Foolish Games Read online

  "He wasn’t popular enough for you. That’s so shallow." Kevin stated, "I can see why he’s been acting the way he does towards you."

  "I know that now i’m still kind of obsessed with the idea of being popular but i’m not as shallow as I was before. I re-analysed my life and I realised that I wanted to change. After I lost Brian, well, it hurt so bad to see what kind of a person I became." Erica said.

  "I can honestly say after knowing you and what you’ve told me, that you have changed, for the better. Okay yeah you still want to be popular but everyone does at some point in their lives. But I know you and I know you would not hurt me intentionally." Kevin said taking her hand.

  "I wouldn’t. And if I ever got Brian back, I swear to God that i’d never do that again." Erica said, "You know how the saying goes, ‘You don’t know what you have until it’s gone’?"

  "Yeah."

  "That’s how I feel. I lost one of the sweetest guys in the world."

  "You can still get him back." Kevin said.

  "Nah, he’ll never believe that i’ve changed. I think I hurt him too much for that."

  CHAPTER 8

  Jessie and Nick were in Nick’s car driving to the party. They had dinner at a really nice seafood place that Nick had suggested and basically talked about everything. Well, except for relationships which seemed to be a pretty touchy subject for Jessie. Jessie was starting to feel comfortable with Nick but there was still something at the back of her mind that held her back and she didn’t know what it was.

  ‘You really wanna go to this party?" Nick asked glancing at her.

  "Why?" she asked him curiously.

  "I know somewhere else we can go."

  Jessie suddenly tensed. The last person to ever say those words to her were Josh and she had some painful memories of it..

  Nick noticed.

  "If you wanna go to the party we can still-"

  "No, it’s okay. Where do you wanna go?" Jessie asked. She had to do this. It was all part of her getting closer to him. She just prayed to God that he wasn’t like Josh. Heck! Why couldn’t she just forget that name!?

  "It’s sort of a surprise." Nick said, a smile in his voice.

  Jessie took a deep breath and watched as Nick took a road that led away from the town and away from civilization.

  Kevin was still sitting on the awing thinking about what had just happened. Erica had decided to leave since she didn’t feel like partying. One of her friends who also shared her feelings decided to give her a life home so Kevin could stay at the party.

  So she was still in love with Brian, Kevin thought to himself. He wasn’t surprised though. He always knew that somehow they would end back up together.

  Sure he was upset. Devastated actually but she’d already made her choice. She wanted Brian back. It hurt him a lot to know that no matter how much he loved her, she couldn’t feel the same way about him. Now getting Brian back was something she was going to have to do on her own.

  "Nick? Where are we going?" Jessie asked, her body tense in the seat next to his.

  "You’ll see." He said turning his head to give her a half-twisted smile.

  Jessie smiled too for his benefit but inside she was shaking. She looked back out at the road and saw that he was turning towards the beach. He stopped the car a few minutes later and motioned for her to get out. She took off her shoes and met him outside the car. He took her hand then.

  "I wanna show you something." He whispered softly into her ear. Jessie shivered at the feel of his breath against her skin.

  They walked for about five minutes until they came upon a cove. Jessie gasped at the sight of it. The moon was shimmering on the calm waters of the ocean and created a somewhat romantic atmosphere.

  "This place is so beautiful." Jessie said.

  Nick smiled at her. "I knew you’d like it."

  "How could I not?" Jessie asked him motioning to what was around her.

  "I found this place a couple of months ago when I was scuba-diving and I’ve been coming here ever since. The sound of the waves is very relaxing. I love it." Nick said taking a seat on a huge rock nearby. He pulled Jessie down with himso that she was sitting in front of him, between his legs, with his arms wrapped around her, keeping her warm.

  It was then that Jessie realized that there was much more to Nick than just being a school ‘jock’. He had another side to him. A much softer side. A side she liked very much.

  "How come you don’t have a girlfriend?" she asked then.

  "Probably because all the girls I’ve ever dated were either interested in me for my popularity and nothing more or they were too absorbed with themselves to actually have a meaningful relationship." Nick stated, "I have to be honest with you Jessie. I’m not like most guys my age. Relationships mean a lot to me so i’m usually picky about whom I date. I thought i’d never find someone who I really wanted to get closer to but then I met you."

  Jessie smiled. He was nothing like Josh. Josh didn’t have an honest bone in his body.

  "You’re different Jessie. You’re not like all those other girls i’ve been out with. You’re special."

  A gust of wind blew then and Jessie shivered. But it wasn’t because of the wind. It was because of how Nick’s words were affecting her.

  Nick tightened his arms around her before brushing back her hair with his fingers. It was then that he noticed the scar.

  "How did you get this scar?" he asked her. His eyes narrowed in concern. "It looks fairly recent."

