Fireball

"I was born in a flame
Mama said that everyone would know my name
I'm the best (that's right) you've ever had (that's right)
If you think I'm burning out, I never am
I'm on fire (x4)
Fireball" Fireball by Pitbull ft John Ryan


“Ok, so tell me what she said, word for word.” I requested of Ethan as I sat down on the bench next to him at a park by his house in Carrollton. We just got the 3D kite I bought for EJ in Japan up and flying. It was a beautiful day to fly a kite and the perfect excuse to speak to Ethan face to face. I needed to after he asked over the phone Sunday night if I told Serena about our past.

“She just asked how long we were together, when we broke up, why we broke up.” Ethan explained. 

“What did you tell her?” I asked, not really sure how I would answer any of those questions.

“That we got together briefly after Megan and I broke up and when you moved back to California, things just ended.”

I nodded thoughtfully, looking down. I tried not to be bothered about his description of us. It was the very watered down, but still truthful, version of our relationship. I watched him place his hands in his pockets. He was still wearing his work pants and his muscles flexed under the fitted slacks as he stretched his legs out before speaking again.

“I know it's the bare minimal, but I decided that is all she needs to know right now. I thought we would have more time to get to know each other before we got into that.”

I nodded understandingly. "Right, that’s one of the reasons I didn’t say anything to her…” I lied, well, partially lied. That was a good reason not to tell her. I just wasn't thinking about it at the time that I was going to tell her.

“Dad, Lily, watch this!!!” EJ exclaimed. We both looked up and saw EJ race down a hill while the kite flew higher in the air.

“Nice EJ. Is that all the string?” I called out to him. He nodded.

“Where did you find that?” Ethan asked.

“A 100 yen store.'

 “So one dollar? No wonder it’s short.”

“Boys don’t worry about size like men do.” I joked.

“And I just walked into that.” Ethan shook his head.

I smiled. “So how did Serena respond?”

“She didn’t; she was just curious. I was really thrown off by the question. It came out of nowhere. I assumed someone told her.”

“I understand, but it wasn’t me.  I make it my business not to get into other folk's business.”

“Maybe Rocky-" He started, before I cut him off.

“No, she wouldn’t have. In fact, all my friends knew not to say anything to her about it. I can figure out who did…” I offered.

Ethan smiled at me. “What happened to staying out of people's business?”

“You asked, so now it's my business.”  I smiled.

“It’s not important; I was just curious. No harm, no foul.”

“Sure Ethan.” I said, even though his words fell on deaf ears. I was already plotting my next move...

"Dad, Dad! Can we get ice cream?!?" EJ asked, racing over to us, dragging the kite. A man with an ice cream cart was circling the path of the park.

"Pick up the kite. You know you don't have ice cream before dinner." Ethan told him.

"Remember that talk about different cultures we had?" I asked, picking up the kite and helping EJ roll up the strings.

"No, let me guess, there's a culture that has ice cream before dinner?" Ethan smirked.

"No," I shook my head. "but some people have sherbet to cleanse their palates."

"What's that mean?" EJ asked, looking at me and Ethan curiously.

"It's like washing your taste buds so you fully enjoy the taste of your food." I explained, looking at Ethan. 

"That's a stretch and you know it." Ethan commented.

I shrugged. "Just trying to expose him to some more culture."

Ethan took the kite from EJ as the ice cream cart approached our side.

"Go see if they have push pops." Ethan told EJ. 

"Thanks Dad!" EJ cheered, before running off.

When we had the kite put up, we joined EJ at the cart.

"The Sponge Bob isn't ice cream..." EJ said.

"If you get it, I'm taking the candy eyes." Ethan bargained.

"Ok!" 

While Ethan paid for the frozen treat, I bent down to give EJ a hug.

"I'll see you Saturday at your game. Are your colors still red and black?"

"No, orange. We're the Fireballs this year." EJ informed me.

"Awesome." I smiled. "I'll see you there!" 

I stood up straight and Ethan handed EJ his Popsicle. 

"Bye Ethan." I said, giving him a hug too. When I pulled away, he handed me a blue gumball and popped the second one in his mouth.

"Hey, no fair! Why can you eat candy before dinner?" EJ protested.

"We're adults, that's why. Let's go." Ethan said.

I smiled and popped the gumball in my mouth too before waving goodbye to them.


As soon as I got home, I called Forrest.

“I didn’t say anything to Serena, but I’ll find out.” Forrest assured me when I told him what was going on with Ethan. 

