11

Hypothesis; becoming friends with the friends of the subject means progress towards my goal

Check in on her? She was the one who decided to detach herself from her daughter after everything that happened. She decided to turn to drugs for comfort and me? I was left to fend for myself and her needs.

I scored straight A's at school, strived to have great recommendations from teachers, ignored all the bullying I received for having a drug addict of a mother and bagged a scholarship in highschool. All by myself. And she was worried about me checking on her?

Loud cheering from the students gathered round the basketball court in the school's stadium snapped me out of my thoughts. Beside me, someone jumped out of their seat, hitting my arm in the process and whacking me back into reality.

The reality where Chanelle was seated a few rows behind, clad in all black and glaring at me like I was a sausage she wanted to fry. To her left, Carol had her attention buried in the game while to her right, Cherry was typing furiously on her phone.

"Focus," Chanelle mouthed to me, pointing towards the game.

I frowned and faced forward, towards the game, but my mind still hovered around my mom. I'd transferred the money to her this morning as promised and she'd sent me an "I love you" in reply. While I should have been happy about her showing some emotion towards me, I'd been here before. It took a lot of unfulfilled promises for me to realize that she loved me only when she got something from me.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I exhaled and tried to focus on the game. Honestly, I didn't know the first thing about basketball. I didn't even know why I'd agreed to come here when I had an unfinished art project waiting for me in the hostel.

Oh wait, I did; for money.

We were over fifteen minutes into the second half of the game and by the scoreboard, our team was really kicking the other teams asses. My gaze easily found Daniel. He moved swiftly across the pitch, easily bouncing the ball around, dribbling and making smooth passes while the opposing team struggled to gain possession.

Daniel signalled towards the dark-haired guy on his team who, in turn, moved forward into the scoring circle. After faking a pass to another of his teammates to distract the guy marking him, he passed the ball to the dark haired guy who made a clear shot through the hoop.

The students erupted in cheers again but in the corner, the other team's coach tossed his clipboard to the ground and cursed at some of his players. The sight almost made me chuckle but I settled with a smile before focusing my gaze on Daniel.

He seemed to be scanning the crowd now. Even before his eyes locked on mine, I knew it was me he was looking for.

I couldn't resist the smile that came on my face when he smiled and waved at me. A few students turned to see who Daniel Brighton was giving so much attention to. The girl in front of me turned around in her seat, lifting a single brow and scanning the fuck out of me.

"Er. Hi?" I grinned at her. There was nothing jealous about her stare, just amazed. And I found it strange. I kinda expected all the girls at school to be like that bartender brunette from the coffee shop.

She surprised me further with a grin. "Hi!"

I nodded at her and went to look at Daniel but he was already immersed in the game. Wondering why I hadn't noticed that the game had kicked off again, I picked up my bottle of water from beside me and took a large swig.

Daniel played basketball like he was dancing. Each duck, dribble, faking or pass, calculated and fluid. If I focused, it was almost mesmerizing. I had no idea why they hadn't just ended the game. We had only three minutes left and the other team was down by six points. I doubted with the little possession they had so far they'd be able to make up that gap.

This was mockery.

One of the other basketball players on our team passed the ball to the dark haired guy who made a field goal. As the ball flew through the hoop, all the students spring to their feet and the alarm set off, signalling the end of the game.

"That's what I'm talking about!" The girl from earlier shouted, pumping a fist into the air.

The team huddled around each other, exchanging hugs and fist bumps. I couldn't help but smile as I remembered when Daniel had said. Their friendship really made them the best team in the league. Maybe I should invest my time more in basketball. It seemed fun.

I bit my lip when Daniel found my gaze again and flashed me his grin. If I thought the attention from earlier was something, it doubled when he started running towards me. My eyes went round as he mounted the steps, approaching me in fluid movements. Sweat glistened on his toned arms and his ponytail bounced around as he made his way to me.

As if on cue, the people on my row moved to give him room to come to me. My insides felt giddy for some reason. Was I supposed to hug him now? I mean he'd won the game so...

"Freshman." His voice was low, breaths coming in fast. "You came."

I smirked, but my heart raced. "We had a deal after all." Standing up, I contemplated whether to actually hug him or not. If my life didn't say that much, I wasn't really too much of a hugger and I really didn't want to get all sticky from his sweat.

"Yes. It wouldn't be noble of you to chicken out after making me drink liquid sorrow and caffeine."

Chuckling, I tucked my hands into my pockets, peering up at his smiling face. "You're not bad at basketball."

