*Monroe's POV*
I have to admit, kicking everyone’s asses at volleyball was quite satisfying. I’m generally pretty good at sports but I was on the varsity volleyball team all through my private school years. It had been a while, since I took a year off of school, so I was concerned I would be rusty. I wasn’t.
I quickly shower and change, thankful that there is no line for the showers since none of the other girls need it. By the time I finish, I walk out of the changeroom to find Charlie waiting for me by my locker. She says, “So, um I was thinking we should probably exchange numbers for, you know, homework purposes or whatever.”
I smile at her and say, “Yeah, I mean homework purposes but also friend purposes.” I hand her my phone and she types in her number and I send her a text so she has mine too. Just as I’m about to grab my backpack I look over to my right and find a tall blonde girl who I recognize from english lit backed up against the wall a couple lockers down from me with a very large dude in a letterman jacket caging her in with his arms. Must be one of Grant’s goons. Based on the terrified look on this girl's face she doesn’t want anything to do with this guy. I listen in and hear him say, “Come on, you used to love sleeping around the football team.”
“You know that’s not true Carl. Please, just leave me alone.”
“No can do baby doll,” He says as he lowers one of his hands to her hip and starts to pull her into him.
“Please, stop,” she tries to push his hand away but he’s strong and just grips her harder. I see red. I stomp a few steps over to them, grab his hand from her hip and twist his arm behind him into an arm bar.
“What the fuck!” He yells and I push up harder on his arm.
“Ouch! Stop!” He pleads. I don’t let go.
“Oh, you want me to stop? I’m pretty sure I just heard this girl say the same thing. Did you stop when she asked you to?” He doesn’t answer. I push up a little harder. “Answer me Carl!”
“N-no, I didn’t. Please just let me go. I’ll leave her alone, I swear!”
“Listen to me closely Carl, from here on out, if I find out that you have touched any girl without their consent I will pick up where I left off, and next time, I won’t be so nice. You wouldn’t want a dislocated shoulder to end your football season now would you Carl?”
“N-No!” he whimpers.
“Just to make sure this has all gotten through that thick head of yours, tell what is it we are never ever going to do again?”
“Touch girls without consent. Now please, let me go!”
“Good. Run along now Carl.” I release his arm and he scurries away, rubbing his shoulder. I turn my attention to the blonde girl on the wall.
“Are you okay?”
She nods. “Thank you,” she says.
“Of course,” I say. She still looks a bit confused and she still hasn’t moved from her spot against the wall.
“Is there someone I can get for you? A friend?”
She shakes her head and says, “You must be new here.” What’s that supposed to mean? I look back at Charlie and she gives me a look that indicates there is more to this story.
I sigh and say, “Well how about you hang out with us?”
She looks up at me abruptly and says, “I really don’t think you want to do that. It’ll be a whole lot easier to fit in here if you’re not associated with me.”
I roll my eyes and say, “Do I seem like I care about fitting in?” She gives me a look and then a small smile forms on her lips. Suddenly Charlie pipes in and says to the girl, “I had the same conversation with her this morning.” She smiles even wider and then sticks out her hand and says, “Okay then, I’m Maddy.” I take it and reply, “I’m Monroe, and that’s Charlie,” I release her had and then realize something, “Oh, wait you guys probably already know each other, right?”
Charlie quietly says, “Sort of. We never really ran in the same circles before.” There is definitely more to this story. I raise an eyebrow but decide to let it go. I’m sure they’ll tell me when they’re ready.
“So do you guys wanna hang out or something? What’s there to do around here?” They both look at me and then at each other when finally Maddy shrugs and says, “We could go to Lolly’s?”
Charlie’s face brightens at that and she nods happily. “What’s Lolly’s?”
“Only the best ice cream bar in town,” Maddy replies.
“Oh yes. Ice cream is my kryptonite,” I say, my mouth watering already. “Do you guys have cars or do we walk there?” There’s no way three of us are getting on my bike and besides, I only have one helmet.
Charlie shakes her head no and Maddy says, “I have a car.”
“I took my motorcycle this morning so how about Charlie goes with Maddy and I follow on my bike?”
They nod and then we all walk out of the school together. I point to where my bike is and they head off towards Maddy’s car. I walk over and throw on my gear before sitting on top of the bike. Just then, a blue Jetta pulls up with the windows rolled down and Maddy yells, “you ready?” I just nod and she pulls out and I follow her.
*Monroe's POV*Lolly’s is only a few streets over from the school. We probably could have walked, but whatever. I park my bike beside Maddy and the two girls get out and run over to my bike and Maddy says, “This has gotta be the coolest motorcycle I’ve ever seen! You are such a badass! This is not what I pictured when you said motorcycle. God I’m jealous.”“I can teach you how to ride it someday if you want to.”Her mouth pops open and then she hugs me abruptly and says, “Yes please!” I hug her back and smile. When she releases me I look to Charlie and say, “The same goes for you if you wanna learn.”She looks at the bike apprehensively and then back at me before saying, “I don’t know. Maybe.”
