Rivals

Hey everyone, here's part 3 of what will be called Love on the Baseketball Court Book 1: Rivals. I hope you like it. Please tell me what you think. This story and the characters are protected under copyright. Enjoy!

Marcela's Perspective

Tuesday morning, Sarah and I get up early like always and head off to the gym. We shoot around and do a few drills as we work on our skills.

"God, I can't believe Danielle had her boyfriend stay the night. I got zero sleep last night," I sigh.

"I know, right? The sounds they were making gave me nightmares," Sarah shutters.

"At least you don't have to sleep right underneath them. The bed wouldn't stop creaking and moving. I think I'm going to need therapy. Lots of therapy," I sigh.

She cracks up. "So, what classes do you have today?"

"General biology lecture and lab. That's it me. You?" I say.

"Really? What time? I have biology as well along with Intro to Psych," she says.

"I have it at 8:00 AM. So in an hour," I say.

"No way! Me too! What are the odds?" she asks.

"Probably pretty good considering we're both freshman," I say. She narrows her eyes at me. I laugh.

"Do you want to grab something to eat before we head to class? I'm starving," she says.

"Sure. We should probably freshen up too," I say.

"True, you kind of stink," she smiles.

"Hey! Are you sure it's not you, you're smelling?" I ask.

She just sticks her tongue out at me as we change our shoes and head back to the dorms. After we both clean up, we head down to the cafeteria and grab something to eat, our basketballs well in hand. "So, how were your classes yesterday?" I ask.

"Ehhh. They were alright. Only had two. English is nice, but I can't stand my math class," she says.

"How come?" I ask.

"I share it with Danielle," she says.

"Say no more," I laugh.

"There's also this total tool who won't take a hint," she says.

"Have you told him that you're gay?" I ask.

"Oh, not yet, but I intend to," she says. "Other than that, English class is nice. The professor is super gorgeous and I have this cute girl that I talked too along with Maly."

"Does her name happen to be Cassie?" I ask.

"Yeah, how did you know?" she asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I have Calc with her, along with Kennedy, Cat, Salenne, and Vertasha," I say.

"Wow, sounds like half the team is taking that class," she says.

"Yeah, it's nice. I think I have the same English professor," I say.

"Yeah? What do you think?" Sarah asks.

"She seems really nice," I say. I can totally see why she'd think Professor Jenna Porter is gorgeous. The beautiful brown hair, the curves, the way she's so casual with her class. She seems like she cares a lot about her students.

I look at my phone. "We should probably get going," I say.

"Yeah, you're right. Time kind of flew by," she says.

After we take care of our trays and rush back to the dorms to grab our things, we head off to the science building and barely make it to class on time. To my surprise we're in the same class as Cassie, the girl from calc who Sarah thinks is cute. She is cute, I'm not arguing that fact.

"Hey! What are the odds that we'd all have a class together?" Cassie asks.

"I know, right?" Sarah asks with a giddy smile.

"Yeah, what are the odds," I say, trying to feign excitement. I don't know why, but I really not all that fond of having Cassie in our class. Don't get me wrong, she's beautiful, absolutely gorgeous... And she's really nice and totally chill. I just... I don't know. Seeing Sarah light up when she sees her just... Am I jealous? No... Why would I be jealous?

"I'm pretty sure we're going to have to form groups for the labs, do you two want to form a group?" Cassie asks.

"Sure! That's a great idea," Sarah says. Great...

"Good morning class!" A weary haired woman says as she walks in with thick black-rimmed circular glasses. "My name is Professor Beatrix Hawkins and I am here to show you the intricacies of life itself. We will dive deep into the building blocks that make up all living organisms. We will explore the wonders of procreation and discover the biomes and habitats that animals and plants call home. Any questions so far?"

"Now, this class will be split into two portions. The lecture part and the lab. I will of course be with you during the lecture section and my assistant Solette Caldwell will be leading the lab portion of the class." Sarah and I exchange looks. Solette, as in our teammate? What are the odds? I feel like we've been saying that a lot lately.

Lab

As Sarah and I walk into the lab, Cassie's already sitting at a table. She waves us over and we join her. "I'm glad I have some familiar faces."

"Yeah, ditto," Sarah says.

"It is Solette," Sarah says as I turn to follow her gaze to see Solette Caldwell walking in. She looks somewhat professional with khakis and a maroon and gold collared shirt.

