Playmaker

11

"Naddie--"

"No... Stop, James. Tama na!! Tama na!!"

"It's payback time!"

"James! James!!... Oh my God, James!"

Everyone looked at each other as James brought Nadine in for another tickle fit. The two had grown close, but Yassi and Bret knew better than to trust their closeness. James still hadn't talked to Nadine and Nadine was trying to push away any chance James got to have a real conversation with her.

So as a result, they were at a squad hangout with the biggest, awkward elephant in the room.

"This isn't going to go well at all," Henz said, looking at Nadine smack James' shoulder when he tried tickling her neck.

Claire sat down on the couch next to Bret, "You never know. Maybe he'll talk to her."

Bret shook his head, "No, I agree with Zonny Boy on this one. James doesn't want to press it on her because he thinks she'll run away from him if he brings up what happened. While Nadine, on the other hand, is making herself believe that friends is all they're meant to be...."

"So she's pushing away the past just to make sure there's no more fights and heartbreaks," Yassi came in and sat down on the lounge chair.

"But she's breaking her own heart if she keeps thinking that James' love for her is just as friends..." Henz started.

Bret interrupted, "There's the problem. Nadz doesn't even think James loves her. Deeply care maybe.... But she doesn't want to think that he loves her or has those feelings because she's trying to shut him out from that part of her."

"Nadine's doing that why?" Claire asked.

"Because Nadine loves him, but she's trying to make herself believe that James doesn't love her. To her, if James doesn't love her, then she can't love him... and then they can move on. But if she think he loves her, she's gonna fall hard and that scares the living crap outta her to be that in love with someone and to give them that kind of power," Yassi said, looking back at her best friend scream out of laughter.

"So what's the plan?" Henz asked.

"Well... all WE can do is just wait and see what happens," Bret said, smiling at James and Nadine as they entered the circle.

The group eyed each other, silently agreeing to act like they weren't talking about them. Yassi spoke up first.

"So how is everyone? I feel like I haven't checked in with everyone in a while..."

"I feel like a doughnut," Henz blurted out.

All of them looked at him with confused looks on their faces.

"A doughnut?" James asked. "Tell me... how does one feel like a doughnut?"

Nadine and Yassi looked at Bret and giggled.

"Well..." Henz started. "You know how doughnuts have a hole in the center? Like without the doughnut hole, you are an incomplete, fried piece of dough."

Nadine tried to make sense of it, "So... you feel like you're missing a piece of you?"

Claire snickered into Bret's shoulder, "Sus! You just miss Robyn cuz she had to fly back to Alaska for work."

"Pssssh...utot nya!" Henz bluffed, trying to hide that he was missing his girlfriend. "But you get me right, Nadz? Don't you feel like a donut? Like there's always a piece of you missing?"

Yassi's mouth dropped open, while she glared at him in awe that he had no censor. Clearing her throat to change the subject, Nadine looked at the other side of the room. She was avoiding James' face, feeling guilty for bringing up the subject.