The Prettiest Girl

The Prettiest Thing by Kate For as long as anyone can remember, Trevor and Ella Scott and Brett Dawson have always been inseparable. But in one school year, everything is going to change for them. Feelings and love will be discovered, dreams will end and others will begin. ..XX.. Chapter One - Double Trouble ON the second Monday in September, just three weeks into the new school year, Brett Dawson broke up with Cassidy Allen before first period started and by second period, everyone in Lawrence High School seemed to know about it and the theories began to spread like wild vines throughout the hallways. They had been hooking up since the summer and she had thought he was happy with her. Cassidy was more than willing to take advantage of the situation and through her so-called tears that would make an Oscar winner proud, she was able to let anyone who would listen know that Brett broke up with her because he was "tired" - whatever that meant. It led to several interpretations. Instead of going directly to Brett to see whether or not those interpretations were correct however, several were feeling brave enough and went to his best friend, Trevor Scott, in hopes of receiving answers that way. But Trevor told anyone who wanted to talk to him about Brett and the breakup simply told them all to "fuck off" in so many words. No one dared push him for answers after that. Trevor Scott was known for having something of an anger problem when people got on his nerves. To get away from the constant chatter and less than intelligent conversation amongst her peers, seventeen-year-old Ella Scott, Trevor's younger sister, normally would have hidden away in the school's library during her lunch period but even the few students in there seemed to be talking about the break-up and their sharp whispers were ruining her concentration. In a final act of desperation, she went underneath the bleachers down at the football field to continue reading the book, Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart, she was just a couple chapters away from finishing. She didn't understand why Brett breaking up with Cassidy was such a big deal to the students at their high school in Lawrence, Indiana. He had had girlfriends before, lots of girlfriends technically speaking, and none of them had lasted very long. Cassidy, as well as the rest of the student body, should have known that it wasn't as if Brett was going to marry her. Granted, Cassidy wasn't the smartest girl in school but she was one of the girls who were part of the popular "in" crowd. She had witnessed first-hand all of Brett's other so-called relationships. Why she had thought hers with Brett would have been different, Ella couldn't understand. Brett and Trevor had been best friends since they were eight-years-old and Trevor had brought him home with him one day after school like he had just found a puppy on the side of the road. And back then, a lost puppy was exactly what Brett looked like. His mother had just died and the young boy was still registering the loss. He didn't talk much and had no problem letting Trevor have the spotlight. The two boys became so close, they were more like brothers, and Ella was pulled into their duo by the time they were ten and she was nine, officially making them a trio. To some people, it was hard to understand a friendship like theirs - completely and unwaveringly loyal to one another. No matter what one did to piss the others off, the anger never stayed. The bonds they shared seemed to be unbreakable. They were all so different, only adding to peoples' confusion as to how they all remained friends. It was easier to understand Brett and Trevor's friendship. Both played football - Trevor was quarterback for the high school team and Brett was a fullback - and had played together since they were old enough to join the pee-wee

leagues. They were both handsome - resembling two boys who had just fallen out of a Hollister or Abercrombie & Fitch ad. They had their fair share of friends and had slept with their fair share of girls. Everyone knew them and most wanted to be a part of their lives. Trevor craved the attention. He loved it, thrived in it, wanted it to never go away. He loved being popular and the center of attention. He loved the girls, the parties and the perks that came with being captain of a winning football team in a small town. He was a flirt, had a horrible temper when pushed, and was extremely competitive in seemingly everything he did. Brett, on the other hand, didn't mind the attention either but one could tell that at times, it got on his nerves. He was more laid back than Trevor, more at ease, able to enjoy football more since the whole town didn't look to him for explanations if the team lost like they demanded from Trevor. He was the calm one, always the one to pull him away whenever Trevor got into a fight. Ella was simply always referred to as depending on the conversation - as either Trevor's little sister or Brett's best friend's little sister. The more poetic students at their school saw her as the princess locked away in the tower with Trevor and Brett as the guard dogs protecting her from below. No one really knew her or spoke with her, which was fine with her. Ella preferred her own company to those of others. She liked reading and watching movies by herself; liked keeping to herself. She heard of the bitchiness and cattiness that seemed to be involved with most friendships at their high school and Ella wanted nothing to do with that. She enjoyed her quiet life. When she had heard news of the Brett's terminated relationship with Cassidy, surprise wasn't her first reaction. Perhaps everyone seemed to expect this one to last a bit longer simply because Brett was on the football team and Cassidy was a cheerleader. According to the high school hierarchy, the two should have been the epitome of a perfect couple. Buttoning the middle button of her green corduroy jacket, Ella leaned against one of the support beams underneath the bleachers and pulling her knees to her chest, she began to read where she had left off that morning before school started. A light wind was blowing and she continuously had to tuck strands of her dark hair behind her ears. She had worn her hair down that day as she usually did and she didn't have a rubber band handy to tie it back. She normally wore one around her wrist for such a situation but she must have forgotten it that morning when she and Trevor had been running late. She reveled in the silence of the football field. She sometimes felt so claustrophobic in school and she desperately craved for time by herself. Of course, outside of school, lacking the amount of friends Trevor and Brett all had, she was normally alone. She didn't mind though. She preferred the quiet and despite what her brother thought, she really didn't mind being alone. Of course, the times when she most wanted to be alone was when she never could be. Feeling something hit the back of her head, she turned and sighed heavily upon seeing her brother and his best friend, grinning at her and walking towards her. She looked for what had hit her and saw a plastic packet of ketchup on the ground. She rolled her eyes and turned back around, trying to return her attention back to her book and ignore them though that had always been a task easier said than done. "What are you doing?" Trevor Scott asked his younger sister though it was obvious that she was at least attempting to read - as she usually was. He plopped down on the ground in front of her, pulling a can of Coke from the front pouch of his Converse black hooded sweatshirt. Brett sat down next to Ella, grabbing her book, ignoring the glare she

