After the incident in town, I walked back to the dorms, alone, and avoided any interaction with the Team USA boys known as Goldberg, Averman, and Jesse. I don't particularly want to see or speak with any of them at the moment.

I'm sitting on my bed, holding a book in my hands as my eyes skim over the printed words on the page. Why can't real boys be like the ones in books?

I glance up from the paperback to see the bathroom door open, and Julie bringing a brush through her sandy hair, untangling the knots. "Hey, Julie. What're you doing?" I ask, curiosity getting the best of me.

"I'm gonna go talk to Coach about me playing," she replies, placing the tan hairbrush on the countertop. I nod, knowing she hasn't played at all, considering she's just "backup". She turns away from the mirror, a pleading look in her eyes. "Can you come with me for moral support?"

I start to decline, but she sticks her bottom lip out, pouting playfully. "Oh, alright," I say, sticking a bookmark in between the pages. I set my book on the bed, straightening my clothes out. "Let's go."

She smiles brightly, wrapping me into a quick hug, before dashing out of the room. We race down the halls, getting annoyed looks from trainers and players from other teams.

When we reach Coach's office, yes he has his own office, he's on the phone, talking about some sort of shoe, whatever it is. Julie hesitantly raises her fist, knocking on the glass quietly. I almost think that Coach can't hear her, but he turns around, phone still pressed to his ear. Julie mouths something to him, and he motions for us to come inside.

"Go ahead and sit down," he tells us as we enter, quietly so he can still listen to the conversation on the phone. We place ourselves in the seats in front of him, waiting for him to finish. "We'll talk about it at dinner, okay." Coach ends the call, sitting at the desk before us. "What's up?" he asks, kindly.

Julie wastes no time in being extremely blunt. "I wanna play," she says simply, her grey eyes staring at Coach beggingly. "When am I gonna get my chance?"

Coach frowns slightly. "Julie, Goldberg's on a hot streak. I gotta stick with him as long as we're winning," he answers. Ugh, just hearing his name makes me want to throw something. Geez, I need to stop spending so much time with Dean.

Julie sighs, "I understand," her face is emotionless, but I can tell she's not very happy. "But, I left my team in Maine to show the world what I can do."

"Just give it time," Coach nods knowingly. I know that he wants to let her play, but he can't take out our goalie who has been stopping shots left and right, preventing other teams from scoring a single point. "You will show the world, I promise. 'Kay?" Coach leans forward some, a small smile on his lips.

Julie's face brightens as she returns the smile, her hope restored thanks to Coach. She nods as we stand up. "Alright, now get outta here," Coach chuckles as we wave good-bye to him.

"See, that wasn't so bad," I tell Julie as we leave the office. She rolls her eyes, shoving my shoulder. "Let's go get some food, yeah?"

"Okay, I could go for some of those cookies, if Goldberg hasn't eaten them all yet," she laughs as I force a smile onto my lips. "Oh, and you're paying!" She takes off in a sprint towards the cafeteria, as I run after her not wanting to buy her food.

We burst through the doors of the cafeteria loudly, and it turns silent as eyes from all around the room glare at us. Our faces burn with embarrassment as Team USA's table laughs at us.

We slowly walk to the line, the room getting louder by the second as people return to their food. Buying our dinner, Julie and I make our way to the table, and I plop down next to Luis and Adam, and across from Charlie, as far away from Goldberg as possible.

"Quite an entrance, Meg," Charlie playfully taunts, as I make a face at him.

"Ha, ha, ha," I roll my eyes with a smile. "In my defense, I wasn't expecting the whole room to stare at me when I walked in."

"You know we're kidding, right?" Adam asks. I give him a "duh" look, causing Charlie to laugh. "I'm just making sure," he throws his hands up in a surrendering type way.

I sigh, glancing at the tray in front of me. "Yeah, I'm not having the best day. Do you know how appalling it is to be in a store while three boys perv-out on ladies modelling clothing? It was awkward and uncomfortable."

"Yikes, was that with Goldberg in town?" Luis questions, earning a nod from me. "Yeah, I was shocked you said 'yes' when Dwayne asked you."

"I didn't know that was going to happen. Trust me, I wouldn't have gone if I had known," I lean my head on my elbow, huffing loudly.

Charlie and Adam look at me sympathetically. "What happened in the end?" Charlie asks. "Or do I not want to know?"

"In the end, Goldberg told the saleswoman that his mom needed a bikini, just so he could see the picture-perfect models in them," I tell them, their eyes widening at their friend's actions. "They got kicked out of the store."

The boys chuckle, shaking their heads. I sigh, glancing down the table where the rest of the team is laughing and having a great time as they start leaving. "We're going to the game room with the team, if you wanna come, Meg," Luis says as they stand up.

"No, thanks though," I respond, pushing my tray away. I'm not hungry anymore. I hear their footsteps grow quieter, and I lower my head to my arms on the table.

Someone taps my shoulder, and I lift my head, pushing the hair out of my eyes. In front of me is Dwayne, rocking back and forth on his feet. "Hi?" I say, more as a question than a statement. He opens his mouth, but I interject immediately. "If you're going to apologize, don't. I'm not mad at you."

