Ryan Hunter

how much had I missed the sight of her this summer. As always, her shiny green eyes caught my attention first. Looking at them made me think of the bowl with Granny Smith apples my mom always placed on the coffee table. Her beautiful hair was tied into a high ponytail and only a few strands slipped out in the front, framing her heart-shaped face.
    The pink T-shirt she wore today was my favorite, because it fit her like a second skin. From beneath the collar, two neon green straps ran up and around her neck to tie in the back. A bikini I guessed, remembering the text message I’d read on Tony’s phone earlier. She was up for a swim. And as I looked at her pretty, naked legs, I decided a swim was just what I needed to cool off. I pulled my cap a little lower over my forehead, tearing my eyes off my personal sunshine, and cleared my throat that had gone from okay to dry as a bone within moments.
    They hadn’t even made it to my table when Cloey rose from her seat. “You’re late, Anthony. I almost thought you wouldn’t come.”
    I found it hilarious how she was the only person I knew who ever called him Anthony, but he seemed to like it, so what the heck. But when she walked toward Tony and kissed his left cheek, all the hilariousness was blown out of this situation, and I found myself holding my breath. Alex and Frederickson seemed as stunned as Liza and I obviously were. The scene went from bad to worse when Tony placed his hands on Cloey’s hips and let her kiss his other cheek as well.
    Right now I wished I had the guts to stand up and wrap Liza in a tender hug, and not for my personal pleasure, but because she looked like she had been run over by a bus and needed some comfort.
    “Mixed soccer teams, huh?” she growled at Mitchell then took a seat next to him, which also made her sit directly opposite Cloey.
    The least I could do was to tease her a little and cheer her up. “The tryouts are tomorrow, Matthews. I can put you on the list, if you’re interested.” She didn’t seem particularly happy about my joke, which wasn’t really a joke anyway, but an attempt to get her on a team where I could play with her twice a week and have a reason to touch her. But she sent a surprised look in my direction. Maybe because this was the most I had said to her in one breath in all the time I had known her. I’d always found it easier to resist her when I didn’t have to talk to her.
    “Liz and soccer?” Tony laughed. “You might as well try to get an elephant to dance the tango. Right, Liz?”
    Oh shit. Could he be anymore tactless? I’d never heard him talk to Liza in this mean way. When she turned her head to him, her eyes held a damn lot of hurt. But it seemed , I was the only one to notice.
    And then the unthinkable happened. Cloey opened her mouth, and I knew nothing nice would come out. “The elephant hits home.”
    There it was. Short, biting, and so Cloey-like. She definitely felt threatened by Liza, or she wouldn’t revert to bitchiness to carve out her territories with Tony. Somewhere in the back of my head, I was impressed. Cloey really looked like she felt a thing or two for this boy.
    And this boy just epically failed in the friend test. He didn’t say one word when Summers insulted Liza, and that, hooking up with Cloey or not, was totally intolerable. I wondered what Liza was going to do.
    “I tried puking up my meals in ninth grade, but then this seems to be more your thing than mine,” was her retort. And damn, it was a cool one. That girl wasn’t as shy and silent as she made everyone believe.
    I laughed, but apparently I was the only one who dared to. Everyone else was shocked into silence and tried to get out of their field of fire.
    “Did you just insult me?”
    Yes, Summers, she did ! Of course, this was a first for my equivalent. She and I weren’t used to being bested by anyone. I was pretty sure that hurt her on a level she would never let on.
    Liza seemed more than relieved when Tony got a text message and asked her if she’d like to stay or walk back home with him. I’d never seen anyone knock back an almost full glass of soda as fast as Liza did while she rose from her chair. “Nope, I’m ready,” she told him.
    Tony shook his head at her, then he grimaced and shrugged in my direction.
    “See you tomorrow, Anthony,” Cloey called out after him.
    With her chin low and her gaze fixed on the ground, Liza gritted her teeth in a way that made me fear for her molars. I