Mutual Hatred - Love Game (14 page)

"Like I said before, don't hate," Brandon said coolly.

Coughing loudly, Shelley retorted, "Whatever."

"Come on, you can come up with something better then that Sinclair! You're supposedly the one with the brains, right?"

He was goading her on and she knew it.

Well two can play that game.

"I refuse to dignify whatever you say with an answer."

"Oh, someone's going for big word now!"

"Hmph. Took you long enough to get here, Miller. How long did it take for you to pick out that outfit? Two hours?" Shelley said sarcastically.

"You were waiting for me? That's adorable!!"

"I wouldn't give you the time of day," said Shelley, matching his gaze with her own.

"Bull. You want me so bad it's killing you."

"Well you better take more sleeping pills because the only way you're getting me is in your dreams!" retorted Shelley.

"It's nice to see this side of you," smirked Brandon.

Is that sarcasm I hear?

"What are you talking about? I look good from all sides!" Shelley said defensively.

"So says the girl who accuses
me
of being full of myself."

"At least I don't flaunt it everywhere I go."

"I don't feel like having this conversation with you anymore.
Bye
," emphasized Brandon as he tried to get past her, roughly shoving her to the side.

"Hey! That hurt! My arm is gonna bruise now you little-" protested Shelley, clutching her shoulder.

Brandon shushed her, placing his index finger over her mouth. "Wouldn't want the kids to hear your foul language, would we princess?" he smirked.

Damn annoying smirk. They should be outlawed. The way they drove her crazy-oh he was going to pay dearly.

Just for good measure, as she passed by Brandon's car, Shelley loudly said, "Oops, was that Brandon's car I just keyed?"

She stood not more than ten seconds next to the BMW when Brandon came hurtling out.

"Fucking bitch! If you fucking keyed it you're a dead woman!" he bellowed as he pushed her aside in order to examine the paint.

"Relax, kid. I didn't do anything. It's so much fun messing with you though," said Shelley, failing miserably to suppress a smile.

Brandon straightened up so that they were now eye to eye. In all honesty, Shelley was glaring defiantly
up
at Brandon. But that's far from the point.

"You can mess with me, but don't ever touch Nikki. She's my baby," Brandon said softly.

Shelley shuddered. His tone made the hair on the back of her neck stand.

Not
.

"You named your car?" she asked in disbelief.

"Doesn't everyone?"

Hmm, no.

"Only you, Brandon," Shelley said shaking her head, "Only you. Some days I question your sanity."

"I guess it wouldn't change your mind if I told you I went to therapy, would it?"

Um…therapy? For what? Shelley's mind seemed to scream.

"This and that," he said, reading her mind once more, "Actually, the day I met you I started going."

How comforting.

Brandon turned to leave, but Shelley called after him, "Wait!"

He stopped in his tracks, and gazed at her expectantly. "You really shouldn't throw yourself at me like that, Sinclair."

"Oh, you pervert. You just ruined the moment!" cried Shelley.

"Out with it, woman. I've got kids to corrupt."

"Look, I just wanted to say thanks," Shelley said apprehensively.

"For what?"

"The necklace. It really is gorgeous," she said earnestly.

"Don't mention it. I-er, my mom, thought you'd like it. See ya."

His mom.

Yeah, sure.

Chapter 12 – Meet the Parents

Shelley probably would have thought more about Brandon's therapy sessions, but she wasn't sure if he was serious or not, so she disregarded it. Besides, she had more important things on her mind. Like the monthly Parent Meeting scheduled for Friday. Mr. Wise had told her not to stress; she'd just tell them what the team was up to and answer any questions.

Of course, everything's always easier said than done, right?

What if they didn't like her?

And don't the things you dread always come up sooner than you think they should? For instance, the days between Monday and Friday were a breeze. Before she knew it, Shelley was standing at the base of the gym, over fifty parents and guardians sitting in the bleachers staring at her while Mr. Wise oversaw practice.

Just dandy.

Not to mention awkward.

Shelley realized that they were all waiting for
her
to say something.
Good going, Shelley! They probably think you're incompetent or something like that!

God, what a lie. But sometimes its okay to lie to yourself. Sometimes it gets you motivated. Shelley Sinclair was
not
incompetent. She was miles away from being useless. Not even close.

Admittedly, she was procrastinating again. She had prepared an agenda on Wednesday night, but at this point she was pretty sure following it would be a bore. She wanted these parents to be involved and know what was going on.

And if that meant doing things her way, so be it. After all, Shelley had always done things her way.

Clearing her throat, she decided it was now or never. "Good morning, parents. I'd like to thank all of you for taking time out of your busy schedules this morning to attend the parent meeting. I know most of you are wondering who I am. Maybe you already know; I'm sure several of your sons have mentioned me once or twice."

Several parents murmured and nodded in agreement. Satisfied, Shelley continued. "I am Shelley Sinclair. I will be a senior at Wilson in September. Football is my passion. I can't play on the team, so when Mr. Wise asked me to help him out, I figured why not? So here I am. As many of you already know, Mr. Wise is retiring and I'll be doing most of the coaching this year. If you
ever
have any concerns about anything regarding your son, the team, or just advice, I'd be happy to hear you out."

Shelley quickly told them about her rules, the training schedule, and anything she felt that they needed to know.

