{New}
The sound of sneakers squeaking across the gym floor made New grind his teeth together. It was similar to the feeling of knives being shoved into his ears, and he had to endure it every single day.
He really hated gym.
Although he was quite miserable at the fact that he had to take part in Physical Education, he was still somewhat glad that, since he was in ninth grade, he wouldn't ever have to take it again. That motivation alone was what kept him going.
Another positive aspect about it all was that New had gym at the very end of the day, right before the bells rung to mark the end of the school day, so he didn't have to worry about changing back into his regular clothes at lightning speed and going to class all sweaty.
He was struggling through his last period of the day, nearly dead as he willed his feet to keep jogging, taking him around lap after lap of the large school gym. He was currently on his last lap, but he was still certain his legs were going to give out at any moment, and the entire class would get to watch him topple over in defeat.
He watched as the other kids jogged in groups, laughing and conversing as though running was so easy, he watched as the certain determined group of boys ran like they were in a sprint for the Olympics, and then there were the huddle of girls who walked casually and ignored all of Coach's warnings for them to run.
It was normal for New to run alone; he did it every day. In fact, he did a lot of things by himself every day, and he never had a problem with it. Most people didn't appreciate his humor or acknowledge his intellect the way he wanted them to. He definitely wasn't shy---he just wasn't keen on talking to people too much.
Once his laps were finally finished, New found the usual corner of the gym by the bleachers to sit down and hide behind so he could get a second---or maybe the whole class period---to fucking breathe. Everyone else went to participate in any physical activity of their choice, which was what the coach let them do every Friday. Resting next to the bleachers had been New's choice of physical activity for a while now.
He watched the usual posse of boys who were way too invested in gym, went straight over to the rack where the basketballs were and started dribbling away, shooting into the hoop, and doing whatever else basketball involved. He wondered where they got all that energy.
It was always the boys who get into the basketball team that spent all their free time during gym shooting baskets. It amused New in sort of a bitter and pessimistic way, it really did.
Although none of these boys had ever spoken to New even once in their lifetimes, New felt like he knew a little something about each of them. He wouldn't admit that he watched them every day, or something of the stalkerish sort.
His eyes followed Arm as he dribbled the basketball up the court, and he'd known that Arm was going to stick his tongue out in concentration right before he shot the ball. He'd gotten used to Arm's habits; how the boy literally stuck his tongue out every time.
Damn.
New watched as Gunsmile smirked every time he was about to cross one of the boys; New could see it coming before anyone else did.
So basically, he'd watched them enough to know things about them that he shouldn't have.
He had the perfect view of them; could see the sweat dripping down their foreheads and sticking to the back of their t-shirts, the flexing of their muscles every time they gripped the basketball or moved to block someone. It was a very rewarding spectacle.
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.
Tay just laughed, his heart smile popping out and already causing New to smile too, naturally.
"I dunno. I just..." He shrugged, a cheeky grin on his face.
New grinned back, unknowingly playing with his fingernails and shuffling his feet. He didn't quite know what the hell was happening.
"Do you wanna play one on one?" Tay finally asked, and New's eyebrows furrowed for a moment before he realized he was talking about basketball.
New shook his head as he let out an almost hysteric laugh. "I don't do...sports."
Tay rolled his eyes. "Oh, c'mon. I'll go easy on you."
The gentleness of his tone, along with the way his eyes were concentrated on New and nothing else, did the decision making for him. New was sure this was going to be a complete train wreck, and Tay was going to wish he had never witnessed New even attempt to be athletic.
"Okay, fine," New replied with a shrug, turning around to retrieve Tay's ball from the bleachers. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
Tay laughed some more as New tossed the ball to him, and he caught it firmly between his two palms.
The one on one game actually turned out to be a lot of fun, because it seemed like Tay didn't really care about how much skills New had. He spent the whole game giggling every time New knowingly traveled, and sometimes he would stand completely out of the way just so New could make one shot.
All New could think about during the whole thing was how this was the first time he'd ever had any sort of encounter with Tay.
"I don't think you've dribbled the ball at all in the last five minutes," Tay laughed as he halfheartedly tried to block New's path.
"My game, my rules," New replied with a grin, before easily shoving Tay out of the way and attempting to shoot, missing the hoop by a good two feet.
New was less than willing to admit that half-assing this game was still very tiring, and he could barely catch his breath by the end of it, when Tay declared that he had won, 10 to 2.
New checked the imaginary watch on his wrist, bringing a cute giggle out from between Tay's lips.
"There's still about twenty seconds left on the clock," New stated, before beginning to dribble the ball. "How many points is a dunk worth?"
Tay scrunched his nose in response, trying and failing at attempting to keep his fondness at bay. "How much do you want it to be worth?"
"At least nine points," New replied, to which Tay raised his eyebrows impressively.
"Okay, then," Tay said, crossing his arms over each other. "Let's see you make that dunk, then."
New held the large basketball in his tiny hands as he twisted around to look up at the hoop that was so, so high and so, so far. Why did he agree to this again?
"Um..." New started, glancing over his shoulder at Tay. "Opposing teams are allowed to help each other, you know."
Even though his back was facing Tay, he knew the boy shook his head fondly---he could feel it. New nearly hopped out of his skin when the boy's large hands settled around his waist, and he could feel his own feet dangling in the open air. Holy Jesus.
New giggled as he let the basketball easily fall into the hoop, because the feeling of Tay's fingers kind of tickled a bit. His shoulders shook with laughter as he let his hands grip the rim.
"Okay, okay," New laughed. "Put me down."
Tay did as told, his hands lingering on New's waist for just a second longer after New was settled on the ground, long enough to make New consider doing things right there on the gym floor that he knew would get him in trouble.
Much too soon, Tay's hands were gone, and New turned around to find him smiling; always smiling so bright and wide and making everything prettier, like a sunflower.
"Guess I won," New said with a shrug, before skipping across the gym floor.
"Guess you did," Tay replied, his eyes following New's steps. "Rematch tomorrow?"
New stopped in his tracks, turning around to face Tay and figure out if he was really serious. Normally, New would've immediately told anyone off for even suggesting he do sports after school for two days in a row, but he wasn't sure he could ever deny Tay of anything he asked.
New shrugged his right shoulder as a tiny smile poked at his lips.
"Sure."
***
So, how are you? Welcome to another alternate universe of our favorite people. Enjoy!