Zander doesn't bother me for the rest of the game and my performance improves dramatically. I manage to score twice in the second round.

The evening sun has already begun to set, slowly disappearing over the horizon. A cool breeze settles amongst us and I can't help but feel that this evening has turned out better than I'd imagined.

Instead of sitting alone in my room, eating my take away in misery, I'm here instead, standing under the clouds playing cro-hockey with Luke and his family.

Luke playfully competes with me, trying to steal the ball before I make a hit. I'm laughing so hard, my ribs hurt. I push him away and make a pass for the hoop but it only dribbles off to the right, missing my target completely.

"You!" I point a finger at him, tears stinging my eyes from laughing so hard. "You should be disqualified!"

Luke simply smirks, his grin mischievous as he makes an attempt at scoring and is unsurprisingly successful.

I roll my eyes as he smiles at me victoriously. I don't know why I've never really noticed him before. I mean I've known of him, everyone in our state knows who Luke Bradshaw is but I'd never really known him.

It makes me realise that I want to spend more time with him, I want to learn more about the guy who's currently flaunting his croquet skills dramatically while his sister mouths off about what a show off he is.

I bite my lip, resisting the smile when he pretends to tackle Indica making her scream profanities.

I've never felt this way about a guy before.

The realisation sinks in slowly, like lead settling into my veins. In all my twenty years of life, this is the first time I've actually wanted to spend more time with a guy. I tuck the long handled mullet into the grass, letting its wooden hilt rest on my side.

Elizabeth would scream if she knew this. My heart tugs with a longing for my best friend, wishing I could share this with her. The corners of my lips lift, imagining her reaction to finding out I'm not an asexual, the term she's used for me for years.

Indica yells at me when the ball comes hurtling my way. I snap back to reality, going into full competitive mode as I reach my mallet out for it. Someone else comes charging, hoping to steal it off me but I out manoeuvre him, doing some bizarre dribbling that would make Pele turn in his grave.

Nevertheless, I make a throw and the ball tramples the grass, heading directly for the hoop ring to my far left. Everyone pauses and it's as if everything is moving in slow motion. The ball rolls forward, second by second and I hold my breath until it runs past the hoop, earning our team a point.

I jump up and down happily, screaming like I'd just lead my team to a Super Bowl victory. Indica, who isn't even on our side rushes up to me and hugs me happily. My team walks over, all cheering after my goal lead us to win this round.

"Not bad for a first timer," Luke winks, before he heads off to collect the hoops on the ground. Everyone gathers closer and even Zander congratulates me in a soft voice.

I thank everyone, beaming from ear to ear. Luke's father approaches and lifts up his palm. For some reason I tense so hard that my muscles lock in, body going rigid with fear. I hunch forward protectively, sucking in a breath as I wait for the slap but it never comes.

Mr. Bradshaw frowns in confusion at my reaction and I notice Zander watching me curiously. It is only then that I realise Luke's father was going in for a high five and here I am thinking he was going to hit me.

I quickly straighten up, blood rushing to my face just as Mr Bradshaw quickly lowers his hand.

"Good game, Danielle." He smiles at me cautiously and my pulse is racing because no one knows about my family dynamic. But Mr Bradshaw looks like he's putting the pieces together in his brain. "You should come over more often and play. It would be nice to have you over."

Is that sympathy I hear in his voice? His expression is polite and placid, I really can't tell.

"Thanks Mr Bradshaw," My throat tightens at the gesture, even though his invitation may just be a formality. Luke's family has been so welcoming the entire evening, their happiness and general amiability is infectious. I like being around them and would love the opportunity to spend time with them again. "I would love that."

Just then Luke and Indica join us and I breathe a sigh of relief, thankful that Luke didn't see the way I reacted to his father.

"Mom's calling for us to finish the left overs." He tells his father and then he turns to me. "You joining, Danielle? You haven't eaten anything yet."

His gaze is so expectant, so hopeful it makes me feel all warm inside. I am about to tell him that I must have over stayed my welcome when Mr Bradshaw answers for me.

"She must stay. Luke will walk you back, okay dear." He reaches out a hand tentatively, gesturing to the house. "If your parents ask, I'll talk to them."

I gulp softly, that fatherly, protective tone of voice is something so foreign to me.

Indica tugs on my arm. "Come onnn." She drawls. "My friends have all gone back, you're all I have now."

"Hey, hey," Zander pretends to look offended. "I thought we were besties?"

"You wish," Luke pats him on the back as they walk ahead to the lighted up porch. "Indica's allergic to footballers. She's sick of them because of me."

"I can fix that problem," Zander teases and Indica makes a vomiting sound, pretending to throw up on the grass.

"Stay away from my sister," Luke warns playfully and Zander only laughs, the conversation light hearted because it's obvious Zander sees Indica as his little sister as well with the way he treats her.

I resist a smile and quickly check my phone for any texts or missed calls from my parents. Sure enough the phone screen remains bare, no notifications whatsoever. I quickly tuck my phone into my pocket and allow Indica to drag me into their house.

Most of the guests have gone home already - thankfully Mrs Wyatt as well - so we settle in the living room. My plate is piled with spaghetti, meat loaf and potato salad. I dig into it, savouring the delicious bolognese sauce which Mrs Bradshaw boasts is her very own recipe.

The living room is large and spacious, with sofas arranged around the tv mounted on the wall. Numerous pictures of the Bradshaw family litter the walls, some with a little Luke smiling back at me, others with him all grown up in his football gear.

