White Liar (9 page)

John cocked his head to the side. "You
’re
sure?" He asked, again with those damnable puppy dog eyes of his.
 
Those eyes were going to be the death of Chloe if she didn't leave now.

“
Yeah, go on." she insisted.
 
"I'll see ya around later."
 

"Okay," he replied easily and before she realized his intentions, John stepped up to her and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.
 
That one unsuspecting kiss threw her completely off balance, leaving her dazed and confused.
 
"See ya around Chloe," he whispered and seeing her quaint expression, he jogged passed her towards his friends.

For the briefest of seconds Chloe stood there and watched him leave.
 
John seemed genuinely pleased that she had accepted his offer. During
 
that little bit of time she almost second guessed herself.
 
That was
 
almost
, until she had to remind herself of exactly whom she was dealing with.
 
He was one of
 
them
 
and didn't deserve her sympathy.
 
He made his bed by choosing his friends, now it was time for him to lay in it.

***************

It was finally Friday and Chloe sat anxiously while she waited for Erica to sit down.
 
"Did you get it?"
 
She
asked eagerly while shooting
her
a calculating
look.

"Of course I got it." She replied off
 
handily.
 
"I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when this stuff kicks in."
 
Erica tried to stifle a giggle as she held up the brown paper bag that held the main ingredient
 
for Chloe's master plan.
 
She knew all to well what she had in store for Mr. Justin
 
Pinnix
 
and his
 
vagabonds.
 
The football team was so sure that they were going to win the game tonight.
 

Chloe grinned.
 
 
 
Not if she had anything to do with it.
 
 

She took the bag from her cousin and stuffed if in her purse before turning back to her poor
 
excuse
 
of lunch.
 
Frowning at it, she poked at what looked to be some kind of fruit on her tray.
 
"Do they actually expect us to eat this crap?"

Erica opened up a bag of chips and pulled one out, observing it as she twiddled it between her fingers.
 
Shrugging her shoulders, she popped the chip in her mouth and turned her attention back to Chloe. "That's why I always bring my lunch," she clarified then quickly turned the conversation back to their big plan.
 
"Exactly how do you plan on getting in the boys locker room and pulling off this grand scheme of yours off anyway?"
 

Chloe pushed aside what she could only refer to as some sort of mystery meat and settled on eating just the roll and drinking her milk.
 
The entire time, she was thinking to herself that at least the roll should be safe enough to digest.
 
When she was done chewing, she answered Erica's question.
 
"I have an accomplice," she shared her secret.

Erica's brows lifted in surprise.
 
"You do?"

"Yup," she told her, sitting the empty milk carton back on the table.
 
It didn't really matter that this certain person had no idea that he was going to be the very one responsible for the football teams down fall or that this same person wrote cheesy poetry.
 
What had to be done, had to be done.
 
His part in the plan was just a inconsequential side effect.
 

She leaned over the table and whispered
, "Who?"

Chloe couldn't help the smile that slowly crept up on her face.
 
"John
,
of course."

"John," she repeated his name incredulously.
 
"As in the John- Justin's best friend John- The
 
suave and sophisticated
 
John?"

C
hloe's light laugh said it all.
 
She gave her cousin a mischievous
 
look. "The one and the same."

Erica fell back in her seat, not taking her eyes off of Chloe.
 
She wagged her finger at her.
 
"You are bad girl, you know that?
 
You are so freaking bad."

Chloe picked up her tray, and blew out a heavy breath.
 
She was so ready for this day to be over with.
 
She had high expectations for tonight and was ready to get the party started.
 
All week long, she had been counting down the long hours till the grand finale.
 
And now, it was only a few hours away.

Standing up, her gaze shifted over to the table where Justin and his groupies sat, laughing and carrying on as if they were on top of the world.
 
If they only knew what she had planned for them they wouldn't be smiling so smugly.
 
It was high time that they all get knocked down a notch or two and unbeknownst to them that time was quickly closing in on them.

She grunted and turned back to Erica.
 
The edges of her mouth twitched with unbridled anticipation.
 
"Sweetie, you haven’t seen anything yet."

Chapter 8

Justin glanced up at John and lifted his brow.
 
He could not believe what he had just said to him.
 
"So, you're telling me that she's here...now?"
 

