Devil on the Rooftop [Book 1]

Chapter 19 - Arisa

The score was 14-10 and I honestly couldn't believe it. Was Zander really the captain of the junior basketball team? I didn't need to look back at the bystanders to know they were just as shocked. An average player might have a tough time seeing through his fakes, but after a while they became predictable. The tricky part was stealing the ball when Zander freestyled. It was how he kept the score nice and tight. I wasn't beating him by a lot but that wasn't the point. My goal was to force him to use as much energy as possible.

Zander's feet shifted, indicating that he was ready to freestyle again. I tried to smack the ball out of his hands but he was too quick, too skilled to stop at my current pace. I took a short breather and allowed him to score on me.

"Alright!" the teacher stopped the game. "You made your point, Hoffman. Now get off my court."

"But it's not over yet," Zander said, sounding a little winded.

"I second that," I raised my hand, more out of breath than he was. "Things are just getting interesting."

"You said it," Zander agreed. "If I let her reach twenty points then my leadership might come into question."

"I think it's already being question," I beamed, pointing at the rattled bystanders.

His grin was vindictive. "No wonder he's enchanted."

My heart dropped at the mention of Loyal. "Don't make me sick," I replied, going to one of the blurred faces on the sidelines and snatching a ball out of their hands.

I dribbled it to the captain and told him to steal it from me if he could. That seemed to be his weak point. He was a great shooter but his defence wasn't the best, not even with his impressive height. Zander stretched his arms out to keep me trapped but my footwork was not of a novice. I stepped away from the confrontation and threw the ball in the net's direction. I beamed brightly when it swished in and I gained two more points against my opponent.

"16-12," I laughed, having the time of my life. "Four more and it's all over."

"Can I sub in?"

I turned to find Khaleel Abdul grinning on the sidelines. My heart dropped a second time. I hadn't fully processed Paulie and Krish's warnings about him. He was the one who beat people up and helped Loyal expel students. I walked off the court, feeling anxious by his sudden appearance and headed to the track field. I made my point—literally and figuratively. There was no need to provoke two rooftop losers.

"Where you going?" Zander called after me. "You can't finish what you started?"

"I guess not!" I called back.

Zander begrudgingly stared at me. I stuck up my middle finger nice and high to make sure him and the delinquent could see it.

"Show's over girls!" I heard Mrs. Lister shout from the other side of the fence. The majority of my classmates had joined the viewing party and were in complete disarray about the results. Rightfully so, I wanted to say, but I guess practicing with Oakville's senior basketball team was finally paying off. It wasn't my favourite sport to play but a lot of my old friends loved it, so I decided to learn from them.

"Anisa!" I heard someone call.

A perky girl ran over to me. She draped her arm over my shoulder and giggled like we had been friends for years. She was tall with wavy black hair, a toffee complexion, and dark brown eyes. I admired the beauty mark on her left cheek and the freckles on her collarbone. "That was amazing!" she cheered. "You are amazing!"

I couldn't tell if she was a friend or a foe yet. Not when she called me by the wrong name. Growing up, I found it very hard to play nice with other people, and to be honest, not much had changed. I had conditioned myself to stop caring about forced friendships and accepted that I wouldn't find my real friends until later in life.

"Thank you," I said.

"I can't believe that just happened!" another girl gushed. It seemed the whole cheering section was on my heel. "Zander is a basketball god, and you just wiped the floor with him!"

"It was a close game," I said, playing it cool.

"What is Loyal going to do when he finds out you challenged one of his best friends?" the second girl asked.

I stopped walking and faced the group. "W-What does he have to do with this?"

"You mess with one of them and they all take it personally. You're already in trouble with him aren't you? I mean everyone saw what happened on the second floor."

I tried not to fume at the reminder.

"You know," she whispered. "In the science wing?"

"Yeah, I was there," I drawled.

"Anyway!" the first girl grinned. "We're part of Zander's fan club. We're not the president of it or anything but we were just thinking! Weren't we Neela?"—Neela beamed—"If Zander ever carried you over his shoulder like that then we would have to put you in your place."

Threatening. They were definitely threatening me. I was outnumbered by a pack of vultures who could easily scratch my eyes out. "I don't want attention from either of them," I said, loud enough for the whole group to hear.

"But you're getting it," came the cold reply. "He's still staring at you right now. Isn't he, Neela?"

Neela confirmed with a nod.

"If you want to go after Loyal, be our guest, but stay away from Zander. He's not yours to have or to embarrass."