shot at him, and flipped it over to read the summary on the back cover. "We brought you lunch," he informed her, handing her book back. "Any reason why you're sitting out here?" He reached into one of the pockets of his blue and yellow track jacket and pulled out a rather smashed chicken patty in a plastic wrapper that he had snagged from the cafeteria for her. Ella smiled nonetheless and took it. He also handed her a packet of mayonnaise since she always preferred her chicken patties with mayonnaise and the gesture made her smile wider. "I can only hear people say your name so many times a day before it starts to get on my nerves," Ella teased him, nudging him good-naturedly in his arm with her elbow. Brett scowled though and Trevor smirked, now eating a bag of Doritos he had also pulled from his sweatshirt pocket. His frown deepened when he noticed Trevor's lack of concern. "You know that Cassidy is saying shit about me." Trevor shrugged, munching on his nacho flavored chips and leaning back on his elbows, grinned when his foot accidentally kicked Ella in the leg and she narrowed her eyes at him. He looked at his best friend. "What's the big deal, man? Everyone knows that Cassidy is just talking out of her ass so she can get all of the attention." "I think it's quite pathetic that she's using your private breakup as a way of boosting attention towards her in hopes of helping her own dirty reputation," Ella said and when Brett and Trevor both raised their eyebrows at her, she sighed heavily. "I think it sucks of her to be talking about you." Brett laughed then took a large bite of his own chicken patty. "It's so cute when little Ella uses big words," he teased, reaching over and pinching her cheek as Trevor laughed. She slapped his hand away and sat up on her knees, beginning to gather her things. "Aw, come on El. Don't leave. We're just messing with you." "I know," she said truthfully and not at all bothered by their teasing. She was more than used to it. "But I just need some peace and quiet right now to finish my book." Ella stood up and Brett couldn't help but watch as she pulled the tee-shirt she wore back down over her stomach when it had ridden up slightly. Ella was beautiful. She always had been. She also had never known it. Her hair was dark, nearly black, her eyes impossibly dark and hypnotizing, her skin smooth and naturally tanned. Trevor hated that she was so tan considering he always seemed to be pale no matter how much time he spent in the sun. Brett on the other hand had blonde hair shaved closed to his head and sharp blue eyes. He was muscularly built from sports but he wasn't beefed up like some weightlifter popping steroids. His skin was tanned as well but not nearly as dark as Ella's. He helped his father with the family landscaping business and spent almost every day during the summer outside from sun-up to sun-down when he didn't have school to worry about. "What are you doing after school?" Trevor asked, also standing up with a slight grunt as he stretched his arms out behind him. "Will you be in the library or in the stands?" He drove her home every day after school which meant that she had to wait until after his football practices. Ella was just one year younger than Trevor and Brett and a junior in their high school but Trevor still treated her as if she was five years old. He had no qualms about getting into fights with guys who let their eyes linger too long on his sister or who had the audacity to ask her out. And while Trevor was getting into these fights, Brett was helping him. She was too beautiful for her own good. Brett supposed that he had had a crush on her at one time or another but even if he still had feelings for her, he could never act upon them. Not only would Trevor kill him but this was Ella. She was like his sister. The Scotts were like another family

to him. He could never betray that. She shrugged. "If you don't see me in the stands then I'm in the library. Thank you for the chicken patty." She bounced up on her toes, pecking Trevor on the cheek lightly before waving to Brett, and then turned and walked away, back up the small hill away from the football field and towards the school once again. Trevor watched her go before sighing and sitting back down on the ground, returning to his lunch of Doritos and the Coke. He watched as Brett picked up the tiny pebbles on the ground, tossing them off somewhere to the side. "Man, don't let Cassidy get to you," he said. "I mean, I could remind you that you were the one who stupidly started dating her even after I told you not to..." He smirked when Brett chucked one of the pebbles at him. "Seriously though, man. It's not a big deal. So everyone's talking about it. Who cares? Everyone is always talking about some bullshit and today, it just happens to be about you. Tomorrow will probably be about me." "It just drives me crazy how I can't even take a shit without someone talking about it," Brett sighed, leaning against the support beam Ella had been resting against. Lunch period was going to be over in a few minutes and he really didn't feel like going back in that school. He knew that breaking up with Cassidy would have everyone talking. Of course, he knew that even dating Cassidy had been a mistake to begin with. He wasn't sure why he had done it. He had never really been able to stand her but he tolerated her because they all hung out with the same people. He had started hooking up with her when they were both away for camp - Brett with football and Cassidy with cheerleading. He had no idea why he had ruined a simple no-strings attached arrangement by turning it into dating. She had been a good kisser and an excellent bed partner but that was what the problem was. That's all she had been - someone he tolerated because she had certain arousal skills. Those weren't traits most normal people tried to build a relationship on. It helped things but it couldn't be a foundation. Brett was getting tired of it. He was looking for something more. He just wasn't sure what exactly that something more was. The bell rang and the two made their way back up to school, Trevor finishing the rest of his Coke and Brett trying to ignore the whispers he heard following behind him as he walked. Honestly. Was there nothing better for the student body to obsess about then some relationship he had had with a girl that barely lasted one month? "Fucking school," Brett grumbled and Trevor couldn't help but laugh at him. Ella slid into her seat in her fifth period biology class a few minutes before the bell rang and dutifully took out her spiral notebook and text book from her messenger bag. A few girls smiled and waved at her as they walked past her table on the way to their own seats and Ella smiled politely in return though she knew that they were only acknowledging her because she was Trevor Scott's younger sister. Ella was used to people talking to her and being nice to her simply because of her relations with both Trevor and Brett. Brett was in the same biology class as well since it was intended for seniors but Ella had tested through all of her junior level classes that year. Brett and Trevor took full advantage of her intelligence and she was often recruited to help them with their homework. He didn't walk into the classroom until a few minutes after the bell rang and he grinned at Ms. White, the teacher, before sliding onto the empty stool next to Ella. She only rolled her eyes though as he took her textbook and immediately rested his head on it. She hated how he just expected her to take notes that he could copy at another time. She knew for a fact that Brett wasn't stupid but he insisted on just doing well enough

