November 28th, 2007

“You…” was all Lexi was able to say before she burst out laughing. I glared at her when both Dallas and Austin joined her in her laugh attack, and I just stood there and waited for them to finish.

I should have expected this from them. I should have expected it from everyone! But I didn’t think they would start laughing so quickly! And I definitely didn’t think that they would laugh like this right in front of me! Right in my face! Some friends they were… And not to mention one of them was my brother!

Dallas and Austin both fell to the ground like the idiots they were, laughing so hard that I thought their stomachs were going to burst. It wasn’t that funny! I was being serious!

“Do you have a problem?” I asked them snappily once their laughing started to die down. “I was being serious, you know! I’m really good! I really want to join the team!”

“Sorry, Jordy, but you’re probably the least athletic person I know, now counting Chelsea,” Dallas informed me when he finally stopped laughing, wiping a tear from his eye as he picked himself up off the floor. “You’re more of a… acting and singing type to me.”

I wrinkled my nose at him. “I hate singing. That’s AJ’s thing.”

“Just wait, Jordan,” Dallas sighed, leaning against the kitchen island now as Lexi continued to sit on the stool next to it. “One day you’re going to be singing a song about the guy you love! You’ll see. It’s just the type of thing you’d do. It’ll probably be a sad song, knowing you. You’ll probably do something to ruin the relationship! Or maybe the guy will. Ooh! Someone else will come in and wreck your relationship! Yeah, that’s it. You’re more of a singer. Sports, though… They definitely aren’t your thing.”

“It’s badminton,” I reminded him flatly, in case he had somehow forgotten. “It’s like amateur tennis.”

“And you’re definitely amateur,” Austin muttered as he walked passed me to get to the cupboard. I bit the inside of my lip, stopping myself from saying a nasty comment to him. Some brother he was… “Don’t get me wrong, Jordan, I love you and all, but any kind of sport just isn’t your thing.”

“It’s not like I barged in here and announced that I want to play football,” I snapped, almost slamming my fist down onto the island. “It’s badminton! The birdy’s, like, not even an ounce! If I can’t hit that tiny thing with a stupid racket, I fail at life!”

“Well…”

“Shut up, Dallas!”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Jordan,” Lexi advised, continuing to eat the cereal that I had poured for myself earlier. “You should listen to your brother. Austin and Dallas, they’re good at sports. I’d be kind of iffy if they wanted to join the badminton team, but at least I’d know they would be able to do it…”

“Do you live here?” I questioned, tempted to take the bowl from her grasp.

“He doesn’t live here,” she reminded me with a full mouth of cornflakes, jabbing her thumb at Dallas, who was eating the other bowl of cereal I had poured myself.

“You two might as well just live here…” I muttered, not knowing if I should go pour myself another bowl. Austin could have stolen it this time…

“I’d love to live here with you, Jordy!” Dallas announced, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and squeezing tightly. “I call sharing a bed with you! Yep! I get you all to myself! Just you and me all night long!”

My face was so got that I really thought it was going to explode. “Dallas! Let go of me!”

Austin glared at Dallas as I continued to try to push him away from me. “Baby sister, man!”

Dallas let go after Austin had said that, and I thanked him quietly in my mind. Sure, I had a huge crush on Dallas, but I wanted him to be serious when he hugged me. All he did now was tease me like there was no tomorrow. I really couldn’t stand it…

“Well, no matter what you all say, I’m trying out for the team after school today,” I informed them, my nose in the air as I poured myself some cereal. “I just thought you all should know so you don’t pick me up at the wrong time. Unless you’d like to sit in the parking lot for an hour.”

“How about this…” Dallas started to suggest, leaning forward on the island as he smirked at me. I felt my cheeks burn at our proximity, but I pretended I wasn’t bothered by it whatsoever. “We’ll watch the tryouts and cheer you on. Austin, Lexi, and me. All three of us are going to be watching you fail--I mean… try out.”

