Airball

Chapter 23 - The Cat Comes Out

February 3, 2020.

2 weeks and 5 games went by with Chance as starter. It wasn't too much fun watching from the side as Chance scored big on the court, but I had had worse weeks. I still scored in most games and I decently contributed to the team, which was at least still better than at the beginning of the season. The teams we had faced in the past weeks had been tough. We had only won two of the fives game, and since our ranking wasn't too high in the first place, it had really dipped us down. To even have the slightest chance at making the playoffs, we'd have to turn things around fast.

On the brighter side, I had played a couple Call of Duty games with Luke and we'd caught up a little. Knowing that I had set things straight with him had also improved my mood, since it was one less thing that I had to carry around with me.

I thought about this while I sat in biology class, mindlessly listening to Mrs. Keaton's lecture. When I felt myself falling to sleep for the third time, I decided to distract myself and scratched a Tic-Tac-Toe grid into the desk. I nudged my desk-mate, Harper, who placed an O in the center despite looking as if the game was below her. I put an X to the right of her O and she put an O in the bottom right corner. I put an X in the top left corner, and she put an O in the bottom left corner. I put an X in the top right corner, but I was trapped. I frowned as she put an O in the bottom center square and won the game, immediately turning her attention back to the teacher. I put my head on my fist and tried to give the teacher as much attention as I possibly could. After the lecture was over, we were given assignments to complete on our own. (which meant that I would be getting help from Harper).

"Hey Harper?" I started.

"Sure thing," Harper replied, "but you have to let me sit with you at lunch."

"Why do you want—"

"I got into an argument with Aubrey," she said, "and so now I don't want to sit with her or the other girls I usually do because I don't want to seem desperate."

"What—" I kicked myself mentally for even starting to ask. "Sure, yeah. You can sit with us. It's just me and Austin now. We're going to have to find a table for more than two, though, which might be hard."

"Eh, we'll just get there first."

"Yeah, but you know how some cliques are with their tables," I pointed out. "But if worst comes to worst, I'll pull up a chair."

"Okay, sounds great."

After the bell rang, Harper and I walked into the cafeteria and got our food. We looked around for Austin, but like usual he wasn't there yet, so we looked around for tables that weren't already taken.

"What about that one?" I asked, pointing.

"That's where the football players sit," Harper said. "But what about that one there?"

"I think that's where the drama kids sit."

"And that one?" Harper pointed to another.

"Noo, absolutely not," I replied. "That's where the Giggle Girls sit."

"What?" Harper said.

"It's a group of girls like the ones you usually sit with, only they do makeup, talk about boys, and eat salads all lunch long. Oh, and did I mention the giggling?"

I shifted my gaze far from the Giggle Girls' table and my eyes fell upon one rather odd table in the corner.

"Hey!" I said, walking towards it. "Let's take this one. I've never seen anyone sitting here."

"Yeah, that's because it's the Crooked Table," Harper said. "No one's sat there for years."

I examined the table. It certainly was crooked, but it was also rather large. There were two chairs on each side of the table that was jutting out, and back against the wall there was a bench going across. The table itself was wider than it was long, which made it look rather awful. I jumped over the table, which was crooked to one side, and onto the bench. I took the corner spot and leaned back against the wall.