Bet #2

We jumped, dribbled, yelled, and scored. Max, Noah, and I against Jack, Josh, and Kim. We obviously won. While playing, I felt like I needed another cigarette. Flashes of roses, eyes, smile, skin, and the scene with the boy in her bed were coming back to my head. I tried to kick her out of my thoughts, but she wouldn't get out.

I wish I could get close to her and erase her memory, but then everyone will notice something weird is happening to her. They'll probably send her to a therapist. No, it can't happen, I thought. I wish I can erase my memories of her. Please Lords, someone help me, I secretly prayed. I jumped, thrusted, and scored. The game was over. We won.

We were resting on the bench watching the sun set under the buildings of New York. I got a text from Mom saying,'' Dinner will be ready then,'' with kisses. A notification of two new missed calls from Rose appeared on my screen. Why can't I block her? I thought. Get over it Alex it's been nearly four months since you broke up. Move on dude. The boys laughter startled me. I blankly smiled.

''Yo, Alex,'' Noah was trying to get my attention. I looked at him and he said,'' You won't believe what happened last night.'' His black eyes lit up.

''What? Did you hit up another chick?'' I sarcastically said. Kim and Max grinned at me. Those dudes read my mind like a book.

''Not any chick. A Latino. Brown skin, big boobs, nice ass, she just make me wanna…,'' He shuddered with delight. I got goose bumps,'' But, we didn't get to number three yet. I gave a kiss and she gave me her number. Man! I just love those who play hard.''

''Well,'' I replied. ''You're not the only one who got a girl's number today,'' I said.

''Oooh,'' Max chimed in. ''Alex Jones back in business.'' The boys mockingly laughed.

''Nah,'' I replied with a chilly tone. ''She's not that type.''

''Man, that's what you think until they show up their real face,'' Josh jumped in the conversation. '' Yesterday, we were cuddling and stuff until Eva got on top of me, full body. Like I was finally gonna have her. We had hat energy for like seven minutes straight making out and stuff. We could've gotten to number three, but she said she was just messing with me. Who in the hell does that?''

''Girls suck dude,'' Kim whispered from his seat. The boys chimed in with agreement.

''Your chick Alex,'' Max was addressing me with his ocean blue eyes while smoke was running out of his mouth. ''What is she like?'' He tied up his black wavy hair with a small elastic.

''Well,'' memories passed in my mind. Of her body, smell, eyes, and everything sweet about her. '' She's cute…'' I rubbed by left eye. ''Who am I kidding?'' I said out loud. All five boys had eyes and ears fully focused. '' She is beautiful. The best I've ever seen. Hot, funny, sweet, but she didn't seem interested. She gave me her number after I asked for it.'' I sighed to the sunset and said, ''Guys her smell is just so unique. I've never smelled anything like it.''

''What's her body type,'' Noah said, lighting up a cigarette.

''Noah shut the hell up. You now I don't care about body types. Every girl is beautiful in her own way,'' I replied violently.

''Oh come on Romeo,'' he continued.'' You can't tell me you didn't take a sneak peek at… well you know. Her inner beauty.'' He winked at me. Okay I think I kinda did, but I hate to admit it, I thought.

''Get that stupid face out of my way,'' I replied with a smile.

''I like boobs,'' Noah said blowing off smoke.

''I like her smile,'' Max replied lighting up a fresh smoke.

'' I like her hair,'' Jack said.

'' I like her,'' Josh chimed in with a dreamy sigh.

''I like men,'' Kim said with a very serious tone. We exploded with laughter. ''Guys,'' he shrieked. ''Take me seriously for once please.'' We nodded and tried to keep our smiles sucked in.

''So you gonna text your chick?'' Noah asked me.

''Yeah. I will,'' I replied. His black eyes shimmered with curiosity.

''So you gonna ask her out?'' He continued.

''Noah. Fuck off,'' I said. He was getting on my nerves. He's my best friend and all, but gods sometimes I just want to beat the life out of him.

''What dude. I didn't say anything wrong. I would like to meet her that's all. I think we all do,'' The boys chimed in with approval. I wish I didn't brag about getting that number.

''If she seemed interested I will,'' I casually said. Everyone patted me on the back, pushing me playfully. I smiled to the sunset overthinking every future detail.

I arrived home late. Dinner was ready, we sat at the table as usual and Mom told me about her day. I decided not to confront her about Rose, she seemed exhausted.

She said that she bought two new bags and a pair of shoes which were on sale. She also had a new manager at her job, who she said was kind and sweet. He promised them a raise. His name was Mr. Anderson.

After dinner, we had a cup of coffee on the front porch watching the night sky. Then I rushed to my room to activate my plan. I rushed to my room with my phone in my hand. I jumped on my bed at stared and her name, ''Sugar Cube''. Her profile photo was blank. I wish I had something to hold on to all day like I used to.

My plan was to text her ''hey''. Then wait for her to reply. Second, I would ask how she is feeling after what happened. No.. no, I thought, that would be lame. I could say how are you? Yeah, that would be sweet. Third, I'm going to tell her that I want to see her again because she wasn't leaving my thoughts since the moment I met her. No… no…no, I thought. Why not write her a poem instead. Stupid, I thought. I think I forgot how to talk to girls. It's been a while

''Okay,'' I whispered to my phone. ''Step one.'' I texted her and threw the phone off my hand. I was shaking. Alex chill, she won't bite through the phone.

I waited for her text message. I was checking the phone every second until a notification appeared. My heart skipped a beat. It was her. She replied with,'' Hello.''

''Okay. Okay,'' I inhaled. ''Now the second step.'' I texted her, ''How are you?'' She quickly replied with, ''I'm fine, you?'' I texted, ''I'm great thanks for asking.''

''Okay, now third step.'' My hand trembled. What if she says no? I though. What if she blocks you? Alex, man up, I thought. My heart was thumping in my chest as I texted,'' Eleanor when can I see you again? You're great girl and I really want to get to know you better.'' No I thought. I erased the whole sentence. The blue bubble of the three dots appeared on my screen. Oh no. She's texting back. Come on Alex it's now or never. I wrote the exact same text and pressed send. The phone flew from my hand and sank in the sheets. A notification dinged. I hesitated, and then I flipped the sheets and opened the text. It said,'' That would be great if we hung out! I'm totally in. How about we chill in my backyard tomorrow?''

I jumped off the bed and did a little dance. This was awesome. ''Thank you Aphrodite,'' I screamed. I texted her back with,'' Yeah no problem. I'll pass at eight right after practice. Deal?''

She replied with,'' Bet. See you then.''

I was on top of the world, dancing through my dirty clothes. She said ''chill'? What does she mean? Wait is she interested? Is that a move? That is definitely a move. I jumped off the clothes and landed on my bed.

It feels like I hadn't been that excited for something in a million years.