I've Changed

48. passed out

I look at the shot clock and see that there are 10 minutes remaining in the game and a 20-point gap. Our team is doing extremely well for our first game outside of the province, and I couldn't be happier for them. We reach the end of the fourth quarter and our team has a decent chance of winning if they hold their points up. My eyes wander to the fans of the college stadium, shouting, yelling, and clapping for their school's team, but I catch a few disappointed looks.

As my ears go deaf from Coach's shouting in the distance and the many people shouting in my ear behind me, I stand firmly on my spot near the baseline. I turn around, trying not to look at the opposing team's fans who are wailing near my head and the girls who are demanding that their boyfriends do things on the court that are entirely contrary to basketball terms. I keep a blank expression on my face as my attention is drawn to a couple of boys who are checking me out, making me internally vomit at their unsettling stares.

"What year are you in?" When his friends hype him up, a guy asks, and my eyebrows rise. I examine him from every angle, noting the outline of a vape pen in his jeans pocket, brown highlights in his blond hair, dark green eyes, and a physique that's a combination of scrawny and fit, leading me to believe he goes for a 15-minute run and then calls it a day. He is the cheap version of Theo.

"Don't scare the pretty woman away," a girl next to him retorts, prompting me to turn my head and smile. "I'm sorry about him, he's thirsty for every girl," she says, rolling her eyes. The guy scoffs and gives her a cold stare. "Is number 17 your boyfriend?" When she smirks and points to Jae on the court, my eyebrows lift. As she looks at me with her smirk widening into a smile, I laugh and shake my head.

"No, he's hot though," I shrug as I watch her mouth drop open and her pixie cut black hair blow by her face as the players rush to my end of the court. My attention falls on Jae, who briefly locks eyes with mine before shooting and scoring a three-pointer, prompting me to tilt my head and send him a "really?" look.

"You're telling me he's not your boyfriend," she says as she leans against the handrailing, her black eyeliner and dark lipstick catching my eye and instantly making me adore her gothic aesthetic due to the way the chains around her neck and clothes come together. "The sexual tension in here is fucking heating up the air, which says a lot considering there are a lot of hot men around," As her eyes drift in between me and I'm guessing Jae behind me who is playing, I laugh and smile.

"If you don't jump him, I will, and I'm literally gay," she exclaims, drawing a few uncomfortable looks from the crowd, which she avoids and focuses on me and the game. "Look, I'm just saying you'll regret it if you don't listen to your heart because denying the feeling you have for him will bring everything crashing down on you because you need him to live," she says and my smile becomes a straight line when I realize the sound of her words. When I replay her answer in my head, a grin creeps onto her lips as my stomach drops and my breath catches.

"You need him to live"

"I'm sorry about Raven," says the girl with red curly hair next to what I assume is Raven. I glance up, snapping myself out of my daze as Raven has a smug grin on her lips, which intimidates me even more by the honest words she mentioned earlier. "She's getting into reading auras and psychic stuff," the curly red haired girl says, waving her hands to emphasize her point.

Raven rolls her eyes and nudges her head to me as the read head girl mumbles to her, "You're scaring her Raven." I smile sheepishly and return my gaze to the court for a brief moment before returning it to them.

Raven explains, "That's not the point Ivy, it just burst out because I couldn't control it," and I smile up at her, knowing it's not her fault. I take some comfort in the fact that I've received some input and guidance about how my choices will affect me, but I'm skeptical because it sounds too good to be true, so I try to remain optimistic about her reading. Raven apologizes before turning around to face the players who are desperately running down the court.