Saturday...

'I'm still in love with you!'

All through Friday, Drake's words have been echoing through my head. He can't mean it, surely! After what he did, there's no way I can trust him again! But maybe he's changed...

"Hey! Didn't think you'd make it!" I hear a voice behind me, and I feel a sudden pang of guilt. How can I be thinking of Drake when I have such a wonderful boyfriend?!

"Hey, good luck today!" I exclaim, turning around and giving him a peck on the cheek.

Today is the day of the first basketball game of the season, between Maple Marshrup Academy and Lyons Institution. Noah looks great in his uniform, a red jersey along with matching shorts. On the back, it states the number 10 in thick, black letters along with 'Jameson' written on top of it.

"Eh, we don't really need it. Maple Marshrup has dominated Lyons for 7 years now," he remarks proudly.

"Great, then I dare you to beat them by at least ten points!"

He chuckles loudly. "Ten points? We'll beat them by at least twenty points!"

"I'm sure they're not that bad," I estimate.

"Wanna bet? Loser has to take winner out for an ice-cream."

"You're on!" I grin, and then the players are called onto the court. Noah gives me a quick kiss and runs off towards the team.

Smiling, I make my way through the bleachers, looking around the indoor court. It is a typical basketball court, with blue walls, and four rows of bleachers set against each wall. In the court, the teams are warming-up on their respective sides of the court.

I see Nicole waving at me and make my way over to her and the rest of the gang.

"Hey guys!" I grin, taking a seat beside Dahlia. Unfortunately, Dahlia did see the scene we made in the mall on Thursday, but she's basically just mad at Drake. "Where's Cameron?"

"Ron's the Shooting Guard of the team, remember? And he's definitely the best Shooting Guard MMA has ever had!" Nicole remarks proudly.

"Oh, right, I forgot. Hey, what position does Noah play?" I completely forgot to ask him that!

"He's Point Guard. Excited to watch him, huh?" she responds teasingly.

We talk and giggle for a minute, when Scott exclaims, "This is too much girliness for me! I'm gonna go sit with Toby."

"Kay, bye Scott," I sing, and he shakes his head at us and walks off.

I look down at the court and see our team in a huddle, around a man in his forties, who I assume is the coach. To make sure, I ask Dahlia, "Who is that guy?"

"That's Coach Davis. They say he was the best player in New York when he was eighteen."

The team chants 'Go Maple Marshrup' and breaks the huddle, five players running onto the court and shaking hands with the opponents.

After a minute, the referee signals the beginning of the game. Within the first thirty seconds, Noah dunks the ball in the basket. I cheer emphatically, jumping up and down, and Noah looks up at me and shoots me a kiss, the way Zac Efron does in 17 Again.

Towards the end of the fourth quarter, with less than a minute on the clock, Maple Marshrup Academy leads 58-41.

'Looks like our captain's gonna have to buy me an ice-cream,' I think, smirking.

With 15 seconds on the clock, the Center of MMA dribbles the ball towards the opponent's court.

He shoots, but the ball bounces off the rim. The Small Forward grabs it and passes it to Cameron, who's standing just outside of the Three-Point Arc. With three seconds on the clock, Cameron shoots, and it falls into the basket, just as the referee whistles the end of the game. I look up at the scoreboard, wondering if that shot counted, and it reads 61-41. We won with 20 points to spare!

It's euphoria in the bleachers as everyone jumps up and down, yelling and cheering. I whoop for the team, and Noah looks up at me and gestures for me to come down.

I run down into the court and jump into his arms, grinning like an idiot. "You did it!" I exclaim joyfully.

"Ha ha! You lost the bet!" he whispers in my ear, while spinning me around.

Smiling, I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him affectionately, right there in the middle of the basketball court.

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Half an hour after the game, Noah and I stroll into Cold Stone, holding hands.

"Have you ever been here before?" Noah asks me, as we look through the flavors.

"Not in Abu Dhabi, but we did have Cold Stone back in Boston."

"Hello sir, would you like to order now?" the Filipino guy behind the counter asks Noah.

"Actually, I'll order," I tell him authoritatively.

"Of course ma'am," he says quietly.

"Okay, so we'll have... Birthday Cake Remix," I say inquisitively, looking at Noah.

"Sure," Noah agrees.

"What size ma'am?" the guy behind the counter inquires.

"Love It."

