- Text Size +
Chapter 4 – Timid Nature

"Teagan," Oriana called loudly, running down the steps. She heard the doorbell chime several times as she hit the bottom stairs, but neither girl made a move for the door. Instead, Oriana caught Teagan's look of disbelief and immediately glanced down to her choice of clothing. She felt so idiotic every time Teagan gave her that harsh look over clothing. Compared to Teagan, she looked like a washed up street-rat.

Teagan was always dressed to perfection, whether she decided on the popular clothing styles or her Hot Topic Originals. Today she decided to punk out with her beauty. She had chosen a pair of tight black Capri’s and a form fitting tube top covered with strawberries from her Hot Topics collection. The jewelry in her eyebrow, nose, and ears glittered with precious stones as she allowed her shiny brunette hair to grace her shoulders.

Oriana sighed, shoving her hands deep into the pockets of her pants. She had decided on a comfortable pair of baggy, black sweatpants and a somewhat tight light blue wife-beater. Her long honey blonde locks were still damp and drying in a firm ponytail at the base of her neck. She had removed all the jewelry her mother had bought her before the game and thought nothing of putting it back on. She just wanted to relax after the game, not pretend to be someone she wasn't. "Go ahead, bag on the clothes before I answer the door. I can see it in your eyes that you want to say something, Teag."

“Couldn't you just put on some jewelry? You look so cute with the earrings and necklace Ma bought you as an early birthday present!"

"Teagan, why do you always hate what I wear?" Oriana asked, knowing the kind of Hell Teagan would omit if Oriana didn't change. She just wished Teagan would understand. No matter how much she loved Teagan, Oriana was just nothing like her best friend. Dressing nice just didn't seem to play in Oriana's cards of life. She ran her hands along the wet curls of her ponytail, slowly walking toward the door that continued to chime. If she could open the door, then she would be free from Teagan's bantering.

"I don't hate it, I just want you to look nice! You're so beautiful, Riana--"

"I'm not beautiful. I'm not like you, Teag. Okay? If I would go upstairs and put on the tight flares, the necklace, and the earrings - the players would laugh me right out of my own house!"

"You are to beautiful and they would not laugh at you!"

"They would laugh at me," Oriana quickly objected, heading toward the door.

"They would not!"

"Bet me, then."

"How much?"

"Um..." Oriana bit down on her bottom lip. "What do you want to wager?"

"If I'm wrong... you can pick any guy who comes in here and I'll kiss them. If I'm right, then I have to pick one for you."

"One for me to kiss?" Oriana asked with disgust, imagining Teagan pick one of the teammates that acted more like a brother.

"Yep! Are you up for it?" Teagan replied with a laugh as the doorbell rang again.

"Deal," Oriana replied quickly, firmly shaking her best friend's hand. Teagan nodded with approval, crossing her hands firmly beneath her chest. Oriana rolled her eyes, opened the door, and spoke quickly without realizing who just was standing there, "Guys would you just not have a shit-fit if I came down to a victory party in a pair of tight jeans, earrings, and a necklace?"

"I wouldn't have a shit-fit at all," the Latino boy she was looking at earlier replied with a grin.

Oriana's jaw dropped open in surprise as she stared at two boys she hardly recognized. She stepped back just in time for all the players to run in. Each boy whooped congratulations and gave her a playful swat on the rear, rushing to the kitchen for the sodas, alcohol, and snacks. She still focused on the two boys, tilting her head in obvious confusion. The one boy was short with a skinny frame, bleach blonde hair, blue eyes, and an impish smile. The boy she had been admiring earlier was absolutely gorgeous in her eyes, but she knew better. She immediately turned on her heels and pointed accusingly at Teagan, "That doesn't count!"

"Why doesn't it?" Teagan laughed.

"Because that wasn't the guys! Holy shit, Teag! I don't even have a clue who they are!" Oriana burst.

"Then let me introduce you," Teagan walked over and wrapped an arm around Oriana's shoulders. "Howie, Nick, this is my best friend Oriana. Riana, this is Howie and Nick. They're trumpet players in marching band."

"It still doesn't count," Oriana murmured against her best friend's shoulder before offering her hand toward the two. She had a vague idea of who Howie was, but none of the other boy. She hardly paid attention to all the crowds circulating around Teagan and herself, unless they were truly in need of her help or care. She always made pleasant conversation and was sincerely sweet, but her mind had been so fuel these past days that she forgot many names. "I'm Oriana."

"We know," Howie answered for both the boys, immediately reaching to shake her hand first. He smiled genuinely as he hoped to strike up some kind of conversation with the fascinating girl. "We run in the same crowd. I had to remind Teagan earlier, so it's not that big of a deal if you don't remember—"

"I'm really sorry," Oriana immediately blurted with a firm blush rising to her tanned cheeks. Her mother's recent romance had occupied all of her deepest thoughts. She had only enough time to focus on the football game and her studies while watching for her mother. The nightmares had started again since the recent whirlwind lover.

