Hooked (5 page)

     “
I’m trying to locate a box for Coach Thompson. 
It’s supposed to be our new practice jerseys.”  Well, so much for making it to P.E. before the bell, I think
,
after I hear the second bell ring.

     “You know, I think I
remember seeing
a box under the counter over there
,
”
s
he says pointing by the door.  “Dr. Presley set it under there this morning to get it out of the way.” 

     I go over and find it.  “Thanks, I’ll see you later
,
Ms.
Stacy
.
I better get to gym before Coach Taylor gives me a tardy.”

    I run back and go through the back door at the gym so I can hurry up and change.  I go
into
the locker room and
immediately realize
that
I’m
later than I thought
,
because no one is in the locker room.  Oh well, I think
,
m
aybe Coach will still be in his office.  That theory was shot out of the water as soon as I walked on the court.  Coach had everybody paired up and was giving a speech about how these are your partner
s
this semester and anytime you do anything in his class you will use the buddy system
.  Great
,
I thought, just
freakin
’ great
.  Now
,
I’m
gonna
get stuck with someone who doesn’t play
sports
and we are going to lose at everything.

     I walk up to Coach and explain where I was and that Coach Thompson asked me to pick up the jerseys.  He said it was fine.  I started to walk away, but jumped when he shouted out above everybody.  “
Diamond
,
you
’re
with
Davis
!” 

    
I looked around the gym thinking who the heck is
Davis
?  It does not take long before he walks up to me. 
My brain immediately recognizes him as the guy from the Dairy Queen.
I just stare at him.  The first thing I notice are his arms.  They are tan and muscular.  I didn’t realize he was so big at the
D
airy
Q
ueen.  He stood about 6’1’’
or
6’2’’.  He probably
outweighed
me by 60lbs
,
but he wasn’t husky
,
he was just built.
  I looked him over.  There was something about this guy that intrigued me and at the same time
,
I knew I should
stay away from
him.  He exuded confidence and looked to be quiet and intense.  He was wearing our school issued gym uniform, the same as everyone else, yet on him it looked different.  His shorts hung low on his hips and his
T-shirt
wasn’t tight
,
but it fit him well.  You could see the outline of his abs and I couldn’t help but s
t
are. 

     Then, I noticed
a tattoo on his
left forearm
, but
I couldn’t make it out with the angle he had his arm.  When I finally made eye contact with him, he had a smug smile on his lips.  “You about done taking inventory?”  He asked with a cocked
eyebrow. 

    
I just looked at him.  I could not believe he said that to me
,
I mean, how rude could one person be?  Jerk
,
I thought
,
definitely
a jerk.  “I wasn’t trying to stare at yo
u
,
I’ve just never seen you before
,
” I said lying. 

    
He didn’t say a word.  He looked at me so intense I
felt flustered and intimidated.  He hadn’t given me a reason to be scared of him
,
but something about him screamed
dangerous.  Not dangerous as in
,
I’m
going to hurt you
,
but I knew nothing about him and he
seemed cocky.  The
silence that surrounded us at the moment was making me very uncomfortable.

    
“Where are you from?”  I asked him still watching him watch me.

     “I’ve lived lots of places
,
”
h
e answers vaguely.  I don’t say anything to this answer.  It is frustrating me that I can’t tell if he is being a smart
-
ass
or not.

     “
Diamond
, you and
Davis
go get the basketballs out of the supply closet
,
” Coach says.

     He follows me to the other end of the gym and I can feel him looking at me.  I am
really
uncomfortable now because these shorts are short and I know
he is getting a good look at me.  I have never felt like this before just from
someone’s
gaze.  Just before we reach the
storage
closet, I turn around to ask him his first name and he smacks right into me.  He was so much taller than me that my face nestled into his chest.  His hands went right to my hips and it was like an electric shock.  It startled me.  I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until he asked if I was ok
ay
.  I tilted my head up until our eyes met.  I couldn’t find the words, so I just
nodded
my head yes. 

    
Finally, he remove
d
his hands from my waist and clears his throat
and says,
“So, what were you going to say?”

     “I was just going to ask your first name
,
” I say still feeling a little off.

     “Cash
,
” he replied. 

