Basketball is Not Life

Chapter Nine

The days were getting chillier in the mornings. I had not decided yet if I should tell Melissa about the house party or not. If I told her, she could talk to Parker, and then Parker would know I was the one who snitched him out. She had made it clear that no drugs or alcohol was supposed to be in the house. From what I had seen, there was neither.

Parker had followed me out of the house this morning.

"Can I walk you to class?" He smiled at me, and I did not smile back. I was still mad at him.

"Why are you so cheery?" I asked him glumly.

"It is a beautiful day out, Renee. Why wouldn't I be cheery?"

I just shook my head at him, not really ready to engage in conversation. I had left early to hit the coffee cart before class, and sometimes there could be a line.

"Are you still mad at me?" He stopped grabbing my hand. The thing about Parker was he felt like he could grab my arm or my hand whenever he wanted to, and it slightly annoyed me. Annoyed me because I was thrilled when he did it, my heart racing more, and I hated myself for it.

I shook my hand out of his, pulling my sweatshirt down over my hands. It was one of Parker's dark green Michigan State sweatshirts. He had shrunk one load of clothes. I was waiting for him to get mad at me, but he shrugged it off and gave me the Spartan sweatshirts that would no longer fit him. They had become a favorite of mine. Parker had stopped on the way out the door to classes and looked over at me; "That sweatshirt looks better on you anyway" He smiled and walked out the door as if he told me the sky was blue. It was when he made comments like this to me that made me irritated with him. If he knew the comments got under my skin, he did not let on.

"I'm fine," I told him, annoyed he was questioning me.

"You are mad at me. I knew it. Is that why you avoided me this morning and didn't make any extras for breakfast?"

I kept walking, and he caught up to me. "I did not avoid you," my voice was shriller. "And you are supposed to be doing your own cooking. You know the whole bet thing." I was waiting for him to screw up.

"I know I just like your breakfast." Before the house party, I had been making extras and leaving them for him, so he had something to eat when he was done with practice. I didn't know he liked them all that much since he had never told me thank you or anything. "It makes me feel special, Ringer."

"I think you have plenty of people making you feel special. You don't need any more from me."

He stared at me, and I knew he had something he wanted to say. We were already on campus, and he got in line with me to order some caffeine.

"Hey Renee," the regular cart attendant Max said when Parker and I got to the front of the line.

"Hey, Max," I smiled at him. "I'll take my usual" I glanced at Parker, who was smiling at me, and then said, "Actually, make that two shots today."

Max chuckled and said, "Sure thing." He made my order quickly, and I handed over the five dollars. Parker brought my hand down, and he handed over his student food card. He was an athlete with a full-ride scholarship, so why wouldn't the school pay for all the caffeine drinks he wanted? After all, Parker was making the school thousands if not hundreds of thousands in revenues. He was the fearless freshman that led them to a Big Ten Championship.

"Are you busy this Friday?" Max asked me if he wondered if Parker and I were together. He didn't act like it.

"Um..." I didn't know what to say.