  "Well, when we..umm.. were moving I sorta tripped over some boxes and hit my back on something sharp." Jessie said silently glad that she wasn’t facing him. She wasn’t a very good liar.

  Nick thought about this for a moment. Jessie didn’t seem like a careless person to him, but then again, why would she lie? He decided not to push it.. if she didn’t want to tell him the truth, well he’d just have to accept that.

  Nick got up and glanced at his watch.

  "I think we better go. It’s getting late."

  "Yeah." Jessie said turning to face him.

  Their eyes locked for a moment and Nick couldn’t resist the urge to lean forward and kiss her. Jessie was hesitant to respond and when Nick deepened the kiss, she pulled away.

  "What’s wrong?" Nick asked her.

  Her eyes held a mixture of fear and sadness and Nick saw it.

  "I’m sorry Nick. But I can’t do this." Jessie said.

  Nick suddenly remembered her saying how her last relationship ended badly.

  "Why? Does this have something to do with your last boyfriend?" He asked.

  "I don’t want to talk about it." Jessie said and started walking back to the car. Nick followed her and reached for her hand.

  ‘But Jess-"

  "Please Nick." Jessie pleaded, "I just want to forget it okay?"

  "Okay."

  CHAPTER 9

  "Today is the day!" Erica said throwing herself down on her bed. They were at Erica’s house today since they were planning on studying together but studying wasn’t on Jessie’s mind. She was too busy thinking about Nick and how fast things seemed to be going with him.

  "Jessie?" Erica said looking at her friend who was so busy lost in thought.

  "Huh? What?" Jessie asked blinking her eyes and looking at Erica.

  "You haven’t heard a word i’ve been saying have you?" Erica said sitting up on the bed and crossing her legs to look at her.

  "Yes I have!" Jessie protested.

  "Okay, so what did I just say?" Erica challenged.

  "You..um.. said something about..um..-"

  "I said today is the day!" Erica repeated.

  "What are you talking about?" Jessie was totally confused.

  "I have to take the pictures today. I’ve put it off too long already and today is the last day of the week that the basketball team has practice!" Erica explained.

  "Why is this bothering you so much?" Jessie asked her, "You’ve got to take some pictures of the basketball team w
ith no clothes on. Weren’t you the one who said that the basketball team had ALL the sexy guys?"

  "Yeah I did. It’s not the taking of the pictures that’s the problem here. I mean I probably already imagined the entire basketball team naked already! It’s just that I can’t get in there and do it! What do you want me to do? Go in there and go ‘Hey guys, I have to get into Phi Alpha Beta so bad can you please help me by posing for me in the nude?"

  "Why not?"

  "Oh come on Jessie! It’ll never work! Besides, I was being sarcastic!" Erica said.

  "And i’m being serious! I think you should try it!"

  "I don’t think so."

  "Hey! You were the one who wanted to get into this sorority in the first place!" Jessie accused, "Now you have to do it!"

  Erica looked at her and sighed.

  "I guess it wouldn’t hurt to try."

  "That’s the spirit!"

  "You do know that you’re coming with me though." Erica said pulling her out the door.

  "What? Why?"

  "It’s your idea!"

  "No, no, it was YOUR idea I just agreed to it."

  ‘Whatever. You’re still coming."

  "Fine let’s just get this over with." Jessie muttered.

  THREE HOURS LATER>>>

  "I think i’ve seen enough nude bodies for one day!" Jessie said when she and Erica were back in Erica’s car on their way to get the photos developed.

  "Too bad Nick decided to skip practice today." Erica said smiling, "I wouldn’t mind seeing him naked!"

  "Really? I was just thinking how lucky for me that he wasn’t there!" Jessie said folding her arms.

  "I can’t believe that you don’t like him! He’s cute, he’s sweet-" Erica was cut off abruptly.

  ‘I never said I didn’t like him." Jessie protested.

  "Oh! So you do like him!" Erica said giving her a wink.

  "I never said that either!"

  “Then what the hell are you saying?" Erica asked exasperated.

  "All i’m saying is that he’s not at all what I expected." Jessie confessed looking out the window.

  Erica shook her head at her. The poor girl was obviously in denial.

  "I can’t believe this actually worked!" Erica said changing the subject then.

  ‘I know! I mean most of them were actually willing to take their clothes off for you!" Jessie stated. ‘But what are you going to do about the ones you didn’t get?"

  "Well, one of the guys suggested I use a little computer ‘magic’ and paste some nude bodies onto the faces of the players. He said Britney won’t know the difference so that’s what i’ll do!" Erica said.

  "Good for you. You’re all done! I’m just starting!" Jessie sighed.

  "Don’t worry. I know for a fact that Nick likes you so it shouldn’t be long now." Erica said.

  "I hope so." Jessie said softly. But deep down inside she knew that if her past were different, she’d be all over Nick by now!

