It's Just Us [🗸]

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***

JAMES

There's something wrong with me.

Something very fucking wrong with me whenever I'm around Will McClain. Whenever I'm not around him. Whenever my mind flickers to him and never flickers away.

I know now more than ever that there's most definitely something wrong when my breath hitches during our scrimmage basketball today in P.E. class.

Why exactly is my breath hitching?

It might have something to do with someone right behind me, so close that if he wasn't defending me it might look more than compromising. My shoes pad across the golden gym, and he's there, pressed against me as my hands stay latched around the basketball like my world will come crashing down if I let go of it.

What with my back almost against Will's stomach as I try my best to maneuver the basketball away from him and ignore his smug whispers as he tries his best to distract me. Ignoring proves to be a bit hard though, especially when my heart is beating as fast as ever.

It's not the first time we've played basketball together, and we're playing it right in the center of T. Boulevard's gym. Everything should be fine.

Everything is not fucking fine.

And I can't be sure, but there's just something a little bit strange about the whole scenario that I can't place my finger on. Maybe it's due to the fact that I'm burning up. My face, my chest. Almost as though I've been set on fire. 

So, in a rush to get rid of the basketball and pass it to someone on my team, I end up giving a lousy pass. Kayla's towards the mid-center of the court, and it nearly flies over her head, curving at an angle that a pass should never fucking curve at. 

The fact that she manages to catch it is awe-inspiring in itself. And while this would've been a prime moment to worship Kayla Johnson for effortlessly gliding across the court, and using her 5'10'' height to snatch the ball from mid-air, I'm still shaken in the wake of what the fuck that pass was.

I don't give lousy passes.

Ever. 

Not during real games, and definitely not during the basketball unit in P.E. where most people aren't even on the team, putting me at an advantage.

I ignore Will's irritatingly smug smirk, because if I don't, I may or may not act on my temptation to have my fist meet my best friend's jaw. Which would be wrong. 

But shit, wrong sounds really fucking good right now.

He's the captain of the other team. Coach had decided to split up the holy trinity to give everyone else a chance and make sure the teams were evenly matched.