Thanks TayMarler for the cover!

His Game: Chapter Nine

"So, how'd the big date go last night?" Roger asks as we stand around Dino's locker. We watch as he attempts time and time again to insert his code, getting more and more frustrated every time the lock doesn't open.

I shrug and lean against the locker beside Dino's, "Not much action."

"Bro, how long is it going to take you to hop on that?" Dino grunts, finally breaking into his locker.

I scowl at him, "And you call me sleazy? Calm down man, I've gotta resurvey the playing field with this one." Then I lean in closer to the two of them, glancing around to make sure no one is listening, "Guys, we watched Jeopardy last night. Jeopardy."

"The trivia game show?" Dino asks, eyes wide with some sort of horror.

Roger sends him a look. "No, the other Jeopardy," he says, his words laced with sarcasm.

Dino's jaw drops, "There's another one?"

I glance at Roger and we nod, simultaneously smacking Dino on the back of the head. He flinches and sends us both annoyed glares, rubbing the 'injury'.

"I've got to meet this girl," Roger concludes, and Dino instantly agrees.

I glance down the hall and notice Joey just now walking to her locker and smirk slightly. 

How convenient.

"Alright, come on," I say, heading in her direction.

"Wait!" Dino says, causing me to stop and glance back at him, "I haven't even prepared, man. I wore my cheap cologne today!" Then he pauses and rips into his locker, grabbing a small bottle of cologne.

"You...you keep cologne in your locker?" I question.

He starts to spray it all over himself, and Roger and I burst into a coughing fit and try to fan it away.  

"Dude go easy on that shit," Roger coughs.

"This isn't just any cologne," Dino says, shoving it in my face to look at the label, "It's Bleu De Chanel," he says, butchering the pronunciation with his jersey accent.

I grab the tiny bottle from him and spin it around to try and find a price, "How much does this crap cost?"

"About $200 a bottle," he says, snatching it back from me, "So be careful."

"Why?" Roger asks as he scrunches up his nose. "Who the hell pays that much?"

"It's one of the nicest smells a guy can get. And I use it to impress the ladies," Dino says as though it's obvious. "Girls associate good looks with good scents."

I blink at him, "You aren't trying to get in Joey's pants, you're just meeting her."

Roger chuckles and throws his arm around my shoulders as we continue our walk, "Right, that's your job."

I snort and shove him off, "You said it, not me."

"At this rate he'll be lucky if he even kisses her," Dino cuts in. "Much less take her to the bedroom."

I scowl at him, "Hey," I say, sending a glare, "shut up."

Roger gapes at me, "He was right? You two haven't kissed?"

I stop walking and roll my eyes, "Look, I'm working on it. I want to take things a different route with this girl."

Roger crosses his arms and smirks, "You want to or she's not giving you any other choice?"

I narrow my eyes at them, "Do you jackasses want to meet her or not?"

They put their hands up in innocent surrender and I send them another pointed look before turning and walking the rest of the way to Joey.

She didn't dress up today, but somehow she still manages to look better than half the girls at this school. All she's wearing are ripped black jeans and a Def Leppard T-shirt, but damn she looks good.

As I walk up to her, she turns her attention towards me, and then Roger and Dino, and she quirks a brow.

"And now the Punk has his own little posse," she quips with a tiny grin, "I'm glad to see you're settling into the nickname."

I hear Roger and Dino snicker behind me and my jaw twitches a little as I step to the side and introduce them.

"Roger, Dino," I say, "Meet Joey. The apple of my eye," I smirk, causing her to chuckle lightly, "Joey, this is Roger and Dino."

Dino suddenly smirks deeply and steps in front of Roger and looks her up and down. When he meets her eyes he wiggles his brows and nods. I internally groan and shut my eyes for a moment or two.

Don't do it.

"How you doin'?"

He did it.

Joey tilts her head at him, unfazed by a line I'm sure she's heard a thousand times before this.

"How long have you been rehearsing that?"

Dino drops his Joey Tribbiani impersonation and smiles sheepishly, "The last few days..."

She nods slowly and then shifts her eyes to Roger who is busy shaking his head in disappointment at Dino.

"You got anything?" She asks.

"I don't watch Friends."

"Thank God."

Roger laughs and sticks his hand out to shake hers as if we're back in the 20th century. "It's nice to meet you, Joey."

Joey smiles at him, letting her hand rest back at her side. She turns her head to me and opens her mouth to say something, but stops short as she starts to sniff. She cocks her head as she glances between the three of us. 

"Is that Chanel?"

She actually recognized it.

Roger and I look at one another in shock and then slowly look back at Dino who's smirking widely. Maybe cologne isn't such a bad investment.

"Why yes, yes it is," he says, puffing out his chest.

"That stuff is so overrated," Joey mutters, focusing her attention back on her locker.

Or maybe it's just as ridiculous as I thought.

