You Know Why (on hold till april 24)

Chapter 24: Basketball for life

I think the song name is appropriate for this chapter hehe.

"Come on Hunter! Shoot!"

"Whoop! He did it!"

The stands erupted into cheers as Shawn shot the winning basket, beating the other team by a landslide and bringing a second win for our school today. I stood up and clapped along with everyone else, not for him of course, but for our school. I looked at the cheerleaders on the opposite court, where Kayla was just standing there with her arms folded, glaring at Shawn and trying not to smile. I rolled my eyes.

The girls team had already played before the boys, so we all walked to our respective locker rooms and gathered our stuff. There was a good two weeks before the next match, which would happen in December. If we won that, we were in the finals.

Veronica, Ezra and Megan were waiting for Tyler and I outside so we could celebrate. Normally the team celebrates together, but we'll leave that for when we hopefully win the finals. There was usually a party at someone's house, but this time it was going to be just five of us and well... Shawn. It was weird how the six of us were a thing now.

After seeing him all sad and crying that day, it was weird to look him right in the eye. Everytime he happened to catch me glancing at him, I would turn away in a flash like I'd been stung by a bee or something. Why was everything so damn awkward with him?

"Hey, did you guys hear about the school trip?" Veronica asked the group. Megan seemed just as blank as me, but Ezra looked excited. "Yeah! Three nights camping trip to the lake, right?"

"Yup. It's beautiful. My family owns a lake house in the area. We go there every summer, its super fun."

"So, the entire senior year, camping in the woods? That's hilarious." I interjected.

"Aw come on. It won't be so bad. In fact, how about I ask if they'll allow us to stay at my lake house? I don't want to share a cabin with the snobby cheerleaders anyway."

Tyler nodded in agreement. "That would be so awesome! We can tell freaky stories around the campfire, watch movies and play games! A whole house right by the lake just for us!"

"Wait, when is the trip? It can't be around an important match." I spoke.

"Relax Alex, it's after the semi-finals, two weeks before the final. It'll be great."

Veronica clapped her hands together like that confirmed it. "All right then. I think there are three rooms available with twin beds, enough for the six of us. The fourth room is my parents' so that's off limits."

We all went to Loco Latte after that, just eating sandwiches and cookies for dinner. Shawn joined us five minutes later as we arrived, kissing Veronica on the cheek and sliding into the seat next to her, the one right opposite me. I grit my teeth and looked away.

Besides that, the rest of the evening was really fun. I had all this nervous pent-up energy, and I didn't know what to do with it. You'd think I'd be tired after playing basketball for so long, but I wasn't.

"Hey Alex, can we work on the project? I'm free right now." Shawn asked suddenly, after finishing his turkey club sandwich.

"Oh, um sure?"

"Great, let's go. See you guys." And with that he got up, and awkwardly dragged me by the hand outside the café and to his car. What a weirdo.

I didn't say anything the entire ride, and neither did he, which was just fine by me. His house seemed to be empty again, which I was actually thankful for since I did not want to run into his father.