In Your Arms (11 page)

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize that I was asking that many questions. I mean I think I’m actually starting to understand the game,” Sam answered.

“If you say so,” Michael mumbled.

Just about that time, Sam looked down and noticed Tracy walking away from the bleachers, followed by her girls.

“Why is she leaving? The game is not even over yet. We still have twenty minutes left,” Sam said.

“Who’s leaving?” Alex asked.

“Tracy and her posse.”

“I don’t know. They are tired of the game, maybe. Who knows? And Sam, you really need to stop saying ‘posse’. Now shut up and enjoy the rest of the game and don’t worry about Tracy. I mean, if she’s gone, that’s one less person you have to deal with and one less person Phillip will talk too.”

Sam sat in silence, taking in the rest of the game until she saw Tracy and the others walking back to their seats.

“Hey, look, they’re back,” Sam pointed out.

“You couldn’t go twenty minutes without any chatter?” Alex mocked.

“I resent that,” Sam said. “But I figured out where they went.”

“Where, Sam?” Michael seemed tired of her interruptions.

“The coffee house. They went to go buy iced coffee. Look,” she said, pointing down at them.

“That’s so great, Sam. We really needed to know that,” Michael said unenthusiastically.

“Geesh, sorry I even said anything, you fuddy duddies,” Sam said just as the countdown clock struck zero. The crowd erupted in cheers. Michael, Alex, and Sam jumped out of their seats, along with the rest of the fans as the Knights gathered along the sidelines, proud of their victory.

“So you two ready to go?” Michael asked after the crowd died down.

“Yeah, sure.” Alex and Sam said in unison.

They began to make their way back to the car when Sam realized she left her purse in the stands. “Oh wait, I forgot my purse. I’ll catch up to you guys. I’ll only be a second,” she said, making her way back to their seats.

“Sam is always forgetting something. But she wouldn't be Sam if she didn't!” Alex told Michael lovingly as she walked away.

Sam grabbed her purse that was lying underneath the bench where they had been sitting then turned to head back down.

“Well, if it isn’t Samantha Baker,” Tracy said as Sam stepped off the bleachers.

“What do you want, Tracy?”

“I just wanted to know what made you come to the football game. I mean, you haven’t ever been to a game, so why start going now? There’s a no freak policy. I don’t even know how you got in here.”

“Oh really, ‘cause I thought the sign said:
No bitches allowed
.”

Tracy’s mouth opened. “You are a loser, Sam Baker.”

“And you are a slut, Tracy Gibbons,” Sam retorted.

“I can’t believe you just called me a slut. I mean, look at your outfit, freak—I bet you got that from your friend's closet and just to let you know, she doesn’t have any style either.”

“And I bet you didn’t know that your boyfriend was the one who invited me here tonight and you should really ask your doctor to fix those,” she said, pointing to Tracy’s chest. “I mean, he didn’t do a very good job.”

“You bitch,” Tracy snarled as she dumped the contents of her cup down the front of Sam’s shirt.

Sam gasped as the cold coffee hit her. She couldn’t believe Tracy had just done that. How low was she? Well, how low was Sam, stooping to Tracy’s level? Sam looked down at her newly soaked shirt, now stained with coffee then backed away from Tracy, who had a victorious smile on her face. Sam turned around and walked away. Tracy began laughing with the others who had been standing around her.

A few moments later, Phillip’s familiar voice called, “Hey, Sam, wait up,”

Sam didn’t want to stop, she had a coffee-stained, wet T-shirt. The once cute outfit she had been wearing proudly was now ruined by Tracy and her iced coffee.

“Hey, Sam, I said wait up,” Phillip said, grabbing hold of Sam’s arm as he caught up to her.

“What?” she said, turning to face him. He looked so cute in his jersey, with his sweat-dampened hair sticking to his forehead.

“What happened to you?” he asked, glancing down at her shirt.

Sam looked down, noticing his gaze lingered where her bra showed through her damp shirt. “Ask your girlfriend.”

“Tracy? Did she do this to you?” he asked.

“Who else would be mean enough to pour a cup of iced coffee down someone’s white T-shirt? What do you see in her, Phillip? Are you that shallow? Her whole self-esteem is about bashing down others,” Sam said indignantly.

“What happened?” Phillip asked, taking off his team jacket and wrapping it around Sam.