in school that kept him eligible to play football. Trevor struggled in his classes but Ella always helped him. Brett didn't need help but he insisted on pretending he did. She sometimes just did not understand him. Ms. White turned off the lights and began her power-point slideshow on photosynthesis and Ella uncapped her pen, trying to ignore Brett as he breathed steadily on her hand as she began to write. His mouth was slightly open and was exhaling right on her skin as he napped. She tried to move her hand away from him but the lab table was too small. She harbored the thought of perhaps waking him up but she knew she wouldn't do that. Brett took his sleep very seriously and if she woke him up when he was napping, he would get back at her somehow and she wasn't exactly a fan of the pranks he and Trevor were capable of pulling. A piece of paper suddenly flew from somewhere behind them and landed on their table. Ella knew immediately that it was not intended for her and as Ms. White droned on, she slowly leaned over and pressed her elbow into Brett's arm, willing him to wake up. His eyes slowly blinked open and he stared up at her. Ella's eyes locked with his and suddenly, for no apparent reason, she felt an unexplainable shiver go down her spine. Even in the dark of the classroom, she could see the intensity in his blue cobalt eyes. For some reason, she tried to remember if Brett had ever stared at her like that before. She didn't think he had. If he had, surely she would have remembered that sharp shiver she had just experienced. She tried to look away but she wasn't sure that she was able to. She suddenly felt as if she was completely hypnotized. Ella gathered her will power however and quickly turned her head to look towards the window and away from him. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she had no idea why. So Brett had looked at her. He had been looking her since she was seven and he was eight. She felt ridiculous. He lifted his head and blinked, noticing the note on the table between them. With a roll of his eyes, he picked it up and unfolded it. "Dear Brett, this note is good for one kiss. Love Angela." Looking over his shoulder at the table behind him, he faked a halfsmile as Angela, the girl in question, puckered her lips at him in a dramatic kiss and then smiled with a wink. He turned back around, resisting the urge to crumple the note within her view. He was nothing if not polite to the ladies and didn't want to insult one right in front of her. Instead, he sighed heavily then leaned over, putting his lips to Ella's ear so no one could overhear. "Next time, just throw it back," he instructed her in a whisper and she nodded her head, still not looking at him but instead focusing down on her notebook. He frowned slightly and when he put a hand on her back, she went completely rigid. "Ella, are you okay?" He asked with concern. She nodded her head then finally looked at him, a tight smile across her face. "I'm fine. I guess that chicken patty just really didn't fill me up." When the bell rang and Ella began putting her things away, Brett watched her. Something was wrong but he wasn't sure what it was. That was strange for him. Normally, figuring out what was wrong with her was fairly easy. Ella could be a very expressive and open person - of course, she was when she was around him and Trevor. When around other people, she was practically a ghost, moving into the background, fading away. She slung her bag onto her shoulder and took a deep breath. When she smiled at him this time, it was a completely genuine Ella smile. He gave her a smile in return and they walked out of the classroom together, Brett tossing Angela's note into the garbage can by the door on the way out. "Brett!" Both Brett and Ella turned to see who was calling his name and Ella

immediately took a step back. Brett watched as Madison Close walked down the hallway towards them, not believing that she actually had the audacity to approach them, and then looked down at Ella. He reached out and grabbed her hand before she could run away, which he knew she was seconds away from doing. Madison Close, once upon a time during Ella's freshman year, had befriended her and for a time, she had been the closest friend Ella had ever had until it was discovered that Madison was simply spending all of her time with her for a chance to get closer to Trevor and Brett. Ella was devastated and Trevor, for the only time in his life, had to be restrained by some of the guys on the team once he found out before he full-on attacked Madison. No one hurt his sister and if they did, Trevor was going to look after them - whether that be from a guy or a girl. And now, she was walking down the hall towards them, a smile across her face and a ridiculously high skirt running up her thighs. Didn't this school have dress codes anymore? He thought to himself. Brett flinched when she ran a perfectly manicured finger down his chest. Ella tried to pry her hand out of his grip but he wasn't relenting. He gripped it so tightly, she nearly winced. "I'm sorry about you and Cassidy, Brett," Madison said. "But this does mean you're single again and what a coincidence. So am I." She smiled a sugary smile at him. Brett felt his stomach churn and he shoved Madison's hand less than gently away from him. "No offense, Madison, but fuck off," he said. He knew that he sounded exactly like Trevor in that moment but it did have the desired effect. Madison's smile faded and then she narrowed her eyes at him before looking at Ella, practically sneering. Brett tugged on Ella's hand and leaving Madison there, he dragged her down the hallway, still clasping her smaller, softer hand in his. Ella's hand felt good. It wasn't as if he had never held her hand before. He just had never noticed how oddly good and calm holding it made him feel. He wondered what she would do if he walked her to her next class like this. Ella, though, had other ideas. She tugged her hand out of his and when he turned around to face her, she gave him a weak smile before pointing to the girls bathroom they were passing. "I have to go... I'll see you and Trevor after school." Before he could get another word out, she rushed into the cotton candy pink and white tiled gendercolor correct bathroom, taking a deep breath. She stood in front of the mirror over the sinks, staring at her reflection. It was turning out to be such an odd day. She still couldn't explain her reaction to Brett's eyes on her. She wasn't like the other girls in school. She never had been. She had always been able to have a conversation with Brett without turning into the other girls who flirted and touched him and smiled at him with a bat of their eyelashes. To Ella, Brett had always been just Brett. He was another older protective brother. Nothing more. Shaking her head slightly, she bent over the sink and splashed some cold water on her face. Her stomach felt like it usually did before she had to give a presentation in class - a tangled up mess of knots. She placed a hand over it as she patted her face dry with a folded brown paper towel. Perhaps she really was hungry. She had eaten that chicken patty rather quickly and she hadn't really eaten breakfast that morning. Her next class was study hall and the teacher normally didn't mind tardiness. She could make a quick dash for the vending machines by the gym for a bag of Cheetos or something of the sort. Poking her head out of the bathroom, she looked up and down the hallways but not seeing Brett, she sighed in relief. She had been expecting him to wait for her. He probably

