Could It Be You? |✓

(36) Camera's Fault

Even though this is supposedly a "date", it hasn't felt any different from the other outings she's gone with Ethan. She doesn't feel the flutters in the tummy - the type people usually get when going on a first date, nor does she feel any sparks when they brush their hands past each other's.

The thing is, they know each other too well. They've reached friendship Nirvana and are so comfortable with the physical presence that everything they have done today is normal.

The best she can look forward to now is the basketball game she is currently going to watch. There is a team called Pelicans and Emma is sorry to say that she has no clue who they are. In fact, she has no clue about any basketball teams in the country. Alice has forced her to take the tickets because she and Liam couldn't make it last minute. It seems like Ethan wasn't keen as well but Emma convinced him to join her and she is now regretting that move very much.

Being stuck in a humid court with basketball fanatics, loud noise, over-the-top cheering isn't exactly the kind of date Emma will go for. Stuffing potato chips into her mouth every few seconds and sipping beer once in awhile waiting for the game to begin, Emma is bored out of her wits. Her eyes are drooping and she is warm and irritable. She finds sitting there a waste of time.

"Your face is screaming 'get me out of here'," Ethan says to her.

"Of course," she deadpans as she crunches on another chip then licks off the oil coated over her fingers and nails.

When the game finally begins, she doesn't understand what she's watching. She doesn't know how the scores are tabulated and what it means to shoot from the different zones. In fact, she doesn't even know what the different zones are.

All she sees are tall humans running back and forth and the referee blowing the whistle for fouls she does not catch.

She stares ahead blankly. It's her last second day before she flies and she is doing something she doesn't even enjoy.

"Okay - shall we leave during halftime?" Ethan proposes, frowning at the perpetual black face she's sporting.

She glances at the huge timer on the overhead - the game has five more minutes to go.

"Yes, please."

"Okay let's do that." He smiles at her reassuringly and Emma cheers up a little knowing that they'll be on to better things.

"Okay. I'm gonna go pee." She figures that she cannot wait for the time to pass in her seat so she opts to use the washroom instead. 

When she returns, the atmosphere is of a different sort because they are now in the middle of a cheerleading routine. Emma recognises that it must be halftime already and does a small cheer in her head as she finds her way back to her seat, all ready to leave. Just as she spots her row, the mood of the audience changes again and suddenly everyone is pointing at the screen with heightened excitement, a lot more fidgety and engaged. Emma turns around and peers on the screen, realising that that is now a digital heart-shaped frame encasing a couple.

The crowd goes wild with cheers when the couple leans in to give each other a kiss. The camera quickly switches focus to a different couple elsewhere in the stadium. Emma's eyes widen with realisation and horror. It's the infamous Kiss Cam.

God knows who the unseen pair of eyes will land on next. She needs to make an escape with Ethan asap.

She nudges her way in, attracting a few irked glances from those trying to catch the Kiss Cam, who all try to crane their necks and look past her as she passes them by.

"Hey, you're back! Check this out, it's so funny!" Ethan points at the screen where a man reels back from shock as a girl attempts to lay a smooch on his lips.