A Gift and a Curse

6 - Hot Shot

Leon finally arrives at the gym locker room. He catches a couple of his other teammates finishing up. He changes in a hurry and meets up with the rest of his team. The coach had them run a practice game afterwards against one another. Leon and Paul ended up on the same team.

The two boys had different playstyles. Paul liked to shoot a lot to score while Leon liked to pass to his teammates more. There was a ton of noise from squeaky basketball shoes on the court, to the vibrations of the ball being dribbled reverbing throughout the gymnasium.

Haley was in the stands with her friends cheering them on. "Woooo! Go Leonnnn! Go Paulll!"

One of her friends said, "I don't know if they can hear you Haley, it's pretty loud in here."

"Well, that isn't going to stop me!" Haley told her friend. "My lovely Leon is out there after all."

The boys kept playing and Haley kept cheering them along. There were also some other people in the stands that were excited to see their friends and loved one's practice. The game went on for a bit. Leon and Paul's team won the scrimmage match.

The team headed to the locker room to get changed after the coach gave them a pep talk. Leon and Paul were joking around with each other. They were happy that they played well. Leon finished first and walked out into the hallway, where a certain blonde was waiting for him.

"Yoo-hoo! My darling little Leon!" Haley called out.

Leon mumbled to himself. "Great. What is she doing here?"

He turned to her, "Haley? Surprised to see you here. What are you up to?"

She replied, "Wellllll ya knowww, there's some rumors going around that I wanted to ask you about silly."

"Rumors? About what?" The boy asked.

Haley became serious. "That you have been visiting Evie at work."

"Oh, that? Yeah, I told her that I would check up on her and see how she was doing." Leon explained. "Been a little worried about her."

Haley started to get annoyed. "Why would you have to do that? It's her life after all. She might not like you messing around with it, ya know?"

Leon told her, "I don't really know either. I just wanted to help her out, I guess."

"Do you..." Haley look down at the ground. "...like her Leon?"

"Well yeah I think she's a cool girl." He replied. "But she seems standoffish because of her past. I wanna know why."

Haley looked up. "No silly, I mean," She asked while choked up, "Do you have feelings for her?"

That question hit Leon like a sack of bricks, he was not expecting it.

"What? Have feelings for her? I don't know. I haven't really thought about that..."

Leon took a second to think about it. "Look Haley, I don't know what game you're playing at or what you've heard, but I've just been visiting her at work. That's all."

She looked relieved by hearing that but at the same time not totally convinced. "Whatever you sayyyy Prince Charming. Either way...", Haley walked up to him really close, "...you're going to be mine." She wrapped her arms around Leon.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Leon cried out.

Paul ran out into the hallway from the locker room. He called out to them, "Well, if it isn't my favorite couple! Had me worried there for a second, I thought something else was going on!"

Leon replied annoyed, "C'mon man! Knock that off!"

"Yeah, yeah I hear ya I'll stop." Paul told his friend. "But while we're all here, might as well walk a little right? The parking lot is down that hall, anyway. Let's go!"

The three started to walk down the hallways together. Towards the end, they saw Jackie there at her locker. Jackie noticed the three and stopped chatting.

Paul whispered to Leon, "Hey man, this isn't good. You know that Jackie and Haley don't like each other very much."

"You're right man," Leon whispered back, "let's just see how this plays out."

Jackie had her arms crossed below her chest. "Oh? What do we have here? Looks like three students staying after school a little too late."

"Huh?" Haley snapped. "What's it to you madam president?"

Jackie snapped back. "Well Missy, it's my job to make sure all the students get home safe."

Leon spoke up, "Appreciate that Jackie but, we are just getting done basketball practice. We were about to head out! Come to think of it... what are you still doing here this late?"

Jackie replied, "I see. Just make sure you guys get home safe then. Well, the reason why I haven't gone home yet is because the council couldn't decide on a theme for the homecoming dance."

A great idea just popped into Leon's head. He pulled the other two closer and told them in secret. Jackie looked confused. She asked, "Well, would the three of you mind telling me what you're whispering about?"

Leon was excited. "Oh nothing, just a killer theme idea for your dance!"

Jackie's ears piped up with interest. Leon began to tell her about his idea with Haley and Paul backing him up.

"Really?" Jackie replied. "That is an interesting theme. Hmm, what spurred this on?"

Leon assured her, "Let's just say, you can trust us on this one." Leon noticed Jackie looking over at Haley, not convinced. "Well, if you can't trust all of us, then at least trust me. What do you say?"

Jackie could feel the level of resolve and conviction in his eyes. She couldn't argue with that.

"Very well." She told Leon. "I'll see how the others feel about it. I appreciate the contribution everyone. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be heading home now. You three be safe as well."

Jackie headed out into the parking lot to her car. The trio stood there with grins from ear to ear on all of their faces. After a minute of idle chit chat, the three headed out themselves and started to drive home. Homecoming was only weeks away. On the drive home with Paul, Leon couldn't quite keep his focus.

"What if I do like Evie? If that's the case, I gotta get her to come to Homecoming. Especially if that dance theme goes through. We would all have so much fun together. I wonder what she's doing right now..."