Time

1

 I passed the ball, which he easily grasped with the length of his hands. I tilted my head towards the pink and orange horizon; my tied-back auburn hair reflecting iridescent shades of gold for a second.

"You're maxed out at nearly everything, kiddo", Derek remarked with a lopsided grin.

"Oh? Well, what am I missing then?" I said in a playful, but slightly defensive manner. God, he was such a tease.

"You could up your guard. Now, don't get me wrong, I've seen you block the chicks on the court, but if you're gonna make it with me, we're gonna have to make sure you're up like the Great Wall."

"Hey, just because I'm half Asian doesn't make me joke material!" I stammered, all the while stifling my giggle.

We each broke a smile and continued to practice guarding, which was a little bit of a challenge since he was a head or so taller than me.

After a while, my watch lit up with a few unread texts and a bundle of missed calls from my phone that was bedded with equipment in my duffel bag on the nearest bleacher. I meandered over to my bag and dug out my phone and took a glance at my lock screen filled with notifications. All the while, I looked out to the sky; the sun now a mere sliver of gold amongst the darkened atmosphere. I hadn't even noticed so much time had passed and I knew I should probably get home.

"You gotta go?" He said casually.

"Uhh yeah. My mom made dinner and was expecting me two hours ago.. Sorry I have to leave Derek." I let out, pretty crestfallen.

"Oh nono, don't be sorry!! You did great Nik! I'll catcha later then. Night!" He joyfully called out and he pulled me into a warm embrace, and I swore I skipped a beat.

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A/N: hi wonderful reader so i guess i should provide some information before you continue reading lol 

so basically let me first establish that 1] i don't tend to use proper grammar or capitalization or conventions etc etc when writing the author's note, so sorry if that somehow bothers you,, and 2] this book was literally back when i was in the fifth grade and had a fictional writing contest for the afterschool program. yeet now my work sounds lame. sorry ?

anyways lol i'm so thankful if you do happen to be reading this, and if you somewhat like it maybe consider continuing to read and maybe even vOTE AND COMMENT ????

nah that's v. unlikely but even so, hope you're having a great day/night and if you're not, watch dan and phil because they seem to change that just by looking at their beautiful faces aaaaa :) <3