Me and Katie were just sitting at our usual spot at the huge tree. It was summer break so there wasn't much to do. They were leaning on me watching the clouds and pointing out ones that looked like something. I was simply writing random stories that came to mind. They then suddenly went quiet and turned to me. "Hey Maxine?" They asked. I kept writing and didn't look at them. "Hmm?" They stayed quiet for a few seconds. "What would you think if I named this tree?" I finally looked at them and raised an eyebrow. "I'd think you're crazy but, when are you not?" I slightly smile and go back to the paper. "Well... I'm gonna name it... Maxie." I look up from my paper and snap my neck to look at them. "Are you naming the tree like a ship name of our two names...?" They look at me. "No...?" I look at them for a little more and slightly smile and shake my head. "You are crazy." They slightly smiled back. "Yeah I'm crazy, but you gotta deal with my craziness." I shrug. "I'll take it." They smile a bit more. "So... Is the name okay or shall the tree be nameless?" "It's fine," I say "Shall it have tree/treeself pronouns?" I slightly laughed. They gasp. "Perfect!" I then laugh louder and they laugh with me. I then get a memory. "You know what I just thought of?" "What?" "That one basketball game, remember?" They then get all red and hide behind their hands. "Don't remind me of that..." I slightly laugh then remember the whole thing.
"Come on Katie! We're gonna be late and we're gonna get sent to the office again," I explain. Meanwhile, they're hopping on one foot trying to tie their shoe. I groan and gently grab their arm. I then sit them on a chair and tie their shoe for them. They slime and thank me. I just roll my eyes, finish tying their shoe and grab their arm a little harder and pull them up. I then drag them into the gym and once we take at least five steps in, the bell rings. I gave them a look. "You know we would have been late if you tied your shoes yourself." They nervously smile. "Sorry. Hehe." I roll my eyes again before slightly smiling and ruffling their hair. They just bat my hands away but eventually have a slight smile on their face as well. "So. Ready to fail at basketball again?" They scoff and roll their eyes. "It's not my fault I can't shoot." "It technically is..." They shrug and continue walking into the gym. I follow them. "You know, we have a few minutes to practice so you might be able to get better at your shooting, if that's even possible." They wipe their head around and have a frown on their face. "How the heck am I supposed to get better if I can't even shoot for my life?!" They still have that frown on their face. To be honest, it was quite funny. I shrug and chuckle. "Practice makes almost perfect. At least try a few more times." They cross their arms and look to the side. "If I promise to be on your side next time we play, will you-" "Yes." They immediately said it and didn't even let me finish. "Well dang." I smile a bit and grab a basketball from the cart or whatever and throw it to them. They almost drop it but catch it in the end. "Ready? You're gonna pass it to me." They raised an eyebrow. "How is passing a ball going to help me shoot?" I blink and think for a few moments. "Good point." They slightly laugh and turn around to the net. They try throwing it, very weakly may I add, and miss it by a good few feet. "You didn't even try..." They shrug. "Guess I'm just not made for basketball." They then began walking away before I grabbed their arm and led them back over. "Oh no you don't. Try again. But actually put effort into it." They groan but grab a basketball nearby and try again. This time it actually almost hit the rim. I smile and nod, proud of their little accomplishment.
Minutes go by and they have hit the rim like twice. The teacher then told us to get into a line and choose two teams. Me and Katie obviously paired up but since we're technically like the unwanted kids, we just stood to the side and waited for someone to choose the two of us or have the gym teacher put us into a random team. We eventually got sent to a team by the teacher and then the game started after a few minutes of discussing a plan. I'm pretty sure Katie's undiagnosed autism got in the way because after discussing it they had no idea what we we're doing. Katie just decided to go in a corner and wait for the whole game to be over.
Few minutes go by and Katie is still in the corner. I go over to them. "You gonna come out of that corner soon?" They shook their head. "Nah. I can't shoot and I'm saving myself from embarrassment. Again." I gently smile but put an arm around their shoulder. "Come on. It's not that bad." I look at them and they just rest their head on my shoulder and whine. "Yes it is..." I just shake my head and sigh. "You wanna try again?" They look at me and shake their head aggressively. I just look at them. "I'll buy you ice cream...?" They give me a look. "What? I just said I'd buy you ice cream if you did it." They continue to look at me. "I'm not five you know." I smirk. "Yes, but I know you want that ice cream." They just look away, most likely of embarrassment and slowly nod. "Yeah, I do." "Alright, then shoot." "But I don't wanna embarrass myself." I sigh, once again, still with my arm around their shoulder. "So what? Plenty of people can't shoot a basket." "But, everyone in this room can but me." They then proceeded to lean all of their weight onto me, making me have to keep them from falling to the ground. "Can you maybe not make me be your cane?" They didn't listen to me and just continued. I then just gently stood them back up and they finally stood on their own. "Just try, once?" They groaned and grabbed a basketball before throwing it to the hoop, very weakly. I huff. "You didn't even try!" "I can't throw it!" "Well try next time!" They groan and drag their feet over to another ball and stand in front of the hoop. "Any advice?" "No." I blankly answer them and they just give me an 'are you serious?' look and turn back to the hoop. This time, they actually tried and hit the back board. I forgot to mention that we weren't even playing the actual game. I think the teacher took notice but didn't do anything. We were at a completely different hoop. The kids on our team were kinda mad but, we didn't pay any mind to them, instead, we continued to do our little practice thing. "Hey, at least you hit the back board. That's the furthest I've seen you throw it." They snap their head to look at me. "Are you making fun of me?!" I blink. "No. It's just showing how proud I am of you." "Well, your voice is too monotone, I can't tell." I roll my eyes but shrug. "Anyway, I do have some advice." "Wha- why couldn't you have told me this before?!" "I just thought of it now! Anyways, it's to try and hit the square on the back board." They look at it and sigh before grabbing a ball and trying once more.
YOU ARE READING
Opposites Attract
General FictionMaxine is a girl who has a lot of problems from socializing problems, not liking her body, to parent issues. But, luckily, there's someone who refuses to give up on her, Katie. They continue to stick by her side and try to make her open up, no matte...
