Cassandra Behind Closed Doors. Linda Sorpreso

guys, are you watching me?” Sav called out.

      “Yes we are,” I said, glad for the interruption. Sav threw the ball and managed to hit another three.

      I was next. I got up nervously from my seat and picked up a ball. It was so heavy that I almost dropped it. I put it down and selected a lighter one. I walked down towards the line. I held the round, shiny object above my waist, back bent and extended it, watching it as it rolled straight into a gutter. I was so embarrassed. I could hear the laughter from the others as I turned away from the pins and faced them.

      “Ha, ha,” I said. “I’m just warming up.”

      “Yeah right,” Sav said.

      I waited for the ball to return and grabbed it. I’d show them, I thought. Just as I was about to throw it, I changed my mind, took my fingers out of the holes and heaved it up in the air. It landed with a loud thump against the pine boards but went straight down the alley and smacked down all of the pins. I couldn’t believe it — a strike! Well, technically just a spare but I had knocked them all down in the one shot.

      “Whoo hoo!” I yelled, grinning.

      “You cheated!” Sav shouted.

      “It’s a technique, not cheating!”

      I sat back next to Brayden, flicking my hair behind me. “See, that’s how a real player bowls,” I said. He laughed at me.

      I continued to play like that for the entire night, except I didn’t have as much luck as I did in the beginning. Tessa was the winner, scoring over two hundred points. I never knew she was so good at this game. Maybe she could teach me a few pointers since I ended up coming last, though I didn’t care. Apart from Sav who kept telling me I had a great arse whenever I bent down, I had a blast. Sav made me feel so self-conscious that I stopped playing my way.

      Brayden and I spent most of the night together, talking, laughing and at times flirting. I couldn’t help myself and besides it was him too, not only me. On the way home, he opted to sit in the back with me and we kept hitting each other. I didn’t know if he still thought of me as a cousin, sister or whatever. I had reached my decision and I think I always knew. I wanted Brayden.