"Can I come with?" He asked, an expectant smile on his face.

"Uh, I don't think mom would agree to that" I started, making his smile drop "But I also can't leave you at home alone, so yeah, I'd have to take you along" I finished and his smile was back.

"Yay! Thank you!" He exclaimed, hugging me and then ran off to his room. I stood up and followed him immediately because if I left him to dress himself up, he'd turn his whole closet upside down.

As I picked out clothes for him, I was still a bit skeptical as to what my mom would say. She wouldn't be mad right? I mean, I couldn't possibly leave him all alone at home now could I?

Anyways, I picked out black jeans, a yellow t-shirt and a tiny black converse. I swear, even my big toe could not fit in that shoe properly. Now we were matching. I checked the time to see that it was seven o'clock now and Clover still hadn't called.

We went to the living room and sat on the couch. He continued with his cartoons while I tried calling Clover. After the third try, she finally picked up.

"I'm so so sorry, Dani. I'm on my way there right now" she rushed out, not even giving me a chance to talk.

"Well, it's about time" I said, rolling my eyes "What took you so long?"

"Sorry, like we hoped, my mom's result was positive yay!" She informed me "But the doctor still confirmed that she needed lots of rest so I decided to get a part-time job"

"Really? That's great news! I mean, the result part of course" I said "And a part time job? How would you get one?"

"I already did" she said "One of the reasons why I'm late"

"Really? Wow, that was fast"

"I know right, I was driving past the mall on my way back from the hospital when I spotted a restaurant in need of a waiter few blocks away. I went in and met the owner and I barely had to answer a lot of questions before he hired me"

"Talk about being lucky" I commented.

"Yeah. So, are you excited for tonight?" She asked.

"Yeah, I think" I replied an unsure tone in my voice. Before now, I'd have replied with a very enthusiastic yes but after that phone call with my dad, I felt it better to just stay at home and never leave until all this was over.

"Speaking of tonight, I just pulled up in front of your house. Come on out!" She informed me and hung up.

"Come on, Tyler" I said to him, picking up his hand. I put off the TV and the lights and we went out the door. I locked it and we made our way to our ride. I put Tyler in the back seat and got into the front.

"Hello Tyler" Clover greeted him as she drove off. I texted my mom, hesitantly informing her about Tyler tagging along. I knew she won't be too happy about that but she wouldn't have wanted me to leave him at home alone.

"Hi" he replied, shyly. He was such a faux, I thought, chuckling.

"I didn't know he was coming along" Clover said.

"It's a long story" I replied and after that, we talked about random stuff. My eyes kept wandering to the rear view mirror to check on Tyler. He seemed to be in a good mood and I was happy about that.

When we arrived, I held him by the hand as we went into the school. Obviously, we were pretty late so the game had already started, but we managed to find seats near the top of the bleachers.

What was once our school hallway was now a mini market as there were a lot of stands selling snacks and drinks. Clover assured me that it was just for the game night though.

We watched the game for the remainder of the first eight minutes and then they went on a break. Blake's eyes caught mine as he sat on a nearby bench along with his other teammates and I waved, a smile on my face. He replied with one of his award winning smiles and just like before, he upset the butterflies in my stomach. Okay he had to stop doing that!

He seemed very excited and I'm guessing it was due to the fact that they were leading. He stared at me for some minutes longer before I broke the eye contact. I felt my cheeks heat up and I placed my palms over them. I sneaked another glance at him to see that he was laughing. I glared at him and then looked away. How dare he laugh, when he was the cause of my predicament?!

The game resumed minutes later and The Hornets were back on the court and so were the cheerleaders, cheering at the top of their voices. If Cynthia wasn't the head cheerleader, I would have loved their cheer choreography, which she came up with.

We cheered when the Hornets scored, booed when the Swans did and even Tyler seemed to be enjoying himself. He and Clover had gotten into a conversation but I can tell you that the topic wasn't going to be anything other than toys and cartoons. I pitied Clover because Tyler talked, like a lot, but she didn't seem to mind.

