[TAC] THREE'S A CROWD

Chapter 01

New hadn't even realized how hard his teeth had sunk into his bottom lip.

Probably his favorite person to watch play was Tay. His face was always fixed in hard concentration, as though he only thought about one thing and one thing only as he played; it seemed like everything else blurred out and didn't matter. New had no idea why that was so hot.

He also knew how to dunk, so.

It helped that he was easy on the eyes---very easy. He had relatively short hair that sat on his head, complimenting his face like his own personal halo. It was truly unfair, how much the universe had granted Tay, because not only did he have god-like features, he also had dark brown eyes and heart smile to complete the look.

Everybody that New had ever talked to loved Tay. New didn't blame them, because even though the boy was so hot he could literally flick New off and New wouldn't care, Tay was nice. Not once had New heard him make some sly joke about anyone or even snicker when the whole class had to watch someone struggle to climb the rope. He usually rooted for whoever was having a hard time, which was something even New didn't care to do.

New caught himself staring at Tay's movements for a beat too long and averted his eyes before anyone could point him out.

"New!"

New practically jumped out of his thoughts at the sound of his name thundering throughout the gym. He turned his head to find Coach Barry staring at him, hands on his hips.

"Get up and at least walk some laps, or you fail for the day!"

New's face flushed as he heard some students giggle at him, and he let out a groan as he slowly pushed himself up to stand on his aching feet.

He started his slow, undetermined strides as he tried to tear his eyes away from the boys on the court. They were just all really nice to look at, is all.

He watched as Tay accidentally let his ball roll away from him, and some girl brought it back to him, flashing him a flirty smile and getting a friendly one back in response, along with a gentle "thank you".

Oh yeah.

Tay was also a guy who walked around the halls holding hands with a new girl every few months, so New figured he didn't have a chance. That put quite the damper on all of his wishful thinking.

Shucks, right?

It seemed like an entire century had passed before the coach finally blew his whistle to signify the end of class, giving everyone permission to go and change in order to go home.

Everyone jogged to the locker room like their lives depended on it, but New took his time as he finished the last lap before he would reach the locker rooms.

New was walking alongside the bleachers when an orange flying object nearly took his head off. Well, it missed, but it was still pretty close, and it hit the bleachers and bounced around before rolling to a stop. New turned in the direction the ball came from, in order to see who this was that had decided to kill him.

"Sorry," Tay said, scratching at his head. "I just, uh...lost control."

He was the only one left in the gym along with New, and he was standing in the middle of the floor, staring at him.

New didn't know what else to do but stare back, before he realized that he needed to stop acting like some star struck idiot.

"How do you lose control and send the ball flying all the way to this side of the gym?" New asked. Yes, sassy was always the best way to go.