Player (2 page)

“You’re harsh.” Josh shook his head, but still smiled. “I think I’m offended.”

Rosa gave him an impish smile. “I’m sure you’ll get over it. Now, let’s finish up these formulas.”

They were just about to get back to the books when the bell echoed through the hallway, ending chemistry class. Josh followed Rosa as she walked toward the exit. “See you tonight?” he asked.

“I’ll be over around seven,” she confirmed.

Josh watched her bounce down the hallway and felt a little disappointed. He had hoped to walk her to her next class. Of course, he realized that until he ended his relationship with Elena, that wouldn’t be the best idea. He didn’t want Elena making any problems for Rosa. So he contented himself with thinking about her throughout his US History II class.

The fact that his migraine was getting worse made the time seem to move that much slower, but before long he found himself standing with Andrea in the loud and overcrowded lunchroom. The line to the cash register seemed endless. The longer he stood there, the more his head throbbed in protest. He pressed his fingers against his eyes to try to rub the pain away. He didn’t even realize that the line had started to move until Andrea shoved him forward.

“Hey, Josh,” she said, as she ran a hand through her bright red hair. “Is everything okay? You seem a little distracted.”

“I’m getting one of those stupid migraines again,” he admitted. “I’ll take something for it when we get to the table.”

“I wish you wouldn’t take those pills so often.” Andrea wrinkled her nose in distaste as she dropped a bottle of water and a basket of French fries onto her tray. “You’re going to get addicted. You need to try some kind of homeopathic remedies, like acupuncture or meditation or something.”

Josh picked up a can of cola and a slice of pizza and raised an eyebrow. “Are you kidding me? You sound like Jazz and her crazy Wiccan ideas. I’m not into all that new age crap. Besides, what good would it do having two doctors for parents if I didn’t get an endless supply of drugs?”

“Are all of your girlfriends starting to wear you out?” Andrea tsked. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer. You’ve been running yourself ragged trying to keep things straight. I’m amazed you haven’t mixed up their names yet.”

“I was actually just thinking about one of them,” Josh admitted.

“Let me guess.” Andrea made an exaggerated expression of concentration while she tapped a finger against her forehead. “Could it be our very own Elena Huber?”

“How did you know?”

“She’s been looking for you all day,” Andrea said. “Now, I know you, and if you wanted her around, you’d be easy enough to find. Are you losing interest in our future homecoming queen?”

Josh handed the lunch lady a few crumpled singles he pulled from the pocket of his jeans. “Andy, sometimes I think you know me too well!”

“I’ve seen you change girlfriends more often than you change your underwear.” Andrea giggled. “I can tell when you’re starting to get bored.”

They fumbled through the crowd and took seats in the corner of the lunchroom. “So, when are you going to dump Elena?” Andrea asked. They were far from prying ears, but when Andrea spoke, a few juniors at the next table still turned to look at them.

“Shhh,” Josh hissed. “Why don’t you just make an announcement over the loud speaker so everyone can hear you?

“I could.” Andrea snorted as she popped a French fry into her mouth. “It might be easier on you. You do know that Elena is going to pitch a fit when you tell her, right? I mean, there are going to be some serious fireworks.”

Just the thought of it made his head hurt worse. Josh pulled open his backpack and took out his bottle of codeine. He popped a few of the small pills into his mouth, washing them down with a mouthful of soda. “I can handle Elena,” Josh said. “I’m going to track her down and tell her it’s over as soon as we’re done with lunch.”

         “Now, you wouldn’t want to break any hearts on an empty stomach.” Andrea chuckled wryly. Then she turned serious. Her light smile transformed into a scowl. “I’m glad you’re dumping Elena. She’s such a snob. I never understood what you saw in her.”

“Do I hear a little envy in your voice, Andy?” Josh teased. “From what I hear, Elena isn’t the only competitor for the homecoming crown this year.”

“Yeah, but we all know who’s going to win,” Andrea replied, not without some bitterness.