We watch as he sets to work making the creation.

"Don't you just love the way they toss the scoop?" I breathe.

Pulling me closer to him, Noah whispers, "When this same guy was creating the ice-cream for me last week, he tossed it and when it came back down, he missed. The whole sticky mess plopped onto the floor, and let me tell you, last week, this place was busy!"

"No way!" I giggle, hoping I could've seen that.

The guy hands us our cup curtly, and coldly says, "Would you like anything else?"

"I think he heard you," I mumble to Noah, asking the man for two spoons.

"That'll be 21 dirhams please."

I pay the man, grabbing some tissues as well.

"Thank you ma'am. Please come again," the man says, glaring at us.

Noah chuckles under his breath as we get ourselves a table.

"Mmmm this is good! I haven't eaten Cold Stone in a month," I mention, savoring the taste.

We eat in silence for a while, then Noah offers, "Wanna play twenty questions?"

"Yeah okay. Let me start... What's your favorite band?"

"The Beatles," he responds without hesitating.

"Really? Well I do like Yesterday, but that's sort of the only song I like by the Beatles."

"Hey, the Beatles are awesome, okay?" he exclaims, making me giggle.

"Someone doesn't know how to take a joke!," I sing, calming him down.

"Alright, my turn," he says, rubbing his hands together. "If you could have one wish, what would it be?"

"Ooh, good one!" I ponder. "Well that depends... do you want it to be realistic or unrealistic?"

"Let's go with the unrealistic one first."

"Then it's easy... I'd want to be able to play all the musical instruments in the world perfectly."

"That's not unrealistic," he counters.

"Yeah, not if I live a hundred years," I laugh.

He chuckles softly, and takes my hand, staring into my eyes, when my jaw suddenly drops.

"What is it?" he asks, turning around.

For the guy who had just entered the ice-cream parlor is the guy I least want to see right now. Drake just seems to be popping up everywhere!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

His back is turned towards us as he picks out what to order.

"Pollen?" Noah growls. I'm starting to think he doesn't like him very much. Another thing we have in common! :)

Drake finishes ordering and turns around, waving at me casually. I feel my temper flare up, and turn to Noah.

"Excuse me for one second?"

"What? Where you going?" he asks curiously.

"I have to talk to him," I respond calmly.

"Rhea, I don't feel comfortable with the idea of you talking to him alone."

"Noah," I drawl. "I know Drake, and at least physically, he would never hurt me."

"Well maybe, but..." he argues.

"I just have to talk to him for one minute!" I growl.

"Fine," he sighs, giving in.

I walk over to Drake, who's sitting in a 4-figure position and texting at a table across the aisle from ours.

"Yo Rhea," he acknowledges, without looking up from his phone. How'd he know I was here?

Shrugging off the thought, I harshly cry, "Why are you following me? Stay away from me!"

At that, he looks up at me and stands up. Opening his arms, he responds, "Rhea, I made a mistake! Doesn't everyone deserve a second chance? I love..."

"No!" I yell. "I don't need this bulls*it from you right now. I can't trust you again! And to answer your question, you don't deserve a second chance."

In a calmer tone, I continue, "Just. Stop. Following me. Kay?"

And with that I walk back to Noah, leaving Drake staring at my back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sorry about that," I murmur, taking a seat across from Noah again.

A long silence ensues, after which Noah declares, "Rhea, we need to talk."

"Well what do you call what we're doing right now?" I joke.

"I mean it."

"Okay," I groan.

"You know, I'm not blind. I know something is going on between you and Pollen."

With a sigh, I reply, "Look Noah, I already told you, I don't even like Drake as a friend! Don't you trust me?"

"No, Rhea, I do trust you. It's him I don't trust. And if you, like, really honestly like me, just tell me what's going on. Just to give me some peace of mind," he says, rubbing his thumb over my cheek.

"What makes you think something's going on?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe 'cause he told you he loved you in front of me, when you were on a date with me!" he retorts with fervor.

"Okay! Fine," I sigh. "I'll tell you."

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Another major cliffhanger there!

What did you guys think of the cute Rhea, Noah moments? 

Picture up on top is of Rhea and Noah on their date. Adorable or not?!

For those of you who've never seen 17 Again, check out the Zac Efron-style kiss Noah shoots Rhea up on top.

VOTE! COMMENT!

~Ananya