Straighter than Parallel Parking

≈ t h i r t y - t h r e e ≈

{ Chapter Thirty-Three: Sometimes You Hit, Sometimes You Miss }

THIRTY-THREE MINUTES BEFORE THE second to last game of the year began, Janice finds her left leg kicked in as she stretches it out to relive nervous cramps.

Catching herself before she fell, she threw a glare at her teammate, Victoria Meo, who laughs unapologetically. "Testing your reflexes, Janice. You look tense like a boy discovering the wonders of the Internet."

"You know what's also tense before a game? My left fist."

"Ooh, pre-game touchy? That's unlike you," Victoria says, side-eyeing the already filling bleachers. "Is it because of the gang of guys lingering around at the side?"

The gymnasium itself wasn't quite large, but with the few in attendance, it seemed more spacious-more daunting than the normal game of street ball with the boys, even in comparison to a petty private school game. Even more so with said boys having tagged along to watch.

She squints her eyes, finding her youngest brother waving at her frantically with one arm, the other arm responsible for holding popcorn, skittles, and cheap hot dogs. Janice sighs, before lamely waving back.

"The only thing I'm afraid of is my brother's ability to not puke after eating all that artificial sugar," Janice replies, feeling a little queasy herself. "Or the fact he never gains any of that weight."

"Your brother's the one with the food in his mouth, right? He's kind of attractive."

Janice scrunches up her mouth. "That's his signature look. Glad it gets the ladies."

Victoria leans in. Janice had become close to her new team over the couple of weeks they'd bonded over her love for the sport, and found Victoria's spirit to be very kindred and curious-while making her quite a character, could also mean she was an endless array of questions. "Introduce them to me later. Now, tell me, where's your man?"

Janice's ears burn. "Victoria!" She swats her friend in embarrassment. "It was one phone call."

"Hah! I still remember my first impression. He said 'Hey, Dia, guess who made my day today? You, by answering!' Cue my squealing." Victoria pretended to fan herself. "The only phone calls I get are from my mom and she goes between a, 'When are you coming home? Who're you with? Are you getting the potato wedges? Are you actually playing sports even though I swear you're the one who broke the glass last week?' I think I could use some love."

"You want to know what he said right after that?" The young Diablo wrings her hands helplessly. "'If you're going to play hard to get, at least tell me when you cancel your shifts'. What part of that sounds romantic?"

Victoria scoffs, crossing her arms. "You're the one who accidentally put it on speaker in the change room. I stopped admiring my newly toned muscles for you. Or," Victoria says, wiggling her eyebrows, "was it really an accident?"

"... it wasn't on speaker, he was just talking really loud," Janice mumbles.

"Was he declaring his bare feelings for you? I think I just caught some instead."

"You're a hopeless romantic."

"And you're hopeless, mi cherie," sang Victoria.

"Who's hopeless?" Their other teammates had wandered in, and Nicola Stankin had heard the remnants of the previous conversation. "Janice? Oh, are you talking about your man?"

"Why are you guys still like this? He isn't-we haven't-not yet-"

"Not yet?!" choruses the rest of the team loudly, that had crowded around the embarrassed member.