Labeled Love (7 page)

I clear my throat. “Um, yeah, you can play. Do you know how to play football?”

She looks annoyed. “Do you think because I’m a girl I can’t play? Trust me, I know the game.”

I just smile at her, because honestly, I can’t focus on what she’s saying to me. I feel like I’m on a cloud with an angel. Turning back to the guys, who are growing impatient, I let them know I’ll take her on my team.

Returning my smile, she takes a hairband from her small wrist and puts her hair up into a high ponytail, making her big blue eyes look larger like a porcelain doll’s. A pretty doll, not one of those creepy ones they put in scary movies.

I’m mesmerized. Is it possible to fall in love at thirteen? Because I think I just looked into the eyes of the girl I want to look at forever.

SHE STARTS RUNNING
onto the field with all the guys, leaving me trying to shake off this feeling I’m having. I clear my throat, so my question doesn’t come out weak. “Hey, what’s your name?”

Turning back to me, while still jogging toward the game, she answers, “I’m Shay.” Even her name is pretty. She yells back with that voice I’m quickly putting to memory. “What’s yours?”

“I’m Jace,” I answer as she smiles. Shay and Jace… I swear, I just saw my fairy tale.

“Thanks for letting me play with you, Jace. I won’t let you down,” she says in her quiet voice.

We play for quite a while, and I watch Shay more than I pay attention to the game. I call my team for a huddle.

“Okay.” I look at Trent and Devonne. “I’m going to throw a long pass. Trent, I’m going to fake it to you while Devonne runs down field.”

The guys nod.

Ratty Converse sneakers push their way through the huddle to the middle of us. Squinting her blues into mine, Shay looks up to me.

“That is so predictable, Jace. They’re going to totally expect that. Those two have been running the ball the whole game.” She puts her hands on her hips again. She seems to do that a lot. I look down to her with wide eyes at the way she takes control and notice a flower painted on her pinkie nail.

“What do you suggest?” Trent asks with humor as he glances at her smugly, clearly being an ass.

“Well, I happen to be pretty fast. I’ll run down field, and trust me, I’ll score.”

“You sure sound confident,” Devonne says.

Shay reaches into her pocket, pulling out her chapstick.

“See?” Trent says with a huff. “She’s worried about putting fucking lipstick on. You can’t throw it to her, Jace.”

My jaw tightens from Trent’s disrespectful mouth. “Easy with your words, bro,” I say, earning an eye roll from him.

Shay doesn’t concern herself; instead, she puts the biggest smile on my face I think I’ve ever had when she says, “It’s not lipstick. It’s chapstick. Excuse me for having dry lips.”

I can’t help but chuckle. She just shut down a 175-pound guy from the inner city. Trent rolls his eyes. “Whatever,” he says. “Don’t screw it up, powder puff.”

“Not possible,” Shay says. “They’ll never see it coming. Trust me, Jace.”

Something in the way she says that settles my nerves.

“Trust me, Jace.”

“Okay, let’s do it.” I look down at her and smile. She smiles wide, and then everyone takes their place on the field. The ball snaps, and guess what?

She fucking scores.

WE SPEND THE
whole day together. Shay is like the ray of sunshine that shines brightly between my apartment buildings. As soon as she walked between that building,

I knew the sun would shine down on that cold space. Even in her worn jeans and dirty Converse, she still looks soft… sweet. What's wrong with me? Guys like me don't think like this. Guys where I come from don't daydream of Disney princesses and happily-ever-afters. Not really anyway. Even when I do, I know it’s not possible to have a girl like her.

“Told you I could play,” Shay says, pulling me out of my dreamland reserved for kids whose dreams become realities.

“Um… yeah, you sure showed them you could hang,” I reply, hoping I'm keeping up with her conversation, seeing as I'm still picturing her sprinkling pixie dust around us.

“Well, like I said, I know the game.” She reaches up with her light pink fingernails and takes her hair out of the holder. As it falls, soft brown curls frame her face, and all I can think about is how pretty she is. Then she smiles at me with the prettiest smile I’ve ever seen. I don’t even think she’ll need braces, or maybe she’s already had them. Anyway, her teeth are really straight, and her smile lights up her whole face.

