It has been a good week since Robbie's comment in the breakfast line, and then him looking at me when we're sitting at the lunch table. He's been doing the same thing almost every afternoon. Shelly's been getting more and more suspicious, and my feelings of guilt are getting worse.
Austin had wanted to get a bite to eat after football practice, so I just went to watch the game. I usually don't go to these events because, well to be blunt, I'm a geek. If it wasn't for Austin dragging me to those parties every other weekend, I'd probably be at home playing video games, or catching up on my reading.
That's the way it's always been between us, from a very early age he was the leader, I was the follower. He'd be the one to come to my house or call first, and I'd follow up on the conversation. In big groups Austin would be the one to introduce himself, then he'd say, "This is my brother Wade." I was always introduced to people as his little brother, and not only because I was shy, but because he was much bigger than me, even though we were the same age.
As we got older, you would not see Austin out somewhere without me by his side. Shelly wasn't a tom- boy by any means, so a lot of our outings hadn't included her, but every night I'd likely get a phone call from her gossiping about some event. Some people could mistake her for being an Albino, since she had white hair, but she didn't have the pink eyes; she had the brightest blue eyes you could possibly imagine. Her skin was white, but with a hint of tan, to blend in the mix.
Many of our conversations centered around Austin. I asked her a bunch of times why she wouldn't just ask him out, and it would always be the same answer.
"You can see it in his eyes he doesn't look at me like that." For Shelly it's all in the eyes of how a guy looks at her. A lot of times boys usually look at her with lust, or don't look at her face at all.
"That's one of the punishments for being gifted with beauty." She'd explain, and I thought I'd love to have Austin's V-shaped six- pack, or that surfer blond hairstyle of his, and his height at 5'11". At sixteen, that's how I should look, and instead, as I mentioned, I'm only at 5'5 "and weigh 115 pounds. I think to myself these pretty people have no idea how hard it is to be not so pretty looking. I mean, I have light brown hair with a flat shaggy look and the only thing I think I have going for me, is that I hadn't caught the disease of the horrible teenage acne that many kids have.
As I met Austin by the gym lockers, I thought, what does Robbie see in me? I didn't get to finish my thoughts because I saw the most gorgeous looking boy I had ever seen. He was standing in the showers, with only a towel to cover his dripping wet bod.
The mysterious boy, who I had not yet met, stood at 5'10" and the bulging of his muscles looked like he could weigh around 210 pounds. His jet black, wet, curly hair dangled in front of the hazel green eyes that matched my own. It almost looked as if he was sizing me up, when Austin stepped in front of my view.
"What's wrong with you?" Austin asked, matting his hair so it'd go back to its original style.
"What do you mean?" My voice croaked, as I wished he'd move out of the way, so I could see the muscle God that had stood before me.
"You look all flustered; what were you looking at?" He stepped out of the way where the mysterious boy had once been.
"You guys have a new team member?"
"Oh yeah, his name is Cody Hawkins. He just moved here three weeks ago and he's already made quarterback, can you believe that shit? He is a great player though. Come on, let's get some grub and just to let you know, Cody and the gang will be joining us."
We waited for about five minutes before Cody came out in a blue polo T-shirt and dark blue shorts. His hair was still curly, and his eyes landed intently on my body.
"Cody, this is my brother Wade, Wade this is Cody." We shook hands and the shake almost crushed my puny hand.
"You guys don't look even remotely related." Cody said with an added chuckle, as Austin patted me on the back.
"Cause he's my blood brother; we've known each other our whole lives, there really isn't a difference." Cody nodded in understanding, and we headed to Austin's Honda and on the way to Tony's Pizza Palace.
*** The whole gang was there. Robbie, Shelly, Candy, Joe, Cindy, Austin and our newest hot member Cody. I hadn't felt guilty for thinking about Cody the way I was, because Shelly was all over Robbie tonight for some reason. Cody was my key to not seem too jealous.
The reason why Cindy and Joe had hooked up, was because Joe was Robbie's buddy and Cindy was Shelly's girl. They tried a blind date, and it ended up a hit. By the next day, everyone knew Cindy and Joe were an official couple. They were cute together; Joe was a wide receiver and was about Robbie's height. You could never see his dirty blond hair because he always wore a cap. Today it was green, and you could picture Cindy looking like Lindsay Lohan, but without the freckles.
I sat there bored, while the guys talked about football. Well, Robbie couldn't speak, as Shelly had her tongue down his throat! I was starting to get pissed and tried to think of the hot boy sitting across from me.
I couldn't very well look up at him, because every time I did, he would catch me staring! My little member would twitch every time his eyes met mine, and carefully I'd avert my eyes back to Robbie. It looked like he was trying to get a good look at me, out of the corner of his eyes. I smiled inwardly as I chewed on my pizza slice, feeling hopeful that I was making him jealous, the jerk.
A cell phone went off and everyone looked at their own phones, including me, ha ha! Cindy had ended up getting a text, which she responded to, and snapped her phone shut.
"Aaron Stafford is having a party; you guys wanna go?" Shelly had stopped smothering my boyfriend, and Austin looked at me as if deciding what to do with me.
"What do you want to do Wade?" I could feel Cody and Robbie's eyes focusing intently on me, but I just kept my focus on Austin.
"Aaron is a jack- ass."
"He won't mess with you tonight, has he been messing with you?" Austin was giving me a hard look, and clenching and un- clenching his fists together.
It was true. Aaron had been tripping me in the hallways, calling me a fag behind my back, and shoving me up against the lockers. But lately he's left me alone.
"Not lately. I guess I'll go." Austin patted me on the chest and we all stood up.
"Let's head out then."
"Wait, I have to go to the bathroom." Which I did; all that soda had gotten to me and I needed to relieve myself.
I had just unzipped my pants when the door opened up, and in came Robbie.
"I saw you looking at that kid all night." Suddenly I had the urge not to go number one, and stepped away from the urinal.
"Yeah, I had to sit and watch Shelly make out with you. How does me looking at Cody, make you jealous?" Robbie had taken me by surprise and shoved me up against the wall. He had his arms on either sides of my head.
"I have a reason to be making out with Shelly. You don't have any reason to be looking at that punk sitting out there." I looked up to meet his eyes and involuntarily flinched, when I could see plainly how angry he was. Although I didn't think it was fair I had to calm him down, I couldn't have him being angry all night at me.
I wrapped my hands around his neck, and at first he stiffened, but then relaxed, and engulfed me in his arms. He kissed the top of my head, and fully relaxed.
"Sorry baby, but please stay away from that Cody kid. I know it's hard now, but in the end it'll be worth it, okay?" He whispered in my ear., I was about to say 'I love you' when the door burst open, and in walked Cody himself.