The Trouble With Three

Chapter 3 – Feud

Once Kevin had returned with the school nurse at his side, Coach Larkin had pulled him aside and bitched him out for having played so rough. Kevin didn’t point out that his teammates and Aaron had played just as roughly as he had. He didn’t care. He had hurt Carly, and Kevin didn’t think he would be able to forgive himself.

Kevin had been determined to force Aaron out. Once that happened, Kevin fully intended on letting Carly win. That way, he could score a few points back with her. She obviously hadn’t expected such and dove in to save Aaron’s ass. It killed Kevin to know that Carly had made such a subtle, yet meaningful, sacrifice for Aaron. Now, Kevin could only hope that he hadn’t landed on Carly’s shit list.

Once Coach Larkin had finished lecturing Kevin, all Kevin could do was scowl in disgust at himself. What the hell had come over him? He’d nearly killed Carly with his over-competitiveness. Kevin knew it was his fault, so he owned up to it. He respected his Coach too much to let the guy take responsibility for Carly’s injury. As a result, Kevin was saddled with a weeklong detention in the morning. Leave it to Coach to find a way to keep his star quarterback for after-school practices.

Kevin was completely out-of-spirits as he approached his seventh-hour class, which he hated. He had originally signed up for film study class, thinking that it would be an easy A, but he had been shocked to learn that the class required written essays nearly every week. Kevin was currently passing by having Becky Gibbs, a professed film geek and one of nearly dozens of girls who had a crush on Kevin, write papers for him. She didn’t mind the double workload, and Kevin had promised to take her out on a date…he’d just have to wait until the football season passed and if he remembered.

As Kevin took a seat, he looked around at his classmates and was thankful that none of his gym classmates were in this class…well, except for one. Eden Halliwell took her usual seat at the seat at the back of the classroom, opposite where Kevin sat himself. She was staring at him in disdain. So what? Since when had Eden fucking Halliwell’s opinion of him ever mattered?

Never, that’s when.

****

“How’s your temple, Carly?”

Carly’s fingers flew up to massage her war injury at Aaron’s reminder. “It’s okay. I think there’s going to be a bruise though.”

Aaron instinctively brought his hand up and rubbed her temple gently. “I’m just happy that it wasn’t something worse.”

Carly smiled and the pair regarded each other in silence. God, she’s so pretty, Aaron thought.

Carly turned back to face the inside of her locker and retrieve her books. Aaron liked waiting at Carly’s locker. He usually dismissed the clichéd concept of a guy waiting for a girl at her locker, but that was only regarding any girl other than Carly Brooks.

“Are you sure it’s okay to drive me home?” Carly asked, turning around.

“Yeah,” Aaron answered. “Not like I’m doing anything.”

Carly closed her locker and began walking. Aaron followed. “Aren’t you in any clubs?”

Aaron shook his head.

“Do you still swim?”

“Only at the gym,” he responded.

“Why?”

“I got tired of competing.”

As the duo passed the main office, Carly offered a friendly wave in the direction of the secretary who had helped her that morning. She waved back. Carly immediately turned her attention back to Aaron. “You got tired of competing?”

“Yeah,” Aaron answered. He held the door opened for Carly, and she filed out accordingly. “If I didn’t win, I literally got sick. And with school and everything, I didn’t exactly have time to do a billion things to the best of my ability.”

“You were always like that,” Carly replied with a giggle.

Aaron grinned. “Yeah.”

“Kevin always threw a temper when he lost, but you always let it build inside. I was worried you were going to burst!”

Aaron gave a weak laugh, but his heart wasn’t really into it. The mention of Kevin’s name was making him angry. Carly seemed to sense this change in Aaron’s mood almost immediately.

“When did you guys stop being friends?” she asked innocently enough.

Aaron led the way to his black Jeep Wrangler and stalled for the longest time before he finally gave Carly an answer.

“After you left.”

Carly’s face fell at Aaron’s answer. He didn’t want to be responsible for making her upset, so he elaborated.

“Kev and I weren’t meant to be friends, Carly. You know that saying ‘opposites attract?’ That’s a load of bullshit, and Kevin and I can lay testament to that.”

“But you guys might have remained friends if I had stayed,” she answered sadly.

Aaron pulled the door open for Carly. “I know what you’re getting at, Carly, but this isn’t your fault, okay? Some things are just not meant to be, you know?”

Carly nodded but looked unsure anyway. She climbed into his car and Aaron closed the door behind her. He climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine. As he slowly pulled out of his parking spot, his mind wandered. He should have been doting upon the beautiful blonde angel sitting next to him, but instead, his thoughts were swirling with ways to undermine Kevin Maguire. Kevin and he had been best friends once, and if Aaron knew his ex-best friend, Kevin wasn’t going to be deterred by a simple game of dodge ball gone awry. Kevin and he were two grown-up, healthy, virile males who had sensed the presence of a beautiful female they both had a history with. They were two, nearly adult males who were ready to wage war.

****

Carly thought seeing her two best friends again would make today the best day of her life. In a way, she had been delighted to see Aaron and Kevin again, but she wished to God that it were under more agreeable circumstances. To see those two no longer as friends had been bad, but during that dodge ball game, Aaron and Kevin had been acting like complete enemies. That had about broken Carly’s heart. She didn’t want Aaron and Kevin competing with and hating each other. She wanted them as best friends again, like when they had been before she had moved.