I think my heart just skipped a beat. No, it did. It totally skipped a beat, and I have no doubt we had another earthquake. Or, maybe Shay just shook my world when she entered it. Yeah, I’m pretty sure she did.

“Nice to meet you, Jace. I’ve got to go.” Shay reaches into her pocket, taking out her chapstick. Rolling it around on her pouty lips, she smacks them together before shoving it back into her pocket. I smell coconut again.

“See you around,” I say without breaking eye contact. God, I sound like such a wimp. I don't talk like that. But, I can't form any words around this girl, so I just wave. She waves back. I hear the guys calling me back to the game, but all I can focus on is the pretty girl with big blue eyes walking away from me. I watch until she disappears through the double doors of the center. I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel a sense of loss when she leaves.

The parking lot is on the side of the building, so I jog over to see if I can watch her leave. A fancy limo pulls up. That's odd. We don't have limos hanging out at the center. Maybe the driver is just using the parking lot to turn around. I watch it come to a stop, and the driver gets out and walks around the back and opens the passenger side door. I wait, but nobody gets out. As the driver begins to step aside, I see his face break out into a huge grin, and then I see Shay. She high fives him and jumps into the limo followed by an older lady… maybe her mom. I don’t know if she came to the center with anyone. The driver closes the door. I just stand there and watch her leave.

I don't know if I'll ever see her again. All I do know is the prettiest girl I've ever seen just got into a limo and left.

YOU KNOW HOW
you read about falling in love? Like the time stands still moment? The moment of
all
moments.

It’s like that series I read about the girl finding her perfect boy. The heroine falls in love with the rich, preppy boy, and everything is picture-perfect. That’s not how it always happens, though. Not in real life. Even Jules and I snickered and rolled our eyes while reading that. I mean, seriously, how is everyone so good-looking and perfect? And, really, how many guys do you fall in love with within a year? Four. That girl in the book fell in love with four boys in less than a year. How stupid. That’s so unrealistic. That’s not love; that’s just a confused girl with no morals.

Now I’m questioning why I ever read those books. Oh yeah, I really liked one of the boys. My moment isn’t quite like that, and, yes, I’ve totally had my moment. I had a “real moment,” the time-stood-still moment. The moment when your eyes meet and you just know he’s going to be the one.

I found him at a run-down community center—messy black hair, the palest blue eyes I’ve ever seen, T-shirt obviously too small for him, and jeans. He isn’t the perfect book boy package Jules and I read about; he’s just a boy. A boy that is far from what I am used to hanging out with. A boy that has an edge. Jules and I call it “the bad boy look.” A very cute bad boy look, I might add.

The thing is, he isn’t bad. He is the sweetest boy I’ve ever laid eyes on, and my eyes were fixated on him the entire time.

Once I get home from the center, I call Jules and tell her I have fallen in love. My fate has been sealed. She laughs into the phone and says, “You’re only twelve years old, Shay. There’s no way you fell in love today. You need to get your nose out of those fairy-tale books.” Then she completely changes the subject. “I’m coming over to go swimming.”

After she hangs up with me, I walk over to my desk that has my homemade calendar sitting on top and grab a pink colored pencil from the glass jar that holds all my pencils. I draw the biggest pink heart around October 14
th
, marking the day I met him. I know cheesy, right? Don’t laugh. Then I totally write in my best cursive a “J” and an “S” and add, “the day I fell in love,” just to give myself a little reminder. Really, I know I’ve fallen in love. You just don’t get that feeling. You know the one—butterflies swarming in your belly, heart racing uncontrollably when he looks into your eyes, and heated cheeks from his intense stare.

Okay, wait.

I need to get a grip. Jules is right. I’ve read way too many books. I’m only twelve. I couldn’t possibly have fallen in love. He’s just a really dreamy boy. By the way, I didn’t let him see how he affected me. One thing I’ve learned about the entertainment business is never let them see your nerves. So, of course, I didn’t let Jace know that I thought he was dreamy. I just acted like he was one of the boys, instead of
the boy
.