Scoring Wilder(36)

"Hey, Em," I smiled, sitting down and pulling off my running shoes. My shins hurt from running for so long, but I felt a thousand times better than I had after practice. Nothing cleared my head like running.

"Hey, Kinsley," Emily said, moving into my room and sitting down against my door.

We sat there in silence for a moment. She looked like she was thinking about something but was too scared to bring it up.

"How's it going?" I asked with an encouraging tone.

She chewed on her bottom lip and then finally looked up at me. "It's good... I just wanted to thank you for what you did on Wednesday morning. I know that you were just as tired as Becca and me."

"It's not a big deal, Emily. Truth be told, I think the only reason you were involved is because Tara hates me and you and I are friends." I shrugged, trying to determine if that revelation upset her.

"Yeah. I sort of put that together myself. It's worth it, you know. I mean you and Becca are really close, but I'm really glad we're friends, too, and if that means having to deal with Tara, then it's still worth it," Emily said with a small smile.

Her words caught me by surprise and I couldn't help but feel a little bit emotional. Sure, Becca and I were closer, but Emily was the type of friend that you could always count on. Quiet, loyal— the type of friend that lasted through the years.

"Can I hug you even though I'm super stinky?" I asked, already crawling toward her and leaping onto her lap.

"Ewwww! You do smell!" Emily laughed, shoving me off her.

"Sorry! Friends have to deal with stinky hugs. You asked for it!"

A pounding came on the other side of my door.

"Are you two in there having fun without me? What the hell! Open up!" Becca called. Emily and I moved forward and pulled the door open wide enough for Becca to sneak through.

"Ew. What are you guys doing? It smells like rotten feet in here!"

Becca scrunched her nose and pretended to pass out.

"Oh, get over it! I'll go shower, okay? But don't leave! We have to plan our costumes for Saturday.”





Chapter Eleven


I was getting ready for the costume party on Saturday night when my phone vibrated with an incoming text.



Josh: Heading to the party tonight?



I’d completely forgotten about Josh in the recent days. My thoughts were spread thin, with Liam taking up nearly 99% of them. So naturally, Josh had been one of the first things to go. Now that I was confronted with the idea of seeing him at the party? my first instinct was to ignore him all together. I didn’t want to be friends with him. I wanted to move on and concentrate on better things. But since ignoring people is generally frowned upon in our society, I shot him back a one worded reply. Compromise.

Me: Yep.



I dropped my phone and glanced down at my outfit. Becca and I had found matching SuperGirl and BatGirl shirts that cut off a few inches above our belly buttons. I'd paired mine with a red lycra skirt that was tight around my waist but then flared around my thighs. A short red cape and my white converse completed the look. I was glad Becca had enforced operation B.C. earlier in the week because my toned stomach now sported a healthy tan which made the outfit a little more sexy. Compared to what the other girls would be wearing tonight, it wasn't that bad.

Becca was going for the full shebang. She looked awesome in her BatGirl shirt and black skirt. She had on black heels and a black cape and kept striking a super hero pose every time she entered my room.

"Who's texting you?" she asked, doing a high kick and then pretending to punch my dresser. The costume was starting to go to her head.

"Jeez! I'm glad you're wearing spanks or I would have just seen way too much of your bat cave!" I laughed as my phone buzzed again. I glanced down.



Josh: Cool. It'll be smaller than last week's so I should be able to find you.



"It's just Josh asking if we're going to the party," I answered.

I didn't respond to his second text.

"Ah, gross. That reminds me, should we review the five reasons that L is not worthy of your attention?" Becca asked, already bending down to retrieve the white board that I'd stashed under my bed the other day.

"Nope!” I hopped up. “No. We're good. Honestly, I want to forget about soccer and everything else on my plate and just have fun. Okay?"

Becca smiled and then spun around with karate hands. "Tonight we'll be SuperGirl and BatGirl and no one will even recognize us! We can do whatever we want!"

I started laughing and pulled my dresser open to get some spanks for myself. I could already tell Becca and I would be spin-kicking the entire night and I didn't feel like flashing everyone my Lois Lane.

Becca's phone buzzed just as I finished pulling them on.

"Cab’s here! Wait, I mean, the BATMOBILE AWAITS!"

"Okay, okay!" I ran over to open my bathroom door and shouted for Emily. "Em, are you sure you don't want to come with us? We can put together a cute costume really quick!" I knew the answer would be no. She'd told us yesterday when we invited her to go shopping that she was going to stay in and Skype with her boyfriend. We had, of course, made fun of her for having Skype sex, and she blushed for an hour straight. Seriously, it was just too easy.