Geek to On Fleek

Chapter Three: The Game (And I Don't Mean Basketball)

The crowd cheered as the teams ran into their positions. I looked at our team, the one in the royal purple uniforms, and tried to find Jake.

"He's number 32," Mary murmured to me, making me question whether she had mind reading abilities.

I was able to spot number thirty-two quickly, and found his name, Mueller, on his back. My stomach tingled a bit at the sight of him. What was it with my girl hormones and watching a cute guy dribble a ball up and down a court?

I mean, I'd seen him before, munching and laughing in film class, but I didn't really notice how attractive he was until now. And he was attractive, with his muscles and caramel complexion.

He was the first to score a point, and I cheered along with the crowd. For a moment, I felt normal, like a part of the school. Being an introvert and all, sometimes I felt out of place amidst everyone's confidence and camaraderie, and having people talk about you doesn't equate to having a lot of friends.

But I had so much fun with Emily, Mary and Connor, rooting for our team and getting upset when the other team scored a point. I thought from then on out we'd be closer friends who would hang out with each other again in the future, just like this. Simple fun.

About a minute before half time (oh yeah, I learned the lingo), Emily started nudging me and raising her eyebrows. I rolled my eyes at her, half expecting her to chant the kissing song with Mary.

"I'm not going anywhere–"

"Except to get me a soda, please?" Emily finished my sentence, and extended a five dollar bill at me while giving me puppy dog eyes. I smirked.

"He's not going to be at the snack bar, he's going to be with the team, talking, or planning, or something," I protested, waving towards the court, not yet taking the money from her.

"We just need him to see you for a second, so he knows you came," she waved the money closer to me, but the thought of him seeing me made my stomach form into knots. What was I even doing? Did I come because I had an interest in Jake or because I didn't want to say no to Emily? They certainly thought I went because I wanted to please Jake's hopes of my coming to his game, which suddenly seemed like such a childish request. If he really liked me, he would have just told me, right?

I remembered Emily buying me coffee yesterday, so I shook at my head at her money.

"I'll go get your stupid soda," I muttered while she high-fived with Mary.

Of course, I was very careful walking down the bleachers, so as to avoid another disaster. I looked around the gym before walking outside to where the concessions were. I didn't see Jake, or any of the other players, and deep down, I was kind of disappointed.

It had been a while since I was attracted to someone and did something about it. I hadn't dated in a year, not after my high school boyfriend dumped me for an older, college girl. He was a jerk, regardless, and I didn't want to see it before, but it still hurt. He was the only guy I'd ever been with; I had no idea how to play this game with Jake Mueller.

As I got in line at the concession stand, I looked up one more time and saw Alex Flores staring right at me from across the courtyard.

I was about to step out of line, but he turned around quickly to a heap of equipment and muttered something to another person.

This time, I had caught him.

I bought the soda, but I kept glancing over to see where he went. A basketball game was the last place I thought Alex Flores would be at, but then again, I thought the same about myself and here I was.