“Don’t be so sure. It might seem like Elena is popular, but she’s made a lot of enemies over the years, stealing boyfriends and putting everyone else down.”

“Even if they don’t like her, they’ll be too afraid to vote for anyone else. I’ve seen those retractable claws she calls nails.”

“Well, you definitely have my vote . . . claws or no claws.”

Andrea was a pretty girl, although she looked four years younger than she was. Josh was easily a foot taller than her, and he was still an average height. Even though she was small in stature, she more than made up for it in personality. She was smart, fun, a champion tennis player, and editor of the school newspaper. Nevertheless, next to the glamorous Elena, Andrea would always be no more than the stereotypical girl next door. They both knew she didn’t really stand a chance at winning the title of homecoming queen, but Josh would never hurt her feelings by saying it out loud.

“Josh! Hey, Josh!”

At the sound of his name being called, Josh looked up from his uneaten pizza to find Elena skipping over to his table. She waved her arms excitedly, and plopped down beside him. She didn’t even acknowledge Andrea as she draped her arms around Josh’s neck and planted a kiss on his lips. He wiped off pink lip-gloss in veiled disgust.

“Hey baby.” Elena tossed her perfectly styled blonde hair. “Guess what? I got my dress for homecoming. Wait until you see it! It’s totally hot, and definitely queen material.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Josh caught Andrea giving Elena a dirty look.

“You’re awfully sure of yourself, Elena.” Josh shrugged her away when she tried to put her arm around his shoulder. She was oblivious to the snub. “How do you know you’re going to win?”

Elena sniggered, and looked directly at Andrea for the first time. “It isn’t as if I have any real competition.”

Andrea snorted as she took a sip of her water, but otherwise ignored the snide remark.  The nasty comment had made more of an impact on Josh than it had on Andrea. He was irritated, and decided to let her know it.

“You know, Elena,” Josh told her. “I think you need to find another escort to the homecoming dance.”

She balked. “What do you mean?”

“I’m dumping you,” Josh said flatly.

Elena seemed honestly stunned. “What did you say?”

“You heard me,” Josh continued. He was really enjoying the look of disbelief on her face. She was finally getting the public humiliation she deserved. “We’re through.”

“You can’t break up with me!” Elena yelled. “You just can’t!”

Josh couldn’t stop himself from snickering, and Andrea came very close to spitting her water out. “But I just did.”

“I’ve never been dumped in my life!” Elena muttered, more to herself than to Josh.

“Well, I guess there’s a first time for everything.”

“But you can’t do this to me! It’s less than two weeks until Homecoming!”

Josh could tell by her bulging eyes that Elena was starting to lose her temper. She was shouting so loudly that the other kids in the cafeteria turned to stare at them. A few of them struggled to conceal their giggles, while others openly guffawed at the display. Andrea joined them in their boisterous laughter, unable to control herself any longer. Elena glared into the crowd of spectators, but Josh found it all the more amusing that they had an audience.

“Shhh, Elena, you’re making a scene.” Josh whispered with exaggerated innocence.

“I don’t care!” Elena fumed. “I simply refuse to be dumped by you, Joshua Hanover, and that’s all there is to it.”

Josh laughed out loud, despite the fact that Elena’s theatrics were making his head pound. “The way I see it, you don’t have much choice.”

“How dare you laugh at me?” Elena’s blue eyes brimmed over with angry tears. “I swear you’re going to regret making a fool of me! I’m warning you, Josh, one way or another, you’re going to be sorry!”

Josh was fiddling with his digital camera when he heard a knock on the back door. Taking the camera with him, he stood from the kitchen table. He opened the door and found Andrea standing there with her jacket pulled over her head in a lame attempt to shield herself from the torrents of falling rain. It did little good. She was dripping wet and left a puddle on the linoleum as she pulled off her raincoat and tossed it carelessly on the back of a nearby chair.

“Say cheese.”