    
I rolled it over in my mind.  Cash, the name fit him.  I thought about telling him my name
,
but something stopped me.  No, I thought to myself
,
he doesn’t care because if he did
,
he would have asked.  I felt a pang of disappointment.  Not that we would have dated or anything
,
but he did not seem interested in having a conversation.  So
,
I let it go and pulled the basketball rack out and started pushing it back to the center of the court.  He followed behind me again.

     The rest of the period, Coach had us doing shooting drills and
free throws
. I noticed he wasn’t bad
,
but he did not look to me like he played on a team.  I made most of my shots.  I noticed a lot of the other kids in the class looking at him.  The girls were of course
,
checking him out.  I didn’t really blame them, he was definitely cute.  I
t
was kind of weird though
,
because he didn’t talk to anyone and I hadn’t
noticed
him looking at any of the girls.  I
t
was like he was disinterested in everything.

     I decided to start shooting three pointers to see how many I could make.  I made four in a row and I heard Matt, a guy on the basketball team
,
coming up behind me.  “Nice form, Mill
i
e
,
”
h
e whispered in my ear and smacked me on my butt. 

    
Ugh, Matt is
annoying
sometimes.  He is harmless
,
but he has no tact.  I went out with him a couple of times
,
but I didn’t feel a connection with him so it kind of fizzled out
.  I roll my eyes at him and he keeps going.  I felt eyes on me and I
look
to my left to see Cash was staring at me with the bluest eyes.  It made me uncomfortable
,
so I looked away quickly. 

     I could not put my finger on what his story was.  He was
n’t creepy weird when he stared at me
,
but he wouldn’t say anything to me.
The bell rang for us to change and I ran to the locker room.  The rest of the day went by pretty fast. 
I couldn’t wait to tell Jess and Cara that the
D
airy
Q
ueen guy was in my P.E. class and his name was Cash
Davis
.  They were excited when I finally caught up with them.  Jess said that this would get interesting and Cara wouldn’t stop talking about how this was a sign that our predictions were most definitely coming true this year.  I decided not to talk too much about it until I knew more about him.  We didn’t have long to discuss it because Jess and I had to get to basketball practice.

    
It was fun catching up with everyone and I guess my classes won’t be that bad.  I
only saw
Cash one more time that day.  He walked passed my locker with his head
down and he had his hands in his pockets.  He never looked up my way.  There was something sad about his demeanor.  I had no idea what had happened in his life
,
but he had an aura about him that said he didn’t need anyone.  Cash seemed to be the strong,
silent
and independent type.  I tried
,
but failed miserably
,
not think about him the rest of the day.

CHAPTER
3

     When I got home after practice
,
my mom and dad were in the kitchen.  “Hey guys, what are you doing?”

    
I’m j
ust finishing up the last bit on supper
,
”
m
y mom said.  “Go ahead and wash up and it’ll be ready by the time you get back down here.”

     When I got up to my room, I noticed I had a text from Jess
.

*Plans for 2night?

*Nope, u?

*Can I spend the night?  Anna is working a double n
I’m
not
feeling
being
by myself.

     I yelled down at mom and asked if it was ok
ay
and she said sure.  I text
ed
her
back
and told her that it was cool.  She text
ed
me
back and asked if I could come get her because Anna had to use her car because hers was in t
h
e shop.
Mom said that was fine, so I
replied and
told her I was on my way.

    I still had on my basketball clothes from practice.  They were sweaty and gross
,
but I didn’t want to change without showering first. 
I didn’t really care about going to Jess’
apartment
like this.  I was just going there and straight back home, so it wasn’t like I was going to see anyone or anything. 

    
When I pulled in
at Jess’ apartment,
I noticed Cash getting out of a black 1967
C
am
a
ro
.  The only reason I knew what kind of
car it was
,
is because m
y dad used to have one identical.  I’ve seen all the pictures of h
im and his friends in New York and my mom told me that’s what got her to go out with him the first time.

    
Cash looked so good in that car, it suited him and I got a feeling he built it himself.  He looked like he knew his way around a car.
  Of course
,
he drove a muscle car, why couldn’t he drive an
E
scort
,
so I could at least not like one thing about him
?