There's an entire wall of memorabilia dedicated to his achievements on the field. It's no secret Luke is a great receiver on the pitch, his catches and touch downs are well known, not to mention the way he burns defenders by outplaying them.

The likelihood of him getting drafted into the NFL after college is the highest amongst Daltech starters, his plays are celebrated more than our own quarterback Eric's.

I can tell the Bradshaw family is extremely proud of their son's achievements so far, especially his father with the way he talks about his son.

"So Danielle, tell us more about yourself. Luke here tells me you are quite the fire cracker." Mrs Bradshaw sits down next to me on the couch, just as I slurp a string of spaghetti into my mouth.

He's seated across from me and he quickly raises his hands in defence. "It's all Indica. I never said anything, I swear."

"Oh come on. Everyone knows you told Zander to get his head out of his ass in public." Indica plops down on the small foot seater in front of me, stretching her legs out in front of her. "It's just that Luke couldn't stop raving about it, teasing Zander about the humiliation over and over again."

My mouth falls open but I quickly close it because I'm still chewing some pasta. I watch Luke's face turn red and he looks down at his food, pretending to focus on the piece of potato he just stabbed with his fork.

"Trust me, I couldn't stop thinking about it as well," Zander mutters drily from the seat next to me.

I turn to him and his sordid expression makes me stifle a laugh.

"You kind of deserved it though," I murmur, eyes glinting with malicious delight.

Zander leans back, the ghost of a smile on his face as he studies me. "Did I? If I recall correctly, I was busy minding my own business till someone clumsily bumped into me."

I feign innocence and shrug. "You should pay more attention to your surroundings then."

Zander keeps his cool but I notice a muscle tick in his jaw.

"Anyway," Mrs Bradshaw steers the conversation away from that incident. "We'll be coming to the game next Friday. Will you be there, Danielle?"

"Of course, Danielle's our very own cheerleader." I almost choke on my food when Luke says those words.

Mrs Bradshaw looks at me in surprise just as I wave my hands in front of me rapidly. "No, that was a one time thing. I just did it for fun."

"Your cheerleader get up is trending on the forums," Indica adds proudly. "I don't think you should stop."

"What?" My interest piques and both Zander and I lean forward as she showcases her phone screen.

My eyebrows raise when I see that the thread Stacy created has five hundred hits and the comment section is filled with thirsty comments and some unnecessary hate.

"What is this?" Zander takes the phone from her, reading through the comments as his thumb scrolls down rapidly. "Danielle, there are so many assholes here talking about you."

"Language." Mrs Bradshaw admonishes and he throws her a sweet smile.

I watch him exit that thread only to be met with hundreds more. The threads with the most hits are high up on the list and most of them are about him. He clicks on the top one, the one about him and his latest girlfriend.

"What the..." His voice trails off as he reads further. "Half of this isn't even true. Who even wrote this?"

"You haven't seen the online threads before?" I ask him suspiciously. How can someone who goes to Daltech not know about this?

"Come on, bro. Ignore those things, they're created and run by people who have nothing else to do. Indica, you shouldn't even be on these sites. You're not a Daltech student," Luke says and his sister simply sticks her tongue out at him.

Zander's mouth forms a tight line. It's obvious he doesn't like what people have wrote about him. He gives the phone back to Indica and then makes her teach him how to access them on his phone. Something tells me he's going to be doing a lot of reading tonight.

When it's about half past nine, I realise this time I should definitely head back.

Zander leaves as well. He offers to drive me back but the last thing I want is for him to see where I live so I refuse. Luke and I watch his sport car zip through the empty suburban street and then we walk back slowly.

"Tonight was nice. I'm happy you joined." He places his hands in his pockets and looks down at the gravel road ahead of us.

"I didn't expect to enjoy it so much. I love your family, Luke. They're adorable, especially Indica."

He laughs, his voice carrying into the night air like a melody. "You must be possessed. Indica is a nightmare on two legs."

We walk past the park which is now barren at this time of night. Sometimes there are vagrants who take up the benches to sleep or drink, it makes me feel safer that Luke is here by my side.

"So I hear you've been coming back more often to jog here at our humble neighbourhood park." I murmur, watching as he runs a hand through his hair nervously.

"What can I say, the track is nice."

I smile so wide that my cheeks hurt. There is no track here, only a winding footpath. Maybe I should start taking more walks as well.

We talk a little more about his grandfather who served in the war. Luke barely knew him but the entire family values his achievements and acts of service. Luke admits he wants to be remembered with such respect just like his grandfather and I want to tell him that that's highly likely at the rate he is going in football.

We stop downstairs and I stand in place, not wanting to leave his side and head back to my chaotic life back in the flat.

"See you back at campus?" Luke asks hopefully. "Maybe we should exchange numbers? Just in case."

There's that stupid smile that appears on my face again. I key in my number and then head up to the flat begrudgingly, eyeing his name on my phone with a ridiculous expression.

I'm about to step in when Stacy calls making me jump in the dark. She's screaming when I answer the phone, I have to cover my ears as I wait for her to calm down.

"What is it you crazy fool?" I ask her when she pauses, gasping for air.

"It worked! I'm telling you my plan worked!" She's shouting again and I have to raise my voice to ask what she means by that.

"Look at the thread I started." She instructs urgently. "Girl, this is insane. He's never done this before."

"Okay, calm your horses," I say as I put her on speaker and click on the tab quickly. The top comment glares back at me vividly, I have to blink a couple of times to make sure it's real.

Zander Wyatt has replied to the comments, causing a stir in the comment section. He only posted two words but it has set the thread on fire.

"She's mine."