My Brother's Best Friend

2-James

James' POV

"Be right back, buddy," Mitch said to me, jogging up to the coach. Shrugging, I switched my attention to the boys, whom all appeared to be secretive. I raised an eyebrow, curious now, and walked up to Tyler.
"Hey man, what's going on?" I questioned, not taking my eyes off of Chad and Ben, whom were whispering at each other and looking far too happy.
"Dude, it's that girl!" was Tyler's simple response. He was grinning wildly like the idiot he was. I stared at him as if he were crazy. "What girl, man? Who are you talking about?"
"There's this girl that I'd in several of my classes," he quickly explained. "So I see her a lot. I don't know a guy that ISN'T crushing on her."
I sighed, frustrated that I still didn't know who he was talking about. "Well? Her name?"
Tyler shrugged. "We don't know her name, yet. But...LOOK! She's freaking right up there!" he motioned toward the bleachers.
I turned myself around to see this dream girl, and my mouth dropped wide open with shock as I instantly realized who it was. "That's Ally!" I exclaimed with very much surprise.
Tyler, along with a couple of the other guys, whipped their heads around to look at me in disbelief. "You KNOW her?!" they all said in unison.
I let out a single laugh and modded. "Sure do! That right there happens to be Mitch's baby sister!" Everyone stared at me as if they couldn't believe it. "That HOTTIE is Mitch's sister?!" Jarrett demanded. As soon as he used the word "hottie" to describe Ally, I felt something inside of me snap. I was suddenly feeling very over-protective, and I just felt obligated to protect Mitch's little sister while he wasn't around to hear what was going on.
Before I exploded, I quickly got everything back into control.
Instead of yelling, I asked, "So...you guys like her, huh?"
Ben laughed out loud. "James, that is a pretty dumb question. I mean, who doesn't like her? Oh wait--Mitch doesn't!" at that moment, everyone burst out laughing as if it were the funniest thing they had ever heard. Everyone except me.
While they were being idiots, I looked back at Ally and gave her a hasty yet careful observation. I had never really thought about it....but she actually wasn't that bad-looking. No, she was more than that--she was actually kind of beautiful!
Why hadn't I seen it before? Mitch had just introduced her to me as his little sister...and that was how I took her as. But now, I was just seeing so much more!
She was thin, but not too thin. She had wavy red hair that fell just a few inches past get shoulders, and she was like, the perfect height.
I could have gone on, but it was then that I realized what I had been doing. I had been doing what the boys had been doing. And when I remembered that they liked her, that REALLY ticked me off.
"Oh, cool it guys, Mitch is coming," Jarrett warned, and immediately, they straightened themselves out. I was actually glad that Mitch had come back. I didn't think I could take any more swooning over Ally.
Mitch came up and asked, "Hey guys, what's up?" everyone just sorta shrugged, and looked at each other. I think it was obvious we were hiding something from him, but he didn 't really seem to care. He didn't have time to, either, because Coach was joining our little circle.
"Okay, boys, let's hustle!" he ordered, and instantly, we all got into our positions. Thank God I wasn't quarterback, if I was, I don't think I would have been able to concentrate too well. I kept finding myself sneaking perks at Ally, and that bothered me.
I didn't want to think of Ally any more than Mitch's little sister. I just needed to focus on practice. I took a deep breath, shook my head, and returned my concentration to the game.
"There ya go, Diamond!" Coach encouraged, noticing the difference in my playing. "That is what I am talking about!" I nodded to myself, and kept holding off a player.
"JAMES!" I heard Mitch bellow at me. I looked up to see him with the ball. I nodded at him eagerly, and he threw it--hard. I began to run as fast as I could, until the ball was falling right at me. It fell into my hands, but that didn't stop me from running.
I turned to sneak one last look at Ally, and the look on her face was all I needed to get that extra burst of speed into my legs. In just a few seconds, I had did it. I had scored a touchdown.
The guys that had been on my team cheered extremely loudly. And I threw the ball against the hard ground. The coach was nodding at me in approval, and I quickly glanced back at Ally, she was beaming at me.
"Amazing," Coach smiled as I came over to grab my water bottle. "I knew you were good James, but...wow. Good job. Keep up the excellent work!"
"Thanks, Coach," I panted, and instantly chugged nearly all of the water in my bottle.
Tyler, Ben, and Mitch came over patting my back. "Nice, man," Mitch grinned , and patted his back. "Thanks. But hey--that throw was epic."
"Mitch..." Ben began, suddenly. "Is your sister coming with us to get pizza after we're done?"
I knew what Ben was thinking. Even if Mitch didn't ask Ally, Ben would.
Mitch looked slightly annoyed at the mention of his sister. "Oh um...I don't know, Man. I didn't invite her."
"Oh," was all Ben said after that, and we quickly got back into our positions. I fought the urge to slug him, but with much difficulty. I couldn't let any of these guys have Ally. And I wouldn't.