See, I told you boys were dumb.
I elbowed Coop then said, "Jake's the new kid. He beat up Alan for me."
Coop glanced from me to where Alan was playing now and then back to me and Jake. "Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Cool," Coop said and stuck his hand out. "I'm Coop."
"You her boyfriend?" Jake asked and I rolled my eyes.
"No," I said.
"Yes," Coop answered.
"I don't have a boyfriend, Cooper Brennen." I pinched him.
"Yes you do! I'm a boy and your friend. So you have a boyfriend."
We glared at each other. "Fine. I'm reading."
Then I stuck my nose back in my book.
"Can I be your boyfriend too?" Jake asked and I stared at the sky. "I mean I'm a boy..."
"If I say yes, can I go back to reading my book?"
He grinned. "Sure."
"Great, then fine. I have two boyfriends. Now lemme read before the--" Too late the bell rang and I sighed. I closed my book as they scrambled to their feet. Both of them offered me a hand and I snorted, I could stand up on my own.
We were almost to the door when Jake said, "When you're done with the book can I borrow it?"
I glanced at him. So did Coop. Cause I didn't lend books. I didn't have that many.
"I have some books you can borrow," he offered. Coop and I looked at each other and then back at Jake. "I can ask my mom if you guys can come over after school and see."
"How many books?"
He grinned again. "I got a lot of books. Mom likes that I read."
Lots of books?
"Yes," I told him. "Coop and I would love to come."
"We would?" Coop grumbled but I stomped on his foot.
"We would."
"Cool," Jake said, grinning wider. "I got video games too."
"Now you're talking," Coop suddenly didn't seem to mind. Games were fine.
I wanted the books.
I finished before school was over and I offered the book to Jake to see if he still wanted it. He grinned. We didn't get to go over after school that day, but Coop's mom promised to talk to Jake's mom and it took us almost a week--Jake brought me my book back the next day and brought one of his with it. Then he asked if I had another of the Trixie books.
We traded books all week.
Coop made fun of us.
But it was still fun and finally, a week later, I got to see all the books he had.
He wasn't wrong.
He had a lot.
Boys were dumb but boys with books were cool.
A few months later, I punched Jake. He deserved it.
And you know what, he said I didn’t hit like a girl.
FLASHBACK: RHYME AND REASON
IAN
When Dad retired to private practice and a civilian life, I'd actually been looking forward to getting away from living on bases while also soaking up stability of maintaining the same address as well as school for more than two years at a shot.
With his degree and specialities, Dad had often pulled overseas duty assignments. I'd enjoyed seeing the world, but I missed the normalcy of America. Hamburgers. Coke that tasted like coke. The right ratio of onions to burger and the vital ingredient to all of life's pleasures—ketchup
Right, I was a simple guy and I liked simple things. We'd only finished our move the week before once we'd gotten back to the States, done the house-hunting, then pulled everything out of storage in San Antonio. The new place was located in a much smaller town, but I kind of liked it. The open roads. The huge fields. The lakes.
And tons of places to go hiking or fishing when the air wasn't so hot it could cook you in place. Add to that they'd gotten a pool with the house and I was in heaven. Still, enrolling at the junior high so late meant I'd missed out on the pick of the classes and had to stick with whatever was left. I didn't care, honestly, I was kind of looking forward to that "all-American" experience even if it meant homework.
First period was language arts and I found the classroom right before the bell. There was only one desk open. Second row right behind a gorgeous blonde. I'd only gotten a quick look at her as I passed by. She had a book open on her desk and her whole attention seemed focused on it.
I ignored the glances tossed in my direction. Being an unknown wasn't a new experience for me. I'd learned to shrug those glances off a long time ago. Still, I kind of wished she'd glanced up or at least around at me so I could get a better look at her.
The guy on her left reached over to grip it and she smacked his hand without looking up. It was hard not to laugh. The class flew by. Actual textbooks were assigned along with our first visit to the library to get authorized to check out books from there. Independent reading lists and the syllabus for the first six weeks of assignments were also handed out.
Before I realized it, she'd vanished in the library and there just wasn't time to track her down before the bell rang and I had to hurry. My next class was a PE training class. Weights, since all the tryouts for the various teams had happened over the summer, was clear on the other side of the school. I had gym clothes in my bag, but the teacher waved us in without having us get changed. There was a note on the door for the same thing.
"Let's go, I want to go over all the safety rules and expectations before you guys even touch the weights..."
Right, I knew how to use all the visible equipment and had been training with Dad pretty regularly for the last three years. Still, I focused on what he was saying right up until I caught sight of a familiar face. Locking gazes with Jake Benton had me grinning stupidly.
Of all the people to be in one of my classes was someone I actually knew from going to school with him before. Only then, we'd been in Germany and not the U.S. Our parents had also been friends, our dads at least, which meant Jake and I had hung out quite a bit before he'd returned stateside with his mom.
We didn't get much of a chance to talk before the end of class when the teacher—coach—finished going over everything from safety protocols to dress code to expectations. This would be a weight lifting class, we would have reading and tests on major muscle groups as well as understanding how to train them. We would be working out on different muscle groups daily and we had to partner or triple up
Jake and I were in lockstep almost immediately. When we were told to get to know each other and work out our goal sheets, I headed straight for him and dumped my bag to the side. "Man, it's good to see you."
"Same," Jake said, shaking my hand. "Mom told me she'd heard from your dad and that you guys were planning to move here, but I didn't know you'd already made it."
"Barely. We got in like five days ago, and it's been all running to get everything set up. Mom already has shifts at the hospital and Dad will be starting at his job this week or next."
"This is so cool that you're here," Jake said with a grin. "You gotta try out for football."
"Didn't I already miss the tryouts? And the summer practices?"
"Kinda but, I know a guy." He shoulder checked me. "C'mon."
Our weights teacher, the coach, turned out to be the coach for the junior high's football squad. He gave me a once over and then told me to show up after school to run some drills. No guarantees, but maybe I could get some time to fill in until he saw whether I was a good fit or not.