idly kicking at a nearby bench with weights stacked near it.
“Never loved her,” the junior said. This was serious, so I made a concentrated effort not to describe him using the system Ryan and I had made up. “Transformersrocks though,” Zebras, I mean, the junior admitted.
Zach rolled his eyes.
“She’s getting older, yeah, can’t deny that,” the sophmore said. “Also doesn’t change anything. She’s still hot.” He and Joey fist bumped.
“Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green certainly make an attractive couple,” Zach announced his opinion like it was of vital importance.
Normally I would roll my eyes. Zach was always trying to convince me that older guys with beards were, like, theultimatein dude hotness. I couldn’t get past the downsides. Beards looked really patchy and awful for a long time first and weren’t very cleanly. Getting food stuck on your face wasn’t sexy.
Or maybe it was for some people. I don’t want to judge, but I didn’t find it appealing.
Yes, Brian Whatever Whatever was hot. Really freaking hot. One of those guys that only got better with age. That was just an objective fact, but his scruffy face wasn’t my favorite look of his.
And yeah, see? That whole thing where I’m not straight and Zach is? Totally freaking wrong. Well, I’m not straight. I’m bi. Just like Zach. Who was, I don’t know, like, the bi-est bi to ever bi.
“Okay, anyway,” Sam said, looking at Zach. “You’re in?”
“I’m definitely in.” He looked all severe and intense. “Should we make a secret handshake?” Oh my god.
They didn’t make a secret handshake. They broke up their meeting and I managed not to be seen, hiding around the corner.
What? And also, what?
What?!?
This was like an out of body experience. I saw what happened, I heard it, but I wasn’t there. Yes, I was just outside of the room, but I meant I wasn’t in my body while it happened. Right, that was what out of body experience meant. Because none of the feelings were getting to me. I should be having feelings now.
Shock, betrayal, anger, those sounded like some appropriate feelings to be feeling at a time like this. I waited and nothing happened. I was numb.
Maybe because it was too weird.
My team were talking about me behind my back. Myteam.We’d gotten through this. It was over. There was some kind of mistake.
The hard part was over.
I thought the hard part was over.
