Strange Days

Chapter 2: New Found Friendship

I awoke the next morning with a slight crick in my neck. The time on my phone reads 6:30am, I throw on some clothes and begin my morning.

*Brr brr* Oh? Another text?

"Goodmorning Andrew, just texting to make sure that tonight we could still practice with the team. ~Keith" How come he didn't just send that to the groupchat?

"Goodmorning!! Also yes I am still able to." I sent the message to Keith and began my morning drive to school.

I go to all my classes for the day. Finally, it's time for basketball practice! I can't wait to practice with the whole team at Keith's house, it'll be so fun!

I drive to Keith's house in my car. As I pull up to his house, I see him shooting the ball in his driveway. I arrived at 2:30 the exact time he told us all to be here... but I'm the only one here.

"Hey Keith! Has anyone else come before me? You did say to come at 2:30 right?" I yell from inside my car to Keith.

"Hey! No one else except you has shown up yet. I hope they eventually come..." Keith replies.

I park my car outside his house and we start taking turns shooting the ball. Eventually, he guards me when I shoot. It's almost 3:30 and I'm starting to think no one else will show up... I hope Keith doesn't get upset about it.

Suddenly, Keith stops for a second and says, "Hey Andrew, no one else is gonna show up... Want to come inside for some water? We can keep practicing after if you want to."

I respond quick, "Yeah! I'm really tired from practicing.."

We go inside his blue-shuttered white house. It's a big, cold, empty house... I wonder where his parents are at. Theres almost no food in the pantry besides a couple of packs of Ramen. I look away fast because he looked angry, but he always does. He gets out two glasses and pours bottled water into them. He slides mine across the granite countertop to me. With one hand holding the glass of water I'm drinking and the other on the countertop, Keith does the same, but his hand lands on top of mine. We both stop for a second and look at each other, Keith quickly pulls his hand away. Blushing now, I laugh awkwardly and quickly finish my water. Keith prolongs finishing his water by talking in between sips. He's constantly talking about strategies to win the basketball games. Suddenly he changes the subject, "Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

I freaked out, no I haven't had a girlfriend before! Was I going to tell him that? No! What if he thinks I'm a loser? What if he tries to set me up with a girl? What if..?

"Hello? Have you had a girlfriend?" Keith repeats himself.

Stammering, I try to respond fast, "Uh, no, I, uh, no, I haven't..." I panicked, I didn't know what to say!

"Me neither..." Keith responded

Honestly, I'm shocked. I didn't expect that coming from him. He has good looks, he's a basketball player, and he's funny. I would date him... but he would never like me.

Keith finally finishes his water and he comes up behind me and puts his hand on my back. "Are you ready to keep practicing? Don't forget about the big game against The Berkshire Beavers tomorrow! They're number 1 in the city!"

We come outside and it's around 4:30. No one else has showed up still! I guess it's just Keith and me... That's okay, I kind of like it more. I told Keith I'd have to head home at 5 so we play a one on one quickly. Once it's time for me to go, I walk over to my car to leave, when Keith runs over to hug me before I leave. Honestly, I'm shocked. Not many of my friends do that... I can't think about anything else the whole car ride. When I layed down in bed that night, I kept thinking about all the strategies he told me about, and the question he asked me...