  CHAPTER 10

  The next morning, Jessie was getting her stuff ready for classes that morning when the phone rang.

  Her father was downstairs in the kitchen having breakfast and answered it. He called up to Jessie and told her that it was for her.

  "Hello?" Jessie asked picking up the receiver and hearing her father hang up.

  "Jessie? It’s Nick." The voice said, "I was wondering if you’re not busy that maybe we could have lunch today or something?"

  "Um.. sure."

  "How about I meet you at the Phi Alpha Beta house and then we can go from there?" Nick suggested, ‘At about eleven thirty?"

  "Okay. I guess I’ll see you there then. Bye."

  "Bye Jessie."

  She heard the phone click as he hung up. So Nick wanted to see her again. That was a good sign. She realized that she was actually looking forward to seeing him again. She liked spending time with him. She finished packing her bag and headed out the door thinking about her lunch ‘date’ with Nick."

  Erica walked into the on campus cafe’ and saw Brian seated in a booth alone, sipping a cup of tea and reading something.

  It’s now or never! Erica thought walking tentatively towards him. Brian heard footsteps approaching him and glanced up to see Erica. He was surprised as expected.

  "What do you want?" he asked looking back down at what he was reading.

  "Can I talk to you?" she asked. She didn’t realize that she was wringing her hands together in an effort to keep still.

  Brian looked back up at her then. She looked sort of...scared. He couldn’t understand why though.

  "What about?" he asked still not looking at her.

  "Us."

  "Uh-uh. There is no ‘US’. You ended that a long time ago." Brian said.

  "Look Brian, Kevin and I..we broke up."

  "Good. It’s about time. He’s too good for you." he replied dryly.

  His words stung but she never let him know how much they hurt.

  "Brian.."

  "Is that all?" he asked harshly.

  Erica shook her head at him and turned around and walked out. She couldn’t talk to him. Not when he was acting like this.

  Brian watched as she left. He didn’t notice the tears that were running down her cheeks but he did feel a little guilty for acting the way he did. Brian sighed and tried to get back to what he was doing before but couldn’t. His mind was on Erica. She hurt him so bad so why was he still thinking about her?

  "Jessie was walking to the Phi Alpha Beta House at precisely eleven thirty when she saw Nick waiting exactly where he told her. He saw her and welcomed her with a smile.

  "I hope you haven’t been waiting long." Jessie said when she was finally standing in front of him.

  "Nah, I’m glad that I finally met a girl who’s on time!" Nick stated leading her to his car.

  Jessie gave him a strange look.

  "It’s a long story." He said starting the car.

  "Okay." She replied not really wanting to hear it anyway..

  A few minutes later, they stopped at some pizza place.

  "I sorta have this pizza obsession." Nick confessed when he saw Jessie’s eyebrows raised at where they were.

  "That’s okay. I guess we all have our thing!" Jessie said getting out the car.

  They went inside, found an empty booth and sat down.

  "I heard about Erica and the pictures." Nick began with a smile. "I can’t believe that Phi Alpha Beta made her do that! Thank God I missed practice that day!"

  "I was thinking the same thing." Jessie told him.

  "Aren’t you joining Phi Alpha Beta too?" Nick asked her.

  Jessie nodded. "Erica begged me to join with her otherwise I wouldn’t have given that sorority another thought!"

  "I knew you didn’t look like the sorority type." Nick mused, picking up a slice of pizza that had just been delivered.

  "Oh yeah? Then what type do I look like then, Mr. Thorne?" Jessie asked, leaning back in her seat so she had a clear view of him.

  "Oh no! I’m not going there!" Nick teased.

  Jessie playfully punched him in the arm.

  "So what do you have to do?" he asked then before going back to his pizza.

  "What?"

  "To get into Phi Alpha Beta. What’s your ‘Mission’?"

  "oh..um.. I can’t tell you." Jessie said quicly.

  "Why not?" He asked narrowing his baby blue eyes at her.

  "Because..."

  "Uh-huh?"

  "It’s a secret. Yeah, um.. I swore not to tell anyone about it. It’s sort of a Phi Alpha Beta rule." Jessie said trying to keep a straight face. She almost laughed out loud at that one but hey it was the best she could come up with at the time!

  "Oh, okay." Nick said brushing it off as if he couldn’t be bothered.

  Jessie’s gaze suddenly fell on the ring.

  "That’s a nice ring." She commented, "Where’d you get it?"

  "Well one of my best friends, her name was Julie, she gave it to me about two
years ago on my sixteenth birthday. She died a year later in a car crash. She was one of my closest friends. I was pretty shocked, to say the least, at her sudden death. From them on i’ve never taken off the ring. It reminds me of her and the friendship we once shared." Nick finished softly. He suddenly lost his appetite.