"No, it's okay, don't worry about it. First couple months of school are always hectic. No big deal," Howie gave another dashing smile.

"Howie, right?" she countered, feeling Teagan's grip tighten on her shoulders.

"That's me."

"And Nick?" Oriana asked, glancing to the shy blonde.

"Yeah," he nodded, blushing a little.

"Well, I'll promise both of you that I'll never forget your names again. Deal?" Oriana proposed, not wanting to make the two boys upset. She hated the idea of not remembering someone's name.

"Deal," they both replied, shaking her hands.

Teagan smiled in approval as she watched Howie gaze at her best friend with intense interest.
Oriana was about to strike up another conversation when she heard a group of the football players call for their 'Cherry Bomb.' She turned to see them huddle around her master stereo system, holding up her favorite CD as one pushed play. Her blue-green eyes lit with extreme interest as she flipped back to the group at the doorway. "Guys, I'd love to talk more but they're going to play my victory song... Snacks, drinks, alcohol - all in the kitchen. Beware though, the person that takes the last Strawberry Daiquiri is in serious monkey-shit, because I'll pummel you. Other than that, have a great time! And Teag?"

"Yeah, Riana?"

"That didn't count!" Oriana chirped, pressing a kiss to her friend's cheek. With that said, she hurried down the steps into the living room. Without hesitation, she jumped into the pile of boys, who quickly hoisted her to their shoulders. She held her hands in the air as she started singing, "Well I remember every little thing as if it happened yesterday / Parking by the lake and there was not another car in sight. And I never had a girl looking better than you did / And all the kids at school were wishing they were me that night.... Cause we're glowing like the metal at the edge of the knife!"

"She lives up to her nickname," Howie chuckled as he, Nick and Teagan walked into the kitchen.

"Cherry Bomb?" Nick asked with confusion, sitting down at the table with the other two. He reached for a Pepsi, not really thinking to take a drink of alcohol till he had something settled in his stomach. He was still too shy to actually advance into the pack of wolves in the living room. He had just moved to Tartan Senior High School in the beginning of the year. He was still learning the ropes of the new school. Everything was so different compared to William's Senior High School.

"That's Riana. Wild and crazy and...a total sweetheart," Teagan replied as she grabbed a strawberry daiquiri. "She's a great friend to have; knows everybody and will help in anyway she can. But she's got a fierce side no one knows about unless they're asking for it."

"You mean the side she brings out in football?" Nick guessed.

"You got it. Did you see twenty-four at the game? Screaming about how Seventeen was on his ass the whole time?"

"Yeah—"

"Seventeen's Oriana," Howie informed.

"Well, I know that... Twenty-Four? Twenty-Four was giving Oriana Hell?" Nick blurted in surprise.

"Mm-hmm. He was really pissed off, screaming that she was a dyke and everything... it was bad. But Oriana took it and shoved it right up his ass," Teagan replied proudly.

"How'd she do that?"

"She made him know none of that affected her, which threw him off right away."

"I can't believe he said that—"

"Wait, you know twenty-four?"

"I went to William's last year. That was one of my best friends. His name is Brian."

"Does he always talk to people like that?"

"Not usually. He was always pretty laid back till this year. He's having some kind of huge family crisis and everything is coming down hard on him. Seems his Dad is blowing off him and his brother for some high maintenance chick," Nick explained, popping a few chips into his mouth.

"Well, that's got to suck. Doesn't give him an excuse to act the way he did," Teagan took a sip of her drink. "What's his last name?"

"William's and Tartan's don't mix. I doubt you'd know him," Nick laughed impishly.

"Good point," she agreed with a smile. "But I do know some names."

"Like Loser and Sleaze-Bag," Howie teased softly.

"Well, that only counts for ninety percent of William's boys. After all, Nick's here and he's not scum," Teagan retorted with a roll of her blue-gray eyes. She immediately tucked fallen pieces of hair behind her ears before removing her glasses to rub away the dirt. "So, now, you have to level with me, Howie."

"And level with you I shall. What needs leveling?"

"The looks you're giving Oriana."

"Me? Give looks?" he replied innocently.

“Yes, you, Latin Lover. Spill it."

"Honestly, there's nothing in the looks. She's funny, okay? I like talking to her because she makes me laugh. But, like I said earlier, there's nothing there! The girl is one of the guys. She obviously wants nothing more," Howie objected, fighting the blush creeping to his cheeks. Honestly, he really did admire Oriana on more than one level. He just didn't know how to go about expressing feelings to a girl who felt like she hardly knew him.

"There's nothing?" Teagan snorted, obviously not falling for the act.

"No, there's nothing."

