How He Saved Her

Chapter Six

Oliver

It is the day after our basketball game against one of our rivals and since we won, we are celebrating today. Typically, it would've been last night, but with Rory about to pass out, we had to postpone it. It's the next day and the party is hosted at my house with my parents here. They say that if we are going to drink, they have to be here, so the team takes a seat on my couch and we start drinking.

I take a swig of my beer, and say,"We have to train hard next week. A scouts coming."

"Really?", Austin asks and I nod. The team cheers, most of us loud only a handful of them don't care about this sort. But I do, I love this and if I don't get a future in this, I'd probably be lost. Basketball has been all I've known, ever since I started playing in the little league at the age of four. I have to have a future in this and if that means more training then so be it.

"Four practice instead of two", Jake, a guy on the team says and I nod. It's going to be tough.

"I'll have to drop of Rory first though", I say feeling a little tilt in my head with the drink.

"I don't understand her", Jake says and a few others agree. I feel my sudden need to defend her surface and before long I'm saying "How so?""

Austin glances at the team and then sets his eye on me,"She's so quiet and even though she clings to you, she never touches you."

"So?", I ask before realizing by myself how it seems. "Yeah but in public. She's much more relaxed with me in private." It was true enough.

Jake chuckles taking another swig of the beer,"Making out in public is one thing, but holding hands is another. I think I've noticed a pinky hold and that's it. Kind of lame."" The team barks out a laugh and I feel my anger rising.

"You're noticing quite a lot now aren't you, Jakey?", I say my voice unkind.

"She's just weird. Flinching at our every word, at our accidental touch. She seems to not like us." The adjective used to describe her makes me want to slap the drink out of his hand.

"She doesn't have to like you. She likes Austin", I say a little envious at my last statement.

"She does?"Austin asks with a grin and I nod.

"She feels at ease with you, I can see that." Austin lets out a whoop and then clinks his drink with mine. We all quiet down, me glaring at our teammates and them looking down at the floor. We hear some noises from upstairs and I groan.

"Mom, Dad, not when I'm home. Much less my team!", I shout at them and my friends laugh knowingly. I pinch the bridge of my nose and exhale.

"Nobody is shitting on my girl anymore, got it?", I tell them once we all calm down and I wait for all of them to nod invidually.

♡•♡•♡•♡•

The next Monday, I get to Rory's house at 7:15 as opposed to 7 on the dot and find her waiting a block from her street. I wonder if she decided to walk to school. I pull up next to her and watch as she walks toward my car, her leg better. I'm glad for that. She gets in and grimaces and I feel the need to ask her if she is okay even though I know that she wouldn't answer.

"Good morning", I say instead and she looked at me. She is dressed in a similar outfit as all of last week, a sweater and black baggy jeans. She takes the hood off of her head and her full head of blonde curls falls down her back. She is the opposite of me, all lighter features as opposed to my jet black hair and hazel eyes. Her eyes are green, so light in the morning I'm afraid she can see through me.

"Morning", she mumbles and I let out a chuckle before starting to drive. She only lives a couple minutes away from my house,, so picking her up is no problem.