Her first crush

5

As Pascal was keeping his necklace in his locker, two letters fell from it and he bent to pick them up. One had Matilda Finberry on it and the other one was written by an anonymous. He read them and tore them into shreds.
"Girls", he muttered and threw them into the wastebin. He turned to go and his eyes locked with that of Matilda and Bennie. He walked away as if he hadn't seen them.
"He's cute", Bennie said with dreamy eyes.
"Keep your eyes off him, he's mine", Matilda shut her up.
"I'm sorry"
"Keep that to yourself "
"Shall we go to the restaurant now? "
"I'd rather go to the basketball court"
"Tilda! "
"Shut up!and follow me", she ordered and Bennie walked behind her.
Arthur threw the ball into the net once more and all the students cheered. Pascal walked into the court with headsets plugged into his ears. He handed them to Jeffrey, his best friend and Arthur passed the ball to him. As Pascal threw the ball into the net for the fourth time, Matilda stood up and shouted, "Go Pascal! "
Bennie joined her and soon, all the girls were shouting, "Go Pascal! ". Leona scoffed and she stood up to leave as the match was the over. Arthur walked towards her, smiling.
"You were awesome", she said to him.
"Yeah! "He grinned proudly, "see? I told you Pascal is the best".
"All the girls were cheering"
"Sure! They always do whenever he plays".
"You must be thirsty".
"Yeah! Wanna grab a drink?"
"Let's go! "
   
     Leona got home to find Mrs Brown in the sitting room.
"Good evening, ma'am"
"How you doing, Lea? "
"I'm good"
Mrs Brown asked her to sit with her.
"Jane? "
"Yes ma'am", she answered from the kitchen.
"Get me some of those chocolate cookies you're baking "
"Yes ma'am"
She turned to Leona and grinned.
"Tell me about your day, Lea."
"My day was fine", she felt at ease with the woman. "Unlike yesterday ".
"Tell me more"
"I bumped into two girls and was lashed at"
"That's rude"
"I was told by one of them that Leona is a name for pretty girls and not dumb people like me"
"Christ! "
This time, Jane brought in the chocolate cookies and dropped the plates in front of Leona and Mrs Brown.
"You have to prove them that you aren't dumb."Mrs Brown said to her.
"I think they are right", a voice interrupted them and they turned to see Nelly standing in the doorway with a ball tucked under his armpit.
"And since when have you learned to eavesdrop on people? "Mrs Brown was angry.
"Sorry, mom", he said giving Leona a death glare.
"And don't stare at Lea like that ever again. She's your brother's mate and I can bet that you don't do that to Pascal".
"Pascal is  better and he's........... "
"Ohh, shut up Nelly and go to your room".
"Will you ever stop talking? "Pascal said from behind Nelly.
Leona felt uncomfortable where she sat down. Nelly scurried ri his room and Pascal closed the door.
"Hi, mum", he said as he pecked his mum on her cheek.
"How did the match go? "She asked him.
"Splendid"
"Maybe you'll take up a career in basketball someday ".
"Never! "He said as he ascended the stairs.
Leona watched his back till he was out of sight. No wonder girls like him, she thought.
Mrs Brown cleared her throat and Leona looked at her.
"You have a crush on Pascal? "
The question caught her off guard. She knew it was true but she couldn't bring herself to say it.
"You...... You can't poss........ poss........ possibly think I....... I..... "
Mrs Brown raised a hand. "Its OK if you do, there's nothing bad in it. I would have fallen for him if I were in your shoes".
"No! "Leona almost shouted.
"What?"
"I'm not crushing on him", she averted her gaze and tried to convince herself not to fall for a jerk.
"Time will tell. "Mrs Brown grinned devilishly.