"Morning everyone. I'm Solette Caldwell, and I will be running the lab portion of the class." Her eyes meet ours and she can barely hold back a smile. "Today, we're going to go over lab safety and you'll all have an in-class assignment you will work on for the rest of class. We will usually have an experiment that will be discussed in the lecture beforehand. You can find the topic of each class in your syllabus. Any questions?"

2 weeks later

Sarah's Perspective

It's been two weeks since I sat down with Marcela and had that smoothie. It felt like that was the first real chat I've ever really had. It just feels so easy to talk to her. I feel like I can be myself around her without being afraid of being judged. Well, for the most part. I just wish I could tell her the way I feel about her. I'm so afraid that if I open up to her and tell her that I like her more than someone likes a friend things might change between us. Like somehow telling her the truth about my feelings will put a divide in our friendship.

I don't want to do that and yet remaining friends feels almost unbearable torture. Knowing that she will never feel the same way about me that I feel towards her just breaks the heart. We've spent so much time together in the last couple of weeks. Doing drills together, smoothies, and of course all the time we spend avoiding Danielle back at the dorms. I feel like a schoolgirl getting her first crush and yet it's on someone who I now consider my best friend.

I text Cat and ask if I can come over to talk. She of course says yes. It doesn't take me long to get to her room. Over the last couple of weeks, Cat and I have become rather close as well. As I arrive at the house, I make my way up to her room. Her doors open and she's sprawled on the bed reading.

"Hey," I say.

"Hey lil sis, what's up?" she says.

"Just came over to chat. Whatcha reading?" I ask.

"Oh just a stupid textbook," she says, snapping the textbook shut and tossing it aside. "Pop a squat."

I sit down next to her.

"Looks like something's on your mind, what's up?" she asks.

"I have a confession to make," I say.

Her eyes go wide. "Oh. Okay. hold up. Let me shut the door."

She walks up and shuts the door. "Okay, spill."

"I... I have feelings for Marcela and it sucks because I know she's straight." I take a deep breath as I let it all out. "And being around her is the worst kind of torture because all I want to do is kiss her and it sucks."

"Awww, you poor thing. I totally know how that feels and it sucks," Cat says as she pulls me into a hug. "But, how do you know she's not gay?"

"Come on, Cat. Isn't it obvious?" I ask.

"No, not at all. She's never really said she's gay or not. She's never had a boyfriend, at least not that I'm aware of. Of course, she's never really had a girlfriend either. But that being said, she's never really expressed interest in women."

"What should I do?" I ask.

"Let me talk to Dandi. I'll pop the question," she says.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" I ask.

"I'll ask if she's gay or not. That way you know for sure," she says.

"Really?"

"Of course, you're my little sis, besides, it'd be super cool if you and Dandi started dating. You remind me of Kennedy and myself. Plus, we could go on double dates," she smiles.

"That would be cool," I say. "And thanks."

"What are sisters for?" she asks.

"Honestly, never had a sister before so I wouldn't know," I say.

"Well you have a whole team of sisters now," she says, pulling me into a hug.

Marcela's Perspective

I couldn't think of a better way to spend my Saturday morning than sitting in the comfy chairs at the Bovee center sipping smoothies with Cat, Kennedy, and Sarah as they talk about celebrity crushes.

"Have you seen Kira from the Blades? She's completely adorable and her voice makes my whole body heat up," Cat says.

"I love The Blades!" I spit out.

"Who are The Blades?" Sarah asks.

"You don't know who The Blades are?" Cat asks.

"I'm not surprised, they're relatively new, but Cat has a huge crush on their lead singer," Kennedy says.

"Come on, they're going to blow up this year. I'll bet all the money in my bank account," Cat says.

"I agree. They're song Only Friends is amazing. I love it. You have to listen to it, Sarah," I say, I whip out my phone and pull it up on the Tube.

I watch Sarah's face as we listen to the song. I watch the wave of emotions across her face as if the lyrics have touched her soul. I hold my breath as it hits my favorite lyric.

The moon and all the stars in the night,

I would trade them all to spend a day in your light.

God, it makes me want to cry every time I hear those words. When the song finally comes to an end, Sarah looks like the one who's holding back the tears. "Wow... I can't believe I've never heard of them before. This song... It's good. So good. It kind of breaks my heart to listen to it though."

"Yeah, I love the story it tells. A girl who fell in love with her friend, but her friend doesn't feel the same way about her," I say.

