Chapter 12❤

"-and Zoe." I sighed finally.

"Present." Zoe replied.

I ticked her off the register, and then set it down on one of the bleachers.

I had been appointed track captain at the end of my junior year, after a series of competitions and kissing up to the coach and former captain, I was chosen. Being captain wasn't too stressful so far, we met up once a week and took part in a regional athletics competition.

"Okay, let's do a warm up. Stretches and then one lap around the track." I called out.

Groans were emitted from throughout the group of about 24 girls and I rolled my eyes, expectant of this response. There were no boys in the track team, it was solely meant for girls, and they tended to join other sports such as basketball or football. There were female versions of these teams but none were as major as the boy's, who competed in annual games and had more funding and nurturing.

Sexist, I know.

I began to do stretches; the girl's following my lead. However, I was not oblivious to the hateful glare I was receiving from one of the members, Olivia, whom I had been going up against for the captain role. Being the bigger person, I continued to ignore her, brightly smiling towards the other members who had no grudge on me. Hopefully.

Olivia had been quick to jump onto Noah after I broke up with him; he was quite popular, being a member of the football team. She obviously did it to get on my nerves, Noah had spread a rumour that he had broken up with me because I was too 'clingy', so she most likely thought I was still lovesick after him. I snorted at the thought. Maybe I would agree if she meant by 'lovesick', I was in love with the thought of throwing up all over him and his designer jeans.

Sadly, Olivia had not been prepared for Noah at all...let's just say that he dumped her like my brother dumped his beans after Mexican night. That all but contributed to her hate towards me.

"Are we going to do the lap or what?" I heard an annoying voice shout.

Of course, it was Olivia; I snapped out of my thoughts and scowled at her ugly face.

"Okay then, let's move on!" I called out.

I blew my whistle and the girls commenced their lap, with me trailing behind them, urging anyone lagging behind to keep up their pace. Olivia sped ahead in front, trying to show everyone else up. Although, I did not see the point in her doing this, it wasn't like anyone was going the switch our roles- the coach was only present within the last semester to choose the next captain.

"So, the regional competition is at the end of the year, which means that we need to get into our roles in preparation for it. Here is a sheet of paper with all the games listed, I have already chosen for you, bearing you in mind. Practising for your role commences next week, where you will be working more independently. Okay?" I finished.

A series of 'okay's' was my response.

"Here are the roles: Relay 100m is Clara, Hazel, Daria and Lola. 100m sprint is Olivia. 200m is Akssaya. 1500m is Maisie and Shyla. 100m hurdles are Elle- May and Chloe. Pentathlon is Stephanie. 400m is Omorinsola. 800m is myself. 400m hurdles is Reese. B team 100m relay is Zoe, Melissa, Grace and Aubrey." I looked up to see if I still had everyone's attention, and upon realising that I did, continued.

"C team 100m relay is Amber, Ella, Dakota and Kendra. Finally, the people doing the second set of 100m hurdles are Daisy and May. Is that clear everybody?" I asked, peering up from my sheet.

Nobody had objecting expressions on their face, so I took that as a yes. Even Olivia had a look of content, which was rare. I told the people with similar events to join and converse about how and when they were going to practise as 45 minutes per week was not going to be enough if they wanted to be eligible for competing.

The meeting eventually finished, leaving me free to go home.

---

"Tammy! Wait up!" I heard a voice shout from behind me.

I turned around, seeing Tommy sprint towards me.

"Hey, what's up? What are you still doing here?" I asked, smiling as he began to walk besides me.

"Well I've just come out from the basketball try-out's." He answered.

"Really, that was today? Why didn't you tell me?" I inquired.

"Well, we haven't really been talking up until about 4 hours ago..." he trailed off in his know it all tone.

"So how was it?" I continued, dismissing his previous statement.

"Well the captain, David, didn't really like me." He replied.

"Oh." I said frowning.

"He loved me!" Tommy exclaimed.

"Oh my goodness! That's great!" I cried, pulling him into a hug.

He chuckled at my enthusiasm; "Yeah, I guess so."

"You guess so? How many guys did you see running out of the changing room's crying?" I scoffed.

"Well..."

"Pre-cisely." I said, tapping his nose and skipping away towards my car.

"Who's Miss Know It All Know?" he spoke amused, joining me by my door.

"Still you!" I said cheekily, climbing into the driver's seat.

"Hey! I'm a Mr, not a Miss." He caught on.

"That's what you think." I replied winking, and drove out of the car park.

Meanwhile, leaving a sulking Tommy behind.

---

"Lucy, I'm 2 minutes away." I spoke into my phone, whilst my other hand was on the steering wheel and the car was stationary, as the traffic light had turned red.

