Chapter 19

Noah

"Alright good practice boys, on the line." Coach announced, clapping his hands twice.

"Uh coach?" Roy raised his hand. "The girls game starts in five minutes."

"On the line." Coach repeated, shaking his head.

There were grumbles from the rest of the team.

"Why is he running practice today? He's not even the head coach." Mick grumbled, pushing his sweaty hair back from his face as he walked towards the edge of the court.

"Just suck it up and run them and we can get to the game as fast as possible." I replied, wiping my hands on my shorts as I got into a ready stance.

The fact that Harper was still playing basketball made me anxious as hell, especially when I wasn't at the games.

"Suicides on my whistle." Coach said, walking over to the bench so that he wasn't in our way.

I took a deep breath, hoping he was in a good mood and wouldn't make us run too far.

The gym was silent in anticipation, just heavy breathing and the occasional scuffle of a shoe.

Then all of a sudden Coach loudly clapped his hands together.

A few guys jumped forwards but instantly stopped when they realized it wasn't a whistle.

"Have a good weekend. Let's get to the girls' game." Coach said with a single nod of his head.

I let out a sigh, relief flooding through me.

I didn't wait for Mick and Roy like I usually do, I didn't even grab water.

I grabbed my bag and jogged towards the door.

Nearly slipping on the freshly waxed floors of the hallways, I jogged towards the main athletic wing of the school.

They redid all of the indoor sports facilities but kept the old complexes a few years ago, so we had a main gym and a main pool, then practice locations for each.

I went through he locker room, taking a short cut to avoid the crowds outside of the gym.

I tossed my bag in the general direction of the locker room and pulled my warm up jacket over my head as I walked out into the gym.

The teams were just huddling around the bench, about to start the game.

Harper saw me and I gave her a thumbs up.

She winked at me before turning back to listen to what her coach was saying.

I walked over to the spot that my team always sits, taking a seat towards the back.

Mick and Roy quickly joined me with the rest of the guys and the game was under way.

"Why are you so eager to watch tonight?" Mick asked curiously.

"I dunno." I muttered. "Just got a weird feeling."

Coach was sitting directly in front of me and I was worried that if he got suspicious, he'd start asking questions.

It was close enough when my parents made a surprise visit two weeks ago. We'd only just gotten him off of his desire to go talk to them.

"Why are they starting her on point?" Coach frowned, turning around to look at me.

"Stella Rogers tore her ACL last weekend, Harper's stepping up in her position." I explained, my eyes trained on Harper as she dribbled the ball up the court. "She's got it though."

"She's moving around too much, she's got to see the court before she moves." Coach frowned, looking anxious.

"Give her time, she'll get into a rhythm." I muttered, leaning forwards with my elbows on my knees.

"Ooh." Coach said, leaning forwards in anticipation as Harper had a clear path to the basket.

"Take it up, Harper!" Mick called, leaning forwards also.

I almost couldn't watch as she weaved in between two players and jumped up for a lay up.

The ball bounced off of the back board before sliding right through the net.

"YEAH HARPER!" Roy and Mick exclaimed, jumping up in synchronization.

"Woo!" I joined their cheering, a smile forming on my face.

"That's my girl!" Coach called, clapping his hands together enthusiastically.

Harper glanced over at us, a huge smile on her face.

The rest of the game was a complete breeze.

We won 43-22 and Harper personally scored 21 of those points, she was absolutely on fire.

"Dude!" I exclaimed as she walked up to us after getting her things from the locker room. "You killed it." I laughed, pulling her into a massive hug.

"Ugh you're still sweaty." Harper grimaced as I squeezed her one last time.

"Yeah you're not innocent there either, you're drenched." I told her, stepping back so she could talk to her dad.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked away from the crowd. He was no doubt giving her constructive criticism while she pretended to listen but in reality was already checked out of the conversation.

But I knew that she's give him the satisfaction of telling her. They were working on strengthening their relationship and that meant pretending to be interested sometimes.

"Careful, your love is showing." Mick teased, shoving my shoulder.

"Huh?" I raised my eyebrows, turning to face the two of them.

"You're looking at her like she's the last pizza roll or some shit." Roy explained, shaking his head.

"DUDE YOUR GIRLFRIEND KICKED ASS!" Someone exclaimed behind me, jumping onto my back.

I spun around in shock, nearly falling over from the added weight on my back.

"Jasey? What the fuck?" I laughed as the girl jumped down from assaulting me. "What are you doing here?"

"Harper's been trying to get us to come to a game for ages, I didn't know you'd be here." Hank laughed, walking up to me as well.

"Shit, hey man." I laughed, giving my old best friend a hug.

"You're gross." Jasey grimaced, wiping her hands on her knees. "Why are you all sweaty?"

"It's called practice, genius." I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, Hank Ranson." Hank introduced himself to Mick and Roy.

"Yeah we've met." Mick replied with a smile.

"Oh yeah! That day that this guy lost his shit." Hank laughed, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Man that was a while ago..."

"Your fault for not coming to visit more."

"Yeah what a shame you can't drive..." Hank gave me a look.

"You think I'm voluntarily stepping foot in a city that contains my parents and Harper's mom? Bullshit." I shook my head.

"Yeah yeah whatever, how've you been?" Jasey asked. "I can't even remember the last time I saw you."

"Yeah for real though." I shook my head. "I've been good, you know."

"Of course he's been good, he's back with me." Harper grinned, wrapping her arms around my waist as she appeared behind us. "Hey Jase."

"I'm spending the night, by the way." Jasey told her with a smile.

"Sick, party at Coach's house." Roy said with a grin.

"Not a chance." Coach shook his head as he walked past. "Jasey, hi." He smiled.

"Hey Mr. L." Jasey waved.

"I'm Roy, by the way." Roy held out his hand to Jasey. "And I'd love to get to know you better."

"Nice to meet you." Jasey laughed. "Not interested."

"Damn cuts right to the chase."

"Already told you she's not your type." Harper shrugged, pulling her bag up onto her shoulder. "But Jase, let's get going."

"What are you up to tonight?" I asked Hank, tightening my grip on Harper. Harper laughed but didn't try and get away any more.

"Uh, I was just gonna see what you were up to." Hank shrugged.

"Sick, you wanna crash at my place?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Planning on it."

"Alright, I'll see you later." Harper said to me, looking up at me with a grin.

"See ya, good game." I grinned, placing a kiss to her lips.

Harper winked at me before taking off with Jasey.

"See you around." Roy said before walking away with Mick.

"I just gotta get my bag from the locker room then we'll go. Have you met my aunt and uncle yet?"

"Yeah probably."

"Alright sick, they're totally cool though."