Apart

Basketball

April 29th
Emma
I walked into the cafeteria hand in hand with Luke. Some people still stared, gave us weird looks as if it was impossible for me to be going out with the hottest boy in our grade.
"Hey, do you wanna sit with some of my friends today? Some girls chill with us." He told me.
"Sit with those jocks that laughed at me?"
"Well hey, I guess they're the reason we started talking." He nudged me.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I guess." We walked over to the table.
I took a seat next to Luke.
"Aye, boys." I said.
"Suh, Jelly." One replied, only this time he was joking.
My cheeks grew a bit pinker than usual but I laughed.
"We're shooting some hoops after school if you wanna join us." Some kid named Zach said.
"Sure." I agreed. I'm surprisingly good at basketball.
"Great." Another commented.
"Why don't you do that?" Zach asked his girlfriend crossly.
"I can't shoot." She replied. Her name is Anna, and she's actually really nice.
"We could teach you." He pointed out.
Anna shrugged. "Eh, it's not really my game."

***

We headed out to the court, which is right outside of the school, where fifty graders have recess.
They all took a couple shots until it came to me. "I can't shoot."
"I'll show you." Luke walked over. He took my hands and put them over the ball where they should go. "You might wanna move it if you can't shoot." He pointed out.
I right in the middle of the court. I smirked and shot it perfectly. Swish.
"Oh!" Zach screamed.
"Get played!" Carson, a kid in some of my classes, slapped Luke on the back. All the boys started cheering.
I grinned at Luke.
"So that was just an excuse to get me to hold your hand?" He asked.
I shrugged. "Pretty much."
"You could just ask to hold my hand. We are dating after all." He replied simply.
"But that's no fun." I retrieved the basketball and sat on it.
"Hey!" Jay called. "Who wants to play knockout?"
I stood up. "I'm down."
Some boys agreed. I spotted Anna watching us from the sidelines.
"Come play!" I called.
"I don't know how." She replied.
"I'll teach you." I told her. We headed to the other side of the court where I told her how to shoot. "Put your hands more in the middle of the ball." I instructed. "Make sure you follow through."
"Ok." She bit her lip and took a shot. It whamme off the backboard and sailed towards us. I caught it and shot, making an easy basket. "Your so good."
I smiled. "Thanks. I'm gonna go school them in knockout."