I really was such a bad girl these days.

I switched on the radio to my favourite station and let out a small chuckle as the song 'Loyal' began to play. 'If only Tommy were here' I thought to myself, but then sighed upon realising that I was sounding like one of those clingy, needy girls and Tommy and I weren't even dating.

I snorted at that thought, as if that was ever going to happen. I liked Tommy, but not in that way.

Finally, I pulled up at the mall, greeted with the sight of a red head waving her arms frantically. Rolling my eyes at her craziness, I exited the car and advanced towards Lucy.

"Hey Lu Lu." I said, pulling her into a hug.

"Right back at you girl." She replied.

"Let's go and get a bite to eat then."

"Where do you want to go?" she continued.

"Starbucks?"

"Cool. So guess what?" she said as we began to walk.

"What?" I asked wearily.

"I have a new obsession!" she exclaimed joyfully.

Lucy was always having new crazy obsessions, her last one was pen's, she definitely had a struggle closing her pencil case during each lesson.

"Puns!" she exclaimed overenthusiastically.

"What? No!" I cried as we boarded the escalator.

"You mean hell yes baby!" she shouted, attracting attention from others in the mall, not that she noticed anyways.

"Well that escalated quickly." She said once we had reached the top of the elevator. "Get it? Escalated, because we were just on an escalator!"

"Yes Lu, I get it." I sighed.

Honestly, I loved the girl to pieces, but at times she was just too much.

"So, how did you convince your mum to let you out of the house?" Lucy asked.

"Well, I was just going to use the library excuse, but when I mentioned your name, she all but screamed at me 'yes'. Seriously, sometimes I think she loves you more than she loves me!" I replied.

"What can I say? It's all part of the charm." Lucy joked, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

"Oh please, your charm is equivalent to that of an obese crocodile. Have you seen the way you eat chicken?" I scoffed.

"You can't talk, you finish a chicken wing in 3 seconds flat." She retorted, "Remember that time in science where we were learning about animals and you came out saying you wanted to be a vegetarian and an hour later I caught you sitting by the dumpsters with barbecue sauce smeared all over your face?"

"Mama loves her meat!" I boomed, hitting my stomach.

"How do you stay so thin? I swear your stomach is like a bottomless abyss," she asked curiously.

"What can I say? It's all part of the charm." I said, mocking the words she had spoken earlier.

"Well you're charm is equivalent to that of an obese man who spends his time jiggling his moobs behind closed doors."

She entered the coffee shop and I did the 'Whatever Major Loser' sign behind her back.

We waited in line until it was our turn to order, and I had the shock of my life when I saw the cashier serving us.

"Noah?" I said bewildered.

"Tamara? Fancy seeing you here." he said in his signature jerky tone.

Yes, fancy indeed.

"I thought you were so rich that you wouldn't be caught dead in a 'crappy shop where paedophiles can be in their element with the amount of ghetto girls in here'" I quoted him.

"Yes, but that was before my parent's cut my allowance to only 200 dollars a week because apparently I always act like I'm a 'spoilt brat'. As if! I'm an example of a perfect human being- I mean look at me." He said, gesturing down to himself.

"Yeah that's the thing, I'm still trying to figure that out- what is there to look at?" I snorted.

"Oh please, a year ago you were all over this body."

"Yes, and a year ago- I thought you should be considered as a person. A lot can change in a year right?"

"Tell me about it..." he said, eyeing me up and down.

"Perv." I hissed.

"Only to you babe." He winked.

"Please, we all know that's not true- I'm sure you're only in here to look at girls." I scoffed.

"You know it." He smirked.

"You know what? I'm in a good mood today so I've decided that in my will, I'm going to leave you a 90% off coupon to fix," I paused, gesturing to Noah's whole body (or the half that wasn't hidden behind the counter, "-that problem. Trust me, you need it." I said smiling sweetly.

"Hey ladies, hurry up, you're holding up the whole freaking line!" a short bald man snapped from behind me.

"Alright, alright, keep your hair on- oh wait that's right, you don't have any." I snapped back, before finally ordering and going to find us a seat.

"Tammy, Tammy, Tammy, well that wasn't very nice was it?" Lucy tutted jokingly.

"Nope, not at all." I laughed, sliding into a booth.

"You've really got some backbone over the summer haven't you?" Lucy observed.

"Seriously?" I asked incredulously.

"Yes, before when Noah spoke to you like that, you would just laugh nervously and walk away- but now..."

"Fine, I guess so." I agreed.

Noah's arrival with our drinks halted our conversation.

"Here you are." he said, setting our drinks down onto the table.

"What happened to working behind the till?"

