Courtside Crush: Varsity Girlfriends Book One Read online

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  Courtside Crush

  Varsity Girlfriends Book One

  Kayla Tirrell

  Copyright © 2019 by Kayla Tirrell

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Design: Parker Premades

  for A (so she doesn’t get jealous that the last book was for J…)

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Thanks for reading!

  Get a Free Short Story

  Acknowledgments

  About Kayla

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Available on Amazon

  Also by Kayla Tirrell

  Mountain Creek Drive

  River Valley Lost & Found

  Disastrous Dates

  “Two teams, both alike in dignity

  In fair Marlow Junction, where we lay our scene

  From basketball grudge to new mutiny

  Where rival love makes rival schools unclean”

  -Probably not Shakespeare

  Chapter One

  Barely over a month into the school year and I was already in trouble.

  I sat on a small plastic chair outside of the principal’s office while my parents talked with Mr. Richards behind the closed door. My eyes followed the ugly swirls of green and purple on the outdated carpet of the school office as I waited to be called inside. While I couldn’t make out the words that were being exchanged, I could hear the exasperation in my mother’s voice. The frustration in my father’s tone was undeniable.

  Couldn’t they see that I was the victim here?

  Earlier that day, I’d caught my boyfriend, Anderson, making out with one of the cheerleaders under the bleachers when he was supposed to be eating lunch with me. When he didn’t take his usual seat next to me in the cafeteria, I’d gotten worried. I raced through the halls in search of him, only to discover his tongue halfway down another girl’s throat.

  Who could have predicted that when I accidentally bumped into his car after lunch with my keys in hand, that the words “cheating scumbag” would somehow become etched into the side of his door?

  Unfortunately, Linzie—the cheerleader in question—caught me in the act, and even managed to record me on her phone. Soon, the video found its way to the administration of Rosemark High.

  I’d been called up to the office, classwork in hand, and had spent the rest of the day hanging out with the secretary. Since both of my parents worked, I was forced to stay there until they could come get me. I looked over the same worksheet about twenty times since my cell phone had been confiscated the first time I pulled it out.

  I hated having so much time to my thoughts because they inevitably kept going back to Anderson. We’d been dating for several months, and while I didn’t have delusions about forever with him, I thought we’d keep dating until graduation. Or at least until the Homecoming dance in a few weeks.

  All the while, he’d been making eyes at Linzie! I wondered how long it had been going on behind my back, and if Linzie was the only one. Yeah, Anderson was hot, and he could be a jerk sometimes, but I thought he had at least one shred of decency.

  My stomach churned as I thought about how he and Linzie spent the rest of the day while I spent my time getting dirty looks from the secretary these last few hours.

  The sound of Mr. Richards’ door squeaking as it opened caused me to look up. “Care to come in and have a seat?” he asked when my eyes met his.

  I was upset enough that I almost said no, but it wasn’t really a question, and we both knew that. Reluctantly, I got up from my post and followed my principal into the office dragging my backpack on the ground behind me.

  He shut the door as I plopped myself down beside Mom. Mr. Richards took a seat behind his desk and steepled his hands in front of his face. He peered at me over the thick frames of his glasses.

  “Miss Royce, your parents and I have been discussing your behavior earlier today—more specifically, what you did to Anderson Webb’s car.”

  I turned to them and opened my mouth to defend myself.

  Mom shook her head. “Charlie, not now.”

  “Dad,” I pleaded. My eyes were wide begging him to understand.

  He lifted his hand and let out a deep sigh. “We’ve spent so much time in Mr. Richards’ office these past several years, your mother and I have practically earned our own parking spot. We’ve been easy on you. We’ve let you get away with too much, I know. But keying Anderson’s car?”

  “He cheated on me!”

  “That doesn’t make it okay to destroy his car,” Mom argued.

  “Well, now everyone knows to stay away from him. If you think about it, I’m really doing the girls of Rosemark, and surrounding schools, a favor.” I tucked a loose strand of brown hair that had fallen loose from my ponytail behind my ear.

  Mom sighed and rubbed her temples with both hands. “Charlie.”

  I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms—just barely resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

  When Mr. Richards cleared his throat, we all turned to look at him. “As I said, we’ve been discussing what transpired earlier today, and I’ve recommended Saturday work detail for the next eight weeks. There’s a group called Marlowe Junction’s Helping Hands that takes troubled youth to clean up parks and do other community service projects around town.”

  I sat back up. “Troubled youth? That’s not me. I got upset and scratched up Anderson’s car, but I am not some kind of delinquent.”

