Heart

Eleven

The basketball player was at practice, which was held in the school’s gym. A few students--mostly girls--occupied the bleachers and cheered him on. Only him, because he had the highest social status on the team, and apparently looked the best in uniform. I wasn’t one to argue of course, but I did think it was a bit cliché. I would never voice my opinion of him out loud to anyone--especially not to Alan.

Feeling awkward, I took a seat on the first bleacher, sitting like I normally did: like a guy, really. But then I caught myself and sort of maneuvered into a position that reminded me of a self-absorbed teenage girl. Apparently guys were drawn to that, while girls were repelled. The onlookers, I noticed, threw me looks that hinted at jealousy. Ah, what wonders a blond wig could do.

I waited until practice was over and the players were heading for the showers to pounce. First I tried to catch his eye, which wasn’t too hard, and then stood up kind of slowly. I tried to look interested--don’t get me wrong, I was, but I didn’t want it to look obvious--as I gingerly stepped onto the court. He eyed me as he reached for a towel draping over the sideline bench, and I slid my hands into the back pockets of my jeans.

He smiled when he approached. “Hello. I haven’t really seen you around.”

I smiled back. “I’m new,” I responded in a soft tone. My goal was alluring, but I might have just reached shy.

It didn’t seem to matter; Ashton chuckled a little and wiped the back of his neck with the towel. “I’m Ashton Briggs--number 33.”

I smiled and gestured to his jersey. “Uh yeah, I noticed,” I giggled, trying my best to flirt. I had no idea how to do this. I was surprised that I hadn’t gotten tongue-tied yet, but I bet that was coming soon.

He laughed too. “Oh, right. I guess I was just at a loss for words. You’re quite distracting.” He cocked his head to the side and briefly raked his gaze from my feet up to my face.

I smiled a little, but I was feeling a little put off. The guy’s girlfriend was missing and he sure didn’t seem to care. He was hitting on me for crying out loud.

“Thank you,” I remembered to say, “Uh, you look like you know what you’re doing on this court.”

“Why thank you. I happen to be talented in a lot of places.” His grin almost made me recoil, since it was fairly hard not to guess the underlying meaning there. He may be extremely handsome, but I did not like the way he was speaking to me.

“So, uh, I’m thinking about transferring here. Maybe, you could give me a tour sometime?”

“Oh, sure . . . Uh . . .”

“Oh, my name’s Ka-Caitlyn.” I feigned surprise and then realization. “Oh my gosh, it just hit me. You're Ashton Briggs, that missing girl’s boyfriend. Right?”

His smile faded and he looked uncomfortably to the side. “Um. . .yeah. That’s me.”

“Wow, I am so sorry about this. I know this must be so hard on you.”

Ashton frequently kept his gaze penned to the side, obviously uneasy. “Yeah, uh, it is. . . But you know, she wasn’t very . . .liked. Here. At the school.”

I removed my hands from my back pockets and pensively crossed my arms, studying him. “You sound like you didn’t really like her yourself.”

He shrugged, but never really responded to my statement. I couldn’t exactly tell if he was getting upset over the conversation because it was painful, or getting annoyed because he really didn’t like Gabriella and was okay with her kidnapping. If it was the latter, I thought I should start backing away towards the exit.