got pulled away by some girl. She stepped out in the hall hesitantly nonetheless. He and Trevor had tendencies to hide from her and then jump out, giving her a fright just for a laugh. Despite her loving devotion to horror movies, she could be a very skittish person - especially with people jumping out at her. Seeing him nowhere, Ella rushed down the hallway, quickly and almost in a panic. For the first time in her life, she found herself avoiding Brett Dawson and she wasn't entirely sure why. ..XX.. MOST people driving down the Borman Expressway in the furthest northwest corner of Indiana didn't differentiate Lawrence from any other industrial town in the area of steel mills and railroad tracks. To outsiders, it wasn't exactly thought of as a beautiful area to live. Gary, Indiana's reputation preceded itself with their high crime rates and whenever Ella Scott told someone that she was from Lawrence, a town in northwest Indiana, it was easier to just tell them that it was near Gary. Instantly, the person knew exactly where she was talking about. Lawrence was a steel town and it seemed as if everyone had at least one family member who worked for one of the mills or had worked there at one time or another. The town depended on the steel it produced for survival. Ella Vanessa Scott had lived in Lawrence her whole life as well as her parents and her grandparents had before her. She had grown up with her Greek and Irish relatives, going to American Legion picnics in the summer and the Lake County Fair every August, vacationing with the family at the Indiana Dunes and taking the South Shore Train Line into Chicago on weekends. Growing up in the Region where people proudly declared themselves to be region rats, the Scott children: Lyla, Trevor and Ella were raised with the big city of Chicago just a mere fifteen minute train ride away and the small town all-American feel of Lawrence. Ella's bedroom was her sanctuary. It always had been. She spent a lot of her time locked away amongst her possessions, reading from her large collection of books or watching movies she had rented from Netflix on the small twelve-inch colored television she had set up on her dresser. She had spent years perfecting the room and getting it exactly how she wanted. She loved her bedroom. It was her favorite place in the world. Three of the walls were painted white but the wall behind her bed was painted a pitch black. Lyla Scott, Trevor and Ella's older sister, was a student at an art school in Seattle and had painted a full brilliant white moon onto the black wall as well as a tree with its bare branches reaching up towards it like skeletal fingers. Her bed was a double with pale purple sheets and one of the thick homemade quilts that Grandma Scott had made for all her grandchildren when they were born. Her teddy bear, Sal, named for J.D. Salinger, with a missing eye and ear was propped up on top of one of the pillows. She had three bookcases in her room two five-shelf ones and one with three shelves. The two taller ones were on either side of the window and the shorter was between those, underneath the windowsill. They were all filled to the hilt with books - hardcover and paperback, each worn and thoroughly read through multiple times. Ella knew exactly where every single one was and never put one out of its place. She loved going to Half Price Books and buying ten books at a time for less than twenty dollars or spending hours at a time wandering the aisles of Barnes and Noble. Whenever she had money in her pocket, she usually always bought books with it. On the opposite wall of the bookshelves and window were the dresser and her desk. There were pictures crammed into the frame of the mirror hanging above the dresser - pictures of her parents, of Lyla and Trevor, and a couple of pictures of

Brett. Besides the television, there were also hairbrushes, bobby pins, rubber bands, lotion bottles and a bottle of Vera Wang "Princess" perfume that she got every year for Christmas. Her desk was a slightly cluttered mess with her stack of schoolbooks, notebooks and her silver laptop, currently open at the moment and playing music from her Windows Media Player. Ella's bedroom was the smallest in the house since she was the youngest but she supposed that she loved it more because of that. It had a cozy feel to it, a feeling that made her feel as if she was in her own world and she absolutely loved that feeling just from being in there. After football practice was done at four-thirty that afternoon, Trevor drove Ella home and she immediately went upstairs to her bedroom to read and watch a couple of episodes of "Dexter" from the first season DVDS that she had just bought that past weekend on sale at Target. She had finished all of her homework during study hall and in the bleachers during practice and since she didn't have any important tests, papers or projects coming up anytime soon according to her syllabi, she didn't have to study any further that evening. "Ella?" Ella lifted her head from the pillow she was propped up against on her bed and smiled when she saw her mother poke her head into the room, pushing open the door as she did so. "Dinner's ready, baby," Connie Scott informed her youngest daughter, stepping completely into the room. "Whatcha reading?" She asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed and Ella sat up, closing the book and holding it up for her to see. "This looks like a familiar one." Ella laughed shortly, nodding her head. "This is my third time reading it." John Fowles was one of her favorite authors and The Collector, a novel about a city clerk who collects butterflies and becomes obsessed with a college student, was definitely in her top ten list of all-time favorite books. "We have a book report due in English next month and I wanted to do a book that the teacher probably hasn't seen a student write about." Connie smiled. "How are the rest of your classes going so far? Those senior classes... they're okay? You're keeping up? Because if you're not, we can talk to your counselor again and..." "Mom, I'm doing good. I promise," Ella swore with a smile. All three of the Scott children had gotten their dark hair from both of their parents. Connie had long dark waves tumbling down her back and the bluest eyes - which Lyla had inherited. Lyla and Trevor had also gotten their pale skin from her while Ella, on the other hand, had gotten her rich brown eyes and tanned skin from their father, Nick Scott. His family had immigrated to the United States two generations ago from Greece, shortening their name to Scott and moving to Lawrence for jobs at the mills. Connie was a beautiful woman. She was forty years old but still could turn heads from men of all ages. She was a seventh grade English teacher at Lawrence Junior High and she supposed that Ella had gotten her love of literature from her but even Connie didn't read as much as Ella did. Connie often worried about her youngest. Lyla had her art but she had always been a social butterfly and Trevor, well, Trevor had more friends than even he seemed to know about. She knew all about her son though there were some things she had no desire to know. She remembered what high school was like and she knew exactly what kind of group her son fell into. Trevor was the quarterback for a winning football team. In a small town at a small high school, Connie knew that he was treated almost like a god. He was when he was winning anyway. Ella on the other hand... Ella was shy, almost painfully so. She didn't have any friends - none close to her at all. Her closest companions were Trevor and Brett Dawson, not that there was anything

wrong with being such close friends with her brother and best friend. Ella and Trevor had always been exceptionally close to one another. With only fourteen months separating them in age - Trevor born in June and Ella born in August of the next year, Trevor had always protected her and Ella had always looked up to him and depended on him. To Connie, it was fine that Ella didn't have many friends especially after that entire Madison Close situation from freshman year - but she still wished that Ella would stop hiding behind her books long enough to go out there and meet at least one new person. Nick and Connie Scott had provided well for their family. Nick was an electrical engineer and with Connie as a teacher, their house was the house they first bought when they got married twenty years earlier. They had been high school sweethearts and began dating when Connie was fourteen and Nick was sixteen. Though they had had several breakups during school where they dated other people, the two always seemed to find their way back to the other. They were married when Connie was nineteen and the next year, she was already pregnant with Lyla. It was a small house in a quiet neighborhood with four bedrooms - a perfect size for the Scott family. The furniture was big, comfortable, slightly overstuffed so when one sat down on a couch or in a chair, they sank into it. The walls and tables and bookshelves were adorned with pictures of the family, of Lyla, Trevor and Ella, of framed certificates and diplomas, of ribbons and trophies Lyla and Trevor had won in either art shows or for football. They were also a Catholic family and along with a crucifix hanging in their front hallway, there was also a picture of the Virgin Mary. They were a religious family, going to church every week, but they weren't the type of people to enforce their beliefs upon anyone else. They believed what they did and let everyone else believe what they wanted. Trevor wore medals of St. Christopher and St. Michael around his neck, never taking them off and had a tattoo of a cross on his left shoulder blade - something he was still able to hide from his parents. His mother especially would kill him for getting one. The kitchen was too small to hold a full-size table so every night, the Scott family, and sometimes Brett who was just as part of the family, ate in the dining room. Trevor was already sitting in his seat at the heavy oak table, scooping a hearty helping of mashed potatoes onto his plate. He had skipped a shower after practice and had taken one instead when he got home. His wet black hair was still plastered to his head and he wore black basketball shorts and a dark blue Chicago Bears hooded sweatshirt. "Nice of you to wait for the rest of us, Trevor," Connie teased before going into the kitchen to pull the roast from the oven. Trevor moved on from the mashed potatoes and began scooping spoonfuls of wild rice onto his plate. "Hey, El. I need your help with history later on. The Revolutionary War is kicking my ass," he said when she entered the room, sitting down in her seat across from his. Ella nodded her head, holding out her plate to him and Trevor dumping a spoonful of rice onto hers. "Of course." "Hey, kids," Nick Scott said, entering the dining room, carrying the roast on a plate that Connie had handed to him. He sat down in his seat at the head of the table with a yawn, placing the plate down. Trevor immediately took his fork and helped himself to three slices of the meat, leaving the end pieces since those were Nick's favorites. "How was practice, Tre?" Trevor nodded his head. "It was alright. Coach got us running a bunch new plays. Definitely gonna kick some Reese Panthers ass on Friday night." Nick had treated his son like most men would have treated their only son. He doted upon him, spent many weekends with him