"I shall be calling the bullshit card, Howie. We've been in all these classes since freshman year. I may have acted like the dummy I am and forgot today, but that's just because I have a lot on my mind. You really like Riana, don't you?"

"No---"

"Then take her this Daq," Teagan commanded, handing Howie the frosty drink. "The boys always like to see the new moves she picked up in dance class. She added a belly dancing class this summer if you can't tell by the Christina Aguilera playing in there. So give this to her, she'll be thirsty."

"In front of the entire football team?" he gulped.

“They’ll probably only hound you if you like her. But she's one of the guys and doesn't have anyone interested in her on that kind of level. So, you'll be safe."

"But--"

"Why are you objecting?" Teagan asked innocently.

"No reason. I'm going," Howie stood up and headed out to the living room.

"He likes her..." Nick confessed with a knowing smile. He had become fast friends with Howie. He had even invited Howie over to the Richardson's house for a few parties. The boys seemed to click well within their group.

Teagan smiled as well, drinking the rest of her daiquiri. "He does. And I know Riana's been watching him, too."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Nick asked automatically, watching Teagan's blue-gray eyes light up with interest as the music suddenly dropped in noise levels.

"Hell yeah."

"Let's go!" Nick burst, grabbing Teagan's hands.

They quickly rushed to the doorway leading into the living room. They carefully leaned against it to peer into the living room. Sure enough, Howie was cautiously approaching Oriana. The girl seemed oblivious to the set-up as she tried to teach three of the boys to belly dance. Teagan stifled a fit of laughter as she watched Oriana's sleek body move to the music compared to the lumbering jocks stumbling when only their hips were supposed to gyrate. Oriana was so gifted when it came to dancing, but the boys seemed to be made of left feet. She instantly poked Nick's side when she noticed Howie inches away from his target.

"Guys! The hips! You've got to move the hips instead of the feet. I don't know how you can call yourselves football players if you can't even move your hips!" Oriana teasingly scolded, still focused on the music as she rolled her hips to the beat.

"O-Oriana?" Howie called out timidly as he reached her.

Oriana was about to turn, but the boys became frustrated with the dance. One of the boys, Erik, immediately hoisted her limber body over his shoulder, securing his hands tightly against her hips. Oriana immediately grunted with surprise, trying to wiggle free. She felt her body slide down the length of Erik's back without her baggy sweatpants "Guys! Loosing the drawers here!"

"Maybe that's our goal!" Josh called out with a hoot.

"To see one of your brothers in their underwear? Damn, you guys are sick," Oriana commented, glancing up to see her bare legs becoming exposed as she continued to slide down Erik.

"Then stop moving if you don't want us to see your skimpies!"

"I don't care if you see my goods or not! Not like you haven't touched them during a tackle anyway!" Oriana grunted, freeing herself finally. She rushed toward the floor, doing some kind of roll to push herself up to her feet. She groaned as she glanced down to her flip-flop printed bikini briefs. She immediately snatched her black sweatpants back from Erik and pushed him onto the couch as the boys hooted with approval. "Sorry, Howie," she murmured, stepping into her pants.

"I-It's alright. I just came out here because I thought you could use a drink since you wanted at least one daq."

"You braved the thugs to get me a daq?" she asked impressively, noticing the intense blush set against his cheeks. She immediately tugged her pants to the lower portion of her hips, tying them securely once again. She then tucked a few stray curls that were brushing against her face behind her ears.

"I guess I did," he gave an impish smile as she took the drink.

"Well, thanks," she replied softly, taking a long sip of the alcohol. She had a terrific game, but the pressure was building against her shoulders about Kevin. She hated getting herself worked up over some sleazy boyfriend her mother thought she loved, but it was hard trying to block herself from pain. "You can stay out here if you want. You, Nick, and Teag don't have to hide out in the kitchen because it's all football players out here. We're pretty nice. You should know all the guys anyway."

"Well, Teag and I are trying to get Nick used to the Tartan scene. He transferred from William's for senior year."

Oriana winced slightly as she heard a round of hisses and boos from her teammates. She leaned back and punched Erik sharply on the arm. Erik raised his eyebrows in confusion, immediately clutching his throbbing arm. "Guys, back it off. Nick's a sweet guy. He's nothing like the Twenty-Four Asshole."

"You're sure about that?"

"Howie's friends with him, doesn't that say enough?"

"Yeah, but---"

"Have I ever been a poor judge of character? Teagan, too, for that matter?"

"Well, no, but--"

"That's all I need to hear."

"Cherry Bomb---"

"Do I have to take all of you outside and kick your asses one by one?" she defended, standing her ground. She learned long ago that she could never let the boys slam her into submission. She tried to remove the vile taste in her mouth from the lying about her being a famous judge of character. If that had been true, then she would have known about all the terrible lies her mother's boyfriends carried against their black hearts.