Daniel lifted a brow in amusement, the smile still on his lips. "I have been told I'm Furman's golden boy after all. Gotta live up to the title." We shared a small laugh and from the corner of my eye, I caught Chanelle adjusting her sunglasses trying blend in.

It'd suck real bad if Daniel saw her. I could as well kiss my twenty five grand adios.

"Freshman?" I blinked, catching myself and returning all my attention to Daniel. He chuckled. "I was asking if you'd like to meet the team. They won't stop asking about the girl who made me drink chocolate latte."

Grinning, I tilted my head to the side and shrugged. "I mean, I am pretty awesome."

"Yeah, and I'm the asshole." He chuckled and extended his hand for me to take. "Come on."

I bit down on the inside of my cheek. Did I really have to hold his hand? In front of the C-triplets? The last time I'd held Daniel's hand I'd experienced that uncomfortable tingling.

Against my better judgement, I took his hand and under the hot gazes of everyone around—including Chanelle—he led me to his teammates.

They were speaking to each other in a serious tone. The dark-haired guy had his hands on his waist as he addressed the rest of his teammates and they listened to every word he spoke like they'd drown otherwise. I guessed that after Daniel, he was next on the team. He spoke to them like a father would to his kids. Somehow, it reminded me of how dad would scold me for stealing cupcakes from his batches.

"That's enough, Jase," said Daniel with a smile. When Jase turned around to face him, Daniel let go of my hand and stepped towards him. A strange cold feeling enveloped me immediately. "We did a pretty good job. It wouldn't kill you to praise yourself sometimes."

"There's always work to do, Captain." To Jase's reply, Daniel snorted. I almost turned to vapor when Jase's hot gaze practically fell on me as well as those of his teammates. The three guy behind Jase had matching pouts on their lips kinda like Daniel's. Did they rehearse it?

"Who's this?" asked Jase attention zeroing in on me. I tried my best to hide my gulp. His almost seven-foot frame intimidated the shit out of me.

Daniel placed a hand on his shoulder making Jase turn his attention to him. "Will you stop trying to fry her before you even meet her?"

Jase's eyebrows shot up. "I'm not—"

A gasp from the back interrupted him. The Asian-looking guy behind had his eyes wide as saucers. "Is that her?"

The guy beside him who looked oddly identical to him in a way, broke into a boyish smile. "Chocolate latte girl."

How sweet.

"Hi," I said with a smile, sending them all an awkward wave while they pulverized me with curious stares.

I watched with hidden amazement as realization dawned on each of the guys' faces. For the first time asides in the picture Daniel had sent, I saw Jase smile. It was a beautiful smile.

"Noah, is it?" he inquired, taking a step towards me. I nodded, still mesmerized by him, by them. I was talking to the top basketball players in the league so my reaction was justified if you ask me. He laughed and tilted his head in Daniel's direction. "Our captain over there doesn't shut up about you."

With a smile, I threw a funny look towards Daniel. "Really?"

The culprit stepped forward and swatted Jase in the head causing the latter to chuckle. "It's because you morons never stop asking who keeps taking all my attention."

"I'm taking your attention? You're the one always running after me."

"Haha," said Daniel flatly, looking at me with an equally bland expression. "Don't flatter yourself, Freshman."

The fifth guy and probably the most silent of all, finally spoke. "She's a newb?" After receiving a nod from Daniel, he wore another smile. "Welcome to Furman, Noah. How come you didn't tell us a freshman broke your two-year no chocolate record?"

Daniel groaned and his teammates laughed at his expense. The identical—kinda—guys from the back, came forward. One of them immediately swallowing my form with a hug.

Completely taken by surprise and unable to reach the top of his back properly, I awkwardly tapped his lower back.

"I'm Tae," he said, pulling away, still smiling. I smiled back and he motioned towards the guy beside him. "That's my twin, Hyun. And before you ask, no we're not identical."

I wasn't going to ask. I mean, anyone could see they weren't. But they did have similar features. Like brothers. They had the same blonde hair, the same cute nose and thin lips and the same oval-shaped faces. Of the entire team, they looked the cutest.

Hyun waved at me with a grin and I returned the wave.

Tae pointed to the fifth guy. "That's Asher. He's not really a people person."

Asher glared at him but the guy didn't seem moved in the slightest. "Fuck you, Tae."

Tae's smile was unwavering when he turned back to me. "I think we're going to be the best of friends. Anyone who annoys Daniel is a friend of mine."

I couldn't help but laugh. Tae and I were going to get along swell.