When I walk in the door, I’m greeted by slobber and tail wagging before they go and sit in front of their bowls and give me a look.“Oh you’re fine, I’m only late by like 15 minutes.”I fill up their bowls and they happily munch away while I start prepping some dinner. I’m not feeling particularly hungry after all the ice cream so I throw together a salad and top it with my leftover chicken from yesterday. After I eat I go in the backyard with the dogs and throw their frisbees until they’re tired out. Afterwards I throw on some gym clothes and head to the basement to start some kickboxing. Partway through my workout, my phone rings, and I see Tommy’s face pop up. I open the video chat and am greeted with three the three smiling faces of Tommy, Dylan and Ry
*Cade's POV*Walking into school this morning I find myself searching around for Monroe. I don’t see her in the halls and when the warning bell rings, Xander and I head for the Chemistry classroom. When we get there I find her already seated at her table, she’s laughing at something her friend says and her smile makes my heart skip a beat. Fuck, I’ve barely even spoken to the girl. How is she affecting me like this? I tear my eyes from here and convince myself it’s just because she’s new here. Everyone is fascinated by shiny new things aren’t they? That must be it. I’ll hook up with her once and the novelty will wear off.The rest of the day passes relatively uneventfully and, more than once, I find my eyes wandering over to her. She, once again, kicks our asses at volleyba
*Monroe's POV*It’s wednesday morning which means I’m almost halfway through my first week of senior year. As I’m running and watching the sun come up, I find my mind drifting to the strange boy from philosophy. Several times over the last two days, I’ve caught him watching me. He was such a douche-bag in philosophy on Monday but then yesterday he compliments my bike? What is his deal? I shake my head and focus on clearing my mind.The school day passes relatively quickly; until I get to philosophy. The boy sits down beside me once again and flashes me a smile that I’m sure usually has girls drooling at his feet. I have to admit, he is attractive with a sharp jawline, forest green eyes, full lips and brown hair that somehow looks intentional but also messy at the same time. But, I am all too familiar with this type of guy and
*Monroe's POV*Once both teams are filled, we get in position, and I make sure to spread out our weaker players. Since I picked first, Parker’s team served first. It goes straight to Cade, who bumps it to Xander. He volleys it and calls out my name so I run up from the back middle and spike it straight into a clear gap. As I walk past Xander he holds his fist out and says, “Nice spike.” I fist bump him and reply, “Nice volley.” As I turn back to the front, I just barely catch the glare Cade sends Xander and Xander’s shrug in return. What’s that about? I decide to ignore it and focus on winning. The teams are much more evenly matched this time so we had to work a lot harder for the win, but in the end we still came out on top. When we score the final point Everyone yells ou
*Cade's POV*When Monroe is a good distance away I smack Xander hard in the chest, and say, “What the fuck was that, man?”“Um, first of all: ouch. Second: you’re welcome. I know you wanted to know if she was coming and I could tell you weren’t gonna ask her.”“Was all the flirting necessary?” I don’t even try to hide the irritation in my voice.“Chill, dude. It’s harmless. I’m not gonna steal your chick. But you know, it might be easier to get her if you actually speak to her.”I just roll my eyes and start walking to the locker room.The four of us head to a pub near the old trailer park wh
*Monroe's POV*Friday passes by slower than I would like and by the time I’m seated in philosophy, I am not in the mood to deal with Cade. If he’s expecting me to just fall at his feet and beg him to fuck me every time he gives me a little bit of attention he’s going to be thoroughly disappointed. But at the same time, I can’t deny that I’m attracted to him. I mean, you would have to be blind to not see how good looking he is and I am only human.When he walks in, the teacher is right behind him so when he sits down, we have no time to talk. Or should I say, no time to say one word and then awkwardly stare at each other. I can’t help but wonder if this is intentional on his part.After we win at volleyball again, Coach announces that next week is football. Shit. I mean, I’m
*Monroe's POV*As we walk up to the front door, I say, “So, fair warning, Bear and Kobe are a little affectionate, so I apologize in advance if you get slobbered on.”“Oh my gosh, I am so excited to meet them!” Charlie says.I open the door and sure enough, the two dogs are all over Maddy and Charlie although they don’t seem to mind one bit as they both kneel down and start scratching and hugging the dogs. I can’t tell which of them is most excited about this situation.“Alright, so you guys can leave your shoes in the closet here,” I say gesturing to the door on my right. “The basement is just down those stairs,” I say pointing to my left. “I’ll show you that after I show you to your roo