Chapter 9: Just Like Old Times

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"I guess so," I respond, arising from the mats.

"Too bad that would never happen between us," Jake laughs, smacking my shoulder, "right? I mean, let's be honest here, you and me having sex... I couldn't picture it."

I turn away from him, feeling kind of hurt. "Yeah," I remark, laughing along with him, "Besides, I have a certain type and you're not it."

Jake's laughter ceases. "What do you mean I'm not your type? Didn't we go through this before?"

"We didn't," I answer, "You and Luciana went through this before. Remember?"

"I don't care what you have to say, Rico. I'm everyone's type—"

"I know you are, because you have the looks and the smarts and the body," I finish for him, rolling my eyes. "All I'm saying is, Jake," I continue, placing my hand on his shoulder, "You are attractive, I admit, but I couldn't picture us having sex just as much as you could."

He scoffs, "But, you are attracted to me."

"No I'm not," I retort, removing my hand from his shoulder. "Not only do you have to have the smarts and the looks, you have to possess the personality too."

He quizzically states, "The personality?"

"You may be everyone's type physically and mentally, but you'll never be my type with your personality."

"But, you barely know me," he points out, "So, how could you make judgment of my personality?"

"I know enough," I counter, as every memory of him picking on me fly through my mind.

"I am your type," he angrily snaps, "I'm everyone's type, Rico!"

"Keep telling yourself that lie."

"So, you wouldn't want to have sex with this?" He gestures towards his body.

I chuckle, "I'd rather lose my virginity to that broomstick in the corner before I'd lose it to you."

He looks insulted, as he dismisses me, saying, "I hope you get splinters in your anus."

*~*

For several hours, Jake just sat by his lonesome, ignoring anything I said to him. I smile in victory. Of course he is my type, but was I going to allow him to have that power over me? No way.

"Jake, since those condoms are going to waste, why not just play some board games with me?"

"Who said those condoms are going to waste?" he snorts.

"So, the asshole finally speaks?"

He shrugs. "I just might use them on Veronica when we get out of here."

I unconsciously clench my fists, inhaling deeply. I pick up the box and toss them at him.

"Rico, what the hell?" he growls, harshly throwing them back at me. The box hits my face unfortunately, but he doesn't notice.

"You can't use them on Veronica," I comment.

He faces me. "Why can't I?"

"Because they're way too big for you," I belittle, grinning, "That size is for men." I laugh, "I might need them."

"For what?" he mocks, "Balloons?"

"No. For Calen," I remark, pretending that I'm daydreaming.

"He's your type but I'm not?!" he rages.

"He sure is," I reply, "At least he's beautiful inside-out. Not only does he have the looks, body, and smarts—"

"Not as smart as I am," Jake cuts in.

"—He has the size too," I finish.

"How would you know that and you're a virgin?"

"I don't need to be sexually active to know if a guy is big or small. It's a gay guy's intuition. And my intuition is telling me that you're on the small side."

He doesn't respond.

I sigh, "Ignoring me again, asshole?" When he doesn't answer again, I mockingly add, "If we're going to make this work between us, you can't ignore your boyfriend, when he points out that you're small."

"You really thought that I meant what I said about us being boyfriends?"

I smile in amusement. "You announced it loudly in the cafeteria."

"I said I was open to new experiences," he sighs, "Not old experiences."

My smile fades. What does he mean by that?

"Rico, you're old news. You'll always belong to an old tab in my life. There will never be a new tab of you. Therefore, I'll go for new experiences over old experiences any day."

"So, you said all that because you wanted to appear open-minded?" I ask, not surprised.

"If I were to ever go gay, you wouldn't be my first choice," he jabs, standing up.

I stop him right there. "You don't go gay, prick. You either are or you aren't. It's not something that you can develop."

He pretentiously yawns, smirking. "I'm already bored with your speech, baby."

I sigh, lying down on the mats. "Entertain yourself then, moron."

*~*

"Want to play some board games with me, baby?" Jake questions.

I pay him no attention, which earns me a basketball thrown at me.

"Jake! Stop it!" I scream at him.