"I can relate," she whispers.

"Really? Did you have a friend in High School you had feelings for?" I ask.

"What?" Sarah's eyes zip up to mine as her face blooms bright red. "Uh. Yeah. That's what I meant."

"Oh, I totally know how that feels," Kennedy says. "I had that happen to me as well. It sucks. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Kennedy, I'm sure she doesn't want to talk about lost love. Right, Sarah?" Cat and Sarah trade looks and I can see the relief on Sarah's face.

"So, Marcela... What about you? Did you have any crushes in High School? I know I sure did," Cat says.

"No, not really," I say.

"No boys? Or girls?" Cat asks.

"No... I was more concerned with basketball, grades, and trying to get a sports scholarship to play basketball. That and trying to avoid Hailey and her minions who liked to make my life a living hell," I admit.

"Wait a sec. Hailey Montgomery?" Cat asks.

"Yep..." I sigh.

"They were picking on you?" she says, anger flashing across her face.

I nod. "But it's in the past."

"Why didn't you say something to me? I could've done something," she says.

"I didn't want to get you involved. You were always helping me out. I needed to deal with my own problems," I say.

"But still. You know you can come to me, right?" she asks. I nod, even though I did come to her, but she blew me off. But the past is the past.

Sarah places her hand on my shoulder. "She better hope that she doesn't run into us here, I'm not afraid to knock a hoe out."

I laugh. "That's okay. Maybe she's changed? Besides, maybe she was in a bad place or something."

"Oh don't make excuses for her, Marcela. It doesn't matter what kind of shit she was going through, it's not okay to take it out on someone else. Hailey was always a spoiled brat," Cat says. "She better hope I don't see her or she will be in a bad place."

"Come on, Cat. Don't do that," I say.

"Marcela, you're our sister. We got your back," Kennedy says.

"Aww thanks," I say.

"Now, let's get back to crushes. How can you go through high school without having a crush? I had so many crushes. Ms. Evens our English teacher was on top of that list," Cat says.

"Ms. Evens? Seriously? Why?" I ask.

"Oh come on, you can't tell me she doesn't look so freaking gorgeous in those skirts!" Cat says.

"Whatever you say," I say.

"You know, you're hard to place, Dandi. What way do you swing?" Cat asks.

"What do you mean?" I sit up straight. Both Sarah and Kennedy perk up.

"Do you prefer girls or guys? Or both," Cat asks.

"I'm not gay!" I spit out before I can even think about it as I look around to see if anyone's listening. I don't think I'm gay. I mean, I can't be. My family wouldn't accept me if I was gay. I look up to see all three of them look as if I slapped them in the faces. Sarah especially looks hurt. Did I insult them? I didn't mean to. "I didn't mean it like that. I don't think there's anything wrong with being gay."

"I think I'm going to go, I've got homework to do," Sarah says as she avoids my eyes.

"Yeah, I'll come with you," Cat says. "I need to work on homework too."

"I guess we'll see you both later," Kennedy says as they get up to leave.

After they're long gone, I look up at Kennedy. "I hope I didn't insult them. I didn't mean it to come out like that."

"Don't worry about it, Dandi. They didn't take offense. There was nothing to take offense from. You're fine," Kennedy says.

"Can I ask you something?"

She shrugs. "Sure. You can ask me anything."

"How did you know you were gay?" I ask.

"Well, I was a freshman when I figured it out. I walked in on one of the boys changing in the locker room and saw a penis for the first time. I thought it was the most disgusting thing ever. We had an away game and we were supposed to have the lockers, but apparently, he didn't get the memo. For the longest time afterward, I thought there was something wrong with me. I couldn't figure out why I thought the male figure was so gross. It wasn't until a few weeks later when our team was doing a sleepover and we were playing a game of truth or dare and I got dared to kiss my friend Lacy. It felt like my whole entire body melted when our lips touched. I just remember my heart was beating so fast and I was so nervous, but then we kissed and everything just faded away and it felt so right."

She finishes off her smoothie. "Then this boy named Greg asked me out to the winter formal a week later and I agreed to go because I was still trying to convince myself that I was straight. The entire night was just a disaster. And then he tried to kiss me and I just recoiled. I just couldn't get past how gross I thought guys were. Especially with facial hair. And let me tell you, for being a freshman, Greg kind of had a dirty mustache coming in. It just made me want to gag. I kind of slowly put it together after that night."

