For What It's Worth

Chapter 1

There he was.

Looking extremely gorgeous despite being covered in sweat, he kept up with dribbling the ball as he passed through some players from the enemy team who was trying to block and stop him from getting close to the basketball ring.

And here I am... sitting on one of the bleachers with a few more of my friends, frantically cheering not only for him, but for our school's basketball team as well.

"GO MILO! GO MILO! GO MILOOOOOOO!!!!"

I heard another group, not too far from where we were, hollered while raising their homemade pompoms in mid-air.

I glanced over to them and realized they were just some freshmen from our school. Probably one of Milo's so-called "fans".

And then... with them... I saw her.

Sophie Reid.

It was like my entire world stopped rotating as I saw her. She was tucking her beautifully woven silky red hair behind her ear while smiling, all the while enthusiastically screaming Milo's name.

It was at this moment that I realized why people from our school labeled her as "our school's precious gem." She was indeed a gem. A rarely expensive gem.

She was beautiful. Yes. She was mesmerizing to look at. Yes. When she smiles, you could tell that she's a sweet and innocent girl... someone who can't dare break.

I took in a deep breath and decided to ignore her and look over to Milo again. Everyone in our school who was watching the game live stood and clapped their hands as Milo made a perfect 3-pointer shot.

...on a buzzer beater.

This was it. Our team had officially won the final game.

I watched as Milo jumped ecstatically. His teammates started carrying him on their shoulders, cheerily smiling and laughing out of victory.

It didn't take long before our eyes had met. He smiled at me. And I smiled back at him.

I know quite for sure the gymnasium was filled with loud screams and cheers, but as soon as our eyes locked, I couldn't hear anything else except my own heartbeat.

Unfortunately, I had to snap back to my senses, especially when I saw his gaze shifted from me then to our school's most precious gem.

He smiled at Sophie. She smiled back. And mine faded away.

Of course he would notice she was there. She was probably the first person he was looking for but his eyes coincidentally landed on mine first before it caught sight of her.

My friends and I decided to go after the game ended. There was no reason to stay longer anyways.

Well, I had. Milo, the guy a lot of girls along the bleachers were ogling at, was my best friend after all. It would be natural for me to go to him and personally give my congratulations but when I saw Sophie and her friends started making their way towards Milo and his teammates, I chose to go with my friends.

If I'd see Milo gawking at Sophie once more, I might snap and kung fu kick her out of the gym.

Yeah you guessed it. As cliche as it may seems...

I am inlove with Milo. I am inlove with my bestfriend.

For how long you ask?

I can't even recall. Heck, I don't even remember why and how I fell inlove with him. I just woke up one day carrying these feelings within me.

Of course he doesn't know. How could I tell him? Why would I tell him? If I tell him, would it make any difference? Would he start seeing me more than just his best friend?