Court of Love

Chapter one

Aidan's POV:

    The squeaky sound of shoes rapidly turning on the gym floor, mixing with the thudding of my heart, drowned out the crowds cheering around me. Sweat dripped down my forehead as my eyes flickered between the players, looking for someone to pass to. It was just a regular scheduled game but it still sent shivers of excitement up and down my spine. With the thrill of the game and the euphoria of winning over the years, basketball quickly became an addictive drug I could never imagine dropping.

I soon realized that everyone was covered, leaving the only option of taking a shot. I positioned the ball in my hands, feeling the rough exterior, taking a deep breath in, before letting go and pushing up my arms, releasing with my fingertips and watching the ball arch smoothly into the net.

*Time skip*

    I wake up the next morning still feeling euphoric over my win, I put on my glasses and walk to my closet, taking out a red shirt and jeans. I headed over to the bathroom to take a shower, after I got dressed, I put on my navy blue jacket, fixed up my curly red hair, grabbed my keys and drove to school. When I get there I realize that I'm running late, so I quickly grab my stuff in a panicked frenzy and bolt to class. Right as I'm turning the corner I seem to run into a brick wall.
 
  "O-o-oh, s-s-sorry" I stammered, as I quickly gathered my stuff and stood up, but what I wasn't expecting was to gaze into deep forest green orbs which were widened in surprise. My eyes traveled down the black leather jacket, the white t-shirt, and the black jeans that hugged his calves just right, that's when I realized that this seemingly Greek god I was drooling over was none other than Stephan Curry the hottest and most popular kid at school, and the kid that is constantly trying to fight me for the ace position on the team, the kid that always gets my blood boiling with just his presence. "Never mind" I mumbled to myself, already feeling the annoyance seep in, walking around him and bumping his shoulder with mine.

"Watch where you're going," Curry says with a hint of annoyance, his eyes and face clearly showing his discomfort with the situation.
I huff at his tone but keep walking, not wanting to start something when I'm already late to class. "Fuckin stupid, who does he think he's talking like that too" I say under my breath, as I open the classroom door and walk to my seat, but all of that is rendered useless because the moment I sit down an ear grating scream of an over head speaker calls out.

"Can Aidan Smith come to the teachers lounge!" The intercom screeched. 'They really need to fix that' I thought to myself, I get up and ignore the whispering of my classmates, I instead think of all the things I've done that the teachers could possibly need to talk to me about, but I end up coming up empty.

I knock on the door, "Come on in" a muffled voice replies, I walk in and am immediately greeted by the monotone expression of my math teacher. "Sit down Aidan, I have something to ask you."

"I would be happy to help you sir" I say as I sit down, nerves accumulating in my body.

"How nice of you, I just wanted to ask you to tutor someone in math" Mr. Henderson said in his flat as ever voice.

"Of course, who is it?" I ask curiously, some of the nerves subsiding at the easy question.

"Stephan Curry" Mr. Henderson says, and when he sees Aidan about to reject he quickly adds on, "Look Aidan I really appreciate you doing this, you're a good student, plus if you do this it will give you extra credit"

"I- okay I can do that" I said hesitantly. Mr. Henderson sends me back to class, while walking back I think of ways to tutor Curry the fastest so it would be over and done with, groaning I just thought 'Fuck'.

*Time skip*

15 minutes; I have been waiting 15 minutes for Curry to show up, and if he does not show up in the next 2 minutes I have decided to say 'fuck it' and leave, even if I do need the extra credit in English. I lean back in my chair and put up my feet on the desk, pointedly ignoring the glare I get from the librarian who was busy stocking the shelves. Then someone comes bursting through the doors, the librarian turning their icy glare onto the student dumb enough to be that loud, that student being the one and only Stephan Curry. Curry walks over to the table I'm at with a surprisingly guilty expression. "You're late" I grumble, as I take my feet off the table and heave out my math textbook.

"I know, I'm sorry, I got held up with a teacher," Curry says almost in a whisper, finally seeing the death glare the librarian is sending him for his bustling entrance. "So you're my tutor huh?" Curry says amused while also taking out his textbook along with some crumpled paper and lead broken pencils.

"That is what the teacher said, is it not?" I almost grit out, but I manage to be on just the right side of politeness. Curry sends me an odd look, but I ignore it to instead flip to the problems that he supposedly needs help with.

"Start here, just tell me if you don't get something and we'll go over it" I say pointing out a section for him to start working on.

"Ok, thanks for this by the way" Curry says looking everywhere but at me. I raise my eyebrows in surprise, not expecting the thanks.

"I do have to warn you though, I'll probably need your help a lot" Curry says with his cheeks flushing a light pink color, seeming... embarrassed? No that has to be wrong, why would he be embarrassed? Especially to me?

"That's alright I'm sure I have tutored way worse than you" I reassured him, which is weird, because why would I feel the need to reassure him?

I soon learn that I have in fact not tutored worse than Curry, for he is the absolute worst person at math that I have ever seen. Even if he is really bad, he doesn't seem scared at all to ask for help or seems to ever be discouraged, I could even go as far as to say that with each problem he gets wrong, he actually gets more motivated to get it right the next time. It's pretty admirable actually, I'm almost jealous of his tenacity to get better, but of course I'm not really jealous, that would be ridiculous, right? Doesn't matter. He still sucks ass at math, even if there was a steady improvement throughout the tutoring session. "Ok let's stop here for today" I say sighing, leaning back in my chair to stretch my back from being in the same position for so long.

"Alright, thanks again man, this really helped me out" Curry says as he starts packing up his stuff with a proud grin on his face.

"Just pass your next test, that'll be enough of a thanks" I tell him, handing over his marked notes and textbook. We cleaned up the table and walked through the school and out to the parking lot, saying a quick goodbye and see you at practice. I unlocked my car and throw my stuff in the passenger seat, then start up my car but instead of leaving right away I take a second and lean my forehead against the steering wheel, trying to understand why I would feel any sort of pride that Curry improved so much, not to mention the warm feeling that settled in my chest every time he thanked me with his seemingly 100 watt smile. I groaned, pushing away the thoughts and peeling out of the parking lot, and waved to Curry when he passed me.

When I got home I made a small dinner, showered, then collapsed on my bed, practically feeling boneless. Taking off my glasses and turning off the light, I layed back in bed, drifting off to sleep with dreams filled with a bright smile and dimples, a rambunctious laugh, and green eyes alight with the excitement of getting something right.

(End of Chapter One) :]