Not His

7. Wanna Go Out?

BANG. BANG. BANG.

The wood against my door vibrated with each pound from my brother.

"Haley! Wake up!" he yelled. "The guys will be here in 10."

Rolling over, I grunted as I looked at the clock.

It was hardly 9AM on a Saturday morning. Remind me again why I agreed to playing a pick-up game with the guys? Especially since one of the them included Griffin?

Oh yeah, I guess we're friends now. I smirked to myself as I thought of last night.

Still, I thought. The last thing I needed was for Griffin to have a reason to tackle me.

Pulling my blanket off of me, I stood up with a sigh. If I wanted to eat before they got here, I had to get up now. And trust me, if I don't eat I'll be crankier than a hungry new born baby.

A couple minutes later I had made my way downstairs and had started to fix my breakfast. I had only barely finished eating in time as I heard some car doors slam as Dustin hopped downstairs.

"They here yet?" he asked as he entered the kitchen.

"Looks like it," I replied as I chewed my last mouthful of Lucky Charms. "Hey, um, listen. You've got a lot of the guys here, you don't really need me, do you?" I said, trying to casually get out of an evening with oversized sweaty boys.

"What? Of course we do!" he grinned.

"Come on, I'm like a twig compared to everyone - they'll crush me," I continued to try to get out of it, even though I knew darn well I could handle myself. But the main reason was because, even though Griffin and I were technically friends now, I knew he'd take any opportunity he could to annoy and tackle me. "Besides," I continued. "I'm probably not as good as you guys." I had to hold back a snort. Even though I haven't played a game in years, I knew I was still pretty dang good.

"Which is exactly why I want you to play," he chuckled. I furrowed my eyebrows as he explained, "So I wont be the worst one."

I punched his shoulder as my eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to convince me to play or not?"

"Hey, I already convinced you yesterday. You can't turn back now," he smirked as he went to open the front door.

"Fine," I stood up with a smirk of my own. "I'll play. But I guarantee you I won't be the worst one on the field."

"Oh it's on then, sis," he grinned as he started pushing me upstairs. "Now go brush your teeth, you smell like a leprechaun."

"Fine, I'll meet you outside," I chuckled as he walked out the door.After my teeth were minty fresh and my hair had been put back in a ponytail, I skipped down the stairs and outside.

I noticed cones had been set up to mark the end zones and every 10 yards down the field. Everyone was in a group talking strategy as I made my way across our backyard. Griffin was standing next to Dustin, holding the football, as they all listened to someone talk.

"Alright guys, try to remember what coach was talking about on continuing through with a play," one of the guys was discussing, who I recognized to be the one who knocked me over on my first day at Andover High.

As I got closer, I noticed I caught Griffin's eye as an immediate smirk grew on his face. I knew the smirk anywhere, and it was one that usually meant trouble. My suspicions only increased when he winked at me as the other guy continued to talk.

"-if coach sees that one more time he'll pop that vein in his forehead," he chuckled as everyone laughed. "Alright, let's divide into teams and-who the hell is this?"