Tit For Tat

Another side of him (8)

Chapter 8

Rose was doing something she hadn’t imagined doing. Ever.

She was searching for Evan in school.

After they left that boy, Chad, Evan’s mood took a complete change yesterday. He was quiet when they walked to her house and he didn’t even smirk once. Evan Morris was never without his infuriating smirk. Instead, he had been brooding, a dark shadow in his eyes, as his hands clenched again and again.It seriously troubled her.

“Uh…excuse me,” she said, poking the back of one of his friends who were skipping class. The guy looked behind and his eyes lit up.

“Looking for Evan?” he asked. She nodded, blushing slightly. This would only increase the number and viciousness of the rumors round the school but she didn’t care at the moment.

“He’s in the basketball court.”

“Oh. Thanks,” she said smiling briefly before changing direction and headed towards the gym.

“Do him good!!” yelled the guy before the boys guffawed loudly in the halls. Rose blushed, embarrassed.

Those boys were so vulgar, she thought angrily as she half-ran through the corridors. She was supposed to be in class now but she had a bathroom pass and she was making the most of it. She could always use the Student Council as an excuse if anything happens.

She got to the gym and opened the door slowly, hearing the thuds of running in the court. She peeked into see that no one except Evan was present. She slipped in and closed the door behind her, watching how he ran around the court, dribbling it. He stopped in front of the basket and suddenly shot the ball up. The red ball easily slipped through the ring and fell on the shiny floor with a thud.

Instead of picking the ball up, Evan simply stared at it. His wavy hair stuck onto his forehead, sweat ran down his face and neck and the back of his shirt was already wet. His chest raised and fell in short pants. How long had he been playing?she wondered.

Then he whipped his head around, looking directly at her. He gave a start.

“What are you doing here?”

“Are you okay?” she asked in return.

“What?” He stooped to pick up the ball and turned towards her, spinning the ball in his hands.

She moved away from the door, nearing him. “Are you okay?” she repeated. 

“Yeah…” His forehead creased. “Why are you asking?”

She shrugged. “You seemed different yesterday.”

He raised an eyebrow as he stopped in front of her. Their height differences bothered her. He was shorter, yet seemed mature than her. She didn’t like that.

“Well, I don’t really like that person we met yesterday,” he explained with a shadow of that smirk, “so maybe that was the reason.”

“So you admit that you were out of it?” she asked, slightly surprised.

“Should I not have done so?”

She frowned. Her instincts were telling that he was lying. She wanted to know why, and what but then again, she didn’t have any use. The two of them weren’t even friends for her to be worried about him. He raised an eyebrow again, his eyes faintly puzzled. “No it’s not like that,” she mumbled then turned back to the door.

“I’ll go back then. See you around,” she said, feeling slightly stupid as she moved to the door.

“Hey wait. You came here to ask me that?” His voice stopped her. Rose looked back at him, and noticed that he looked confused than before. He looked cute, as he stared at her with those light green eyes, head cocked to the side like a curious puppy.