Scramble
Copyright© 2025 by Lumpy
Chapter 18
Friday, I was super late to lunch. Coach Greer caught me in conditioning and held me back to talk to me about the track meet. He was rightfully concerned that my head wasn’t prepping for it and, even though it wasn’t a major meet, I had been beating most of my classmates during practice. That was great for just us, but our school had never been a competitor really in track, and there were other schools in the district, let alone the region, that had stronger programs.
Beating my teammates was not the same as beating them, and I needed to have my head in the meet, if we were going to start putting up wins.
So yes, I agreed with him, and even though I’d told him upfront track would never be my priority, the competitor in me didn’t want to lose. So even though I had seven-on-seven and QB practice today, I really needed to buckle down for our last track practice before tomorrow’s meet.
This was all bouncing through my head as I made my way through the cafeteria, to our normal table. Melanie was already there, and she was lookin ... antsy, I guess would be the word for it.
“Finally,” she said as I sat down. “I thought you were going to stand there all day.”
“Sorry, got held up talking to Coach Greer about tomorrow’s meet.” I unwrapped my sandwich and took a bite. “What’s with you?”
“What do you mean with me?”
“You look like you can barely stay in your seat. Although seeing the expression on your face right now, if I had to guess, I’d say you’re about to ask me to do something I probably won’t want to do.”
“You know me too well,” she said with an uncomfortable laugh. “I had an idea about this weekend.”
“Yeah?”
“I was thinking we should go on a double date with Kenneth and Tammy.”
I stopped chewing. “Why would we do that?”
“Because it would be fun?”
“Since when do you think double dates are fun? Last month you said they were for people who couldn’t carry a conversation on their own.”
Melanie picked at her salad. “Well, I changed my mind.”
“And Kenneth and Tammy just randomly want to go out with us?”
“It’s not random. I already talked to Tammy about it.”
“You already...” I set my sandwich down. “When did you talk to Tammy?”
“This morning, before first period. She said yes.”
“Just like that? Hey Tammy, want to double date with me and Blake? Sure, sounds great!” I shook my head. “That doesn’t sound like Tammy.”
“Well, she did say yes.”
“But why? You two aren’t exactly best friends.”
“We’re friendly.”
“Friendly like you talk about cheerleading when you’re at practice, not friendly like you plan double dates together.”
“Maybe I want us to be closer.”
I studied her face. There it was, that calculated expression she got when she was working an angle. “Why?”
“What do you mean, why? Can’t I just want to be friends with someone?”
“You can, but you don’t. Not without a reason.”
“Fine. I want to get closer to Tammy because all the juniors idolize her and she has a lot of pull with next year’s captain.”
“I heard you were basically guaranteed a spot on varsity next year. Multiple people have said it.”
“A spot, yes. But there are going to be other juniors and sophomores who’ll be seniors and juniors next year. If I want to make captain my junior year, I need to start building relationships now.”
“Won’t the sophomores who’ll be seniors your junior year have something to say about that? They’ll want the captain spot for themselves.”
Melanie glanced down the table to where a group of sophomore cheerleaders sat huddled together. She lowered her voice. “The sophomores this year just aren’t very good. Everyone knows they’ll get passed over. Coach even said something about it when he was yelling at them one day.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. It was all anyone could talk about after it happened.”
I took another bite of my sandwich, thinking. Something still wasn’t adding up.
“I get why you want to get closer to Tammy, but I don’t get why she would agree to this. She doesn’t normally hang with people outside of her circle.”
Melanie became very interested in her salad again.
“Mel.”
“What?”
“Stop playing games and just tell me what you did.”
She stabbed a piece of lettuce with unnecessary force. “I might have mentioned that you wanted to get closer to Kenneth. You know, to learn from him before he goes to college.”
“You told her I wanted to hang out with Kenneth?”
“Not in those exact words.”
“What exact words did you use?”
“I said you really admired him as a quarterback and wished you could spend more time learning from him before he graduated.”
I stared at her. “And that was enough to get Tammy to agree to this?”
“Yes, actually.” She sounded surprised and maybe a little annoyed. “They both think you’re great. Everybody does.”
“So you lied about me to get what you wanted.”
“It’s not a lie! You do admire him as a quarterback.”
“That’s not the same as desperately wanting to learn from him to the point of hanging out on a double date.”
“I never said desperately.”
“Melanie.”
“Look, this is good for both of us. You could use the connection to get closer to the varsity guys.”
“Maybe I could, but I’d rather do it on my own merit, not because my girlfriend orchestrated some elaborate scheme.”
“It’s not elaborate. It’s one date.”
“That you set up by lying about my intentions.”
“I know.” She set her fork down and looked at me directly. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have done it. I’m sorry.”
“Then cancel it.”
“I can’t cancel now! That would be even worse. Tammy would think something’s wrong.”
“Something is wrong. You lied to her.”
“Blake, please. I know I messed up, but can you just do this for me? One double date. That’s all I’m asking.”
I pushed my tray away, appetite gone. “This is exactly the kind of thing you promised you’d stop doing.”
“I know.”
“How many times do we need to talk about this before you hear me? Hell, we almost broke up over this exact thing.”
“I know.”
“And here you are, scheming again.”
“I know!” She reached across the table but stopped short of touching my hand. “I’m sorry. I really am. It’s just ... old habits.”
“That’s not an excuse.”
“You’re right. It’s not.” She pulled her hand back. “But I’ve already set it up, and backing out now would make things worse for both of us. Please, Blake. Just this once.”
I looked at her. She did seem genuinely sorry, but then again, Melanie was good at seeming a lot of things.
“Fine. But this is the last time. No more schemes, no more lies, no more using me as a prop in your social climbing.”
“I promise.”
“Uh-huh,” I said. She’d promised that before. I picked up my sandwich again, though I wasn’t hungry anymore. “When is this double date supposed to happen?”
“Saturday night. Dinner and maybe a movie after.”
“Of course you already have it all planned.”
“I like to be prepared.”
“You like to be in control.”
She didn’t deny it. We sat in silence for a moment, the cafeteria noise washing over us. Down the table, Mickey was trying to balance a spoon on his nose while Joe timed him. Normal lunch chaos.
“Blake?”
“What?”
“Are you really mad at me?”
I considered the question. Was I mad? Disappointed, definitely. Frustrated, absolutely. But mad?
“I’m tired, Mel. Tired of the games and the manipulation. I thought we were past this.”
“We are. I just ... slipped.”
“You slipped into telling Tammy I desperately wanted to learn from her boyfriend?”
“Okay, that sounds bad when you put it like that.”
“How else should I put it?”
She didn’t have an answer for that. I finished my sandwich in silence while she pushed food around her plate. Finally, she spoke again.
“I really am trying to be better.”
“Try harder.”
“I will.”