Mutual Hatred - Love Game (21 page)

Brandon turned around and gave his teacher his best, heart-melting smile. It was the smile that made the rest of the girls swoon. And luckily for Brandon, Ms. Nickol was a young teacher, barely out of college. What's more was that after all this time, she was
still
a sucker for Brandon's charms.

Caroline Nickol.

He'd dated her once or twice last year. Of course, that was
before
she'd become a teacher. But she'd always been Johnny's Nickol's sister. Brandon had only gone out with Caroline-er, Ms. Nickol, to piss off Johnny.

Poor, poor Johnny. How it had killed him to see the school golden boy
and
playboy extraordinaire with his innocent big sister.

Johnny had dug his grave and buried himself in it too when Brandon broke Caroline's heart.

But everyone knows Brandon Miller isn't a one-woman man.

Besides, Caroline was a nerd. She
tucks her shirt in
, for Christ's sake!

Brandon didn't date geeks or nerds. But Johnny's sister was undoubtedly pretty. She was one of the few girls he'd dated that he was still on friendly terms with.

"I was just telling Shelley Sinclair that even though I'm irresistibly attractive, she doesn't need to stare at me. It's kind of uncomfortable, and a picture would last longer," said Brandon with a totally straight face, "I'll be posing for some after class, ladies, and I'll do autographs too."

The class tittered with amusement. Everybody, that is, minus Shelley.

"Ms. Sinclair, please refrain from disturbing your classmates. And Mr. Miller, detention. I'll see you after class," Ms. Nickol said sternly.

Alright, so maybe Caroline was a
little
bit over his charm.

"What? Detention? But I have football after school!" protested Brandon.

"Detention," repeated Ms. Nickol. "No excuses. I saw you message texting," she got a little flustered as several people laughed, "Or whatever it is, you're doing."

"But it's the first day! And I can't miss practice! Can't we reschedule or something?"

"Nope. Good luck explaining that to your coach," Ms. Nickol said with a nod towards Shelley.

Brandon groaned and turned around, giving Shelley a meaningful look. She shook her head at him, as if to say 'Shame on you!'

Dammit. First day of school and Brandon had already gotten a detention, not to mention two glasses of water dumped on him.

Life was just peachy-keen.

If this was how the rest of the year was going to be, then he wasn't looking forward to it.

- - - - -

From Shelley's perspective, it looked like Ms. Nickol was
enjoying
taking Brandon down a peg.

Huh. It looked like Shelley had found a new ally in the 'battle' against Brandon.

It was kind of peculiar, really. Ms. Nickol was young, and most young female teachers succumbed to Brandon's endearing appeal.
Everyone
loved Brandon.

Except the girls he'd dated. They talked trash about him all the time.

Even Shelley, though she refused to admit it, was attracted to him.

But only physically
, she told herself,
nothing more
.

Which was a good thing, because if she
actually
liked him, it would ruin a lot of things.

Chapter 18 – We've Got Spirit!

Wilson won their first football game of the season.

There were no words to describe how it felt. For the first time in her life, Shelley was speechless. For the lowest ranked team to win their
first
game had to be a good omen. A really, really good omen.

More than half the school showed up to support the Wildcats. Okay, so maybe most of them came out of curiosity. But we're looking for
quantity,
not quality, right?

The whole day had been crazy. It all started with the school wide rally.

- - - - -

"And now, I'm proud to present to you the Wilson High School 2005 football team!" cried Mr. Wise into the microphone. "And their coach, your very own Shelley Sinclair!"

There was a mixture of scattered applause and astonished whispers.

The team ran into the gym from the side entrance, each of them giddy with excitement. Shelley followed at her own pace, clipboard in hand. She made her way up to the stage and took the mike Mr. Wise offered her. Before Shelley could say a word, there were catcalls and whistles from the crowd. Someone even yelled, "I love you! Marry me!"

Shelley chuckled along with everyone else.
Boys
.

"Hey everyone! I'm really excited about this year's football team. They've come a long way; you should have seen them over the summer. I worked them super hard and I can promise you this will be one of the best years Wilson High School has ever seen!" She paused as the crowd cheered halfheartedly; she didn't blame them. They needed to see with their own eyes that the football team was good. "And now I'll introduce you to the team."

Shelley proceeded to name each member, taking notice that Brandon got the loudest, most thunderous applause. She'd actually had to wait ten minutes before girls stopped screaming for Brandon. He took their compliments, marriage proposals, and declarations of love in stride, forming that that irresistible smirk and winking at a couple girls. Chelsey, apparently still miffed that he didn't return her affection, was among the few girls who didn't do anything for Brandon.

After going through the roster, Shelley concluded, "So our first game is tonight against Glenoak High. It's a home game and it starts at seven. We all really hope you can come out and show your school spirit. It's bound to be a great game!"

As Mr. Wise dismissed the students, Shelley and the team ran off the stage. Once outside, the boys formed a huddle around their coach for last minute instructions.

"Okay, here's the deal," said Shelley, "It's three o'clock now. Practice until four thirty and then you can leave. Be back here at six, okay?"

Everyone nodded.

Four hours until game time.

- - - - -

Forty-five minutes until game time.