camping, fishing, playing football and basketball with him. Nick had been the one to hand Trevor his first football and after that, Trevor had been hooked. He spent hours watching games, pleaded with his mom to let him join the pee-wee league when he was old enough and was taken to Bears and Notre Dame games by his father as often as possible during the season. Nick was proud of his son, exceptionally proud, the starting quarterback for the Lawrence Bulldogs, and with Connie, went to every game every Friday night, wearing his Bulldogs sweatshirt with Trevor's number on the back and a button of Trevor's face. "Trevor, don't say 'ass' at the dinner table," Connie scolded him, reentering the dining room and sitting down in her seat at the other end of the table across from Nick. Nick Scott was quite the handsome man at forty-two years old. His once black hair was now grey but his eyes were just as dark and his skin as tan from working on construction sites every day and from his Greek ethnicity. When he and Trevor smiled, everyone saw how nearly identical they looked. Ella, however, was the one that looked the most like him. Sometimes, as a joke, they would call her Little Nicky. "And Ella Enchanted, how was your day?" Nick asked once they all began eating. Ella instantly thought of her day. In a word, it had been strange. She thought of Brett asleep in biology class, his hot breath exhaling onto her hand as she took notes, the look he had given her once he opened his eyes. She had known Brett Dawson for years and he had never looked at her like that before. Or had he? Had he and she had just been incredibly unobservant? She doubted that though. She was like a little sister to Brett. The look was probably nothing. It had just been a look - nothing more and nothing less. It had not warranted hiding in the bathroom from him earlier. She answered before thinking. "Weird." "Why was it weird?" Nick instantly questioned and Trevor paused in his eating to watch her from across the table. She shrugged then ate a forkful of mashed potatoes. "So what don't you get about the Revolutionary War?" Trevor gave her a look at her attempt at trying to change the subject but both knew that he would grill her about it later. "Basically, it's about a bunch of rich white slave owners who didn't want to pay taxes anymore, right?" "Basically," Ella said, laughing and Trevor grinned. Connie leaned over and slapped Ella gently in the arm with her napkin. "Don't teach him that. Your brother needs your help and you're going to help him with the right facts, Ella Vanessa Scott." Ella and Trevor looked at one another from across the table and both burst out laughing. Nick smiled at his wife before taking another piece of roast from the plate and began talking about the newest job he had of putting in the electrical wiring and lights for an elementary school that was being built in a nearby town. After dinner, Ella and Trevor retreated upstairs to her bedroom, history textbooks in hand, and for Trevor, a reluctance in his step. History had always been his worst subject for him. When he was eleven, he had been tested for dyslexia and ADD and though he managed to get through his classes, it took him longer and more work to learn what everyone else was being taught and seemed to get instantly. Even with Ella constantly tutoring him in the privacy of their home, Trevor was never a good student. And for some reason, math and history seemed to constantly be his most challenging. He collapsed onto the bed in Ella's bedroom, the mattress springs squeaking in protest at the sudden unexpected weight and he rolled onto his stomach, immediately grabbing the television remote and turning the station to TruTV, settling back into the two hour-long marathon of "Cops" being shown that night. If

nothing was on ESPN when he was watching television, his favorite show was usually any HBO series and "Cops", which was more of a guilty pleasure than anything. Ella had other ideas though and turned the television off as she walked past and went to her desk, her media player still playing music since she forgot to turn it off before dinner. "Wolf Like Me" by TV on the Radio, one of her favorite songs, was playing but she stopped it nonetheless then grabbed her history spiral notebook. "Man, I do not want to do this, El," Trevor groaned, sitting up as she sat down next to him. "Why do we have to study history anyway? It happened already. Let's all just move the fuck on." Ella smiled, shaking her head slightly, opening her notebook to the appropriate pages that covered the American Revolutionary war. She and Trevor were in the same history class, third period, and due to alphabetical order, he sat right behind her. Since the beginning of the year, he honestly hadn't taken one page of notes - which he knew wasn't the best move considering his usual academic performance - but it was hard to be motivated when his brainiac of a sister sat right in front of him, her pen moving diligently for the entire forty-minute class as the teacher droned on and on about things Trevor could care less about. "Alright," Ella said, ignoring his protests. She had spent so many years tutoring him that his complaints about school work now fell on deaf ears. She looked up at him as he begrudgingly reached for his book. "Let's start at the very beginning. Can you name me the thirteen original colonies?" ..XX.. THE Dawson home was usually quiet and empty and that night was no exception. Brett returned home from practice, not even calling out to see if his dad was home. He knew he wouldn't be. It was only a few minutes before five o'clock. Alex Dawson usually didn't return home from work until at least sometime around six, leaving Brett to his own devices for dinner. It was alright though. Brett was more than used to it and usually, after football practice, if he didn't go over to the Scott house for dinner, he would go and get fast food or some frozen TV dinner from the grocery store. Alex and Brett Dawson had been on their own for nearly ten years since Cynthia Dawson died when Brett was just eight years old. He was an only child and Alex was suddenly a single parent. Neither knew how to handle the death of a wife and mother. Alex knew he couldn't be both a mother and a father and Brett needed to have a mother in his life. It was important for a boy to have a mother's influence. But as time went on and both adjusted to their new lives, they both adjusted to one another as well. Alex became his friend but first and foremost, he was his father and as a way of controlling his only son, Alex put him to work. The Dawson family owned and operated their own business: Dawson Lawn and Scape, a lawn care and landscape company. Brett had bulked up by helping his father mow lawns, rake leaves, plant trees and bushes and drag bags of mulch and topsoil around. It helped Brett grow into a hard worker and it was an ethic he starting carrying onto the football field with him. He was the fullback for the Lawrence High Bulldogs but he wasn't a typical fullback. He had speed and agility but he preferred playing his position because he had been ranked as one of the top fullbacks in the state. He loved breaking through the tight defensive alignments, clearing the path for Trevor and the other running backs. He loved the power he felt when he crushed and tackled the opposing team players and with his muscles, he was a force to be reckoned with. Like Nick Scott was Trevor's biggest fan, Alex was Brett's. The Dawson's weren't in debt but money had always been tight growing up. They were depending on Brett to get a