I bit the inside of my lip once again. Why did I hang out with these people again? Oh, yeah… one of them was my brother. And I had known the other two since we were children…

So it was my parents. I hung out with them because of my parents.

“Do you guys have a ride to school?” Austin now asked, shrugging his backpack onto his shoulders as Dallas did the same beside him. “We’d take you, but we’ve got to take our friend because he still hasn’t got his license back yet. You know, the guy with the dark hair who was in the car when we took your guys to the mall? Yeah, Hun--”

“I think they get it,” Dallas informed him, patting my brother on the shoulder to shut him up.

“Yeah, we have a ride,” I nodded, answering my brother before he could ramble on anymore. “Aimee’s mom’s going to drive us to school today. So go on and pick up your thug friend or whatever.”

Austin smirked at me. “You’re very quick to judge, little sister.”

I shrugged. “Dallas said it himself. He said that guy would try to kill his girlfriend’s secret boyfriend or whatever…”

“I said he was going to try to kill the boyfriend of the girl he’s in love with,” Dallas reminded me, faking a serious look now. “Jeez, get it right, Jordy.”

I rolled my eyes at my only male best friend. “There’s a difference.”

“It would be a big difference if you were the girl he was in love with.”

I made a face at him now. “I don’t even know him, Dallas.”

He didn’t seem bothered by what I had said at all. He just puffed out his chest, and I rolled my eyes again. “But you do know him, Jordy! You sat next to him in the car a week ago. And I think he played with us when we were little, too…”

“Well, I don’t remember him,” I sighed, hopping off my stool now before dumping my bowl in the sink. I then turned toward Lexi, and smiled when I heard a honk from a car horn outside. “Ready to go?”

She hopped off her stool as well, grabbing onto her backpack. “Yep! Let’s go!”

“We’ll see you after school at your tryouts, Jordy!” Dallas called after me as Lexi and I made our way out of my house. “I can’t wait to see you in a short skirt!”

My entire face burned red. “That’s tennis!”

“You never know!”

Lexi giggled after I had slammed the door behind me, wanting my face to turn back to its normal color before I got in the car with my friends. They all knew how I felt about Dallas, but I didn’t want to be made fun of anymore for the rest of the day.

Or for the rest of my life, for that matter.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I hated it when Dallas was right.

Especially when it was something he teased me about.

I stared down at the short pink skirt I had to wear, and I couldn’t help but make a face. If I made a face, and I couldn’t believe I was going to have to wear this skirt all the time if I made the team. Wasn’t it only tennis where they wore skirts? Apparently not!

I could hear Dallas laughing his ass off from where he was sitting, and I wanted to go over and whack him with my racket. One of these days I was just going to laugh at him just to see how he’d like it…

“I’m so glad that this many girls want to join the team!” I heard someone announce brightly, and I turned to see a girl with brown hair and olive skin smiling at everyone who had shown up. She was very slender, which made her look even more like a tennis or badminton player. “Last year, not even half as many girls showed up!”

I recognized this girl as Dawson Summers, a friend of Emily’s who was in tenth grade. She had gone to the same middle school as us, and she was even the class president when she was in eighth grade. She was as bright and chipper as Lexi was, and Dawson reminded me of her very much.

“Hi, Jordan!” she suddenly greeted me, catching me so off guard that I almost jumped. I didn’t think she remembered me… We hadn’t talked since I was in seventh grade and she was in eighth. “I didn’t know you wanted to join the badminton team!”

I chuckled nervously, scratching the back of my head a little. “It’s the only sport I’m good at.”

I knew that this wasn’t the same in Dawson’s case. She was athletic and intelligent, and I wished that I could have said the same thing about myself. I wasn’t academic, but at least I was smart…

“Go, Jordy!” I heard someone shout from the crowd, and I made a face as Dallas continued to laugh his ass off about the stupid skirt. “Work that mini skirt! Work it!”

