Parker Keiran was a basketball player at heart. The entirety of the women's basketball team considered her family and that's how she spent her first 3 years at LSU. She became overprotective of each girl individually and the reputation of the team...
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parker
present; narrative
To say the date went horribly was an understatement. It's not that there was anything wrong with the girl, Mal. She was the sweetest person I knew, having met her in one of my classes and she asked me out at the end of last year. Since I went back home to Minnesota during the summer we rescheduled our date for now. I didn't have feelings for her but one date couldn't hurt. She was nice and smart and pretty but something was just missing. Constantly throughout the date I was waiting for her to say something that was exciting. I was waiting to feel bothered and annoyed but also very turned on. She was great but it just felt boring.
The weekend was long gone and thankfully Mal didn't text me afterwards, probably getting the same awkward vibe but the weird thing is Hailey didn't talk to me either. She didn't randomly show up at my apartment or say stupid things when I came to practice. She didn't even look in my direction anymore and it was starting to piss me off.
Sure, I didn't like Hailey at all but her ignoring me for no reason was just childish and unnecessary. I hated when people just did that with no explanation or reason. Seriously, if she wanted to act like that I'd rather her just bother me to my face instead of making me restless at night wondering why she wouldn't even talk to me.
I was walking out of the lecture hall with Kateri on my left and Jae on my right. They had practice this morning before I even got up so I got the whole day with them.
"Nah Hailey had the craziest layup today you should've seen it." Kateri and Jae laughed at the memory, dapping each other up in the process. My mood was ruined by even the mention of her name and having to remember her face.
"I was dead asleep at 7 am K." I tried to laugh with the girls but it was no use. Was Hailey even playing good at practice lately because what other reason would she have for ignoring me? "Has Hailey seemed normal lately?"
They both stopped and turned to me confused at my question. My dislike for Hailey was obvious to all the girls, including Kim who made me promise not to look too annoyed at practice and scare Hailey back to Louisville. I immediately regretted asking, it's not like I cared that she was ignoring me I just wanted to know why.
"Um yeah pretty normal why?" Jae responded, I saw the little nudge she gave Kateri at my question but they returned to their normal walking pace.
I went quiet, still trying to think of why. I hadn't been paying attention in my classes just trying to think of any excuse for Hailey's sudden drastic change of behavior. If she wanted to ignore me she would've done it since the first day we met but she didn't, she purposely tried to get involved in my life.
"I don't know, she's been ignoring me." My words sounded like a whisper but the second they left my mouth Jae and Kateri froze in place, dramatically turning to look at me again. I felt almost miniature under their stares but they both had smiles on their faces.
"Does Parker Keiran actually give a fuck about Hailey Van Lith?" Jae pushed me, she had become closest to Hailey since she'd been here and was obviously very aware that she didn't like me either.
"No I don't, I was just wondering." I tried to shrug it off and walk past them but they blocked me, keeping us standing in the middle of the sidewalk. I looked up at Jae who had her hand on my shoulder preventing me from walking away.
"Come on Parker, just admit it. We all see it." Her smile almost doubled in size. What the hell was she talking about?
"See what?" I looked between them confused and they laughed in unison again.
"The way you guys look at each other, come on you're so into her." Kateri put her hand on her hip almost giving me a mom look when they know something they shouldn't but now they were very wrong.
Now it was my turn to laugh in their faces and their smiles dropped.
"You guys are crazy. I am not into Van Lith." I was still laughing. Who in their right mind would ever think I was into Hailey? Basketball season must be taking a toll on them.
"Parker, come on, you don't have to lie to us." Jae's tone sounded begging, like she really needed me to admit I liked Hailey to continue with her life. Sucks for her that she was never getting that confession, ever.
"I'm not lying, I don't have any feelings for Hailey other than being annoyed." I moved Jae's hand and squeezed past them continuing our walk. They took a bit to start following me but soon enough were back at my sides.
"So if Hailey started dating a girl you wouldn't be bothered?" Kateri asked and Jae nodded in agreement. Well who would Hailey be dating? And would they be good enough for her? What happens if they don't work out?
"No, I seriously wouldn't care." My stomach felt uneasy after saying those words. The image of Hailey kissing a girl in front of me and bringing her to parties made me feel sick, it was probably just because the thought of Hailey in general made me sick.
The two of them went silent again, probably believing my responses but now I was starting to doubt them myself. What did they mean that everyone could see the way we looked at each other? There was nothing special between me and Hailey, there couldn't be. We stopped at the parking lot where we were all supposed to take Kateri's car and go get food but now something felt like it was pulling me away.
"Hey you guys go ahead, I'll meet you, I just want to grab Quinn." It was a half lie, I knew Quinn wouldn't be very happy that we went out to eat and didn't bring her but I also knew that if I brought her leftovers she would be over the moon. Both girls nodded, getting into Kateri's car and driving off while I got into mine.
My mind was racing at a thousand miles an hour, knowing Quinn was the only one who could tell it how it is, whether I wanted the answer or not.
I burst into our apartment watching her jump and almost shitting herself but when she saw the almost petrified look on my face she patted the spot next to her on the couch which I ran to.
"Checklist to know if you like someone, go." I demanded, this was a normal occurrence between us. I could never actually tell when I had feelings for someone, usually other people made me realize it but once I knew I was a mess.
"You always want to see them." Immediately I wanted to say no but I thought hard. Even when Hailey showed up outside of my apartment I could've made her leave but I didn't even hesitate letting her in. When practice started and she wasn't there a part of me started to panic and look for her everywhere. Check.
"You want to take care of them." I couldn't take my eyes off her at the party and when I lost her I felt my heart drop out of my ass. When I saw her asleep on the couch I wanted to switch spots so she wouldn't hurt her back. Check.
"You can't stop thinking about them." It was true. Hailey was always on my mind whether it was thinking how I could bother her today or maybe about an argument we had recently. Sometimes I thought about her eyes and why they were such a bright blue, there was always something about her that I never stopped thinking about. Check.
"You get jealous thinking about them with someone else." I created an image in my head. An image of Hailey at movie nights with another girl on her lap, holding her and touching her the way she did with me. It made my throat tighten. Check.
"That's all I've got babe. Did you figure it out?" Quinn asked concerned, looking at me deeply. Even though we'd gone through this many times I'd never been this silent, or this confused. Everything on Quinn's very curated list was checked off, that could only mean one thing.