full scholarship to a college or else, they weren't sure how they were going to pay for him to go and though he loved his dad to death and respected him more than anyone, Brett didn't exactly want to spend the rest of his life cutting someone else's grass. If he couldn't play football, he would do something else. He wasn't sure what but he knew lawn care wasn't going to be his life calling. He dropped his gym bag in the hallway by the front door and toed off his shoes, flipping on the lamp on the table next to the couch in the living room. Alex and Brett barely stepped foot in the living room. Cynthia had kept the room impeccable, wanting to have one nice room in their house, and after her death, they didn't want to go in there and ruin anything for her. Brett headed down the hallway towards the kitchen in the back of the house to search for something for dinner. He knew that he had an endlessly open invitation to the Scott house for any meal of any day but Brett hadn't gone that night. If he had gone, he would have done so just to see Ella and that was a bit unsettling to him. He had known Ella for years. She was one of his closest friends, the only other person besides Trevor to see the true Brett Dawson, but she had been acting weird that afternoon and he was worried about her. Things had never been weird between them. And true, that afternoon, holding her hand had felt oddly perfect for him, she was first and foremost his friend but he didn't want to embarrass her by going over for dinner and demanding her to tell him what was going on with her. He found a bag of chicken patties in the freezer and popped a couple in the microwave, smearing mayonnaise on a couple of hamburger buns. He smiled to himself. Oddly enough, eating chicken patties always reminded him of Ella. She was the only person he had ever met that actually considered chicken patties to be her favorite food. Taking his dinner and a can of Coke from the refrigerator with him, he trotted down the stairs leading into the basement, pausing for only a moment when he realized that the lights were already on. The basement was where the family room was, being completely finished and furnished with two leather couches, a large screen television, a pool table and a full bar. It was the ultimate guy's hang out and Brett spent countless hours down there, watching movies, playing pool, hanging out with friends, or partying with them on the rare opportunity of Alex being out of town. "Hey, dad," Brett greeted, slightly surprised to see his dad down there, sitting on one of the couches, eating his own chicken patty and drinking a bottle of Miller MGD. WGN Chicago News was on and Brett sat down next to him, popping open the tab of his Coke can. "What are you doing home already? I didn't see your truck outside." "Parked it in the garage. Just felt like packing it in early today," Alex answered, both sets of the Dawson men's eyes now fixated on the television screen. "We need to go grocery shopping." Brett nodded his head in agreement as he bit into his lukewarm, cold in the center, chicken patty. "How was practice?" "My right shoulder's a little raw," Brett said, rolling it at the thought. "We'll put ice on it," Alex said and Brett nodded his head again as both continued to watch the news. The Dawson men were men of few words. Alex had never been a big talker and Brett had inherited it from him. Almost all of his looks had been inherited from Cynthia - the blonde hair, the deep blue eyes, but most of his mannerisms had come from his father. "Everything okay with you?" Brett immediately nodded his head though he seemed unable to stop thinking about Ella. He hoped everything was okay with her. ..XX.. "I think the question on everyone's mind is... what would Brian Boitano do if he was here right

now?" Trevor asked, holding up the DVD case for the 'South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut' movie. "He'd make a plan and he'd follow through," Ella answered, laughing. "That's what Brian Boitano would do," Trevor grinned before turning back towards the television to slip the disc into the DVD player. They had studied and gone over her history notes for over an hour before it was decided by both that they needed to stop for the night before Trevor started forgetting everything Ella had taught him. They descended into the basement and Ella lounged on the worn love-seat with the pineapples printed on the fabric and one of the back legs missing - making it a crooked seat - and waited as Trevor chose the movie they would spend the rest of the evening before bed watching. With him, it was either a mindless action movie, a black and white old samurai movie, or a 'South Park' episode. A soft rain had begun to fall and Ella could hear it as it tapped evenly against the sides of the house. It had been an extremely dry, hot summer and now, any rain was a good rain. She closed her eyes, listening to it fall. She was tired and would probably wind up falling asleep during the movie. She hadn't been able to concentrate for the rest of the school day and now, even at home, she found herself thinking about Brett's blue-eyed stare. She just wanted to go to sleep and forget about everything. Nothing had happened that day and though it wasn't like her at all to ever do such a thing, it seemed that she had blown something completely out of proportion. "If you didn't stop at Dairy Queen and get me a Dilly Bar like I asked you to, you can just go the fuck home," Trevor suddenly said and Ella opened her eyes to see none other than Brett descending the basement stairs. "I wasn't going to Dairy Queen no matter who asked me to," Brett said, glancing at Ella before sitting down on the brown L-shaped couch, stretching his legs out. "How's it going, El?" She nodded her head, smiling at him before keeping her eyes set on the television screen. The movie's main menu was up and Trevor grabbed the controller, leaping over the coffee table and collapsing down on the other end of the L couch, putting himself between Brett and Ella. He pressed play and she was grateful that Trevor took South Park so seriously and refused anyone to talk when it was being shown. Glancing over at her brother and best friend, she saw that Trevor was already intently watching the opening scene of Stan singing about living in a quiet mountain town but she saw that Brett already appeared to be distracted. He was looking around the basement as if he had never been there before and then, suddenly, as if he had felt her looking at him, he turned his head and her eyes locked with his in the same way that they had in biology class. Immediately, Ella looked away, her eyes going back to the movie, her cheeks flushed and her heart pounding. He had seen her staring at him. He had caught her. How embarrassing. She would make a horrible spy. Now he definitely knew that something was wrong with her but what that was, she had no idea. Knowing Brett, he would want to ask her about it but she didn't know what to tell him. She had never stared at him before so why on earth should she start doing such a thing now? "I have a headache," she murmured to herself, standing up and ignoring both Trevor's protests and Brett, she rushed past them and up the stairs, leaving them both down in the basement. She glanced at the digital clock on the microwave as she passed through the kitchen. It was only eight o'clock but she didn't care. She was going to bed and she was going to leave this entire, Twilight Zone-like day, behind her. Chapter Two - 20th Century Boy JOY Benson came to school early every morning before most students to have