He tilts his head to the side, a confused look on his face. He reminds me of a lost puppy, completely ignorant to everything. "You're not?"

"No, I'm not. I would have been if you hadn't done what you did," I reply, not wanting to say, "if you had stared at those women like they were a piece of meat like the other boys".

"Oh," His eyebrows scrunch together as he continues. "I was only doin' the right thing. I know I watched at first, but I shouldn't have. You must've been real uncomfortable when they were doin' that, weren't ya?"

I nod in response. "Yeah, and thanks for your jacket by the way. I didn't want the guys staring at me like they were to those models."

He shrugs, smiling down at me. "You're still wearin' it, ya know?"

Blushing, I avert my eyes, just now realizing that I was, indeed, still wearing Dwayne's jacket from earlier. "Oh, I guess I forgot to take it off," I quickly tug my arms out of it, basically shoving it into his hands. I immediately notice the homey scent from it missing, but I keep myself from frowning.

"It's okay," he laughs sweetly, obviously not weirded out by me. "Are ya comin' to the game room?"

"No, it's not really my thing," I respond, looking back up at him.

He glances away for a second, before a smirk comes onto his face. "I bet I can beat ya in any game," he raises his eyebrows.

I stand up, crossing my arms playfully. "Oh, really? What are the stakes?" If he wants a bet, I'm going to give him a bet.

"If I win, I get to take you out," he tells me. My mouth drops open slightly. Did, did he just say he wanted to take me out? Like, on a date?

"I, uh," I starts, stumbling over my words, knowing my face is beet red. Before I can politely decline his offer, the words fall out of my mouth. "Fine, but if I win, you," I pause, not knowing what I want from him. I think back to the first day we met, and the practice with the team. "If I win, you have to teach me how to lasso."

He grins, sticking out his hand. "Deal." I shake his hand, confirming the bet, before I follow him to the game room.

Believe it or not, I actually used to be amazingly good at arcade games. And, trust me, this game room had it all. Connie wasn't lying. There's air hockey, video games, shuffleboard, pool, ping pong, you name it, they have it. "What're we going to play?" I ask, turning to Dwayne.

He looks down at me before smiling. "You pick."

I smirk. "You are going to regret that, Cowboy," I glance around the room, my eyes settling on my all-time favorite arcade game. Foosball. I pull Dwayne over to the table, choosing the blue team. "First to ten goals wins."

We start the game, and surprisingly, I'm still pretty good at it. However, Dwayne is good at it too. Eventually, we end up tied at 9 to 9, and my nerves start picking up. If I lose, I have to go on a date with Dwayne. Not that it's a bad thing, but Dean would kill the both of us if he finds out.

I look up for a second, only to see Dwayne staring at me. I stare longer than anticipated, and Dwayne takes this opportunity to shoot the ball and score the last goal.

"Hey!" I snap my head up from the table to look at him, and he's smiling brightly.

"Looks like I win, City-Slicker," he cheers himself on as I narrow my eyes. "What did ya say about me regrettin' lettin' you pick?"

"You distracted me," I defend myself. "You were staring at me for no reason."

He leans across the table, and I feel his breath on my face. "It's called strategy, Meg," he laughs, backing up.

I roll my eyes. "Okay, fine, you win," I give in, not wanting to argue with him, or make him mad at me. I cross my arms as he grins again.

"I'll figure out a time later, but I'll let ya know when," he tells me. He seems more confident than usual, and I don't know why, but it's really attractive. I nod, and we go our separate ways, him to watch Adam and Charlie's air hockey battle, and me back to my dorm.

As I walk back to my room, footsteps grow louder behind me. Turning around, I see Connie and Julie running towards me. "What was that in the game room?" Connie asks, wiggling her eyebrows. Julie smugly smiles as they corner me, not allowing any sort of escape.

I attempt the innocent act, responding with, "What was what?" Connie gives me a look while Julie raises her eyebrows, and I crumble under their stare-down. "Okay, Dwayne and I had a bet to see who would win a foosball game. I lost, so now he gets to take me out. Like, on a date."

Julie's mouth falls open, opposite of Connie, who squeals like a schoolgirl. "Oh, my God! Really! That's so cute! Do you like him?"

I feel my face turn red, and I try to hide my embarrassment. "What? No, no, no, no, ugh, maybe?" I shrug as the two girls widely smile. "He's really sweet, and kind, and cute, and funny, and-," I sigh, getting lost in the thoughts of my Texan friend.

I'm brought back into reality by Connie jumping up and down, clapping her hands. "Aw! Meg's got a crush! That's so cute! You and Dwayne would be such an adorable couple! You guys could double-date with me and Guy!"

"Woah, calm down, Con. We're not dating," I place my hands on her shoulders, stopping her bouncing. "He probably doesn't even like me," I mumble.

"Bull! Have you seen the way he looks at you?" Julie asks. "I've seen it. Connie's seen it. I think everyone, except you, has seen it!"

I shake my head at my two friends. "Yeah, right." I turn and walk away from them, but I can't help thinking, What if they're right? What if Dwayne actually likes me?

I don't know for sure if Connie and Julie are telling the truth, but one thing's certain. I'm falling for Dwayne Robertson.