  No one said anything. My parents refused to meet my panicked eyes.

  “Mom? Dad?”

  They’d always put up with my antics, but this meeting was different. The sudden change in atmosphere made me anxious. My heart pounded in my chest as a real sense of fear overcame me. What was going on?

  Mr. Richards spoke up again. “It’s not really a suggestion at this point, but a requirement.” He let loose a long breath. “If you fail to comply with the community service hours, I’ll have no choice but to expel you from Rosemark.”

  “Expel me?” My heart dropped into my stomach. “What would I do? How would I finish school?”

  My dad answered me, his voice soft. “You’d finish out your year at Hope for the Future Academy.”

  “Juvie?” I cried. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

  “Charlie.” My dad’s voice was soothing. “It’s not juvie, it’s an alternative school for at-risk teens.”

  “But I’m not at risk,” I pointed out. “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. I get good grades.”

  “It’s more than what your report card says.” My dad turned his attention to my principal once again, and I had no choice but to follow his lead.

  “Your behavior over
the last three years has gone unpunished for too long.” Mr. Richards opened up the folder in front of him and began to read. “Freshman year, you started no less than two food fights in the cafeteria.”

  The first time it happened was because one of the cheerleaders had made some horrible comment about my brother and his red hair, likening him to a certain fast-food restaurant mascot. I had to do something.

  The second time was much less justified. It only started because I refused to back down after my best friend, Daria, dared me to try to hit one of the theater kids whose very loud monologue had gone on long enough.

  But everyone had gotten in on it, and we all had to stay and clean the mess up. It was unfair to single me out and punish me twice. I was just about to tell Mr. Richards as much when he continued.

  “Sophomore year, you cut the hair of three cheerleaders during a school assembly.”

  Again, because they were being absolutely wretched people, spreading nasty rumors this time.

  “It grew back,” I argued, but couldn’t stop the upward tilt of my lips as I remembered their reactions.

  Mom shushed me.

  Mr. Richards fixed me with a stare. “Junior year, you were caught running a black-market on test answers for biology.”

  “Public service.”

  Those tests were hard, and we all would have failed without them. Once I’d gotten caught, everyone started getting F’s. The next year, there was a significant shift in the science department—or more accurately, it was down one biology teacher who almost failed the entire junior class.

  “Which brings us to senior year when you keyed Mr. Webb’s car just a few weeks into the school year.”

  “Allegedly.”

  Mr. Richards closed his eyes. “This is not the criminal court system, Miss Royce. You’re not innocent until proven guilty. Not to mention there’s footage of you doing it.”

  “But—”

  “We’re not even including your countless dress code violations and excessive tardiness.” Mr. Richards paused and ran his hand over the thin patch of gray hair that covered the top of his head. “I should have done this years ago, but kept thinking you would eventually grow up. However, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen without some serious consequences.”

  “We’ve laid out this student/parent contract for you and your parents to sign,” Mr. Richards continued as he slid a piece of paper across his desk toward me. I quickly looked it over. It basically said what he’d just told me. I was required to fulfill a set number of community service hours each Saturday with Marlowe Junction’s Helping Hands for the next eight weeks. Failure to comply would mean my immediate expulsion from Rosemark High.

  I stared at the paper in silence, feeling the weight of everyone’s eyes on me. It was only eight weeks, but I could still feel the sting of tears in my eyes. I blinked quickly several times to stop them from falling. There was a pen on the top of the desk, and my hands shook as I reached for it.

  Mom squeezed my shoulder, and I closed my eyes. There was no choice here. Either I signed the paper and picked up trash on the side of the road, or I ended up in some school full of kids who were seriously bad news.

  I wouldn’t survive two weeks in a place like that, I just knew it.

  I sighed and quickly scribbled my name at the bottom of the contract. When I finished, I slid the paper and pen toward Mom. She did the same, and soon it was in my dad’s hands. Surprisingly, he took the longest of the three of us. He looked up at Mr. Richards who nodded his head at him. My dad hesitated but, eventually, he signed as well.

  When the contract returned to Mr. Richards, he added his name without a second of hesitation. “Well, then it’s settled. Miss Royce, your first work detail is tomorrow. Mrs. Gibbs, the director of Helping Hands, was kind enough to fax over some papers about what to expect.”

  He handed me a stack of papers. I folded them, not bothering to read them in front of everyone, and held them with both hands in front of me.

  My parents stood up from their seats and stuck their hands out to shake my principal’s hand. “Thank you, Mr. Richards.”

  Mom looked down at where I still sat in my chair and raised her brows. Feeling sick, I got up from my seat and reached out to shake Mr. Richards’ hand. “Thanks,” I mumbled under my breath.

