Chase

22

SATURDAY

3: 26 PM

"You're such a dirtbag," I flinched, trying to push Kevin's hand away from the water. He laughed, flicking me with the water. "I'll actually toss you in there."

"You can't even push me." He taunted, a daring smile on his face.

"Yes I can." I tried pushing Kevin with my hands against his chest but he didn't budge. What the hell? I tried again and he still didn't move. He only laughed at my attempts, looking down at the river. We were beside the park and I could hear the sound of people playing basketball at the court pretty close to here.

I saw Kevin glance at them, a small smile coming to his face at the sight. I never really took in how much he loves basketball. He'd been playing it his whole life. And he was good at it. Really good. I figured he would want to play what he loved for the rest of his life.

"You're going to a school for basketball, right?" I blurted out.

Kevin's eyebrows furrowed at the mention of school, of post-secondary. We've never really spoken about it before and my curiosity got the best of me. His eyes flickered around my face. "Um, yeah, I'm going to school in America for ball. It's better exposure."

"When did you decide on that?"

"Since grade eleven. A lot of schools have kept an eye on me," He didn't sound like he was bragging. He was stating a fact. His eyes go back to the water. "What about you?"

"I'm staying around here," I told him. I was going to a university a couple hours away from home. "So you're leaving?"

"That's always been the plan, S."

"It's going to be weird not seeing you so often." I mumbled.

Kevin laughed, the sound clear and amazing. "Don't tell me that you're going to miss me, are you S?"

I rolled my eyes, moving to walk alongside the river. Kevin caught up beside me. "You're going to miss me?"

"Are you going to miss me?" I retorted.

He wagged a finger in my face. "No, no, don't play that game. I asked you first."

"And I asked you second. I'm glad we're stating the obvious."

Kevin grinned, staring at me with some type of astonishment in his eyes that sent my heart in a frenzy. "You're so difficult sometimes."

I started walking towards a grass hill. When we reached the top, I sat down on the grass, feeling the sun's warmth on my skin. It was one of those spring days; slight breeze, the perfect warmth. There were only a couple of clouds in the sky and then there was Kevin who took a seat next to me. He let himself lie down on the glass, his eyes closed.

I stared at him from my seated position. From his hair to his nose, his closed eyes, his longer than should be eyelashes, to the faint stubble on his cheeks that struggled to hide the little blush on his skin, to his lips.

I didn't realize I was staring at the boy that made me want to trace my index finger along his features. To probably stare at him for a long time, to run my fingers through his hair, to kiss him.

"S?" He suddenly said and I shook myself out of my daze.

"Yeah?"

His eyes opened, completely unaware that I had been admiring him. "I asked, how's Raina? I didn't get to ask on Friday. Did you guys talk?"

"We did. We're pretty good right now. I didn't realize that we could just talk and everything can come out. Every misunderstanding could be spoken about and we're finally back to where we used to be just older. I missed her."