I tugged at my skirt, wanting it to be so long that it touched the floor. But there was no way I could play badminton dressed like that…

Dawson looked over at where the shouting was coming from, and her cheeks turned noticeably red when she saw. At first, my eyebrows furrowed when I thought she was looking like this because of Dallas, but I then grinned when I saw that she wasn’t looking at him, but she was looking at my brother.

Who was laughing like an idiot as well.

I didn’t say anything to Dawson about how obvious it was that she liked my brother, because I didn’t want to embarrass her. I only continued to search the crowd for my other friends, but I didn’t see any of them except for Dallas and Lexi. Chelsea couldn’t make it because she had ballet lessons, but I didn’t know about Aimee and AJ. I forgot to tell them about it…

My jaw dropped when I saw the last person I wanted to see in the crowd. Why the hell was he here? He was bad luck! With him here, there was no way I could get on the team!

Obviously noticing that I was looking at him, Jesse grinned back at me. “Nice skirt, Emery!”

Could I beat him with my racket?

“Okay, Jordan, you’re up first,” Dawson informed me, pushing me closer to the net. I looked to my left to see who my teammate was, and it was a redheaded girl whose name I didn’t know. She looked tough even though she was really pretty, and I hoped that that intimidated whoever we were up against.

I then reminded myself that this was only the tryouts, not a real game. If I got super competitive with the tryouts, I was going to be even worse when it came to actual games…

We hit the birdie over the net a few times, Dawson watching us as we did so. The redhead that I was paired with was actually really good, so I was sure that she was going to make the team.

I hit the birdie as hard as I could, and it went flying over the net. The girl I was playing against wasn’t good at all, and it fell to the ground as she widely waved at it. I grinned, but then realized that I had hit the birdie so hard that my racket had gone flying out of my hand.

Turning around, I frowned when I saw who was holding my racket up for me. He wasn’t even holding it correctly! He was a guy; shouldn’t he know sports? I marched right over to him, grabbing the racket by its handle and spinning back toward the game without even saying a word to him.

The first thing I felt was something wet and sticky on my hand, catching me off guard completely. I looked down at my hand that held the racket, and my eyes widened when I saw white oozing from in between my fingers. What the hell was this?

When I tried to pull the racket from my hand, it wouldn’t budge. I pulled and pulled, but the sticky white substance kept the tiny racket right in place. I turned toward Jesse, letting the birdie fly right passed me, and I bit the inside of my lip to hard that it almost started bleeding.

The bastard put super glue on my racket! That was why he wasn’t holding it correctly! I was going to kill him!

“Jordan!” I heard someone shout, and I looked over to see Dawson waving her arms around as she continued to stand on the side, obviously telling me to pay attention to the game. “The game’s over here, Jordan! Is everything okay?”

I nodded at her, even though everything definitely wasn’t okay. I was just going to have to deal with Jesse later, even though I wanted to hit him so badly right then. Right then I had to focus on the game, even though my racket was glued to my hand. At least it wouldn’t fly out this time…

As the game continued, I hit every birdie that came my way. I got so into it that I almost completely forgot that the racket wouldn’t move in my hand.

As our match was coming to an end, I just wanted to let go of the stupid racket. But even after the game was over, I couldn’t put it down! Jesse was going to pay for this stupid stunt that he pulled! I wasn’t going to just back off quietly! I was getting revenge!

When the match ended, I knew what the first thing I was going to do was. I turned around, marching right back over to where Jesse was standing.

“Very impressive, Emery,” Jesse clapped as I came closer to him. “I never would have thought that you were athletic. You definitely don’t seem like the type.”

“I’m going to kill you,” I threatened, taking a menacingly step closer to him. “You idiot, this stuff doesn’t come off!”

“Ah, don’t worry, Emery. I got the kind that’ll wear off,” he assured with a wave of his hand, and I felt my glued grip on the racket tightening. This guy was going to get it!

“Do you know what good comes out of this being glued to my hand?”

Jesse’s eyebrows furrowed at me in confusion. “No, what?”

