Peaches and Petals
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"I'm so nervous. I don't think I can do this," Minghao anxiously walks back and forth in front of you, rubbing his hands together with the tips of his fringe slightly damp from his sweat.
"Take a seat and relax. You won't be yelled at or anything, why are you panicking?" You pat the empty space beside you on the bench, telling him to sit down. Without noticing your gesture, he continues pacing until you grab his wrist and pull him to settle down next to you.
You look at him seriously, which never really happens in daily life because it'd be awkward to. The idea of staring into Minghao's soul, your only guy friend, wasn't really a pleasant one but you had to for this moment, this very important moment.
"Look, you either get in or you don't. Either way, it's not like you won't ever get accepted in your entire life. You can still play basketball with your friends anytime. Even though the chances are 50/50, I'm positive you made it. I've watched you play for how many years, like 4 years? You know I'm blunt, so I'm really telling the truth."
He lets out a heavy, long breath and his daze fixes on his shoes. "I don't want to have hope. If I have hope, then I'd expect. If I expect, then I'd get disappointed. I don't want to anticipate the announcement of me making the team, only to be disappointed when things don't go the way I hoped for. You understand, right?" He tilts his head to look at you, and you can't help but stare at him back with sorrowful eyes. He's right. You keep telling him to believe in himself, but he's been so unconfident all these years because he doesn't want to be dissatisfied or unhappy with reality.
You place your hand on his lean back and give him a few pats, secretly cringing from this front you're putting up in order to comfort him. "Yeah, I understand. I think the best both of us can do right now is to wait until we hear the results and then act upon the outcome. There's no use in dreading it when you don't even know the final decisions yet."
"I guess so...," he leans back onto the bench and rubs his eyes.
"You should be listening to me. When have I ever been this useful of a friend?" You lean back as well and look at him from the corner of your eye with a playful smile.
"Yeah, you reminded me. Why are you so nice to me today? Usually you'd just hit me for 'having no balls'," he looks at you back and chuckles a little after you smack him on his arm, remembering to giving him his daily beating.
"You looked too pitiful, I couldn't help but give some advices. I mean, sure we have a love-hate friendship but that doesn't mean I want you to piss your pants before my eyes," you say in a joking manner and stand up, getting ready to go back inside the school building.
He jumps up after you and strikes back. "Hey! That was once, okay? We were in middle school and I just got scared that one time. Stop bringing that up every time." His pace fastens and he walks with his arm touching your shoulder.
"You should've been potty trained by then. What kind of 13-year-old still pees in his pants when he gets frightened?" You fold your arms and stop in front of a door that leads to the back of the school, where no one is really around.
He stops behind you and looks down at you, "what are you waiting for?"
You glare back up at him, "well, if you want to prove to me that you do have balls, then open the door. Don't you know that the man has to open the door for the lady? You need to learn how to be a gentlemen. I'll teach you, $10 per hour."
"My ass...," he just scoffs and pulls the door wide open, giving you a small smile as you enter the building.
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