complete privacy in the theater room. It was the only room in the entire school with an entire wall of floor to ceiling mirrors and she was able to choreograph and practice her dance moves without interruption or an unwanted distracting audience. As a senior, this was her last year to put together the best showcase at the winter assembly that she could. This was her last chance to impress everyone, her last chance to throw her name out there for some of the scouts from the dance schools that always attended. The school was nearly deserted at six o'clock that morning except for a few of the teachers and the school's three custodians. With her gym bag slung onto her shoulder, she made her way down the silent hollow hallways towards the theater room, pulling her long blonde hair up into a high ponytail. Mrs. Larson, the theater teacher, knew that Joy practiced every morning in her classroom and she had no problem with it as long as she cleaned up after herself and moved the desks back to their original rows once she was done. Pushing open the door, she immediately flipped on the fluorescent strip lights overhead and then closed the door behind her again so the music wouldn't blare out from the room. She dropped her bag onto the floor then immediately began pushing the first row of desks back, giving her ample room to dance. She tugged off her sweatpants and long sleeve tee-shirt, stripping down to black leggings, grey sweat shorts and a white camisole. She sat down on the floor and slipped on her black ballet practice shoes before standing up again and going to her gym bag. In the front pocket was a blue plastic CD case and she pulled it out, walking towards the black Sony stereo in the corner by the teacher's desk. The classroom was one of the largest in the school since Mrs. Larson liked her students in her advanced drama classes to act out some rather intense scenes and that was part of the reason Joy preferred practicing there. For her form of dancing, she oftentimes needed as much room as possible. She stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection, taking a couple deep breaths before the silence of the CD turned into music. The beginning beats of a hip-hop song with loud bass beats began to blare loudly through the room and Joy closed her eyes, letting the heavy music course through her body. And then, counting silently to herself, she began to move. Trevor hated getting to school early but sometimes, he had no choice. As the team's first-string quarterback and captain, head Coach Carroll sometimes wanted early morning meetings with him and the other coaches, especially when they had a game coming up. The Reese Panthers weren't the best team they would play all year but they weren't going to be an easy win either. Their quarterback, Jason Martin, rivaled Trevor's skills and Coach Carroll had wanted Trevor and him to go over some of the playbook in his office that morning. He walked down the empty hallway, flipping through the blue Bulldogs binder, looking through the playbook though he had the entire thing memorized already. There were going to be no surprises on Friday night if he could help it. He was going to dominate the Panthers, Jason Martin and every last Reese fan out there. He was not going to lose this game. The Bulldogs so far that season were 3-0 and Trevor was not going to add a loss to their record. He stopped though when he began to hear heavy beats of rap music. That wasn't a usual sound he heard walking through the hallways of the high school this early in the morning. He turned down a side hall and followed the sound, figuring out that it was coming from the theater room. He crept to the door, not sure what he was going to be looking at, and he peered through the narrow rectangular window on

the closed classroom door. Now, he wouldn't admit this to many people, none in fact, but he had seen all of those dance movies like 'Take the Lead' and 'Save the Last Dance'. For some reason, Ella loved watching those kinds of movies, calling them her happy movies, though they weren't particularly her favorite type, and Trevor wound up watching them with her. It was different though watching it in a movie and actually seeing someone dance like that. He didn't know the girl but she was moving so quickly, and the window was too small, that he couldn't really get a good look at her face so maybe he did know her. He had never seen anyone dance like that and he was mesmerized. The song ended and she finally stopped, her hands on her hips, breathing heavily, and he finally saw who she was. He smiled to himself. Joy Benson - a senior like him but unlike most senior girls, or most girls at their school, she wouldn't give him the time of day for one reason or another. He had been interested in her but he had never made the effort because she seemed to dislike him so much. And Trevor would be honest. There were dozens of other girls who weren't an effort. He could walk up to any of them and get laid. With Joy though, she knew him but she never seemed to want to. She had never been outright mean to him. She just didn't really seem to care one way or another about him. He watched as she walked to the stereo, turning the volume down as another song began to play. She returned to standing back in front of the mirrors and she redid her ponytail, scooping all of her hair back and then pulling her camisole back down from when it had ridden up her stomach during her dancing. Trevor had always thought her to be a very attractive girl. She had long straight blonde hair with bangs pushed to the side of her forehead. She had soulful brown eyes and freckles across the bridge of her nose. She had a petite frame but her body was perfect. From all of the dancing she did, Trevor could tell how in shape she was. Wanting to see more, Trevor leaned forward, but the glass of the window got in his way and he accidentally banged his forehead against it, causing a loud thud. "Fuck," he moaned, pulling back, squinting his eyes shut and rubbing his forehead. That was probably going to leave a mark. The door opened and he opened his eyes to see Joy poke her head out, looking at him, a slightly amused smile across her lips. She laughed shortly as he continued rubbing his forehead. He had really smacked it considering it was now throbbing. "I didn't think you could afford to take any more hits to the head, Trevor," Joy teased, stepping completely out of the classroom into the hallway to stand in front of him. Another hip-hop song, heavy with bass beats, spilled into the hall and Joy looked up at him. "Let me see," she said, gently pulling his head away from his forehead. He stared at her as she looked at the angry red mark above his right eye. She couldn't help but laugh softly with a shake of her head. "What were you trying to do, Trevor?" She asked him, looking into his eyes. Trevor was reminded of why he used to be interested in her. She didn't talk to him like most girls did. She didn't talk to him as if getting him into her bed was her one and only agenda. She didn't talk to him like he was the football god that he was. He wasn't going to lie. Trevor loved all of the attention he got from everyone at school. But sometimes, it was nice to have someone talk to him and just talk to him. "I was watching you," he said honestly. "Where'd you learn to dance like that?" "The Sweet Pussycat," she answered without missing a beat. "Strip club by O'Hare Airport." Trevor laughed and she smiled. "I've been dancing since I was four. Why?" He shook his head slightly. "You're pretty good." She laughed. "Thanks." She turned and went

