"You're in big trouble" Sasuke whispered to me as we walked down the hallways towards P. E.
"What are you talking about?" I gave him a weird look.
He returned the weird look, "I guess you'll find out in P. E" he chuckled.
"Okay...now I'm curious" I said ponderously.
I changed quickly but I never saw Liz come in. I shrugged my T-shirt on and walked into the gym, expecting to see Liz there. I was wrong. I looked around but there was no Liz and Gai was already doing the attendance.
"Uh, have you seen Liz anywhere?" I asked as Sasuke came up behind me.
He shrugged, "She'll be here soon".
I turned to look at him, suspicious evident in my eyes, "And why should you know more about my best friend than I do?" I questioned.
He smirked, "I'm her best friend too, you know".
I snorted, "Yeah, as if you've seen her in nothing but a diaper".
He laughed, "No, I haven't but I sure know her better than you do right this moment".
I crossed my arms in front of my chest and turned my body to face him, "I'll take that challenge" I said haughtily.
Sasuke just laughed and turned his attention back on Gai.
"Hey! Answer-" I was about to rage at Sasuke when someone bursting through the changeroom doors interrupted me.
"Sorry I'm late!" it was Liz.
"Oh, you're not late! You're just in time!" Gai smiled widely, "Now we can start our basketball unit!".
As Gai instructed a few volunteers to set up the basketball shelves, I checked up on Liz.
"What took you so long?" I asked, amused by her ragged breathing.
Her heavy breathing stopped abruptly and the brightest smile I'd ever seen lit up her face, "I win" she said simply.
"Win? Win what?" I asked for clarification.
Liz leaped up in the air, pumping her fists in a victory gesture, "We're going to Yukimania!" she shouted cheerfully.
I dropped my jaw, "WHAT?!".
Sasuke laughed, "I knew you'd freak".
"And you didn't think to prepare me for this in case I get a freaking heart attack?!" I shrieked at him, then turned on Liz, "Who's the fifth person?!" I demanded.
A mischievous smile replaced her triumphant one, "Wanna guess?".
I narrowed my eyes, "Sakura?".
"Nope".
"Hinata?".
"Nuh-uh".
"Ino?".
"Wrong!".
"Then who is it?!" I shook her, desperate to know who had just sentenced me to a winter break's worth of hell.
"You seriously can't guess?" Liz scoffed.
"No, duh" I said impatiently.
Liz thought about it for a moment then eyed the basketballs, "Duel me for the answer" she challenged.
I let out an exasperated growl, "Seriously, Liz?! Why can't you just tell me?!" I whined.
She winked at me, "It's always more fun this way" and bounded away to pick a ball.
I cracked my knuckles menacingly, grumbling darkly.
"You want to know that much?" Sasuke asked.
I jumped, I had forgotten that he had been there to witness all of that. Perfect.
I turned around and touched his arm gently, "Hey...didn't you say you knew something about this?" I whispered in a silk smooth voice.
I felt him shudder under my touch as I let my fingers creep up to his neck and up to his jawline.
"Just a hint?" I pleaded, standing on my toes to breathe on his neck.
He was giving away, I could feel it. What did just one name mean to him anyways, in exchange for this?
"NO! Sasuke! Don't fall for it!" Liz's call was all the warning I got before I was wrenched away.
Liz was furiously pulling me away, a basketball trapped under one of her arms.
"No! It was working! He was about to tell me!" I struggled to get back to Sasuke, who looked quite dazed at the moment.
"Win over a fair battle!" Liz pouted angrily.
I stopped struggling and cocked my head at Sasuke's appearance, "Maybe my attack was just a little to sudden. I think his brain lacks some oxygen right now" I snickered at the effect that I had on him.
"You're just pure evil, Vira" Liz said, clucking her tongue as she pulled me away to a free basketball court.
Sasuke seemed to regain some sense, recovering from his daze. He raised his eyebrow at me, questioning.
I shrugged, "I was that desperate".
Liz and I stopped in a free court, away from all of the other students who were practicing lay ups on the other side of the gym.
"Who's reffing?" I asked as Liz bounced the ball up and down calmly.
She jerked her chin behind me, "He's coming now".
I looked behind me and saw Gaara walking towards us.
"Oh, no fair! He's for sure gonna coddle you!" I whined.
Liz stuck out her tongue, "I don't need his coddling to win" she said confidently.
I smirked, "Oh yeah? We'll see".
"Getting heated up already, I see" Sasuke joined Gaara on the side lines.
"You betcha" Liz cracked her knuckles a few times between bounces.
"Highest score in five minutes wins" Gaara said lazily.
"Sounds good to me" I said stoically.
"Then let's get this party started" Liz tossed the ball to Gaara.
Liz and I collected at the center of the court, each pumped to the point of bursting with excitement.
"Three, two...one!" Gaara threw the ball straight up into the air between us and the game began.