Carly understood Aaron’s statement of ‘opposites not always attracting,’ but that didn’t mean she’d accept it. The truth was that Aaron and Kevin were both good guys, and they had the ability to be civil. Now that she was back in the picture, Carly was sure that she’d be able to bring the whole gang back together again.

****

“Later, Maguire.”

Kevin waved to Tyler before pulling the keys to his car out. It was already nine in the evening, so the sun had been set for about half an hour already. The moon was beginning to show in the night sky, casting a beam across Davenport High’s parking lot. He began whistling just because it was what he always did on the walk to his car.

It was also a good way to get thoughts of Carly Brooks out of his mind. He’d been having a bad enough day when he’d caught Aaron and Carly leaving school together. Kevin should have been getting dressed for practice, but his male jealousy had compelled him to follow the pair to the parking lot. He’d seen Carly get in Aaron’s car and had to suppress every aggressive bone in his body to keep from kicking Aaron’s ass and dragging Carly out of the Aaron’s black Jeep.

He couldn’t do anything about it right now, but beginning tomorrow, Kevin was definitely going to take matters into his own hands. There was no way he was going to lose a girl like Carly to Aaron. It wasn’t going to be easy. Aaron might not bench press as much as Kevin, but the former’s mental toughness definitely rivaled Kevin’s own. Aaron wasn’t going to hand Carly over, and Kevin knew it.

“Fuck!”

Kevin’s head snapped in the direction of the expletive, which was most certainly uttered by a girl…or a really girly guy. A dark figure was standing next to a car. He couldn’t immediately identify the individual in the dark, but since it was a girl in need, Kevin decided to help. As he grew closer to the figure, whose back was turned to him, Kevin was able to identify the person…and he wished that he had gotten into his car and headed home to begin with.

Eden Halliwell. He could recognize that big ass of hers anywhere.

Kevin calculated how fast he could book it out of there before she saw him, but she turned before he had a chance.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded accusingly.

Kevin couldn’t believe it. “You sounded like you were in trouble. That’s all!”

Eden looked skeptical. “Well, I’m fine. You can go now.”

Kevin threw his hands up in mock surrender. “Hey, I got no problem with that.” He turned to walk toward his car.

“Wait!”

Kevin willed himself to pretend that he hadn’t heard, but Eden’s voice was so loud that you’d have to be deaf not to hear. He reluctantly turned around. “What?” he demanded.

Eden’s eyes fell and she sighed like she was going to regret what was going to be asked. “D-do you have a cell phone on you?”

“No,” he lied.

“Yes you do!” she accused.

“So what if I do?”

“Can I p-please use it?” she gritted out.

“Why?”

“I locked myself out of my car, okay?”

Kevin tried not to smile. He couldn’t imagine a girl who constantly congratulated herself on how smart she was, doing something as dumb as locking herself out of her own car.

“Don’t you have a cell?”

“Yes.”

“Well then, use it,” Kevin answered. He moved to turn but was stopped again.

“It’s on my car floor.”

“What the hell’s it doing there?” he asked.

“How the hell should I know? It probably fell out of my bag or something!” Eden cried. “Look, can I use your cell, please?”

Kevin gritted his teeth before pulling his cell out of his jeans pocket. He flipped it open and begrudgingly handed it over to Eden. “You get one minute.”

Eden grabbed the cell and began punching in a number. Kevin waited impatiently as Eden waited for an answer on the other end. Kevin was growing restless.

“Dammit!” Eden screamed. She angrily flipped the phone shut and thrust it back in Kevin’s direction.

“No answer?” he asked, as he took his phone back and shoved it in his pocket.

Eden shook her head. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the driver’s side door. She looked very tired.

“Why don’t you call a locksmith…or a towing company?”

“No,” she answered stubbornly. “I’ll just wait another twenty minutes and call again from the pay phone inside.”

Kevin shook his head. “Whatever you say.” He slowly turned around to make his way to his car when a thought crossed his mind. What if he helped Eden out? Eden and Carly were friends now; if Kevin helped Eden, maybe she would put in a good word to Carly. Kevin needed all that he could get right now.

Kevin turned back around and awkwardly cleared his throat. Eden regarded him with raised eyebrows. “What?”

You’re doing this to win Carly, Kevin reminded himself. “Do you need a ride home…or something?”

“Y-yeah…sort of,” she answered somewhat suspiciously.

He motioned for her to follow. “I’ll take you home then.”

Eden blinked in confusion. “I’m sorry. I could’ve sworn that you just offered to take me home.”

“You’d be right,” Kevin answered in all seriousness.

Eden subsequent chuckle oozed skepticism. Kevin didn’t like it; he didn’t like being laughed at, particularly by Eden Halliwell. He turned around and began walking away. He could hear Eden’s laughter cease immediately.

“Wait!” she called after him a little too desperately. Kevin smirked to himself, knowing fully well that she’d cave, before turning back around.

“What?”

Eden looked as if she’d rather die than say what she was about to say. “I would really…appreciate the gesture, Kevin.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “What gesture?”

Eden scowled. “The gesture of you giving me a lift home.”

“Oh that!” Kevin answered like the smart-ass that he was. “Well, since you put it so nicely…

Eden rolled her eyes and peeled herself away from the driver’s side door of her vehicle. She reluctantly followed Kevin to his car.

****