A Dribble For Love [ENGLISH - ON GOING]

Chapter 1

[VTR PLAYING]...

''What is a stalker? Well, according to a certain dictionary, stalker is a person who secretly follows someone, sometimes with unlawful intentions. But in my case, I don't have unlawful intentions. I just loved the guy and secretly followed him in everything he did. To tell you honestly I, Danielle Torres was once a stalker, or  more of a secret follower I'd to like say. I began following the man I love when I was ten years old. Yes! I was ten years old when I began behaving unusual. I knew everything about him from head to toe, even moving and breathing. I am like his shadow following him everywhere. Wasn't it too young for me to be a stalker? Well, let me take you back to my past, some 10 years ago when my story started. I want to show you some craziest things I did for him,'' Danielle stated her long introduction.

[FLASHBACK SOME 20 YEARS EARLIER ]

It was another school year. So, everyone was busy for the assessment, so as Danielle but not for the enrollment. She was too busy finding out where James Dizon was going to enroll for that school year since she had heard a gossip about him transferring. But that's not mere a gossip! As she went to school to get her report card, she unintentionally overheard her adviser and the principal talking about James. To her shock, she couldn't breath at that moment. She panic! She felt like boarding on a wrecking boat, ready to sink anytime soon. It was as if her head was under water and she was lacking of air while her precious tears were flowing from her eyes. The next thing she knew was white background on the wall.

"W-where am I?" out of consciousness, she asked.

"Oh thanks! You're finally awake! You fainted in the faculty room. Sweetie, don't skip meals and don't stay up late at night. You have to take care of yourself, okay?" the school nurse seemed concern. After checking her vitals the nurse went to the comfort room.

Skip Meals? Duh! Was the nurse blind or something? Did she look like dieting? Wasn't she aware how fat Danielle was? Or maybe she had thought Danielle was skipping meals because of her weight but she was absolutely wrong! Danielle was the type of kid who couldn't live without grinding something on her teeth. You know, she was like a goat, not because of her weight but because of her eating habit. She had always grind food inside her mouth. That's why she was getting fatter and lazier as you could imagine a ten year-old could be.

Well, it took a moment before she realized what had happened and how she got into the clinic. Well, she was just too generous to give way to tears. Of course, she was devastated to know that the young love of hers had finally enrolled in another school. But why on earth he was transferring? Poor kid! At the very young age Danielle had experienced the hardest of love life. But one thing amazing about her was that she was so optimistic!

"No! I can't just lie down here and wait. I have to find out what school is that!" she exclaimed. She really had to know the answer so she quickly jump out of bed and left.

"Hey! Where are you going, sweetie? Come back here!" the nurse shouted as she came out from the comfort room watching the young lady running away.

Danielle never tended to listen the shouting nurse, for all she cared was James. She really needed to know where he enrolled. Down the hallway, she was running as fast as she could. She couldn't afford to let the day passed without knowing the whereabouts of the guy. James! James! James! That was the only thing her brain kept calling. Well at her age, it was really hard to tell if it was infatuation, obsession or love. She was only ten years old for Pete's sake! She was still not sure what made him so attractive to her. Maybe she still don't know what was the difference between ladle and spoon. In short, naive. Maybe that was part of puberty, plus the influence of movies. And worst of all, she was trying to be matured.

Thankfully, as she was heading toward the main gate she saw James and his friend in the basketball court talking. It was as if there was a brake fluid rushing out of her body that caused her sudden stop. She hid herself in the post to sneak.

"Oh man! Are you serious?" Jimmy asked. He was James' best friend and they were on the same section. He threw the ball to James then James attempted to shot from the three points line. He hardly made it to the ring and he was just an ten-year old kid standing 5'5'' inches tall.

''Yeah. I'm already enrolled," James got the ball back and passed it back to Jimmy.

"What's the matter, bruh? What about our dream to play basketball together?" you could see from the reaction of Jimmy that he was serious, disappointed and feeling betrayed.

"We can still play basketball together after school, weekends or maybe holidays," he shrugged.

"Why can't you just tell me a reasonable reason of your leaving? We've been friends since kinder, or at least tell the name of that school so I can visit you sometime," he sounded upset.

"Okay Okay. Burkely...."

After hearing those words, Danielle could no longer control the happiness she felt. She wanted to shout for joy but she couldn't, so she kept hitting her head on the wall while grinning. If someone could see her acting that way, they might think she's crazy or worst.

"Hey! Don't tell me it's James again, please don't," her bestfriend poked her. So to her shock, she almost slap him but she recovered her composure.

"You! Terrence Yan Zamora! Are you trying to kill me or something? If I'll be having a heart attack, I bet you can't carry me to the hospital!" she glared at him in anger.

That could be true! How could he possibly carry a person having twice of his weight? Aside from being nerd, he was also clumsy. What a perfect combination, wasn't it! But hey, they had been friends from the day the were born.

"Oh please, don't overreact. I'm sure you don't wanna die. Looking at you earlier, you are worst than a person with nervous breakdown. You're hitting your head on the wall and your grinning. Your acting like an idiot, you know that? It's James again, right?'' her friend was the absorber of her boring life revolving in one person, James.

James and his friend were startled of the noise they created. So Danielle tried to hide herself in the post again. She was mouthing her friend asking him to find a way to let them continue talking.

"C-Carry on. We're just having a little misunderstanding here. We're leaving, okay? Carry on," Terrence drag her but she tried to hold back.

"Come ooon!" he was still dragging her but she hold still.

''Let's go, or else you'll be busted.''

Danielle managed to cover herself with her hands while exiting the court, as if she wouldn't be recognized. On their way home, Terrence broke the silence.

"So?"

"So, what?" she asked naively that made Terrence rolled his brown eyes.

"What's your plan now?"

"Right now? Uhmm. Ah, my brain won't function with an empty stomach," she pressed her stomach.

"I know. Well, look at you! How could he possibly like you if you're as big as a whale?"

"Awww!" She bit him on the arm, so Terrence shouted in pain.

"Stop insulting me!" she yelled.

"It's not an insult, it's an advice..."

"Oh right! Coming from my beloved NERD bestfriend," sarcastically, she interrupted.

"Fine! Let's eat." He can't stand to see his bestfriend so upset like that, so he gave up.

"Good! Let's have pizza then.''

That was their friendship worked. For them, everything can be solved by foods. But what would she have to do since she would be apart from James?