Josh caught Andrea by surprise. He lifted his camera just as she looked up, and he was rewarded with the perfect shot. Her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were half-crossed. Coupled with the red mop of hair that frizzed out insanely from the dampness, it was perfect photo blackmail. Josh snickered, and held the camera out of her reach when she tried to make a grab for it.

“You’re such a brat!” She complained, once she realized it was fruitless. “You and your stupid camera. Don’t you ever put that thing away?”

“As a future photo journalist, I have to be prepared at all times.”

Andrea huffed. “You mean future paparazzi. You’ll be working for some rag selling pictures of celebrities when they have a bad hair day and trying to pass it off as art.”

“Is that right? You better be a little nicer to me or this picture will wind up in the yearbook.” Josh teased. “I am the editor after all. Or better yet, maybe I’ll just post it on the internet tonight!”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Wouldn’t I?”

Andrea shook her head in exasperation. She helped herself to a soda before plopping down next to him at the table. “I can’t believe this is how you treat me after I ran all the way over to your house in the pouring rain, just to have that heart to heart talk you’ve been craving.”

“Oh, you poor thing,” Josh replied sarcastically. “You came all the way from next door. And who told you to come over? I only asked you to call me.”

“I am sooo unappreciated.” She gave him a playful punch in the arm. “And I did call, but you never answer your cell phone. So I figured I’d just stop by instead.”

Josh realized she was right. He had carelessly tossed his phone into the bottom of his backpack somewhere in his bedroom on the second floor. It wasn’t doing him much good up there. He had a tendency to be absentminded when it came to his phone.

“Sorry about that. All joking aside, I do appreciate you coming over. There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Is it about Elena? I’ve never seen her so pissed off!” She snickered a little. “Elena is kind of ugly when she’s mad.”

“Andy, how can you be so cruel?” Josh rebuked. “The poor girl is recovering from a serious broken heart.”

Andrea snorted. “It’s more likely she’s recovering from a serious blow to her ego.”

“Well, you know, I am a difficult guy to get over.” Josh gave an exaggerated sigh. “But I guess she’ll be able to move on with her life eventually.”

“Oh, please! I just ate!” Andrea groaned and stuck her finger down her throat. “Sometimes you’re almost as bad as Elena. I couldn’t believe her today.” She lapsed into her best Elena impression, hair flinging and all, but she sounded more like she had a severe case of laryngitis. “You simply can’t break up with me, Joshua. I’m just too bea-u-ti-ful!”

“She was pretty pathetic.” Josh agreed. He sniggered as he leaned back into his chair and fiddled with the zoom button on his camera. “She really couldn’t believe I was dumping her.”

“Elena deserves what she gets,” Andrea said, growing more somber. Josh figured she was still stinging from Elena’s nasty comments at lunch. “She’s such a bitch. It’s about time someone knocked her off that pedestal. But you know, Josh, you better watch your back. Elena’s never been publicly humiliated like that before. There’s no telling what she might do to get back at you.”

“Ohhh, look at me, I’m shaking.” Josh said sarcastically. “What’s she going to do? Scratch me with her long manicured nails?”

Andrea giggled as she popped open her soda can. “I wouldn’t put it past her. But she may settle for spreading vicious, ugly rumors about you,” she added more seriously. 

“I’m not going to worry about Elena right now,” Josh told her. “I have more important things to think about. Like how I’m going to break up with Lily, Nadine, and Jazz. I’m not looking forward to hurting their feelings, but it has to be done. And soon.”

Andrea couldn’t hide her surprise. “You’re going to break up with all of them? But why? I thought you enjoyed juggling your women. And did you just say something about feelings? Since when have you developed a conscience?”

Josh cleared his throat. “Since I fell in love.”

Andrea blanched. “You?  In love? I don’t believe it. Falling in love isn’t your style.”

“I’m serious, Andy.” Josh couldn’t blame her for being skeptical. She was right. He had never even considered falling in love, until now. “I know I’ve always been kind of a dog where girls are concerned. . . .”