"No! We... we just wanted to say that this Nick is cool with us," Erik replied, knowing Oriana was right and had a great judge of character. The rest of the team nodded in agreement.

"Like I said. You guys can come out and chill with us. I was about to put on Texas Chainsaw Massacre, since we massacred Williams. If you don't want to come out that's chill with us, too. Whatever you guys want, alright?" Oriana concluded, feeling as if her soul was connecting against Howie's dark eyes.

"Horror movies? I'm there," Howie replied with a smile. "Let me get Teagan and Nick."

"You guys can even pick your primo spots," Oriana concluded with a small heartfelt smile, popping in her favorite DVD as Howie ushered Teagan and Nick into the room. Instantly, the boys chorused hellos to Nick, involving him in the latest chatter. Oriana turned to see Teagan and Howie still standing. "Pick your spots."

Teagan smirked, walking over and sitting at the second to last spot by Nick and Andre. "I got my spot!"

Oriana moved to the middle of the couches, sitting down between Kyle and Jeremy. She was completely unaware of the surroundings as she intently focused on the big screen TV to get the DVD started. She didn't notice Teagan mouth the words, 'You like her' to Howie. Nor did she notice Teagan motioning for Kyle to move down to make room for Howie beside Oriana. Finally, when the DVD tuned the menu, Oriana glanced up to see Howie still standing. "Legs froze, Howie?"

"Huh? No, they're not," he blushed, sitting down next to her.

"That's the primo spot?" she asked in surprise.

"Yep. Primo spot," he replied with a grin, being a little bold.

"Middle of the couch centered directly in front of the big screen is always my first pick, too," Oriana agreed, not really picking up on the hint.

"Best view."

"To see the gore," Oriana finished, still refusing to allow her brain to compute the pick-up lines.

"Yeah... the gore..." Howie trailed off as the movie started. He shot Teagan a look before going back to the movie.

"I'm going to have to do some serious damage control tonight," Teagan groaned quietly, leaning her head against Nick's shoulder. She just didn't understand her best friend's inner workings sometimes.

"She doesn't understand what Howie's saying?" Nick asked softly, placing an arm around her waist.

"She's hung around guys for all her life. You know how guys never pick up on subtle hints that girls always throw? Well, meet the only girl in the world that computes information like a guy," Teagan grunted in defeat, realizing she might just have to break every rule in the book and flat out explain to Oriana that Howie was interested.

"Never thought that could really happen," Nick replied, resting his head against hers. "So you're going to have to just explain it to her later?"

"Howie might kill me, but I think it's for the best."

"I think Oriana might kill us if we keep talking," Nick replied, looking up to see Oriana throw them another look.

"What can I tell you? The girl loves horror movies. Talking during one is like admitting God doesn't exist," Teagan teased, pouting toward her best friend. She smiled as Oriana rolled her eyes and offered the same smile. Teagan almost released a scream as Oriana grabbed a pillow and leaned against Jeremy instead of Howie.

"Poor D. He's just sitting there, liking that girl and she's leaning against her teammate and not him," Nick said quietly, feeling bad for his friend, who was sitting there next to Oriana almost rigidly.

Teagan waited until Oriana's thoughts got lost into the screen. Without hesitation, she tossed a crumpled ball against Jeremy. The boy jerked in surprise, connecting eyes with Teagan. She offered a stern look, motioning for him to get a drink. He shrugged his shoulders in confusion, whispering something to Oriana as he slipped over the back of the couch, giving her nothing to lean against.

"Damn," Oriana murmured quietly, almost falling into the open corner of the couch.

"You can lean against me until Jeremy gets back; if you like," Howie whispered.

"No, that's alright—"

"I don't bite, you know."

"I know, but—"

"But?"

"Are you sure you don't mind? I got a shower and everything so I'm not sweaty or anything, but still... I mean... You probably have a girl--no, forget it. Are you sure you don't mind?" she stammered, feeling more confused than ever.

"I don't mind at all and no, I don't have a girlfriend," he replied with a sweet smile.

"Too bad, you deserve one," she blurted without recognition, attentively leaning against him almost as if she were afraid.

"Thanks," he blushed a little, placing an arm around her. "You can lean more, you're not going to break me and I won't hurt you."

"Um...okay..." she hesitated, allowing herself to snuggle gently against his side. She almost felt her skin burn from his hand resting against her shoulders. She immediately focused her eyes to the movie, trying to stop her foolish thoughts. Every boy who ever tried the sweet routine was just looking for help with a sport, help with school, or help with getting a girlfriend besides her. She knew this would probably end in the same manner. So she refused to get carried away.

"Mission accomplished, Teag. Good job," Nick replied with a grin.

"Score," Teagan whispered with amusement, feeling Nick press a friendly kiss to her forehead. She tried to hide the frown however, because she knew by the distant look in Oriana's eyes that it was far from a 'mission accomplished.'