Wednesday during my lunch, Forrest called me back.

“I don’t know who told her, but she’s pissed.” Forrest explained.

“Really? Because I dated him? Kinda?”

“No, she feels like you were rubbing it in her face by asking a ton of questions and always talking about Ethan: Like you were passing off your leftovers.” Forrest answered.

“No…I wasn’t trying to do that at all! I was actually trying to get her to ask me how I knew so much about Ethan.” I denied vehemently. 

“Ok...”

I sighed. “I wanted to tell her! Rocky went off on me about wanting to tell her, then Rocky pissed me off; so I was being defiant by not telling her but hoping she would ask so I could tell her.” I explained.

“I’m so glad I was born with a penis. This is so stupid.”

I ignored him. "What should I do? I should call her right?" 

"No! I wasn't supposed to tell you. This is coming from Rachel who told me not to tell."

"Then why did you tell me?!? I can’t deal with someone being mad at me." I bemoaned. 

"You asked."

"Urggg!!!"

"Here's what we're gonna do. We're going to handle this like men and get together to clear the air."

"Ok, sounds good." I nodded.

"Yeah, at a sports bar. Is Pluckers good?"

I laughed. "You just wanna try Pluckers! This has nothing to do with handling things like men."

"Yes it does. That's how I would handle a disagreement with one of my friends: wings, beer and straight talk. Pluckers just happens to have a sauce called hallelujah. It's fate."

"Fine. This weekend. I have no plans but EJ's game on Saturday." I smiled

"Alright, we'll make it happen."

By Thursday, I had a text from Forrest when I got off work. 

Forrest: Serena said no to Saturday. She claims she's working.

Me: Do you think that's the reason? Or is it because of me?

He didn't reply until I was on my evening run. 

Forrest: I don't know. Let's re-strategize at Pluckers...

Me: lol. We don't have to have a reason. Let's just go to Pluckers after the game.

Forrest: Great idea



EJ's game was at 10am Saturday morning, so I got up and dressed in an orange top, and dark jeans. I put a white tank top underneath the top when I remembered how short the top was. My jeans were low rise and I didn't wanna flash my belly every time I moved my arms. I pulled my hair up into a bun, slid on a pair of sunglasses and was ready to go.

At 9:45, I headed out. Trevor wasn't coming with me because he had some work to do on Kenji's website that he had to finish before Monday. I didn't complain: now that he was getting paid, he had to meet his deadlines.

I arrived a little after the game started. Thankfully, Rocky, Amber and her kids were there on time and saved me a seat.

"No Brandon?" I asked as I sat next to Rocky. 

"No. He has to work this weekend." She answered.

We settled in and watched the game. Ethan was standing on the sidelines with a few other parents. Megan was sitting in the bleachers behind us. I immediately noticed the number one soccer mom and her kid were nowhere in sight.

"I don't see Joel..." I said to Megan, turning around to talk to her.

"No, he decided to play baseball. His future step dad coaches a team. Tried to get EJ to play, but he thinks it's boring, thank God." Megan answered.

I laughed and turned back around.

"Who's Joel?" Rocky asked me, confused.

"Karen's son."

Rocky just turned away from me.

Whatever, I was just curious.

Around the 2nd period, Forrest showed up. I knew he was in the area because his school was still in baseball season and he had to be in the training room that morning. I just wasn't sure if he was going to come to the game.

"It was either this or sit around the training room." He said, sitting next to Rocky. 

We chatted over her about the game before Rocky traded places with him with a huff. After the game, which EJ's team lost, 6-4, we sat in the bleachers and waited for the team meeting to end.

"Where's Rachel?" I asked Forrest.

"Dress shopping with her mom. She's going to meet us."

"She doesn't have her dress yet?"

"This is dress number 2."

"Alrighty... how many are there?"

"I have no idea." Forrest sighed. "I just have one tux."

"It's probably just a reception dress and a ceremony dress." Rocky butted in.

"If you get married in Jamaica, are you gonna wear a bikini?" Amber asked her.

"Shut up Amber."

"It's just a question..." I grinned. "Maybe have those Jamaican beanies as souvenirs." I added with a smile.

“No, weed!" Amber laughed.

"No, it's a classy event. They will just serve space cake." I laughed.

"Do you two have nothing better to discuss?" Rocky asked, annoyed.

Amber and I traded looks, contemplating if we should continue to push Rocky's buttons.

"I'm enjoying the weather." Forrest commented.

