Chapter 5

"Hey, Doofus!"

I turned around at hearing the familiar voice. Jared Felson was walking toward me down the hall. His locker was just down from mine, and we often stopped to talk before our first-period class.

"You talking to me, Shit-for-Brains?" I grinned at him.

"Shit for brains? Me? I'm not the one who's got the brown eyes, oh observant one."

"Just because the eyes are brown doesn't mean I'm full all the way up to there with bullshit, like a certain overconfident running back I happen to know," I shot back.

"Hey, not overconfident, just sure of my abilities," he replied. "Besides, I'm not the one who was walking out of the party Friday looking like I was constipated and in some serious pain," he added with a grin.

"Well, that was Friday, and I'm feeling right fine on this Monday morning, but thanks for your concern," I said.

"So, Ray, what's up with you and the delectable Miss Melissa? Brit tells me you guys disappeared into the basement for quite awhile, and didn't hardly come up for air."

"You know," I said, looking up and down the hall. I really didn't want any eavesdroppers on this conversation. "I saw your sister down there too, but I'm surprised she even noticed us. She looked like she was too busy liplocked with Donny to pay attention to anything else."

Jared looked pained when I said that. I knew he wasn't terribly fond of Brittany's boyfriend.

"Ah, shit, you had to go and tell me that, didn't you? Well, at least it was our house, and there were a bunch of us around. That little fuck wasn't gonna try anything much with most of the football team there. I just wish Brit would get tired of his skinny ass soon. I'm tired of his smirks, but I can't kick his ass while she's still hanging on to it," he said.

"Maybe she just needs a little of the good lovin' from the Ray Machine," I said to him, giving him my best Groucho Marx eyebrow shimmy.

"Nope," he said with a smile. "You're too tall and big for Brittany. She likes 'em skinny. Besides, the Ray Machine is, I believe, in the process of being wrapped up and stamped with a big 'Hands Off' sign by someone else in a letter sweater."

"Does this mean that Melissa is coming off your list now, buddy?" I asked.

"No way!" he called back as he walked toward his first-period classroom. "She stays on the list until she finds out what a true doofus you really are, and decides to try the obvious quality of a star running back instead!"

"Ain't gonna happen, Jared. She doesn't know any quality running backs!"

We waved at each other across the sea of heads starting to fill the hallway as we went our separate ways.

Later that night I just couldn't resist. I was tired and cranky from doing homework and not being able to talk to Missy. Fuck it, I said to myself, and I called Melissa's house.

"Hello?" It sounded like her mother had answered.

"Hi, is Melissa there?"

"Who is calling, please?" She sounded suspicious.

"Um, this is Ray. I'm in her Algebra class, and I have a question about our homework," I said.

There was a pause. "Just a minute," she said. I heard the handset hit something hard. There was a loud thunk, then silence.

A small voice came on. "Hello?"