  Although, for the life of me, I couldn’t imagine what I was thanking him for.

  Thank you, Mr. Richards, for always having it out for me. Thank you for calling my parents to your office. Thank you for eight weeks of community service.

  Oh, what would I do without a loving and caring principal such as yourself?

  I slung my backpack over my shoulder.

  “Oh, and one more thing, Miss Royce.” I stopped and turned on my heel to face my principal. “Until you complete your eight weeks with Helping Hands, consider yourself on athletic probation.”

  My heart stopped in my chest. “What?”

  That was almost worse than the possibility of getting expelled. Basketball was my life, and hopefully my ticket to college. How was I supposed to impress college scouts and get the scholarship I’d been counting on if I couldn’t play?

  My tears fought hard to fall once more, but I fought harder. I bit the inside of my cheek as I gave him a tight smile. So hard, in fact, I tasted the copper tang of blood as my teeth cut the sensitive tissue. I walked out of his office without another word.

  I followed my parents past the secretary. She smiled at Mom and Dad but was sure to give me one last frown as I passed by her desk, almost “forgetting” to give me my phone back on the way out.

  The three of us walked out of the building in silence, to where their run-down SUV was parked in a visitor spot. We all piled in, and once everyone was settled, my mother started talking.

  “What were you thinking, Charlie?”

  “Anderson was making out with Linzie. What was I supposed to do?”

  “I don’t know, Charlie,” my dad answered. “Maybe not write ‘cheating scumbag’ on his car? You really did a number on it.”

  “And yet no one seems to care that he destroyed my heart, do they?” I slammed back against my seat blinking back tears. Since when was a boy’s car considered more important than a girl’s broken heart?

  “Don’t be so dramatic,” Mom gently chided. “You two have only been dating for a few months.”

  Six months, one week, and two days, to be exact. It felt like a lot more than just a “few months” to me.

  “Am I not allowed to be upset?”

  “Of course you are, Charlie.” My dad turned in his seat to look directly at me. “No one is saying you can’t be upset. If I’m being transparent here, I’m pretty angry myself. Anderson should have at least had the decency to break up with you before moving on to that Linzie girl.”

  I snorted. “Gee, thanks.”

  “You know what I mean. I’m not happy about what Anderson did to my baby girl, but I’m also disappointed to hear how you reacted. Haven’t your mother and I taught you to be the bigger person? Haven’t we raised you to know better than that?”

  My cheeks heated as I let his words sink in. I hated letting him down. “I’m sorry.”

  My dad searched my face. “I know you are.”

  “Then does that mean I don’t have to go through with Saturday work detail?” I asked, my voice hopeful.

  A small smile touched my dad’s lips as he shook his head. “It’s not that simple. We all signed that contract.”

  “There’s no way it’s legally binding. I was forced to sign under duress.”

  His smile grew. “The contract stands. And besides, maybe it will be good for you to have some repercussions. Strike some fear into your heart.”

  My mom turned around in her seat and looked at me. The traces of anger had disappeared from her face. “Your father’s right. Sometimes tough love is the best way to love your children. We don’t want to see you get yourself into a mess you can’t get out of.”

  “Yeah, ok
ay,” I said quietly and closed my eyes. But it wasn’t okay. Everything had gone completely sideways in a matter of hours.

  Soon, the car engine started, and my dad began the drive home. Once I was sure they wouldn’t try to engage in any more conversation, I put in my earbuds, and started playing some music.

  Then, it was time to get started on the five-million texts that lit up my screen. Everyone wanted to know what happened, including my brother, Pres. I ignored most of them, choosing only to respond to two people.

  First, my best friend and the most amazing center on the basketball team, Daria, who had messaged me right after lunch.

  1:03 PM

  Daria: Someone said Anderson was making out with Linzie?! And that you had to go to the principal’s office? Is that where you’ve been hiding out since lunch?

  Charlie: Yep.

  Daria: What did Mr. Richards say?

  Charlie: Long story. I’ll call you later.

  Daria: That bad?

  Charlie: You have NO idea…

  Daria: I want ALL the details. Seriously.

  Charlie: Okay. But not right now.

  And then there was Anderson, devil-incarnate. His message came a little later than Daria’s.

  1:34 PM

  Anderson: WTF!! CHARLIE! MY PARENTS ARE GOING TO KILL ME!

  Charlie: Maybe you should have thought about that before going and getting herpes from Linzie.

  Anderson: It was a KISS!

  Charlie: Because that’s soooo much better???