"No rain till next week. It's going to be nice and mild." I added, deciding to leave Rocky alone.

"Yep, spring is perfect for a wedding." Amber grinned. When Rocky glared at her, she laughed. "Oh, come on. We're just excited for you. It's a celebration."

"I'm sick of talking about it. It's all I hear now. New topic!" Rocky snapped.

Thankfully, Megan and Ethan joined us with EJ. Forrest and I invited everyone to Pluckers. I called Trevor to invite him too. He told me he was on his way. 

We were seated on the patio. We got the kids settled in at the end of the table before picking seats. I left a seat open next to me for Trevor. Forrest did the same for Rachel. After we ordered drinks, and the kids ordered their meals, we began to look over the menu.

"Is everyone ordering wings?" Ethan asked.

"I know I am." I answered.

"Me too." Forrest added

"I think so, why?" Megan asked.

"Cause we can do a 50 piece-"

"100." I quickly corrected.

"Really Lily?" Rocky cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Yes! 10 a piece with just us is 60. That's not including Trevor and Rachel-"

"Rachel is not going to eat wings." Forrest added. "But we should still do 100, just for the sauces. We can always take them home."

"Exactly.  Besides, the kids might want some. What kind of sauce do we want?" I asked everyone.

"Lemon pepper."

"Hallelujah."

"What's gold rush?"

"Buffalo hot."

"Is fire in the hole really hot?"

"One second, let me write it down." I pulled out a pen from my purse and grabbed a napkin. "Gold rush is like a honey mustard. I've never tried fire in the hole, but I heard it's super hot." I said, while I scribbled down the flavors.

"Just get ten of fire in the whole." Forrest suggested. 

"No!"

"C'mon. I like a good burn." Forrest said.

"Your mom likes a good burn." I replied, while writing down his flavor.

Rocky groaned at me while Megan and Amber laughed. 

"So I made it in time for your mom jokes?" Trevor asked as he sat down beside me. 

"Nope, your mom jokes are dead. Lily officially killed it." Forrest said.

Trevor laughed and gave me a kiss. He pulled back, licking his lips.

"What are you drinking?" He asked.

"Angry orchard beer and a fireball shot."

"I might get one." Trevor said, looking at the drink menu.

"It's called an Angry Balls." I told him.

"Nevermind. I'll stick to the Batman."

I smiled. "You don't like balls?"

"Not as much as your mom." He winked at me.

"Apparently." I laughed, handing him my menu. "We're picking wing sauces. What do you want?"

"Dr. Pepper." Trevor answered.

"Eww. Only 5."

"I wanna try them too." Forrest said.

"They're super sweet." I warned.

"The kids will eat them." Amber said.

"Get 20." Ethan agreed. 

"Fine." I said, marking out 10 and putting 20.

"Just do Roman numerals, than you can just add an X." Rocky instructed me.

I nodded, following her advice. 

By the time the waiter returned, we got the wing order down. I just handed the napkin to the waiter. "I can read it to you. The X's mean 10."

"Everyone knows that Lily." Rocky stopped me.

"Actually, I didn't." The waiter smiled. I stuck my tongue out at Rocky, triumphantly. 

He confirmed the order. "You got fire in the hole?" Forrest asked, when Chad, our waiter, read them off.

"Of course. That's what you wanted. But can you put those 10 on a separate bill? I'm not putting in money for them." I kidded. Everyone laughed at me.

"Seriously, can we make sure the fire hot wings are on a separate plate?" Megan requested." I don't do spicy at all."

"Of course. Do y'all need any sides?" The waiter asked.

"Yes, waffle fries!" I added.

"Where are the sides?" Forrest asked.

"Right here." I said, moving over to the empty seat to show him. I read over them with him.

"Do we need another menu?" 

I looked up to see Rachel standing over us.

"Hey!" I said, pulling away from Forrest and moving back to my seat. "Just in time, we're ordering." I smiled at her. She sat down between Forrest and me and looked at the menu.

"I'll just take a water and sweet potatoes fries." Rachel order.

"Make sure her order is completely separate as well. I'm not putting in on that either." I joked. Forrest burst out laughing, and I did too. Rachel didn't even crack a smile. 

Tough crowd...

We ordered chips and queso and fried pickles for sides. When the waiter left, Rachel smiled at EJ. 

"How was your game EJ?" Rachel asked him.

"We lost." He replied.

"Sorry to hear that. What was the score?" Rachel asked.

"6-4. I scored 2 goals." EJ answered.

