Page 3 of Love in Development

“Yes?”What did they want?It was only day one, and in-person friendship was already feeling like too much.

They linked their elbows through each of mine.“You’ll see.It’s going to be fun,” Charisse said.

“But I need to find a job.College isn’t going to pay for itself, you know.”

“I’ll think about some good places that might be hiring if you come with us,” Lin said.

“Not many places will hire a seventeen-year-old high school student with difficult hours besides fast food.”I said, not very hopeful.But I followed.

As soon as I stopped dragging my feet, Lin let go, but Charisse continued to hang on to me, oblivious to my attempts to disengage.

“Ooh, look at that hat.Where did you get that?Do they have them in red?Gosh, I would just love a red hat like that.What a pop of color that would be!”She dropped my arm and wandered over to accost a girl headed in the same direction as us.

Charisse was more like an electron or a moon that barely stayed in Lin’s orbit.Yet she came back every time.It was rather funny to watch.Maybe that was why Lin had been so desperate to latch on to me.She needed someone more like her to balance out Charisse.

We came around the red brick corner, and a field of green opened up.The track.A gray fairy circle of metal benches loomed in the center—the school battlefield.My heart soared.As we walked closer, the green rubber separated itself, so you couldn’t tell the inner grassy field from the track itself immediately.It appeared like magic.

In spring, it would be full of athletes—sprinting, jumping, throwing.

But now, Stephanie and her crew wore tight little shirts and tiny skirts as they practiced waving their pom-poms.Okay, that wasn’t fair.Even at my old school, some of the cheerleaders were nice to me.I was sure not all these girls were under the Dragon’s thumb.

On the green, the school warriors stretched and put on equipment.Some donned pads, black and gold jerseys, and helmets before throwing balls and smashing into each other.

“Football?You brought me to watch football practice?”

My jeans felt thin as I slid onto the cold metal bleachers.I had no feelings one way or the other for the sport, but I’d rather be doing something other than just sitting here watching someone else.

But I was still under orders to make friends, and I wanted to make Mom happy.I was tired of hearing her cry.Besides, Lin might be able to find me a job, saving me some legwork.

“We go to every practice and game—well, when it doesn’t conflict with my own practices and performances.Her boyfriend is on the team.”

I didn’t know which part was more surprising.That Lin had a boyfriend, that he was a football player, or that she was that loyal.But I hadn’t seen him or been introduced throughout the day.Still, it was just the first day.

Maybe Lin just liked him and hoped he’d notice her.“Which one?”Not that I could tell the difference between any of them except for basic size and maybe general shade of skin: pale, medium, and dark.

“Number 64,” Charisse hummed.

I scanned the crowd, finally landing on an enormous figure with dusky arms.Yep.He was a person.Probably.I glanced at Lin, who hadn’t taken her eyes off him.

“I just come to watch our quarterback.He’s amazing.The reason why we’ve been the regional champs the last three years,” Charisse said.

“Which one is that?”The ball passing and warm-ups had subsided, and the coach was now running the entire group through agility drills.

“Number 12.Nigel Galbraith.He’s a dreamboat.And he isn’t just all looks and football.He’s super nice.A straight A student and cares about this school.He never dates because there isn’t anyone here good enough for him.Besides, his parents are always bringing scouts to watch him play.They want him to go pro.There’s no room for a high school sweetheart with all that.We just call him Ni-guy.”

The sing-song-y rhyming nickname was so Charisse.

“Who’s ‘we,’ weirdo?”Lin scoffed.

I had to agree that he certainly knew how to throw and catch the ball, since now they’d separated into positions.The uniform made it difficult to tell how he was built, even though he was fairly close to where we sat.

His backside was rather eye-catching, though.My cheeks warmed.Bad girl.No way.I turned to face Lin.“So, what kinds of jobs do you know about?I’m willing to do pretty much anything.I can answer phones, run errands, type on the computer, cook fast food, clean...”

Lin finally turned her attention from the field.“What do you like to do?”

“You mean for work?”

“I mean, for fun.”