*  *  *  *  *

"Dani, can I get a corn dog?" Tyler asked as the game was nearing its end. We were in the last quarter now and talking that much definitely required lots of energy. Also, he didn't have anything before we left the house so I knew he was hungry. The only problem at the moment was that I really wanted to watch till the end of the game. I wanted to see the look on the Swans faces when we won.

"Sure, just wait a little, the game is about to end" I told him, patting his head.

"No, I want one now!" He started, getting off his seat.

"Listen Ty, I promise to get you 2 corndogs and even icecream if you just let me watch till the end of this game" I pleaded.

"But I'm hungry" he whined, holding onto his stomach.

"Hey don't worry, I'll take him" Clover piped, coming to my aid. She had been watching our banter and she knew how I felt about basketball, so I was really grateful.

"Will you also get me 2 corndogs and icecream?" He asked, turning to look at her with a toothy grin on his face.

"Yes Tyler and I can also get you a bag of potato chips along with that" she replied.

"Yay! Let's go then" he said, taking her hand "Bye Dani"

"Bye Ty" I chuckled and just as they were about to leave, I held Clover's other hand and squeezed it, practically begging her to bring him back ASAP. I knew they were only going to the hallway, but the school was really crowded at the moment and I don't know if you've noticed, but I tend to have negative thoughts.

"Don't worry Dani, they don't call me the best babysitter in the world for nothing" she leaned in and whispered, making us both laugh. Then she left with Tyler.

I turned back to the game and realized that I had missed quite a lot as only 5 minutes were left for the game to end now.

The game ended with Blake scoring the last shot and our side of the gym erupted in cheer and applause. We had won by a slim one point because apparently the Swans came very prepared. They were reckless and violent but that somehow helped them draw with the Hornets. Blake's last shot was unexpected but smooth and so last minute.

People started to leave the gym but Clover and Tyler weren't back yet so I sat there waiting. Some minutes after the gym had mostly cleared out and just a few people were left, there was a commotion on the court. I watched someone I assumed to be Jed, start up an argument and after some minutes of going back and forth between he and some members of the Hornets, he ended up crashing his fist into Blake's face. This caused both teams to launch into a heated fight.

I sprang up from my seat, grabbing both mine and Clover's bags and ran down the bleachers to meet a groaning Blake.

"Oh my God, Blake are you alright?" I asked, raising his head to look at me.

"Dani? I can't....I can't see anything clearly right now. Jed got me in my eye" he complained, as I held onto him.

"Shit. Come on, let's get you to the school nurse" I said as I helped him towards the entrance of the gym. The coaches broke up the fight and then his teammates caught up to us.

We all took him to the school nurse and when she was examining him, I took that opportunity to text Clover, telling her that we had left the gym and were now at the clinic. After some time, the nurse told us that it was nothing a few eye drops couldn't do and that he'd begin to see clearly very soon.

The boys left after saying their goodbyes to Blake and Thomas, who also waited behind. They were supposed to have an after party to celebrate their victory but Blake's chances of attending that had been ruined cause he was not in the mood anymore.

The nurse released us when Blake could see clearly again, like five minutes later and as we walked out into the hallway, I started to wonder where Clover was.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked, noticing the worried look on my face.

"Nothing, it's just that Clover left with my little brother some minutes to the end of the game to get corndogs and they aren't back yet" I said as I felt the anxiety growing inside of me. Okay, breathe Dani, this is school, nothing can happen.

"Maybe she went back to the gym" Thomas said "Have you tried calling her?"

"Yes, but she's not answering and I already texted her that we were at the nurse's office" I replied, still trying to calm myself.

All that effort went to waste when I heard Clover call my name and run up to us.

"There you are! I knew you guys were okay" I exclaimed, my hand on my chest and a smile on my face. I was so relieved, I sighed deeply. Just then, I noticed her scared face and that she was alone.

"Uh Clover, where's Tyler?"

*  *  *  *  *

Hiiii. Phew! That was a long chapter, probably the longest I've written so far 😂.

I looove this chap and I hope you do too.

Question: What do you think happened to Tyler?

Comment below what you think 😁.

Please don't forget to VOTE, drop COMMENTS and SHAREEE! Thanks!♡