It's About Heart

Chapter 1: the nolan is embarrassing one (Nolan POV)

I step off the bus, music blasting through my beats, and nike bag slung across my shoulder. It's championship day, and nothing or nobody is going to break my focus.

My teammates know better than to talk to me right now.

Once we've all filed off the bus, we enter the gym.

I slip my hand into my sweatpants pocket and pull out my phone, clicking it on. Two hours and twenty-three minutes until game time.

The old gym is nearly empty with the exception of a cleaning crew sweeping the court. My team begins to disperse, some heading for the locker room, some for the concession stand, and a couple for the bathroom. I head to the locker room with the majority. I set my bag by the wall of the big room, sliding off my beats and zipping them up in it. I immediately start to trade out my slides for my basketball shoes, hoping to get some shooting in before the girls game starts.

"Hey Nolan, guess who's here?"

I pull on the laces of my shoes, retying them for probably the third time.

"Uh, your mom?" I mumble, not really interested in Jacob's excitement over whoever decided to show up for a couple of basketball games.

Jacob rolls his eyes at my pathetic guess, eyeing my face as he says, "Well yeah, but that's not who I was talking about."

The smile on my face drops. "Shit."

"Yup!" Jacob smiles devilishly. My head drops, stomach flipping. I did not need this today. Now, I have way more to think about than just a basketball game.

Jacob is snickering even harder when Dakota bursts into the locker room, roaring, "Nolan, your girl's here!"

"Well she might be his girl if he could actually talk to her," Jacob jokes, and him and Dakota burst into laughter.

"I literally hate you both."

Jacob's laughter dies out.

"C'mon, let's go shoot around, it'll take your mind off things."

I can feel stress building as I exit the locker room. It's not that I'm not excited to see Maddi-- my mind is racing at the thought, honestly. But that's the problem. Maddi is sort of an off switch for me. When she's around, I can't focus on anything else around me. Which would include a championship game...which is my problem.

"Why is she even here?" I ask, while Dakota looks for a ball cart.

"Apparently her team made it to the championship too. They play right before us," Jacob explains, walking to where Dakota found a couple balls.

I internally hope that she won't stay for our game.

"Guarantee she'll stay for our game though," Jacob adds almost as if he knew what I was thinking.

"Wait, why do you say that?" I ask, my heart somehow finding a way to beat faster than it already was.

Dakota and Jacob both look at me like I have two heads.

"Bruh, do you not know who we're playing tonight?" Jacob finally says.

My eyebrows furrow.

"Uh, yeah it's Charleston County-" I stop short because only when I say it out loud do I realize why that school means something.

Jacob and Dakota both start chuckling as Dakota says, "That's her school."

The look on my face must show that I really did not comprehend this until now because my so called friends laugh even harder.

"Jackasses," I grumble under my breath.

"Here," Jacob says, tossing me a ball while still laughing quietly. "Shake it off."

We haven't been shooting for long when the Charleston County girls team comes out to shoot around on the other end of the court. However, I refuse to look over and see if Maddi is there. At this point, all I can do is try to regain focus and win this game tonight.

So that's all I think about. I examine every shot, every move, as if I were in the game. I have to keep focus because letting my mind wander right now is highly dangerous.

I'm about to shoot a three-pointer when I feel something hit the back of my ankle, and look down to see it's a basketball. Shifting my basketball in my hands, I pick up the other ball, turning it over in my hands.

"Hey!" Someone calls from across the court.

My eyes snap up and I completely freeze.

My damn luck.

It's her.

She's looking at me expectantly, but I can't help but just look at her for a second. Her curly brown hair is tied up in a ponytail, a black headband keeping the baby hairs from falling in her face. And call me biased, but I'm pretty positive I've never seen a girl look so good in a basketball uniform.

Hearing her voice again breaks me out of my mini-trance.

"I need my ball back," she says, adding a small laugh at the end. I'm so embarrassed at the fact that she definitely saw me checking her out, that I don't even say anything as I toss a ball to her.

She says a small thanks, flashing the hint of a smile that I can't help but add a small smile back.

However, once she turns back to her team I finally snap back into reality. Turning around, both guys are looking at me, fighting off waves of laughter. I roll my eyes, trying to act as if the encounter was really no big deal and they are just being dumb. But internally, I'm still trying to slow my heartbeat.

I'm about to set up for a three-pointer, but something feels different. I start to look at the ball in my hands, but before I can figure it out, I hear the same voice behind me.

"Um, you gave me a guy's ball..." I turn to see Maddi holding my basketball in her hands, and looking down I see the numbers 28.5, the measurements of a girl's basketball, clearly written on the ball in my hands.

"Oh, uh, sorry," I stubble through the words.

I'm such an idiot.

We exchange balls, and she heads off to her teammates once again who were watching our exchange.

This time Jacob and Dakota don't even try to contain their laughter considering I can hear it before I even turn around.

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hey guys! so this is a story I've been working on for a while and while it is not even close to finished, I decided I would go ahead and post what I have. 

What do you think of Nolan and Maddi's interaction?

I appreciate every read, vote, and comment. 

Thanks guys :)

p.s. pic of Nolan up top ^