The New Guy

Chapter 2

Ryan

The house was nice. I’m not saying I liked it, but anyone, even someone in my situation had to admit it was a house worth living in.

My room was huge, and my dad said we could paint it whatever color I wanted. He also said I could attach a mini goal to the wall. And that the backyard was big enough that we could build a pool and get a half court poured. And we were converting the upstairs guest room into a bonus room for me to hang out in.

Needless to say, he was trying to get my forgiveness for making us move to this awful place.

After unloading the entire moving van and my dad’s butt kissing act, I needed to blow off some steam. My mom said she talked to the lady who lives next door and she offered to let me use their basketball goal until mine was unpacked. I put on my high tops, grabbed a ball, and ran outside. It felt a little weird just running up their driveway and shooting without permission, but at that point I didn’t really care. I shuffled my basketball playlist and put in my headphones. I shot around for about an hour until I was interrupted by a car honking their horn. I looked up to see a blue Lexus idling in the street.

The neighbors. Great. I had no interest in meeting people right now. I waved, jogging down the long drive and began trying to weave around the car. Then the passenger door opened and she stepped out of the car.

She was only a few inches shorter than me, but wasn’t unusually skinny like most tall girls I’d seen. Her hair was pulled back into a slick ponytail, revealing her big brown eyes and slender mouth. She had tan skin, but it looked natural- the type of tan girls would sit out in the sun for hours to achieve, only to get burned. She was glowing, with a thin sheen of sweat covering her entire body like she had just worked out, which judging by her tennis shoes and athletic clothes she had. She was enchanting; not just because of her beauty, but also because of how confidently she carried herself.

It took me a few seconds to register all this, and in that time I managed to stumble over my own feet and sprawl on the ground. The next thing I knew I was scrambling to get up before I embarrassed myself even more. By the time I was standing again, she had begun to walk my way. Our eyes met and she smiled, waving like we were old friends.

“Hey! You must be Ryan! I’m Alyssa, I live here. Nice fall,” she said, stopping in front of me.

Damn it. She noticed. I thought to myself. I guess her mom had told her about me and how I was using their basket because she didn’t seem to find it odd that I was standing in her driveway like an idiot.

“Uh thanks. Nice to meet you Alyssa.”  I stuttered, trying to pull my thoughts together. I followed her out of the way as her mom pulled into the garage.

She gave me a warm smile. “So you play ball too, huh? Care to play some one on one?” she asked.

“S-sure” I replied, handing the ball to her. “Your ball.”

She took it without question, walked about 15 feet away from the goal and asked if I was ready. I nodded and took a defensive stance. I barely had time to blink before she was blowing by me and laying the ball up. 

She turned and said, “Make it, take it,” with a smirk.

We played for about 15 minutes, not talking much. Once I got more comfortable with being around her, I managed to hold her off from beating me too badly, the final score being 15-20. She was good. Really good in fact. I was shocked. I’d never been beaten by a girl in anything, much less basketball.

Her mom brought us out water a little while later and introduced herself as Mrs. Linda. She said it was nice for Alyssa to have someone to play against that she couldn’t run circles around, and I just smiled and nodded, still feeling a little uncomfortable. After she went back inside, Alyssa turned to me.

“Sorry about that,” she said, rolling her eyes. “She’s so… Nosy and involved. And too friendly at times.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I replied. “It’s better than living with them.”

A confused look crossed Alyssa’s face. “Who, your parents? What’s wrong with them?”

“Well…” I began, and then proceeded to tell her about not wanting to move and everything that came with it. After a while we moved into the front yard and sat on the grass. When I finished she nodded.

“I understand. If my mom told me we were moving, I’d throw a fit. But don’t worry, you love it here. I assume you’re going to Lake Village?”

I nodded, giving her the opportunity to launch into a description of how things worked at LVHS, the basketball program, and all of her friends. Once it started going, there wasn’t an awkward pause or stall in the conversation. It felt like we talked for hours, covering every topic from our favorite movies and genres of music to how we coped with our above average height. She explained that her best friend, Travis, was only 5’ 1”, making her feel like a giant. I said I understood and told her about Kyle being short. We laughed about basketball stereotypes and peoples presumptions about Texas.

So caught up in our conversation, we didn’t even notice it was dark outside until her mom called her inside for dinner. We quickly stood and exchanged numbers.

“Bye Ryan! See you tomorrow!” she called over her shoulder as she ran inside.

I stood in the yard for a moment, unable to wipe the wide smile off my face. I had a feeling that it would be permanent around my new neighbor. “Maybe Texas won’t be so bad…” I thought to myself as I turned and made my way home.

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Alyssa

I’m not proud of my first thought upon seeing Ryan. When we pulled up to my house and I saw him shooting at my goal, all I could think about was how much I didn’t want to talk to him. Horrible, I know. He just looked like such a stereotypic, cocky basketball player with his high tops on and headphones in. I tried telling my mother this, but she made me get out of the car anyway. I opened the door and got out in time to see him trip. Over what, I’ll probably never know.

I introduced myself and he seemed shy. It wasn’t until I invited him to play one on one and thoroughly kicked his butt that he began to warm up. once i got him talking, I learned he wasn't cocky or rude at all, but to the contrary he was funny and sweet.

 He explained his current hostility towards his parents because of the move and told me about his friends at home. I tried to ease up the situation, trying to convince him Lake Village was amazing. The conversation switched to lighter topics, and soon we were laughing like best friends.  It was so nice to have someone to talk too, especially a guy who understood what it was like to be tall. Everything was easy and smooth, not at all uncomfortable. I was actually upset when my mom called me inside.

“See you tomorrow!” I called as I made my way inside. I couldn’t wait to get to know my new friend better, and judging by the goofy smile stretched on his face, he felt the same.

I'm really sorry if this was boring, but they had to meet and become friends before the actual drama can start...