Somehow, John had actually managed to do what Justin had once thought was the impossible.
 
He convinced the Ice Queen to go out with him tonight after the game.
 
John and Chloe...
 
together
... as in a couple- now that was an anomaly Justin thought to himself.

John grinned. “Yup.
 
All I did was use some good ole fashioned southern charm and she melted like butter on a hot biscuit.
 
She even came with me early to get some stuff she needed for the article that she was writing up on the game and man-" John let out a low whistle. "When I saw that dress she is planning on wearing to the dance, my eyes about popped out of my head.
 
And let me tell you something brother, it is swee-eet.”

Justin rolled his eyes and muttered more to himself than to John.
 
“To each his own.”
 
The way that he saw it, it was his own funeral.
 
If John wanted to dance with trouble then he could have at it.
 
In the end, all Justin could say was that he tried to warn him.

Standing up, Justin reached for the football jersey hanging up in his locker and pulled it over his head.
 
The sleeve snagged on the edge of his shoulder pad but with a little fancy maneuvering he managed to straighten it out and pulled it down, covering up what he liked to refer to as his innate sexiness.
 
“There’s nothing like the feeling of putting on that jersey right before a big game.”
 

“True that,” John agreed putting on his own jersey.

“I still say that she is the spawn of Satan.”

John cut his friend a glance over his shoulder and then busted out laughing.
 
“You’re just jealous,” he accused.

Justin scoffed at the mere idea of that.
 
 
Me?
 
Jealous?
 
I don’t think so.
 
“Wrong!” he drawled out.
 
“I’m Justin Pinnix, the man with a plan."
 
He rested his hands on his hips and turned to John.
 
"All I have to do is crook my finger and I could have any female in this school that I wanted.
 
It's as simple as American pie.”

“Except for one girl in particular,” John pointed out. “Chloe.”
 
He started to adjust his jock strap and Justin turned his head, keeping his attention otherwise diverted.
 
Going to bed with that visual in his head was something he could definitely live without.
 
“You’re jealous because she told me yes and told you to suck it.” John added when he finished tucking himself away.
 

“And you’re delusional.”
 
Justin countered. He pulled on his padded britches and then sat down on the bench, picking up his lucky socks.
 
He had worn those socks in every game since he threw his first
 
innocuous
 
touch down pass freshman year.
 
The one time that his mom accidentally washed them was the only game in four years that they had lost.
 
Since that disastrous game, he hasn’t dared to let her wash them again.

“Man, those are rank,” John said taking a seat next to him.
 

"Hey, don’t knock the socks dude.
 
They have gotten us this far and tonight, they will bring it all back home.
 
The state title.
 
Four long years and this is what it all comes down to.”

John nodded in agreement and ran his hand through his hair, his face taking on a more serious look.
 
“So, I hear you have scouts out there tonight, right?”

Grinning easily, Justin nodded in affirmation.
 
“Yeah.
 
Two that I know of, Alabama and Penn State."

"Do you prefer one over the other?" He asked stuffing his boat like feet into his well worn cleats.

Justin was working on tying his shoes and shrugged.
 
"My dad went to Alabama so.... that's where he wants me to go but hell, I don't know John, football is football.
 
One school is just as good as the other the way that I see it, just as long as I get to play."

"Can't argue with that."
 
With his cleats were now laced and tied and John stood up, stomping his feet a couple of times, shaking out his legs.
 
He bent down and picked up his gold and black helmet before turning his gaze back to Justin.
 
He kicked up a grin on his lips and his face lit up with eager anticipation.
 
"Ready to kick some bulldog ass?"

"Hell yeah!"
 
Justin was more than ready.
 
This entire football year had been building up to this lone solitary game.
 
Jokes and pranks aside, tonight was going to be his night.
 
It was going to be his moment of shining glory.
 
The way that he
 
envisioned
 
it, this was the type of stuff that heroes were made of.
 

Standing up, he held out his fist to John.
 
They bumped their hands together, a gesture that the two had been doing since their pee wee days. "Hells yeah!!" John hollered in agreement.

Feeling the rush of the adrenaline already starting to pump in his veins, Justin bent over grabbed up his helmet.
 
"Come on, if we don't get our asses in gear Coach is going to string our hides up for sure."

J
ohn chuckled and slapped his friend on the back before turning to lead the way. "True that."