"Anyways, I just wanted to end this by saying that I'm looking forward to working with everyone this season and I hope we do as well as I think we will!"

The parents actually cheered (okay, well the crowd was mostly dad's, but there were several moms in there too!). As they filed down the bleachers, the team burst into the gym. Shelley called out, "I'll be here to answer any questions you may have!"

One parent-it just so happened to be a mom-pushed her way through the sea of parents to get to Shelley, who was talking to Johnny Nickol.

"So you're the famous Shelley Sinclair! My son won't shut up about you!" the woman said with a warm smile.

She looked so familiar. With that unmistakable sandy blonde hair and those bright blue eyes, it was no question as to where Brandon had inherited his good looks. "You must be Mrs. Miller. Am I right?"

"Oh, you're good!" beamed Mrs. Miller, "But please, call me Jana. My husband, Scott, couldn't make it today so I told him I'd come. I just wanted to let you know that I think you'll do a fine job this year, sweetie."

"Aw, gee, thanks!" blushed Shelley, "Oh, before I forget, I want to thank you for the necklace. I'm in love with it!"

Mrs. Miller gave Shelley an odd look. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Brandon went out and bought it himself; I didn't even know it until Mastercard sent me the credit bill."

It was Shelley's turn to gawk.

Smiling, Mrs. Miller continued, "You must be very special for Brandon to have done that for you, no offense."

"None taken," Shelley said quickly.

"Did he tell you
I
picked it out?" asked Mrs. Miller, an amused expression taking over her face.

"Well, um, actually, yes," said Shelley.

Mrs. Miller clapped a French manicured hand over her mouth. "Oh my! I shouldn't have told you that, then. Brandon will be furious if he finds out I spilled the beans."

Shelley giggled. "Don't worry; he'll never find out. It'll be our secret."

"What secret?" asked Brandon, coming up behind his mom and draping an arm around her shoulders.

"If we could tell you then it wouldn't be a secret, would it?" Shelley said smugly.

Brandon glanced at Shelley, then his mom, and back at Shelley. "I don't like this," he said warily, "My mom and my coach have a secret? That's never a good sign."

Jana Miller fondly ruffled her son's head. "Oh, it's not about
you
," she said laughingly, throwing a not-so-subtle wink at Shelley.

"Mother, it better not be any childhood stories Shelley can blackmail me with," warned Brandon.

"Ooh, do tell, Mrs. Miller!" squealed Shelley.

"Perhaps over lunch?" she answered innocently.

Shelley sighed. "Actually, I'm going out to lunch with my mom."

"Another time then?" frowned Mrs. Miller.

"On the other hand, we could all go out to lunch. That is, if you don't mind," Shelley added hastily.

"Oh I wouldn't want to intrude on mother-daughter time."

"Nonsense! We can all get to know each other while you tell me an embarrassing story about Brandon."

Turning to Brandon, who was glaring daggers at Shelley, Mrs. Miller told her son, "Isn't she a sweet girl? Why can't you date girls like Shelley, hmm? Not like the trash you brought home the other night. Couldn't even string together a sentence!"

Brandon flushed a bright red and mumbled, "Now is
not
the time to lecture me on who I should and shouldn't date, mother."

Shelley finally noticed that a line of parents had formed nearby, all looking like they had questions that needed to be answered. "Excuse me," she said apologetically to Mrs. Miller, "Let me finish up here and we'll go."

"Of course dear. Brandon and I will be out back," replied Mrs. Miller as she ushered her son outside.

Seeing the Millers' departure, the other parents took it as a sign that it was time to start firing questions.

"Do you really think a team can make the comeback you're expecting? I mean, you're talking about the team who's been on a losing streak for the past decade or so!" asked one dad.

"New coach, new strategy. That's all I have to say. The rest is up to fate," Shelley said simply, "Personally, I think you should all be supportive of your sons. They've really cleaned up their acts and I've been seeing a lot of improvement."

Shelley fielded questions from other parents, answering them as best she could. On her way out, she heard a set of parents talking to Mr. Wise. They were speaking in hushed tones, but Shelley could still hear them. Pretending to put her things away, she carefully listened.

"Mike, do you really think it
wise
to have a girl coaching this team? And she's so young, too!" exclaimed one of the dads.

"I have complete faith in Shelley. In over a month, she's managed to turn the team around and earn their respect and admiration. She's a natural leader. Most people want power, but when they have it, they don't know what to do with it. Ms. Sinclair, on the other hand, knows what she's doing. I've watched her from my office. Believe me, if anyone can lead this team to victory, its going to be Shelley."

God, Mr. Wise's speech made her want to cry. To think that someone had
so much faith
in her. It made her even more determined to succeed this season, despite what everyone else thought.

Leave it to another parent to ruin the moment. "But she's a
girl
. What does she know about football?" another dad persisted.

Shelley heard Mr. Wise's booming voice say, "It doesn't matter if she's a girl. She knows everything there is to know about football, and that's all I need. It shouldn't matter what gender a coach is as long as said coach gets the right results!"

"Well if she
doesn't
get the right results, we'll pull our sons out of the football team."

"Now why in tarnation would you do that, hmm? To punish Shelley or to punish your sons? Why would you stop them from doing something they love? If it's one thing I don't understand, it's why you all didn't bother pulling them out when
I
was coaching. That I can understand. But I am appalled that you would go so far as to threaten her position like this," declared Mr. Wise.