I lunged for the ball immediately, with a few inches of height on my side, I was able to catch it and begin racing down the court, dribbling expertly. Liz kept pace easily, the same look of determination on her face. She reached around me, trying to slap the ball into her own possession but I wasn't going to make it that easy. I sidled along, always keeping my back to Liz as I made my way closer and closer to her net. As I tensed my leg muscles, preparing to shoot, suddenly, the ball was gone from my hands. Liz had reached under my legs and stolen the ball.
"Is that even valid?!" I cried.
Gaara shrugged, "No one said it wasn't".
I growled in frustration before running to catch up with Liz was already three quarters down the court. She shot just as I came up behind her. The ball hit the backboard with a dull thud and bounced along the rim. I held my breath as the ball wobbled. It slipped through the net.
"Two-nothing. Liz" Gaara announced dully.
Liz smirked at me, "Guess I get first net".
I grabbed the ball and retreated under the backboard, ready to take off. I let her have the first net but I was not going to let her have the game. As soon as I was ready, I feigned to the right before running left. The split second of confusion was all I needed to get a head start. I bounded towards the other net, eyes on the basket. Liz, being smaller and lighter, caught up too soon. I stopped just outside the three-point line and executed a smooth shot. The ball rolled on the rim for a second in a half before falling through the net.
"Two-three. Elvira" Gaara called.
"Yeah, yeah! We can count, thank you very much!" Liz shot me a glare.
I returned her smirk as she stepped behind the end line. As soon as she started, she feigned twice before taking off around me. I caught up with her and placed myself between her and my net, always reaching for the ball. She twisted away from my outstretched hands and pivoted sharply to her right to shoot. I was able to scoop the ball right out of the air due to my proximity and was already on my way to take another shot. Not a second later, Liz slapped the ball from my beneath my hands and the ball bounced out of the court. I was rewarded the ball to start from half court.
"Three minutes left" Sasuke informed, checking his watch.
This wasn't good. I hadn't even played half the game yet and I was already sweating and panting like there was no tomorrow.
"Just give up, Vira, you're going on the trip anyways, you'll find out then" Liz said between deep breaths as she guarded me.
I swallowed hard, "If that person can somehow go missing before the trip, won't that be unfortunate?".
Her face hardened and I took off with the ball, dribbling like a madman.
"I'm not going to let you win this!" Liz cried.
"Eight-nine. Elvira" Gaara said as the basketball fell through the net.
"One minute left" Sasuke said, a frown on his face as he eyed us.
I clenched my teeth and shook my head, ridding the sweat from my eyes. Liz and I already resembled human waterfalls, always having to reach up to brush perspiration from our faces. Most of the class was gathered along the outside of our court, watching with just as much intensity as we were playing. Even Gai had settled down to watch our showdown.
I feigned once to my left, then to my right and then pretended to feign again before I actually took off with the ball. The fancy footwork was unnecessary as Liz was much too tired to keep up with the feigns anymore. She just waited until she saw take more than two steps in one direction before running after me. I dribbled expertly, switching stealthily from hand to hand, always keeping the ball as far away from Liz as I could. As I reached the three-point line, I leaped up and shot.
"Crap!" I hissed as I felt my hand leave the ball with a slight spin.
The ball veered away from its planned course and bounced once on the backboard, hit the rim and fell to the ground without falling through the net.
Liz was ecstatic as she grabbed the ball and ran the other way, "This one's mine!".
I hardly had the energy to keep up with her as she approached my net and shot. The ball rolled traitorously through the net.
"Ten-nine. Liz" Gaara waved his hand as a signal.
Our audience gasped and no one let out a single breath.
"Ten, nine, eight..." Sasuke began to count down.
I seized the ball, angry with myself. Now I would never know who it was until the day of the trip. I gripped the ball so tightly, that my knuckles turned white.
"It's over, Vira, it's over" Liz said, a relaxed smirk on her face.
"Three, two, one..." Sasuke finished.
I hurled the ball in my hands as he counted the last number. I hoped the ball would hit someone in the head, it might just cheer me up. The whole room exploded in a cacophony of noise. I looked up with confusion, had I actually hit someone?
"Good God" Gaara ran his fingers through his hair with an disbelieving air, "Ten-twelve...Elvira".
Liz and I's jaws dropped at the same moment. I wasn't expecting that in the least.
"That's not fair! Time was up!" Liz screamed as she recovered from her daze faster than I did.
Sasuke shrugged, "The ball left her hand on the last second. It was a valid basket".
Liz let out her breath in a long whoosh before falling backwards. Absolutely spent, she closed her eyes. I watched as her chest heaved for breath like mine. I could hardly believe it either. I walked over to her and lay down next to her, staring up at the ceiling as we both struggled to gain our breath back.
"So..." I said after a deep breath, "Who is it?".
Liz turned her head to look at me, "You're an idiot. Who else would I invite?".
I remained silent, waiting for a name.
"Karin".