back into the classroom. She left the door open though and Trevor took that to be an open invitation. He followed in after her and sat down at one of the desks, taking his book bag from off his back and putting his playbook in it. He watched as Joy went to the stereo, starting the song over and going to stand in front of the mirrors again. She looked at him in the reflection, surprised to see him there. "What are you doing?" "Watching," he answered with a shrug, sinking down in his seat, getting ready for a show. He loved watching girls dance. At football parties, he had gotten his fair share of lap dances and though he wasn't about to hold his breath for Joy to give him one, there was something incredibly sexy about watching girls move their bodies. "Don't you have something else to do?" Joy asked, turning around to look at him, putting her hands on her hips. "Like tackle someone or score some baskets?" He cringed slightly. "I play football. Not basketball." She shrugged. "I don't want you watching me. The dance isn't ready yet." He gave her his own shrug. "Let me see what you got so far." "Why? Because you're such a dance expert?" He smirked. "I do an unbeatable robot." Joy rolled her eyes and turned back towards the mirrors. She hoped that if she just ignored him entirely, he would just simply go away. "Jiggle It" by Young Leek began to play and she took a deep breath, getting into her starting stance. For the showcase, she was either going to be performing a ballet sequence - ballet being the main form of dance she studied - or one heavily influenced by hip-hop. She had yet to decide though and practicing both at the moment was her plan. This had to be perfect. Every move had to be spot on, every move had to be flawless or else, there was no point to any of it. The schools she were applying to didn't take so-so dancers. They only took the best dancers with perfect performances. She had been dancing and studying ballet since she was four-years-old, after her mother and father took her to see "Romeo and Juliet", the ballet by Sergei Prokofiev. After that, she had been completely taken by the graceful fluid movements of the dancers and she knew that that was what she wanted to do. She wanted to move like the ballet dancers she saw up on stage. Her mother signed her up for an introductory ballet class taught by a dance teacher in her basement and two years later, Joy was enrolled in three different dance classes a week. Part of her showcase was actually her own version of Juliet's variation from Act I of that ballet and though she knew that she would never be able to dance like Alessandra Ferri had danced it, Joy hoped that it would be a fine rendition nonetheless. Joy was also putting her own twist on the entire ballet style of dance in general by dancing to music one generally didn't think of ballet when they heard it. She wanted her own point of view to come through her choreographed moves and she could only hope that the scouts present at the showcase would commend her for creativity. She knew that it had been done before but she wanted to do it herself with her own moves and style. Trevor watched her dance without the barrier of a narrow window and he couldn't take his eyes off of her. He knew that she probably didn't want him watching her. He knew that he really didn't even have a right to watch her. They weren't friends. He knew that she probably didn't even like him and he knew that he should be going over the plays from his binder before practice that afternoon and before the game that Friday. But watching Joy dance was something that was nearly impossible to look away from. He wondered why she didn't like him. He had never been an asshole to her. He didn't think he had anyway. They had gone to school together since kindergarten but they were just in two different

circles. They knew one another and though he thought she was hot, he would never admit his crush to her. Trevor Scott was not the kind of guy to have crushes. He had dozens of girls falling at his feet. He didn't need Joy Benson. But watching her dance then, watching her dedicate herself to something as much as he dedicated himself to football, he could see why he would like her. Whether she saw it or not, Trevor could see that they had things in common. Of course, starting anything with her would be nearly impossible - especially since Joy would have to have a say in it. "Hey, Scott!" Joy stopped dancing and both she and Trevor turned their heads to look towards the door. Brett along with one of the team's running backs, Kyle Colfax, entered the theater room, both looking at Joy before seeing Trevor sitting down at one of the desks. Joy went to the stereo with a sigh to collect her cd. Ignoring one of them and continuing her dance practice was doable but continuing on with three of the football jocks present was damn near impossible. It shouldn't have surprised her that her rehearsal had been cut short by them though. They were part of the football team and therefore, they all thought that they could do anything they wanted. They wouldn't care that she was clearly working on something and trying to get some work done. All they cared about was themselves. "Joy..." Trevor began to say, standing up, but she ignored him, gathering her things and picking up her bag, slinging to back onto her shoulder, she left the room to go into the girls bathroom down the hall to change into her school clothes and get herself ready for the day. Trevor sighed heavily, looking at his friends. It figured that they would ruin the first alone moment Trevor had ever had with Joy. "Thanks a lot." Kyle grinned, checking himself out in the mirror before looking back at Trevor, shaking a hand through his shaggy red hair. "Damn, Tre. It's seven o'clock in the morning. How were we supposed to know that you were starting so early in the day?" Trevor clenched his jaw shut but he didn't say anything or even smack Kyle on the back of the head. Instead, he turned towards Brett and together, the two walked from the room, Kyle walking behind them, though he quickly got distracted with a sophomore girl and lagged behind. Students were starting to arrive and the hallways were becoming crowded. Trevor sighed as he made his way to his locker. He really hated school. He knew that every kid said that but he really truly despised it. Maybe it would have been different for him if he was smart. If he had brains like Ella, maybe he would have enjoyed learning stuff. But every day in school was hell to him. He tried to mask his problems from everyone - his family and Brett being the only people who knew - but he hated the idea that everyone thought of him just being plain dumb. He wasn't stupid. He just took longer learning than most. The night before, Ella had spent over an hour with him on his history homework and they still hadn't finished everything. It was frustrating to say the least and he dreaded school every single day he had to go. "How was your meeting with Coach this morning?" Brett asked as Trevor spun the dial of his locker and popped the door open. Trevor shrugged. "It went alright. I'm gonna call a practice for tomorrow morning and make the guys watch the Reese tapes. They have a hell of a defense this year." Brett knew that but he wasn't worried about it. He had already watched the tapes and studied the Reese's plays. He knew what to expect on Friday night. No one was going to be getting past him anytime soon. "You don't have to worry about me." He leaned back against the locker next to Trevor's. "So... what's going on with you and Joy Benson? Anything?" Trevor smirked, shaking his

head slightly, emptying his book bag into his locker, the only thing he keeping a hold of was the blue binder playb