"I switched positions." he smirked.

"For which reason?" I hissed.

"To annoy you. Why else?" he chuckled.

"Well you can leave now." I said, doing a fake smile towards him.

"Oh yes, and I spit in your drink." He smiled back, walking away.

"What?" I shrieked.

"I'm kidding."

I sighed in relief.

"Maybe." he winked, now behind the counter.

"I can't drink this now." I pouted, pushing the whipped creamed caramel latte away from me.

"If he spit in your drink, you would be able to see it through the cream. Plus, I'm sure he would not stoop that low." Lucy advised.

"You're right." I breathed, taking a sip of the drink that had my toes curling because it was so good.

Lucy had ordered a caramel Frappuccino and was already gulping it down. I on the other hand, preferred to cherish the drink and take small sips.

Surprising, I know.

We finally left the café, but not before I tripped Noah up whilst he was holding some orders.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry!" I gasped melodramatically, yet believingly to the people watching the scene.

"It's alright ma'am." Noah groaned from the floor, knowing I had done it purposely.

"Do you want me to help clean up?" I said, my hand now on my chest as I feigned worry.

"No, that's fine, you can leave now." he spoke calmly, but I could tell he was holding back his rage.

"Oh okay, sorry again."

I was sure I heard him mutter 'good riddance' underneath his breath but didn't stop to inquire about it- I was already having trouble holding back my laughs.

Lucy however had seemingly not attempted at keeping back her guffaws as she was crouched down in laughter outside the café, and soon, I too joined her.

"Tammy, you naughty, naughty girl!" she scolded.

"The one and only." I smiled as we exited the mall.

---

I was coming up the stairs to go to bed when I was pushed over by an eager Darren.

"Hey you little chump! Watch where you're going." I said, standing up to ruffle his blonde hair.

"Sorry, I was just trying to get back to bed." he replied, sounding apologetic.

"That's fine but- what the heck have you put in your nose?" I shrieked.

"I was having a nosebleed and I couldn't find any tissue- so I used these nose plugs."

Well, they're good for soaking up blood, but I don't think they were intended for a nose...

"Oh yeah... right, those are nose plugs, silly me."

"Bye Tammy."

He began to run in the other direction once again.

"Remember to breathe through your mouth!" I called after him.

I was such a good sister!

A few minutes later I heard my mum shout the same question I had shrieked before.

Darren had always had nose bleed's, it was a medical condition, and by now he knew how to deal with one by himself.

Well at least I thought he knew how to.

I sat down on my bed, and then began to lay down in a sleeping position. I looked up, expecting to see Nathan Skyes looking back at me, but instead was greeted with the sight of a half naked hooker. Looking around my room, I saw that all of my posters had been changed. There is only one person that could have done this, and that person went by the name of-

"Jake! Get your monkey butt down here now!" I screamed.

"No way josè!" he shouted back.

I jumped up from my bed and stormed down the corridor to the little devil's room. I didn't expect to have an arm reach out and grab my own however. I shrieked a little as I came face to face with Tommy.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, all but ready to continue on my rampage.

"Don't go in there! He is loaded with a water gun!" he warned.

"What? Wouldn't that just mess up his own walls?"

"When has that ever stopped him before?" he scoffed.

"Touché." I agreed.

"So, I'm going to get your mum to come into his room, and when she opens the door, he'll think it's you and spray her, and he'll get into a heap load trouble. How does that sound?" he explained.

"Perfect!"

"But I'll only do it on one condition." He pondered.

"What's stopping me from doing it myself?" I snorted.

"You don't have my charm." he winked.

"What is it with people and charm these days?" I sighed.

"Beats me." He said, shrugging.

"Okay, fine, what's this condition?" I groaned.

"This never happened." He whispered eerily, looking at me straight in my eyes.

"What never happened?" I smirked, playing along.

"I don't want to wake up with my hair attached to my pillow."

"Don't worry, I don't blame you."

"Good luck Tammy, you're really going to need it." he said dramatically.

"Thanks amigo." I sighed.

"Alright, here I go." he said, exiting through his door.

Looking around his bedroom, I noticed that it was nothing out of the ordinary, with navy sheets and the occasional poster. I spotted a framed picture by his bedside, but stopped myself from going over to take a closer look- knowing that it would be a complete invasion of privacy.

Less than a minute had passed before I heard marching across the corridor and Tommy re-entered his room.

"Wait for it..." he whispered before I could say anything"...3-2-1."

"Jake Aubrey Lovell, you are in heck load of trouble." I heard my mother shriek in outrage.

"Crap." I heard Jake exclaim.

Jake 0- Tammy 2

---

Sorry for the late update guys :(