My Best Friend, Jack ✓

24. Team Spirit

The following week at school was our last before it was officially the end of the first term. It had only been seven weeks since school had begun, but if felt like a lifetime. As I wandered through the main corridor with Jack, Mia and Nick, I whistled at the bold colours of blue and yellow that were present all along the walls. It was going to be the first basketball game of the year and the school was getting behind the team. It was just a friendly match with the school from the next town over, but it set the tone for the season moving forward. Any time somebody even mentioned the word 'basketball,' Jack and Nick acted like they'd just thrown up in their mouths.

"This is getting daunting now," Jack mumbled, glancing at the flags along the wall. 

"Tell me about it," Nick mumbled back, sounding equally as nervous. 

I figured it was because of the college scouts that were coming to see them play. I knew that Jack wanted to play college ball so the games this year felt even more important than the previous year's ones. I wasn't sure about Nick, but I figured he wanted the same thing. At least they were in it together. I wanted nothing more for them both to succeed, but part of me was a little sad that this would be our final year in school together. I tried hard not to think about it too much. 

I knew that when we came back after break, it would be full steam ahead with college applications and I honestly had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Teachers and parents just expect you to have it all figured out and I'm sorry to say that I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do. My parents didn't put any pressure on me, but of course I knew that they wanted me to go to a good college. It was just hard to pluck up the courage to actually begin searching. What if I wasn't good enough?

"Come on, we better get to gym class," Mia said beside me, pulling me out of my internal monologue with myself. "Otherwise Mrs Gordon will rip us a new one."

"There's a nice thought," I grimaced, waving goodbye to Jack and Nick as they carried on staring at the banners. I could've sworn their faces looked a little green. 

I'd been out on the driveway with Nick the past few school nights, shooting some hoops with him and generally trying to give him some self-belief that he could play a great game if he just believed in himself a bit more. He was awful for doubting himself so I picked up the slack and kept telling him he was a great basketball player. I could tell he didn't believe me and it just made me want to give him a slap and tell him to 'pull himself together.'

As Mia and I wandered through to the changing rooms, we picked out our lockers and begun to get changed. As I was pulling my hair in to a loose ponytail, I felt a presence behind me. I shut the locker and turned around, to be met by Missy, Dana and Olivia. I smiled at Olivia, trying to be nice for Jack's sake but my smile was met with nothing in return. I cursed under my breath and turned my attention back to Missy. 

"Can I help you?" I asked. 

She rolled her eyes and plastered on a fake smile. "I'm having a party at my house this Friday night while my parents are out of town, after the basketball game. To celebrate the end of term and our team hopefully annihilating the other one."

"Okay...?" I said, wondering where she was going with this. "What's that got to do with me?"

She shrugged, digging in to her handbag and handing Mia and I what looked like an invitation. 

"You're giving me an invite?" I questioned, finding it very odd.

Mia stared at me, confusion in her eyes as well. "We'll be there," she said, after a moment's hesitation.

"Great," she smiled sweetly, before shuffling past and handing out more invitations to everyone else. 

Olivia and Dana smirked at me as they followed closely behind like some kind of lost puppy dogs. I shoved the invitation in my locker, not bothering to even read it. "Why did you say we'd go?" I grumbled at Mia, pinching the bridge of my nose. "I'd rather spend all evening plucking my eyelashes out."