The Perfection Paradox Read Free Page A

kitchen
counter. Ryan nodded, sipping at his own bottle, “How do you think
the team’s going to shape up this year?” he asked, brushing blonde
tendrils of hair from his face.
    “ We’ll be
fine as long as Schmidt shuts up and follows
instructions…”
    Ryan
suppressed a grin, “you’re too hard on that guy, I almost feel bad
for him…” Hunter rolled his eyes but smiled fondly at his friend,
“you’re too worried about pissing people off,” Hunter took another
swig of his beer, “I’m lucky you’re so nice, otherwise you’d be
captain instead of me. Coach knows I don’t care if someone doesn’t
like me…”
    Ryan laughed,
“Congratulations on being an asshole!” he joked, Hunter raised his
half empty bottle in a mock toast.
    “ You’ll thank
me when our team kicks Hamworth’s ass”
    Ryan lifted
his bottle and clunked it softly against Hunter’s, nodding
admittedly and grinning.
    “ Just make
sure you’re not too much of a dick around the cheerleading squad,
Brooke would love an excuse to hate you even more than she already
does…”
    Hunter
shrugged, an arrogant smile barely hidden on his handsome
face.
    “ I’ll try and
keep Brooke sweet, but we both know she’ll find a reason sooner or
later, I don’t really care whether she likes me or not…”
    “ Well don’t
tell her that…” Ryan laughed, “Although she always looks her best
when she’s pissed off.” His voice drifted into silence and Hunter
raised an eyebrow at his friend teasingly, Ryan blushed and smiled
momentarily before changing the subject.
    “ You’re
setting yourself up for failure, I hope you realize
that…”
    “ Campbells
never fail!” Hunter replied, winking cockily.
    “ You sound
like a condom commercial…” Ryan joked and Hunter punched him
playfully on the shoulder. 
    “ Come on…” he
laughed, picking up five beers from the bottom shelf of the fridge
and heading back out into the blazing heat.
    An hour
later, Hunter was studying the wispy clouds that travelled slowly
across the blue sky above him. He had just won a three on
three-basketball game and he and his five friends were now spread
out on the soft fresh grass, allowing the sun to dry their
sweat-drenched bodies.
    “ Oh man, I
can’t believe senior year begins in a couple of days” Taylor
exclaimed, yawning as he stretched his body out, basking in the
warmth of the sun. The rest of the group stirred.
    “ I wonder if
there are any hot freshmen coming in…” Josh pondered excitedly
above the murmurs.
    “ Josh that’s
disgusting” Hunter declared, “They’ll be like fourteen years
old…”
    “ He can’t get
anyone his own age so he’s going for freshmen!” Ryan joked. Josh
grabbed the basketball and bounced it hard on Ryan’s chest, making
him shoot up in surprise. The boys laughed wildly as Ryan nursed
his stomach, a round red mark apparent against the rest of his pink
torso.
    “ You can’t
talk Brad, I remember that girl you hooked up with before summer,
she looked like she was still in middle school!”
    “ Are you
kidding me?! Don’t you remember that girl Kathleen I hooked up
with? She was hot, man!”
    “ She was a
hot man?!” Ryan shrieked, and the boys fell about laughing again,
their howls the sole sound amongst the peace of Ryan’s
garden.
    “ Weird how
you always seem to hook up with hot girls when none of us are
around to see it…” Taylor mused.
    “ Are you
calling me a liar?” Brad demanded with mock rage in his
voice.
    There was a
prolonged silence.
    “ I bet your
grandma’s hooked up with more hot girls than you have!” was the
final response and the boys all hollered in disgust at the
prospect.
    Brad punched
Taylor lazily in the arm in an attempt to regain his grandmother’s
honour, and a playful scuffle broke out, ending with Brad bouncing
the basketball hard off of his friend’s forehead. Taylor grabbed
his forehead dramatically before keeling over on to the
grass.
    The boys lay
laughing for