I could have sworn I growled. “I can beat you with it and I won’t lose my grip!”

Jesse’s eyes widened at me. “And I did not think this through.”

“Yeah, you didn’t!”

He turned around and took off, and I followed in suit. He might have been fast, but I wasn’t about to let him get away without a good hit to the head.

“Jordy!” I heard Dallas call out as Jesse and I ran past him, but I didn’t even stop to acknowledge him. I heard Lexi giggled, and I ignored that as well. I was going to bash Jesse Jacobsen’s head in!

“She’s chasing after Jesse!” was the last thing I heard Lexi say before I was out of ear shot. No doubt she was talking to Dallas and Austin, but I still didn’t let that stop me from chasing after Jesse.

“Come on, Emery!” he called over his shoulder after I had chased him around Adeline about six times. He didn’t seem out of breath at all, and I wished I could have said the same about me. “I thought you were athletic! Come on and catch me!”

“I’ll get you back, I promise you that!” I shouted, not able to run any longer. I stopped, almost collapsing as I tried to catch my breath. How the hell could he run that fast for that long without being tired at all? It wasn’t fair!

I heard Jesse laugh, and he took off before I could do anything else. I breathed in and out, thinking of how I was going to get Jesse back for what he had just done.

“Why did you run off with a racket?” a familiar voice suddenly asked me, and my head snapped up to see my brother and my two best friends staring down at me as if I was insane. It had been Lexi that had spoken, and she continued to watch the racket that was glued to my hand. “And why did you run after Jesse?”

“Because…” I gasped, crouching down as I continued to get my breath to go back to normal. “The stupid bastard put super glue on the handle of my racket.”

My brother’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding me? That stuff doesn’t come off! You’re skin’s going to be ruined!”

“He said…” I wheezed, my hands on my knees as best as they could as I continued to try to catch my breath. “… that it’ll wear off.”

“Maybe you should have asked him how long it was going to take instead of chasing him around the school fifteen times,” Lexi smirked at me, and I didn’t have enough energy to snap at her. “Boy, that guy can sure run fast. And for a long time, too.”

I glared at her, letting out a deep breath before standing up straight. Well, so much for never seeing Jesse Jacobsen ever again. I was going to get him back for this, no matter what I had to do.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Did it finally come off?” Austin asked me after I stepped out of the bathroom later that night. I nodded, tossing the cursed racket onto the ground by my backpack so I didn’t forget it the next morning. “Well, that’s good. I was afraid we were going to have to take you to the ER.”

“Well, thanks for distracting Dawson so she didn’t notice a racket was missing,” I thanked, glaring daggers at the stupid thing as I sat down next to him on the couch. “If she found out that the racket was glued to my hand, I’d probably not make the team. She probably would I have thought I was cheating.”

Austin shrugged. “Eh, I don’t know about that. Dawson’s a pretty cool chick. She’d probably understand if you explained what happened to her.”

“I’m not going to chance it,” I sighed, shaking my head as I turned to see what he was watching on TV. When I saw that it was something that I wasn’t interested in, I turned back toward him. “I’m just going to tell her that I found the racket outside the school tomorrow morning.”

Austin shrugged again, leaning back in the couch now. “Okay, do whatever you want. Don’t be surprised though if she doesn’t believe it.”

I sighed. “I won’t. There’s still a bunch of glue on the racket that I haven’t picked off yet…”

“So… this Jesse guy…” Austin now began, and I tilted my head back and let out a groan. Why did he have to remind me of him? “How long have you known him?”

I counted the days up in my head. “Not even a month.”

“So why is he super gluing your hand to a racket?”

“My question exactly!” I cried, falling back into the couch in a huff. “Why did he glue my hand to a racket? Why would he do that to someone that he doesn’t even know? Is he that much of an asshole, or does he do even worse things to people that he actually does know?”

Austin smirked at how worked up I was getting. “Well, if you ask me, I think that little Jesse has a crush on you.”

