Little Dove | Daniel Hayward

6.

"Morning sunshine," Sophie smiles, handing me a box of cereal.

I take the cereal sheepishly, smiling at her.

Her smile drops, "what's up with you? You never smile in the morning."

I glance at Parker who's wrestling with some other guy. Then I glance back at Sophie, "oh it's nothing. I guess there's just something in the air."

Sophie shurgs, "okay then. Parker told me you guys have a basketball match soon so you better go get ready."

I nod and bid her goodbye, making my way to the locker room.

"You okay kid? You know, with your sister and all," I hear Daniel ask Alex.

"Me?" I ask, walking over to them. "I'm perfectly fine."

"No it's Hayley," Daniel says. "She left the Greenhouse."

"What? But she didn't even tell me," I scoff, folding my arms.

Daniel places a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up, Lexi. It's not like you stole her Louie."

I turn to glare at Alex, "what did you do?"

Alex gulps nervously, "nothing I just- it's um- okay well I stole her Louie while apologizing."

The sound of a punch echoes throughout the room.

Alex clutches his cheek while I shake my fist. "God, is your face made of metal or something?"

"Bro, what is this?" Parker frowns, pulling a tight, pink basketball jersey over his torso.

"Damn Regina George," I snicker. "Pink really is your colour."

"Ha," Parker says flatly as Daniel walks over to inspect the rest of the jerseys.

"It must be the Ravens," he grumbles, shoving the jerseys onto the floor.

Brooke walks in. "Parker I didn't know you joined the WNBA."

"Very funny Brooke," He scoffs as I high five Brooke. "Help me get this off."

Brooke and I cover our mouths, trying not to laugh as the boys try to pry the jersey off Parker.

"We'll definitely out-dress Whitney," I mutter, taking a spare jersey from my locker. "You guys are lucky that there's a load of spares."

...

"What do girls even like?" Parker asks as we walk down the stairs.

"It depends on the girl," I say with a soft shrug. "For example, I like basketball and reading but someone else might like football and painting."

"And what about Sophie?"

"Cheerleading, cats and I think she likes poetry too," I reply.

"So if I buy her a cat that's trained in cheerleading and can read peotry then she might go on a date with me?"

"Of course she will," I say sarcastically.

"Right," Parker nods, not noticing my sarcasm.

"There's my favourite Eagle," Daniel says to me as Parker and I walk onto the court.

"Why thank you," Parker smiles, oblivious to the fact that Daniel was talking to me.

"Actually I was- nevermind," Daniel mutters, tossing a basketball to me. "Let's work on some lay-ups."