"Aw man, you're like the MVP. You need to tell your team to play better." Trevor smiled at him.

"I tried!" EJ exclaimed.

"There's no "I" in team." Ethan said.

"There's one in winner." Trevor teased.

"Or champion." I joined in.

"And selfish." Forrest contradicted us.

"Whatever." I laughed.

We then discussed work. Thankfully, my job had been drama free. I don't know if Jasmine said something to Kendal, but he was back to treating me normal. He even apologized and thanked me for trying to work out an arrangement. When the food came out, I made sure to snap a picture and upload it to Instagram before we dug in. 

"I can't believe y'all ordered so many wings." Rachel said.

"We're not going to finish them. We'll take them home." Forrest replied.

"The last thing you need is more junk at my house." Rachel said, smiling, but it didn't feel friendly or like a joke to me.

Obviously, Forrest didn't think so either. "Then I'll take them to my apartment." Forrest said, cooly.

The waiter asked if we needed anything else.

"Fireball shots?" I suggested.

"A little early for that?" Rocky questioned.

"Not really, day drinking is my thing now." I smiled.

"I need a new hobby. I'm in." Amber said.

"Me too." Trevor agreed.

"I'll do one." Rocky nodded.

"Megan, Ethan, Forrest, Rachel? Peer pressure time..." I smiled.

"Why not?" Megan agreed. 

"I'm down." Forrest said.

"Just to set a good example against peer pressure, I'm saying no." Ethan smiled. I chuckled and turned to Rachel. 

"No." She said, flat out. 

When the waiter left, we dug in. All the sauces were as good as I remembered. Forrest loved their wings. It was his new favorite.

"I'm actually mad at you that this is my first time having them." Forrest commented as we stopped to take our shots.

"Hey, you lived in Texas long enough, you should have known." I argued.

"This should have been the first place you took me last summer." Forrest disagreed.

"I'll write a list of my favorites and send it to you."

"Fair enough."

I took pictures of me and Trevor with our shots before we cheered and downed them. Before I started eating again, I posted them on Instagram with the caption: 

I'm a fireball.

I drank Rocky's shot too after one sip, she declared it to "cinnamon-y". Duh, it's a FIREBALL!

We ate, drank, and chatted merrily. Or all of us did but Rachel. She picked at her fries and looked miserable. The only time she perked up was when she was speaking to EJ. I wished she would just eat and loosen up.

"How did the dress shopping go?" I asked her, wiping my mouth. 

"Fine." She said, briskly. 

"Be honest. I know you've been dreading it all week." Forrest smiled at her.

"Exactly why I don't wanna talk about it." Rachel responded, shortly. Her tone wiped the smile off his face. I gave him a sympathetic shrug. He smiled at me and I returned it.

He then talked me into trying a fire in the hole wing. I took a deep breath before biting into one. I chewed a few times before it burnt my entire mouth.

"Ohmigod, Its fire!!!" I choked, finishing my angry balls. I then grabbed Trevor's Batman and drained the rest of that. Tears were welling up in my eyes as I tried to soothe the burn. Trevor was tearing up too: from laughter.

"Lily, eat the dressing. It'll cool your mouth." Ethan instructed me.

"Here." Forrest chuckled at me as I stuck out my tongue, panting. He handed me a fry covered in dressing over Rachel and I ate it; it helped tremendously. I made him keep them coming until the burning subsided. I glared at Trevor, which only made him laugh harder.

"I hate you." I said, holding a piece of ice to my tongue.

"I didn't tell you to eat it." He laughed.

My phone started beeping, signaling a text.

"See who it is." I asked Trevor, passing him my purse as I still nursed my tongue.

"It's Christian." Trevor frowned up.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing. He wrote: I came, I saw, I conquered." Trevor read.

I thought about it for a second, than it hit me. "Text him back: Or should I say; I saw, I conquered, I came!"

Trevor gave me a weird look, but before I could interpret the look, Rachel laughed dryly.

"Fitting, you've tried to sleep with every guy at the table." She said under her breath.

My face flushed with embarrassment and anger. She did not just say that. I must be hearing things...

"Rachel." Forrest said, his eyes widened in shock, signifying he heard her too.

"Lily, are you ok?" Trevor asked, looking at me.

I pulled the ice away from my tongue. "I'm fine, and I'm sorry."  I apologized to Trevor. 

"For what?" He asked, confused before I turned to Rachel. I channeled Regina George as I gave her an evil smile.

"I plan to sleep with all the guys at the table."