He does it again. "Not until you play with me." He throws another one at me.

I furiously throw one back at him but he dodges it.

"Ha! You missed me!" He throws another one at me.

I dart into the bathroom, locking the door.

"Rico," he teases, "Scared of balls?"

"Leave me alone," I holler.

"How could I leave you alone when we're cooped in an equipment room together?"

"Very funny, asshole," I remark, angrily.

What has Luciana got me into?

I sit in the bathtub, contemplating on my next move for several minutes.

"Still hiding, Rico?" he taunts, chuckling. "I bet you're in there losing your virginity to the sink nozzles!"

Like an angry bull, I open up the door and charge out of there. I tackle Jake to the ground in the process. He lifts me by my legs and slams me on top of the mats, pinning me down.

"Did you forget that I've been on the wrestling team?" he questions against my ear.

I resist, but he tightens his grasp on me.

"Did you forget that I kicked your ass on that playground, fatty?"

Taking me off guard, his fist meets my face. Did this bastard just hit me?

"Could you shut up, Rico?" he yells, "You didn't win! How many times do I have to establish that?"

"Are you finished?" I mutter, unfazed as I glare at him. "I'm bored."

He gets off of me and I take the opportunity and hop on his back, swinging at his head. This reignites anger in him, which he takes out on me. He rams me into the wall, but I continue punching him.

"Rico, get off me!" he hollers.

"Admit that I'm winning first!" I childishly demand.

"Hell no," he remarks, somehow unwinding my legs from his waist, making me fall down.

I aggressively kick at his legs, making him lose balance.

He growls, "Dammit, Rico!"

I climb on top of him, slapping his face. "Admit I won, Jake."

"Rico, your nose is bleeding."

I place my hand beneath my nose and I see a smirk on his face. In an instant, he reverses our position, now towering me.

"Liar," I huff, "Liar!" I punch at his chest angrily.

"Are you finished?" he throws back at me.

How dare he use my words back at me! "Get off me, asshole!"

"Do you want to continue this useless fight?"

I look away from him. "No."

He gets off me and helps me up.

"You got your ass kicked," I rub in.

"Ha! I beat your weak ass to a pulp," he combats.

I gesture to my body. "Am I bleeding anywhere? No! So, you didn't beat me to a pulp!"

He quickly grasps my neck into his right arm, ruffling up my hair. "Give up yet?"

"Not at all," I laugh, resisting crazily, but he has an unbreakable grip on me. He loosens his grip out of nowhere, which causes me to almost crash to the ground. "You'll pay, Jake."

A mischievous grin spreads on his face. "Just like old times, huh?"

"Yeah," I say, agitated, "I beat your ass twice."

"Keep telling yourself that lie, Rico."

"Don't use my words against me!" I toss a basketball at him.

He tosses it back at me. "Do you want to play board games or what?"

"Not with you," I stubbornly reply. I retrieve a water bottle, taking a drink from it. An idea enters my mind.

"Could you pass me one too?" he asks.

"Sure." I pretend like I'm grabbing one and put my hands behind my back.

"Rico, what are you doing?" he questions, wiping a trail of sweat from his forehead.

Before he has time to react, I thrash my open water bottle his way, drenching his face.

He sprang up and I dash into the bathroom, shutting the door, but he slams it open and lifts me into his arms, dropping me to the ground.

"You practically drowned me, Rico!"

"I told you that you'll pay, Jake," I remind, roaring in laughter. "You should've seen your face when I dumped my water on your face! You looked like a fish!" I laugh hard, "And then you flew in here after me like a bat out of hell!"

"This isn't funny!" I laugh even harder when I see that half of his hair is soaked.

"I won this battle," I snicker at him, "Just look at you, Jake."

Eventually, he joins in with my laughter. "I'm going to get you for this, Rico."

"Just like old times, huh?" I laugh.

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Finally, an update! I know... go ahead and hate me now. I decided that this author note could wait 'til the end since readers suffered for... 1.. 2... 3 months. Dang, it's been that long? God, that's terrible. Anyways, hoped you enjoyed this chapter.