KARA'S POV
Since I stepped foot into school this morning all I've been hearing is the party in our neighborhood, at Sasha's house after school by 10.
I didn't want to know so I didn't ask.
But I did want to find him so I could apologize for my outburst the other day. It's been almost a week, he's been avoiding me.
Why I say so?
Because whenever he sees me, he walks in the opposite direction. Every time we meet in the school hallway, he acts as if he didn't see me.
It makes me feel even guiltier.
"Ready for the game today?"
"Hmm?" I asked, snapping out of my thoughts.
My brother looked at me intently.
"Where's your head at?" Ali asked, rubbing both my shoulders with his arm.
"Nothing. Just thinking." I answered.
"I'm sure you must be nervous since it's your first playoff as the captain of a new team. But you've got this. You're Karamat Rabeeb Ahmad, the best player in the whole of California.."
"That's a bit of an exaggeration." I cut him off but he shushed me, waving me off.
"Whatever. Just go show them what you're capable of, okay? Then we can go home to celebrate your first win in Reno high, become mvp of the match as you warm up for the regionals coming up." He blabbed and I chuckled, shaking my head.
"Confident much?" I teased and he winked at me.
"Oh I definitely am."
___
True to my brother's words, we did win the match against the rival school, though it was just a friendly match. And I did come out the MVP of the match. But I think I worn myself out a bit too much considering I wasn't getting a lot of cooperation from my teammates.
But all that doesn't matter, we won.
And I didn't even think about the guilty feelings I had because of my argument with Sasha.
Shit. I just remembered.
Way to go, conscience.
As I made my way to the girl's locker room to shower before I'd meet my friends, I bumped into someone and fell on my buttocks.
"Why am I always the one to fall?" I mumbled, glaring at the person's sneakers.
He has such fine sneakers.
The guy chuckled.
Hey, I know that laugh.
"That's because you always bump into me." Sasha stated as I got back on my two feet.
"Congratulations on your match today. I liked how you look so laid back and in your territory when you were playing. And you were surprisingly fast and swift. You need to work a bit on your defense though, I saw how that huge lady kept pushing you to the floor every chance she gets. You need to be able to stand firmly on the court." He lectured while I just stared at him fascinated.
"Thank you, coach." I teased and we both chuckled before falling into a silence.
"I'm sorry." We blurted in unison and stared at each other for a while before both bursting into a fit of laughter.
"We're cool." I told him with a smile.
He smirked and repeated, "We're cool."
"Hey, Jay and the guys are throwing a party at my house tonight. It wouldn't be fun for me without you and Ali there." He offered.
I gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Did my brother say he was going to be there?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips.
I'm so tired.
"No, he told me to fuck off. I think he's still mad at me." He chuckled at the last bit while I shook my head.
"I'm not going." I told him honestly.
"Why not?"
"The loud music, the beers, the alcohol, the weed? Nope." I told him as I walked past him towards the girl's locker room while he fell in step beside me.
"No weeds, or any type of smoking, I promise." He said but I still shook my head no.
The hallway was awfully quiet but you could hear the faint noise of celebration sounding.
"And the alcohol?" I asked, giving him a side glance.
He shrugged with a sheepish smile, "Well..."
I scoffed and sped up my pace but he still caught up to me.
"Come on, Ahmad. If you won't attend, I'll call off the entire thing." He begged.
I stopped and acted as if I was thinking of considering it for a moment and just when was smiling with hope, I turned to him with a straight face.
"I won't attend."
I walked off and went straight into the locker room to shower and get ready to head home.
___
I can't believe Sasha really called off the entire party.
What's he thinking?
Is he crazy?
Not that I mind, actually. I'm relieved there won't be any loud music disrupting my sleep.
My brother and I were in the kitchen making popcorn and preparing because we decided to watch movies. It was past 10pm, both my parents and Asad were fast asleep so none of them knew we were going to spend the entire night watching.
If not we would have gotten the scolding of a lifetime.
A bowl of popcorn, another full of different chocolates, cans of different sodas. We were all set, so we took everything and transferred them to the living room and set them on the carpeted floor close to the TV.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I checked to see a message from Ciara and Sasha. I tapped on Ciara's first.
You're helping me with my 3D geometry assignment tomorrow. Sweet dreams❤️. -Ci
I laughed at the message which piqued my brother's interest as he raised an eyebrow at me in question.
"Ci was 'politely' asking me to help with the homework we were assigned." He chuckled, catching up to what I meant without me needing to explain.
"3D geometry?" He asked, flipping through movies in Netflix from the TV.
"Mm-hm."
He stopped and turned to look at me with a smirk, "You suck at it."
I glared at him hard, taking a throw pillow and throwing it at him while he dodged and laughed at me.
"No offense, Kiddo. You're excellent at any and all mathematical calculations..."
"...except Geometry." He added just when I was about thanking him.
I scoffed, fetching a handful of popcorn.
"You're an ass." I mumbled, mouthful of popcorn.
"Take that back and I might help both you and Ciara with it." He offered, pointing the TV remote at me.
"I take it back." I said quickly.
"Good."
"Will you help us?"
He smirked, "No."
I picked another throw pillow and threw it at him, this time hitting his face.
He huffed and played a random movie, so we both fell into silence and watched the movie.
We were merely halfway through the movie when my brother fell asleep on the couch. I smiled at how innocent he looked while sleeping.
I picked a throw blanket and draped it over him as I muted the tv so as to not wake him up. Taking my phone, I remembered I received a message from Sasha so I tapped on it, sitting beside my sleeping brother.
Mind walking with me?- Ricci
I looked at my brother then at my phone then at the time.
11:16pm.
Yeah, not late at all for a walk.
So I replied..
Sure. If you're still up for it.-Me
His reply came almost immediately.
Meet you at your front door in 5.-Ricci.
I checked my dressing, long sweatpants and my brother's sweatshirt. Yeah, I'm good.
I tiptoed to my room and picked up a random scarf, covering my hair with it before tiptoeing back down and out the door.
I closed the door as quietly as I could and jumped out of fright when I noticed a figure standing beside the door.
"You scared me, Ricci." I whispered, wrapping my arms around me from the cool midnight breeze.
"Oh, come on." He chuckled, guiding me out of our compound and on the pavement.
"You really canceled the party." I stated, as he matched his pace with mine.
"I told you I would if you won't attend." He answered.
"Mm."
"They ended up having the party at Avery's. Man I missed it, especially the booze." He sighed and I looked up at him with a scrunched nose.
"What?" He asked while I just shrugged and picked up my pace.
"Hey, what is it?" He asked again, catching up to me but I kept mum.
I sometimes forget he isn't Muslim and he does all this stuff.
"You don't like Alcohol, do you?" He asked but I just shrugged.
"I don't. But it's your life. You can do or take whatever you want." I mumbled, giving him a small smile.
"Nope, not happening. Not when the mere mention of it makes you like this." He pointed with his hands and I chuckled, picking up my pace again.
Wait a minute.
I stopped.
"What do you mean?" I asked, looking up at him.
Man, he's tall.
"If you don't like it, I don't like it either." He said nonchalantly as if it wasn't a big deal.
I scoffed, "So what? You're gonna stop smoking or... or dating just because I don't do or like such things?" I asked and he nodded simply.
"But.. for the record, I don't smoke." He added.
I shook my head in disbelief walking away from him with a chuckle.
"You're something else, Alessandro Ricci."