I notice Dino's expression completely drop as Roger tries to cover up his snickering. But Dino still hears and smacks him, trying to get him to shut up while he waves his shirt out to attempt to rid the smell of his cologne.

But then his eyes land on Joey as she bends down to the bottom of her locker to pick up something that fell, and I watch as he slowly tilts his head and leans back to get a better view.

I roll my eyes at him, before taking a glance myself. But I don't like being as obvious as he is.

Seconds later, Joey has all the books she needs and turns back towards us, but focuses her attention on Dino.

"Dino, right?" She asks.

He nods a little too quickly, and I can tell he's completely sucked into her confidence and beauty. I grin to myself a little, she doesn't have that much of an effect on me. Yet another reason I'm not going to lose this game.

Joey gives a side smile and takes a step forward towards Dino.

"If you're going to stare at my ass, at least make sure there are no mirrors for me to watch you drool over it," she says to him, and then sends me a look with a small wink as she shuts her locker completely. But not before we all catch a glimpse of the mirror hanging on the door.

With one last look at the three of us, she walks off, carrying every ounce of confidence imaginable with her.

Dino blinks in the direction she left, as does Roger, and then they glance at me.

"Dude."

"You're so going to lose."

---

"Okay, there's a roast in the oven so make sure you take it out when the timer goes off. Don't forget to lock the door to the garage and the back door, I'll lock the front door on my way out. And please make sure your sister gets to bed at a reasonable hour," my mom exasperates for the millionth time as she walks around the kitchen to grab everything she needs for work.

I lightly roll my eyes at her constant nagging, but can't help the small smile at her worry, and grab her coffee mug before she forgets it.

"Don't worry mom, I've done this before. Just get to work before you're late," I say as I hand it to her.

She sends me a small smile of gratitude, "I know Rhett, I just want to make sure you're okay for the night."

I chuckle, "Mom, I'm eighteen. I'll be fine."

She smiles and stands on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek, "You're still my baby boy in my eyes. And tell your sister bye for me, okay?"

I roll my eyes, "Yeah yeah yeah. I will."

With a small sigh, she sends me another grateful smile for taking over while she's gone, and heads out the door for work.

My mom is an ER nurse, and every now and then she takes extra shifts at the hospital in order to bring in a little more money since my dad isn't in the picture. Though she looks tired from all of the hard work she does- a full time job while raising two kids on her own- she's still beautiful and always seems happy.

I sigh once I hear the door shut and glance at the oven, watching the timer tick for the roast and silently begging it to go faster because I am starved. The portions of school lunches are nowhere near enough for a 6'5" teenage guy.

Seconds later I hear feet loudly padding down the steps and I turn around to see my twin sister, Belle, enter the kitchen. Belle is a little on the heavier side, with shoulder length brown hair and green eyes like mine. 

"Hey Goofball," she smiles carefree, loudly calling out her nickname for me. It's the only nickname I actually like and will accept with no questions asked.

One of the reasons being a single mother is so hard on my mom is because Belle isn't easy to raise. Belle, though she's my twin, was born with Asperger's. This doesn't mean there is anything wrong with her, it just means that she's a little different and can be difficult to handle at times.

I love Belle. I've grown up with her and have had a hand in raising her due to our lack of a father, and she's just as lovable as anyone. But she can be obsessive about certain things, often repeats the same joke over and over again for weeks and even months, and doesn't understand social cues very well. Nonetheless, Belle is one of the happiest people I know.

I smile at her, "Hey sis."

People with Asperger's are known to be obsessive over odd things; being experts in one field of knowledge that they can't let go of. For Belle, she loves jokes. But her attempt at new material takes months to come about, and she sticks with the same few jokes day in and day out.

"Hey Goofball, what do you call a bear with no teeth?" She asks, an excited grin stuck to her lips as she anticipates the reaction to her joke. 

She's been using this joke since the middle of summer when Dino introduced it to her. Though I know the answer, I purse my lips and shrug.

"You got me, what is it?"

She grins, "A gummy bear, silly!"

I feign realization and lightly smack my forehead, "Duh! That was a good one, Belle."

She erupts into laughter, dull green eyes lit up with childish amusement as she laughs even harder than the average person would, and I chuckle along with her.

"Mom had to go to work tonight," I say after she finishes laughing, "she left us a roast for dinner."

Belle frowns, "Ugh, what the hell."

My lips instantly match hers in a frown as she cusses, and I deeply sigh. Another thing about Belle, since she's awkward in social situations, when she hears something Roger or Dino says that I laugh at or she deems as 'normal' or 'cool,' she starts to say it. She often uses cuss words at inappropriate times, attempting to fit in. She sees no issue in what she's saying, but everyone around her knows better.

"Belle, you know you shouldn't say that."

She just makes a small noise in childish disagreement and then goes to tell me another joke I heard just an hour ago from her. But instead of get annoyed, I smile and pretend I don't know the answer and laugh along with her for the rest of the night. 

Vote and comment 

Belle is based off of a dear friend of mine :)