Finding Amity

Chapter 43

While he focused primarily on track, Cooper also played basketball. None of his friends really played, so he'd always beg me to follow him down to the courts. I never hated that he bothered me with it, but right now, it was exactly to familiar setting I wanted to be in.

I changed into leggings and a oversized t-shirt and we walked downtown to the public courts. It was only midday, but the court was completely empty. I stood in the tiny circle in the centre of the court as Cooper passed me the blue and yellow basketball.

"Try to dribble the ball closer to the hoop and shoot," He instructed. "I'll try to block you."

I abided, bouncing the ball gingerly, surely looking like an idiot. I jogged slightly, trying to find the right amount of force so the ball wasn't almost slamming into my face. I turned my back to Cooper, like I'd seen players do, and bounced the ball in the spot for a second before dribbling it faster towards the hoop and taking a shot from a couple feet away.

Cooper caught up instantly and jumped into the air, slamming the ball back down to the ground.

"Unlucky!" He called out as I chased after the ball.

I tried again, copying what I first did, but attempting to take a fake step to the left and actually stepping to the right. Cooper wasn't expecting it, and as he turned to steal I threw the ball. It hit the backboard and bounced back into Cooper's arms.

"What?!" I cried. "How?"

Cooper laughed at me as he took a 3-pointer, the ball slipping effortlessly into the hoop and bouncing back to us gracefully.

"You'll get used to it." He assured me. "Here, take a couple free throws."

I took the ball and turned to the hoop, lining it up with the red square on the backboard and shooting. The ball danced across the rim, eventually falling outside of the hoop.

"Have you joined any teams or clubs or anything?" Cooper asked.

"No," I answered. "I would have told you."

Cooper grabbed the ball and took another perfect and successful shot before passing to me.

"I don't know." He mumbled. "We don't really talk that much. At the start of the year you told about the new friends you'd met and your assignments. You hardly ever text anymore."

I took the shot, it bounced off the edge of the hoop and back to us instantly.

The truth was, I had written thousands of messages to Cooper, but deleted them before sending. I don't even know why. I just felt uncomfortable talking about Pippa and her friends.

"I went on that camping trip." I recounted. "It was pretty fun, I turned it into a girls trip and went fishing and met some new people."

"Thats cool." He muttered. "Are you... being safe?"

I turned, my eyes widened in concern, hoping Cooper wasn't about to give me "The Talk".

"Not like that- well, I hope you are being safe like that but I wasn't talking about- let me start over!" He stumbled. I nodded, hoping his intended topic was a lot less awkward. "Are you drinking responsibly and staying away from drugs? Experimenting is normal in college for most people, but like, making sure you're doing it in a safe environment and not letting it affect your school work."

I chased after the ball as it ricochet across the court, only answering when I returned. "I don't do drugs, I only drink on occasion with friends and never on a school night."

"Good, good." He nodded. "And with that I lead into... What happened? Why are you here so early?"

I bounced the ball twice before shooting, I let my arms loosely shoot without putting much thought into it. The ball flew straight into the hoop, and I turned to Cooper with a wide smile on my face, yet he still awaited patiently and emotionlessly for my response. I walked to the sidelines of the court and plopped down, letting the warmth of the sun burn through my black leggings. Cooper followed, taking a seat beside me and sighing.

"Its about... Isaac." I hummed, I picked at my thumbnail cuticles, my head down. I could feel Cooper trying to remain calm. "He did something- not to me. To another girl. It wasn't terrible, I don't think he's necessarily a bad person for it..." I tried to think about what I was going to say.

"What did he do?"

"He led her on and broke her heart." I looked up, watching a flock of seagulls pick at the ground on the field in front of us. "I got on a plane as soon as Dustin told me and flew down here."

"Look, Amity." Cooper started as he put his arm around my shoulder. "Isaac... sucks. He really does. If he doesn't respect other girls, he's not going to respect you. And you do NOT deserve a guy like that."

My eyes watered and I laughed helplessly at how pathetic I was. Isaac and I were together for less than a day, and now I'm crying over him. Even worse, this isn't the first time.

"But there are guys out there, good decent nice guys who will treat you like a queen and you will never meet them if you lose faith every time an asshole looks your way."

My palms wiped across my eyes, taking my tears with them. I turned to Cooper and smiled. I really needed him in my life.

"I think I'm going to do it." I decided. "I'm going to move back home."