The buzzer sounded right after a clean shot. Natalie and her teammates hooted and shouted, huge grins on their faces. They huddled closer and exclaimed, "Aye, winners!"
Later, after the award distribution, they went to change to go to for a party. Before she could step inside, Isaac called out to her.
"Awesome game. You played great!" He said, beaming in delight.
Natalie gave a small smile. "Thank you."
He chuckled and scratched the back of his head, ruffling his light hair in the process. "Guess I owe you an explanation, yeah?"
Natalie nodded slowly. "You do. But I wanna tell you something before that." Yesterday, she hasn't been able to sleep for a long time. She felt like today was the perfect day to tell him she had a really huge crush on him. The deal they had made was two sided for her. Even if she had lost, she would have still told him before ending the friendship.
"Uh...that's...sure...," he stammered.
"Uh," Natalie let out a sigh and pulled her hair out of her ponytail. Fiddling with the rubber band in her hand, she glanced up at Isaac, her eyes searching his nervous face. "It's just..." She groaned. "This is so much harder than I thought it would be."
"Take your time?" He suggested, leaning against the wall.
"Hey!" Felicity called. "What are you two discussing about? It's party time! Let's move!"
Before either of them could protest, all the other teammates came out, laughing and talking over each other. Natalie excused herself and got changed and when she came back outside, there were a few new additions to the party.
Isaac, Bradley, Zack and Andrew were also coming along and with reluctance, she happily agreed.
Many of the girls owned a car, but Zack offered to take Natalie. She refused profusely, but when she found no place in the other cars, she had to go in Zack's.
Squished between an annoyed Andrew and a nervous Isaac, she continuously checked her phone. She turned it on, then locked it, then unlocked it and then checked maps and did everything to distract herself. Isaac kept fidgeting besides her and his hand brushed against her every time he moved and every time it sent a electric shock coursing through her body.
"So, what's next?" Bradley asked Natalie, breaking the silence.
"What do you mean?" She questioned. They were all heading to the ice cream parlour she and Isaac had met for the first time.
"I mean...are there any more matches?"
"Well," Natalie ran a hand through her hair. "This was the seasons last match. Prom is soon, so no matches till next year. I might do a career in basketball if we win the next season."
Bradley smiled. "Oh, you would. You're amazing and so is your team. Y'all were great. And I'm not just saying this because your school is..well...housing us."
Natalie laughed. "Yeah, yeah. No problem there. Our school won't mind."
"What do you want do if not basketball?" Zack piped in.
Natalie shrugged. "I haven't decided yet. It changes everyday. Maybe something in Finance. What about you?"
"I'm thinking about being a stripper."
"Nice," she said with a laugh and turned away.
⚜⚜⚜
The spoon toppled out of her hand and landed on the floor. A groan escaped Felicity's lips and she called for another.
Conversations surrounded them and the loud music that played from overhead was getting on Natalie'S nerves. The car ride had been awkward for both of them and the others were all oblivious to it. Felicity leaned in closer and hollered, "Listen, I'm going to find.." The rest was lost to the noise around them and Natalie simply nodded to avoid further conversation.
She watched as her friend got up and left, her eyes scanning the room in search of someone. Glaring at her ice cream, Natalie sighed and closed her eyes.
Minutes later, someone plopped down in front of her. Opening her eyes, she saw it was Isaac and an immediate smile appeared on her face. "Finally. I got you alone."
"What?" Natalie asked, unable to hear his words. "You know, let's just go outside. I can't hear a thing." She gestured to the door and he nodded.
They both left the place and moved to the side where no one was around. "So, continuing are conversation from before....ilikeyoulot."
"What? Speak clearly."
"Ugh. I like you. A lot. There I said it. I like you. I have a massive fricking crush on you."
Isaac went pale. His eyes widened and he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Look...and I know you just got out of a relationship and stuff and Taylor's there and everything....but...I really like you a lot."
Isaac started hyperventilating.
"Whoa, dude are you okay? Isaac?" Her hand went to his shoulder and he looked at it in shock. She immediately pulled it away.
Isaac took a few deep breaths and calmed himself enough to say something. "You...know the thing I've been hiding from you. Like why I hate my mum...the thing with Taylor...who I'm back with."
"Uh...so Taylor...you're back with her. Wow. Well, forget I said anything."
He stopped her by holding up a hand. "No, no, no. Taylor is a guy, Natalie. I'm....gay."
