Being The Player's Neighbour

Chapter 3 - Moment Of Weakness

It had been a week since the dinner and at first, when I saw Aaron in the school hallway, I wasn't sure if I should show any recognition. Maybe he wouldn't want to talk to a sophomore in front of his friends. But it turned out that he didn't really mind, because while passing by he said, "Hey, new-found-neighbour."

From then on, whenever our paths crossed, we exchanged hellos.

~*~

I was busy designing a new jacket when my phone vibrated and I saw the message from Aaron.

One-on-one match in d skool gym,
Sunday-7 am. Dont b l8!
-Aaron

That's good. At least I had time to decide strategies and prepare myself until Sunday. Wait! Sunday was in 2 days. I started panicking as the thought struck me. How in the world was I supposed to make myself strong enough to beat that humong-a-saurus?

"Are you losing a kidney or something?"

I stopped pacing around and stared at Shanaya who had just entered the room.
"No, but that would be less disastrous than this situation! Aaron Miller kinda challenged me to try and beat him at basketball."
I cringed at the thought of her reaction.

Shanaya threw her hands up in frustration. "Why can't you just be like other normal girls and watch a movie with a guy? Why do you have to challenge him to a fucking basketball game?"

"I don't think you heard me right. I said he challenged me. Not the other way round."

She gave me a flat look and replied, "I heard you, but can you imagine a guy asking a girly-girl who wears short skirts and stilettos to play basketball? It's all your fault that you're in this situation. He asked you to play only because you're not like us - the normal female population, that is."

I rolled my eyes at her sexist, yet somehow statistically viable, reasoning.

"Instead of pointing out my faults can you please help me come up with some solution to my predicament?"

"Let's see...the only way you're gonna be able to beat him is by using tactics and strategies, not sheer physical strength."

"You're right. I'm shorter and smaller than him so I should use that to my advantage."

"Erm...I was thinking more along the lines of wear something short and skin tight so he gets distracted."

I shot Shanaya a disbelieving look. Sometimes I really couldn't believe we were sisters.
"I have standards, Shanaya. Do I look like that kind of a person? Besides, this is a sport not a Victoria's Secret fashion show."

We spent the rest of the day finding game plays in which I would have a better shot at stopping Aaron from scoring.
Well, I decided the plays while Shanaya just sat filing her nails, adding unrealistic and extremely unhelpful inputs on occasion. But can you really blame her? The girl avoids anything sweat-related like it's the plague.

~*~

I checked my watch for what felt like the hundredth time as I entered through the double doors of our school gym. I didn't want to be late and give Aaron the slightest chance to think that he was better than me.

In my anxiety to be there on time, I hadn't noticed how much I had rushed everything. When I saw the minute hand move to six, I realised I was a half hour early. Since there was nothing else to do, I started stretching; at least I could use this time to get warmed up. After a light jog, I picked up one of the many basketballs that were lying by the sidelines.

Dribbling across the court, I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my body as I did a perfect layup. I was reminded of the reason why I'd started playing the sport in the first place. I loved every aspect of this game...the feel of the basketball's rugged surface against my hand, the swish of the net on nothing-but-nets, the sound of the basketball pounding against the floor and most importantly, the excitement that I felt when I was standing on the court and shot the winning basket.