“You don’t know how to play football,” Bryan laughed, licking his ice cream and looking over the top of it at the girl across from him.

“I play better than Nicky,” Halley said, the corner of her lips twitching, fighting back a large grin.

Nicky raised an eyebrow, dropping his spoon back into the Styrofoam cup and staring at her blankly, “You do not.”

Halley shrugged her shoulders and carefully wiped her mouth free of any scattered ice cream, “Kian said I do.”

Nicolette snorted from across the table, then hid behind her ice cream cone; she then pretended to be amazingly interested with Mark’s sweat shirt.

Mark laughed and turned to her, “What’s so funny?”

“Well, for one, when did Halley play football with Kian?” Nicolette directed her attention to her friend. “Halley hasn’t played football since school.”

“We played last week,” Halley replied, brushing her brown hair off her shoulder and taking a large bite of ice cream.

“He probably said that to get in your pants,” Shane mused, biting into his cone.

Halley stared at him angrily; moments later Kian returned to the table and sat next to Halley with his arm across the back of her chair. “Kian,” she said, turning towards him; he looked at her in shock at the tone of her voice. He had an ice cream cone poised halfway to his open mouth. “Did you tell me I played football better than Nicky to get in my pants?”

“I think the more important question is: DID Kian get in your pants?” Bryan asked, cocking his head to the side in amusement.

Halley blushed. “That’s a yes,” Shane said. Nicky hit him in the back of the head.

“I told you that because it’s true,” Kian stated, eyeing Shane angrily.

“Since when does a girl play better than me?” Nicky questioned, sounding more curious than annoyed.

“Since when are you not a girl?” Bryan retorted, laughing.

“She’s actually quite good,” Kian said, ignoring the bickering.

“Did she tackle you?” Bryan asked, turning to Halley, “Kian’s rubbish after he’s been tackled. It shakes him up.”

“I don’t tackle people in football, only in real life,” Halley stood up, “Excuse me.”

“I tackle people whenever I get the chance,” Nicollete stated randomly.

“People meaning Mark,” Shane joked. Nicollete rose from her seat and followed Halley to the bathroom.

“What was the original point of this conversation?” Nicky asked; nobody knew, they all shook their heads and continued to eat their ice cream in silence.

*

Halley sighed and turned to her friend as she washed her hands, “Nic.”

“Collete,” Nicolette stated, turning the tap off and grabbing some paper towels. “So Kian got into your pants? Why wasn’t I told before the whole group found out?”

“You would have been told about four months ago, had you been first to know directly after it happened.”

Nicolette grinned, “So that comment about you being better than Nicky had nothing to do with anything?”

Halley laughed, “Nicollete, honestly. What do you take me for? A common hussy?”

“Four months ago you had been dating Kian for a week.”

“So?”

“I think that proves my point perfectly.”

“If I remember correctly, your relationship with Mark began directly after you let him get into your pants.”

“I wish we could use another metaphor for sex besides that.”

“Come on, none of us have IQ’s that are amazingly huge.”

Nicollete pulled the bathroom door open, “Some of us have other things that are amazingly huge.”

Halley looked confused for a moment, “Are you talking about Nicky’s feet?”

Laughing hysterically, she exited the bathroom; Halley trotted out after her. “What are you saying about Nicky’s feet?”

Halley and Nicollete turned towards the voice and yelled simultaneously, “STEO!”

Stephen stood in front of them, having just exited the men’s room. The girls hugged him and when they pulled away he was staring at them in confusion, “Does Nicky have huge feet?”

Halley laughed, “Some might think that. Collete was just explaining to me that some people have things that are amazingly huge. I believe she was was speaking of Mark’s package…”

“SO!” Nicollette interrupted loudly, directing attention back to herself, “Steo. What are you doing here?”

“Getting ice cream,” Steo answered in an obvious tone.

“Oh my God,” Halley said suddenly, grabbing Nicollete by the arm, “I just got the best idea.” She pulled her friend, who in turn bulled Steo, and they made their way quickly to the table.

“Let’s play!” Halley suggested, standing in front of the table looking excited.

“Play what, baby?” Kian asked, finishing off his cone.

“Football.”

“Why? To see if you can slaughter Nicky?” Bryan chuckled.

“Hey, she won’t slaughter me,” Nicky whined, “I usually win.”

“Correction: I usually win,” Shane said, shaking his head and ruffling up Nicky’s hair. Nicky would have killed any other for doing this, but he allowed Shane to do pretty much whatever he wanted.

“This is why we should play,” Mark stated seriously, “Because then it’ll put an end to all the constant bickering.”

Nicollete sat in his lap and kissed him, “Well said. Let’s do it tomorrow.”

A bright eyed Halley waited for a response from the rest of the group. Everyone agreed and finally all eyes turned to Steo, “What?” he asked, “I’m not a part of this group. I don’t have to take part in your football game, do I?”

“We need a ref,” Hally explained, biting her bottom lip.

“Kerry probably could,” Bryan offered, shrugging. “Though Molly was sick when I left, so…”

Steo nodded, “I’ll referee as long as I don’t have to call fouls or anything.”

“What WILL you do then?” Shane demanded, sounding affronted.

“Stand there and look pretty,” Nicollete suggested, shoving the remainder of her cone into her mouth.

Nicky threw his spoon into his cup and set it on the table, “What is the point…?”

“I’ll just stand there wearing that dreadful pinstriped number,” Steo shuddered at the thought, “Eloy can come and he can call fouls. We’ll co-referee.”

Halley shrugged, “Brilliant. Tomorrow…high noon?”

“Are we going to do a shootout in the middle of town?” Kian asked, kissing her before she could slap him.

“No. We are going to have a football match. And YOU are going down, Egan.” She raised her eyebrows, daring him to say anything else.

Kian turned to the rest of the group, “I’m scared. She’s got that gleam in her eyes.”

“It’s probably the crack,” Mark suggested airily.

“Or the sex,” Nicollete stated, giving Mark a high five.