“Nice game out there,” Sam said, changing the subject.

“Thanks, did you understand it?” Phillip asked with a grin.

“Uh, I could say I did, but then you’d call me a liar. But really I got bits and pieces of it and the rest of the time I just bothered Michael with my questions. Needless to say, I don’t think he’s going to be sitting next to me at the next game.” Sam smiled.

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it, even if you only understood about thirty percent of it.”

“Uh, more like fifteen,” Sam corrected him.

“Fifteen?” Phillip replied incredulously.

Sam’s smile broadened. “Yes, only fifteen. I’m not as smart as I look.”

“Apparently not.” He smiled back at her.

“Hey, I meant in sports,” she clarified.

“Of course. I knew that,” he joked.

“I better go, Alex and Michael are waiting for me,” she said as she turned to walk away.

“Hey, Sam,” he called after her.

“Yeah?” she said. “Oh, your jacket.” Sam began to take it off.

“No, keep it. You can give it to me tomorrow,” he said. “And thanks for coming.”

“No problem,” she said, adjusting the jacket on her shoulders.

* * *

“Tracy threw her iced coffee on you?” Alex exclaimed after Michael dropped them off.

“I might have made a comment about how fake her boobs looked,” Sam admitted.

Alex died with laughter. Sam actually standing up to Tracy seemed comical to her. Not just that she was standing up for herself, but that she actually commented on Tracy’s boob job. Everyone suspected that she’d had them done. One day she was flat then bam, after Christmas Break, she had boobs and was flaunting them in faces of all the boys, while being extra obnoxious to the girls not 'cool' enough for her.

“It’s not funny, she ruined my shirt! Now I’m going to have to bleach it back to white again,” Sam said.

“What did Phillip say after you told him about the boob thing?” Alex asked.

“I didn’t. I just told him she threw her coffee on me. Now I better get inside and take a shower. I’m sticky and smell like coffee.”

“All right, see you tomorrow,” Alex called as they both entered their respective houses.

Sam ran up the stairs before her mother had any chance to see her. She took her time in the bathroom and emerged thirty minutes later, walking into her room and setting her alarm clock. She had already completed her homework before they went to the game.

“Sammy, Mommy said you went to a football game,” Benjamin said as he walked up to her desk.

“Yeah, Benny, I went to go watch Phillip play. Do you remember him?”

“I ‘member him. I like him.”

“Yeah, me too,” Sam said, picking him onto her lap. “Did Mommy help you get ready for bed?”

“Yes, but I wanted you to tuck me in.”

“Oh, really?” Sam said, poking his sides, causing him to squirm around.

“That tickles, Sammy.”

Sam stopped tickling her brother just as something flashed on her computer screen. “What’s that, Sammy?” Benjamin pointed to the flashing box.

“That’s Phillip.” She smiled.

“That’s not Phillip. That’s a box.”

“No, Benny, that’s Phillip writing to me.”

“What did he say?”

“He said ‘hey’,”

“Hi, Phillip!” Benjamin yelled at the screen.

“Benny, you can’t talk to him through the computer, you have to write to him,” she laughed.

“Oh,” Benjamin looked down at the computer keyboard and began typing random letters, as though he was actually writing to Phillip.

PhilyCheeseSteak: Hey, Sam.

SamIam: Hey, what’s up?

PhilyCheeseSteak: So I asked Tracy why she threw her coffee on you, and she said it was because you made reference to her breasts.

SamIam: Hey, watch what you say, Benjamin is with me.

PhilyCheeseSteak: What?

SamIam: Yeah, he’s here with me.

PhilyCheeseSteak: Tell him I said hello, then.

SamIam:fjalfoehtn3-sjjslkhndkf-prjmbnr[ojfmeorjvnmeo3gjk,foqior

PhilyCheeseSteak: Let me guess, Benjamin is trying to say something to me.

SamIam: I think it’s rather cute. He was trying to tell you that he misses playing with you and that he wants you to come over to play with him.

PhilyCheeseSteak: He said all that in one line of gibberish?

SamIam: Yes, kids have a lot of imagination these days. So what are you going to tell him?

PhilyCheeseSteak: You can tell him I’ll be there tomorrow. I mean I have to pick you up anyway. I might as well come over earlier and play with him.

SamIam: Don’t come just because he wants you to, come because you want to.

PhilyCheeseSteak: I do want to come. Why wouldn’t I?