"I guess that makes sense. Thank you for sharing," I say.

"Any time," she smiles.

--

At the Gym

I expect to find Sarah at the gym, but she's nowhere to be found. I spend a few hours working on various dribbling drills, shooting drills, and even manage to get some wall sits in while I wait for Sarah to arrive. She never shows up. Eventually, I decided to pack it up and head back to the dorms.

I find Sarah back at the dorms. She's reading a book as I walk into the bunk room. "Hey, missed you at the gym," I say.

"Yeah, I have a bunch of homework to catch up on," she says as she flips a page of her textbook.

"Oh... I understand. School comes first, right?" I ask.

"Yep... Well, I should head down to the library," she says as she packs up her backpack.

"I think I might come with you," I say.

"No, I can't afford distractions," she says. Ouch.

"Oh, okay," I say, watching her leave.

Sarah's Perspective

Being around Marcela just hurts too much. Finding out that she definitely isn't gay was rather depressing. At least when I wasn't certain, there was a glimmer of hope. Now it's just like seeing heaven and knowing you'll never get in. I don't know if I can keep putting myself through that torture.

I just wish things could be different. Why am I always falling for girls who won't ever feel the same way about me? I can't go through this again.

As I get to the library, I bury myself in my textbook in a desperate attempt to distract myself from falling into a fantasy of Marcela that will never come true. I just need to move on from Marcela and find someone who is gay and single.

--

English Class

"Everything okay?" Cassie asks as we leave English class. "You look like you're off somewhere else."

"Yeah, just peachy," I sigh.

"It doesn't look that way," she says.

"I've just been... I don't know. You ever have a crush on someone you know won't ever see you the same way?" I ask.

"Oh... I've experienced that once or twice," she says, those eyes that simmer like a glass crystal blue lake. The same ones I'm so familiar with up in Traverse. It reminds me of back home. To look upon Grand Traverse Bay in the spring just after the snow melts is one of the most beautiful things I have laid eyes upon. Especially on a sunny day with clear blue skies. The water becomes like a mirror with a refreshing blue shine to it. But if you dive in, you'll freeze your ass off. A shiver goes down my spine just remembering my first time doing a spring swim. "I take it you're crushing hard?"

"You could say that," I nod.

"Guy or girl?" she asks. "I didn't want to presume."

"Girl," I admit.

A smile reaches her eyes. "Want to talk about it?"

"I don't want to bury you in my problems."

"It's okay, I don't mind, besides, it's nice to talk to someone else who's gay," she says.

I tilt my head. "You're gay?"

She nods her head. "Guilty as charged. Not that there's anything to be guilty about."

"Yeah, I'd love to talk. It doesn't have to be about my problems, but how about a cup of coffee?" I ask.

'I'd love that." Her smile is something special too. It makes me feel like the sun is coming out after a horrible storm. "What are you doing later?"

"I've got college algebra at 3:30 and Basketball Practice at 6. Other than that, I'm free," I say.

"Great, what about after my calc class at 11?" she asks.

"Sounds great! I can't wait," I say. God, I feel like I sound pathetic.

At the coffee place

I sit at the coffee cafe and wait for 11 o'clock to arrive. Is it bad that I'm here so early? I mean, it's not like I'm going to ask her out or anything, although didn't she already ask me out? Why else would she ask me for coffee? Certainly not to hear me complain about my problems.

As 11 o'clock arrives, Cassie shows up not long after. I get enraptured by the way her hair flows so naturally with every step. I stumble to my feet as she walks up. She opens up her arms and takes me in for a hug. "You made it," I say as if I expected her to stand me up.

"Of course I did," says with a breathtaking smile. "So, I don't know about you, but after a long morning of classes, I could certainly use a cup of coffee."

"Yeah, me too. Especially with a math class still looming over me," I say.

"Not a fan of math?" she asks.

"Nope. What gave it away?" I ask.

"The word looming," she laughs.

"Yeah, math has never been one of my favorite subjects," I admit.

"Well, lucky for you, I just so happen to be great at math. At least that's what my report cards always say," she says.

"Report cards never lie, mine always showed how bad I am at math," I say as we walk up to get in line.

She orders a Carmel Frappuccino and I order the same. After we get our orders, we get a small table in the corner. "So, tell me more about this crush you have. Is it one of your teammates?"