I couldn’t help but make a face at my brother. “Ew, don’t even joke about that.”

Austin shrugged once again, turning his head back toward the TV. “You never know, JoJo. It’s always a possibility that that guy likes you. It’s been said and done that guys tease the girls that they like.”

“Guys in elementary school,” I scowled, crossing my arms over my chest. “Guys in high school don’t act like that. If they do, then they’re idiots who don’t know how to get a girl. Besides, even if Jesse did end up liking me, I wouldn’t care. I already have someone I like.”

Austin rolled his eyes after I said that. “Yes, yes, I know. You’re head over heels in love with Dallas, and you have been ever since you were a child. How sickening.”

I smiled sweetly at my brother. “I can’t help the way I feel.”

Austin stared at me flatly. He had never really liked that I had a crush on Dallas, but I guessed that that was kind of understandable. Austin wasn’t overprotective or anything, but he really did care about me a lot. I think he just knew that I was going to get hurt if I continued on liking Dallas.

“He’s going out with Trinity, you know,” he reminded me, in case I had somehow forgotten the tramp that had stolen Dallas from me. “And he really likes her. A lot.”

“Okay, thanks for the support, great brother of mine,” I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest and turning away so I didn’t have to look at him. “I know I don’t have a chance with Dallas. I don’t need you and every other person who knows telling me that. Just let me dream and have a good time with him while I can. He’s going off to college in a few months anyway.”

“Well someone just got all depressing,” Austin sighed, muting the TV and turning toward me now. “Jordan, it’s not like you don’t have a chance with him. You do. It’s just… very slim. He really likes Trinity, and you’ve been his best friend since we were all children. I wouldn’t be surprised if--”

“If he only saw me as a little sister, I know,” I interrupted, not wanting to hear it come from someone else’s mouth. “I understand, okay? He already acts like he knows. He teases me so much, it’s like he knows I like him and he just likes to tease me about it because he thinks it’s funny.”

“He doesn’t know, believe me,” Austin informed me, stretching out now as he continued to sit next to me. “He might be your best friend, Jordan, but he’s mine as well. I’d know if he knew. And I would tell you if you didn’t have a chance at all. You definitely have a chance. Sometimes I look over at him when you’re around and he has this look on his face while he watches you. He talks about you all the time when you’re not around, and when we’re at school. There really is a chance that--”

“Stop,” I ordered, close to covering my ears with my hands. “Don’t get my hopes up.”

“Sorry,” he apologized quietly, staring down at his lap.

“How… serious is he getting with Trinity?” I asked, biting down on my tongue right afterwards.

“How should I know?”

“You’re his best friend.”

“So are you.”

I glared at my brother, not having anything to say because he had gotten me. I was Dallas’s best friend, but I didn’t know what he was doing with Trinity. I didn’t think that I even wanted to know…

“Well, I want to know how serious they are,” I grumbled, pulling my knees up to my chin as I stared at the television screen, even though I wasn’t watching it. “Are they thinking about getting married? Or are they just a long-time fling and they’re going to break up once the school year ends?”

Austin sighed, flipping through channels now. “Don’t go asking questions you don’t want to hear the answer to, Jordan.”

I knew he was right. I knew he was always right. Austin was just the kind of guy that was right about everything when he didn’t even try to be. And I hated him for that more than anything else.

I didn’t want to think about Dallas and Trinity anymore either. Just the thought of them doing anything more than kissing made my stomach turn. Just thinking how Dallas would rather do that with some other girl and not me broke my heart.

I didn’t want to think about it anymore. Nothing good would come from it.

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Please watch the video on the side! It's a trailer for There's a Thin Line Between Love and Hate! I love it! :D

And the first ever prank that started it all has been revealed! Jesse glued Jordan's hand to a racket! xD

I'm not going to be able to update until Saturday or Sunday! I'm visiting family for Thanksgiving. But I'll be writing in my notebook so when I get home, I'll just have to type up what I wrote. :D

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! :D