SamIam: Wait, did you say you’ll pick me up?

PhilyCheeseSteak: Yeah. We’re going ice skating, right? Or did you change your mind already?

SamIam: I haven’t changed my mind, I just wasn’t sure you would go after Tracy told you what I said. And also what I said to you

PhilyCheeseSteak: Well, she shouldn’t have provoked you.

SamIam: I shouldn’t have stooped to her level. Now I have to go put Benny to bed so, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

PhilyCheeseSteak: Sure, talk to you tomorrow. Tell Benjamin I said good night.

Sam logged off her account and walked Benjamin to his room.

“All right, Benny, get into bed,” Sam said as she pulled back the comforter.

Benjamin climbed into bed. “Do you like Phillip, Sammy?”

“Why do you want to know, silly?”

“Cause you were smiling when he was talking to you.”

“Fine, silly, I like him. Will that make you go to bed?”

“Does that mean I’ll get to see him more?”

“No, Benny, because he doesn’t like me back,” Sam explained.

“Oh…why?”

“I don’t know, maybe you should ask him yourself,” she joked. “Okay, it’s time for bed.”

“Where’s Thomas?” Benjamin asked.

Sam searched around for Benjamin’s stuffed
Thomas the Tank Engine
. He couldn’t sleep without it. “Here it is,” she said, handing it to him.

“Thanks, Sammy,” he said, squeezing the stuffed toy to his chest.

“All right, goodnight, Benny. Have sweet dreams.”

“Night, Sammy. Love you.”

* * *

The next day, Sam arrived at school earlier than usual. As she passed through security, she noticed Josh talking to Billy. It looked like harmless banter, until she noticed how angry Josh looked and how scared Billy. Josh met her gaze, and he frowned, the pulled Billy by the collar into an empty classroom. Josh shut the door, and Sam continued down the hall, trying to ignore her deep fear. She shouldn’t have let him see her looking at him. Every time she did, she knew she reacted oddly. Soon, he was going to realize something was up and become suspicious of her.

“Hey, Sam,” Alex said, coming up behind her.

“Hey, where’s Michael?”

“He’s around here somewhere. So I see you have Phillip’s jacket still.”

“Yeah, he told me to give it to him today,” she said, hanging the jacket up in her locker.

“Well, you ready for Mr. Stevens? Do you think you’ll treat him any different now that you know he’s dating Tracy, or whatever you would call it,” Alex said as they walked into the classroom.

“Shh, not so loud, someone might hear you.”

“Well, will you?”

“No, of course not, at least I’ll try not to treat him differently,” she said as they sat down in their seats.

The bell rang moments later as the rest of the students filed into the classroom.

“All right, class, settle down,” Mr. Stevens announced. “I’m going to pass out the quizzes you took yesterday, and may I say, most of you will be very disappointed.”

“Great job, Sam,” he said, setting her quiz on the table.

“Now how did you manage an A?” Alex asked, displaying her own F.

“I don’t know. I study, maybe.” Sam smiled.

“Hey, I study too.”

“Maybe you should ask Michael to tutor you,” Sam said. “Although I don’t think you would be doing much studying.”

Alex narrowed her eyes.

“Excellent job, Tracy, your math is really improving,” Mr. Stevens said.

Sam and Alex exchanged glances and for the rest of the period Sam could hardly concentrate on Mr. Stevens’ lecture without noticing preferential treatment toward Tracy. Why hadn’t she figured it out before? It was so plainly obvious.

* * *

It wasn’t until lunch that Sam was able to give Phillip back his jacket. He came up behind her while she was opening her locker.

“Hey, Sam,” he said, leaning against the wall.

“Hey, I have your jacket.” Sam reached into her locker and pulled it out. “Here you go.”

“Thanks, but that’s not the only reason why I came here. I mean I wanted to ask you if I could come over after school. We don’t have practice, so I was thinking it would leave more time to play with Benjamin.”

“Yeah, I think that would be fine. Benjamin would love it.”
Benny wasn’t the only one!

“Of course, so I’ll just follow you in my car then. I mean, I’m still planning on taking you to the ice rink.”

“Okay, just meet me here after school then,” Sam said.

“See you later, Sam,” Phillip said, turning to go into the cafeteria. Sam watched Phillip walk away, shortly joined by Tracy, who gave Sam a dirty look before following him.