It was so unusual being part of the game, rather than just a spectator. Placing her hands in the pockets of the windbreaker the team had bought her for her birthday, Shelley turned around to survey the bleachers.

Her mouth nearly dropped. It was
packed
! The cheerleaders were already hard at work trying to get the crowd pumped up.

Another good omen?

She spun on her heel and marched toward the locker room. Shelley rapped on the door twice to make sure everyone was decent. The boys filed out and obeyed Shelley's order to "take a lap and then warm up."

Half an hour before the game was due to start, the Glenoak team arrived. They were a good looking bunch of football players; Shelley would admit as much. But a few of them, most likely seniors, looked like they'd been held back for more than a year.

Ah, scrutinizing the enemy.

It seemed as if a few of the Glenoak players noticed Shelley.

Maybe noticed was an understatement. They were making quite a show of pointing and whispering. Even from across the field, Shelley could hear them say,

"She's fucking hot! You think she'd go out with me?"

Brandon must have heard them too; out of the corner of her eye, Shelley saw him tighten his grip on the football he was holding. Turning suddenly, Brandon said loudly, "Coach! What do you think of Glenoak?"

Glenoak gaped. Had Wilson's team captain just called the blonde chick
coach
?!?

No fucking way.

Shelley's lips curved upward. She leaned in and whispered, "I think we're getting off easy."

Brandon straightened up, his brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, they think they've got it easy. Look at them! They're undeniably victims of girls-can't-coach-fooball-syndrome."

Grinning gleefully, Brandon said, "So you think you'll be more of a distraction, then? They won't know what hit them?"

"Exactly."

Brandon's captivating smirk was back. Shelley noticed that it was one of the few conversations they'd had where they didn't argue. Not even an insult! It was ironic that the thing they shared in common-love for football-was what had divided them in the first place. Even though Brandon still didn't think a girl should be coaching, he had to admit that she was good. Shelley knew what she was doing. It was an advantage having a girl as a coach; she was like a secret weapon.

And what made it even better was the fact that Shelley looked like a dumb-
but bitchy
-blonde. Glenoak had
no idea
what went through this girl's mind.

But then again, neither did Brandon.

Thirty minutes until game time.

- - - - -

The score was 27-21, in favor of Glenoak. Shelley knew the cat was in the bag the moment Johnny started running for the end zone. But she was still in shock when the entire team surrounded her for a group hug.

Hah! A group hug.

Everyone was jumping up and down; high fives were all over the field. Shelley was still screaming when Brandon came over to congratulate her. She practically jumped into his arms for a hug.

"Fuck it, guys. She's dating the captain," a voice said resignedly.

Brandon and Shelley pulled away. Glenoak's team captain, Marcus Humps (yes that really was his last name) and his teammates were looking at Brandon with resentment. The two captains stepped forward and shook hands.

"Good game, buddy," Brandon said smoothly.

"You too, man. I gotta hand it to you Miller, you sure know how to pick 'em," said Marcus.

"Pick
what
?"

"Your girls. I'm impressed. It looks like this one actually has a brain," smirked Marcus.

"Well 'this one' has a name," Shelley said flatly.

Marcus glanced at her. "Are you really the coach?"

"No, I'm just here because I felt like it," was Shelley's sarcastic reply.

To Brandon, Marcus said, "Dude, I don't really envy you. She's hot, but you gotta put up with that? Tough."

"She doesn't appreciate being talked about like she's not here either," retorted Shelley. "And we're not dating."

Marcus's eyebrows went up. "
Not dating?
So you're single?"

"Not that you'd have a chance," drawled Shelley, and she sauntered off.

By now most people in the crowd had left. Or so it seemed. When Shelley got out of the stadium, she discovered
everyone
milling about. Taryn was waiting for her at the entrance to the stadium.

"OH MY GOD!" shrieked Taryn. "You guys were
amazing
out there!"

Shelley gave her best friend a quick hug just as their schoolmates caught sight of her. They all came up to her to offer their congratulations.

Chelsey Smith came up to Shelley too, but only after Chelsey deemed it safe enough to be seen talking to Shelley in public.

"Well, well," said Chelsey, "Who would have known you had it in you? And all this time I thought you were only the coach because you were sleeping with the captain."

"You bitch," snarled Morgan Miller, who was standing directly behind Chelsey.

Chelsey turned around and her eyes widened with mock fear. "And who might you be?" she said sweetly.

"I'm the captain's twin sister," Morgan said icily. "Who are you? Leader of his fan club?"

Chelsey's eyes widened. "Oh, you must be
Morgan
," she gushed, "Brandon's told me so much about you!"

Morgan rolled her eyes. "Suck up. He hasn't told you squat, you whore. Get lost."

"Hey!" Chelsey pouted, "Your brother is in love with me, he just doesn't know it yet!"

"My brother thinks you're an airhead. Believe me, he's too good for the likes of you," retorted Morgan.

"Oh!" huffed Chelsey, "It is
so
on, you-you-you-bitch! First you call me a bitch. And then you call me a whore. And now you have the nerve to tell me that Brandon Miller is too good for me?!?
No one
is too good for me!"

Shelley snorted loudly enough to earn a dirty look from Chelsey.

"Chels, I thought you said you were over Brandon," pointed out Shelley, "I mean, you
did
dump your water on him, didn't you?"