"How come you didn't sit with Millicent at lunch yesterday?" Lizzie queried neutrally.

The two of us were at my house, hanging out and prattling while doing homework. Unfortunately, Tracey has last-minute cheer practice and couldn't be with us. So, it was Lizzie and me alone. 

"Her table was already full," I muttered blandly.

At Millicent's table yesterday, most of the chairs there were filled with her friends, except for one. It had her backpack on it. She could've just put it on the floor to let me sit. But I guess that's not what she wanted.

I found her behavior towards me quite strange yesterday, but maybe she wasn't having a good day. Everyone has a bad day sometimes, right?

"Oh," Lizzie said, her eyebrows furrowing, "Did the same thing happen today?"

"Yes," I pressed my lips together, nodding my head up and down.

"If this continues for the next few days, something's up. I usually pass her table. She never has her backpack on the chair next to her." Lizzie reasoned, shaking her head side-to-side.

"You aren't wrong..." My voice trailed off, quickly followed by a large groan.

She did have a point. Millicent wouldn't put her backpack on the unoccupied chair next to her. Sometimes, someone would sit in it. Other times, it would just remain empty. Maybe it was a bit suspicious, but then again, I could be overthinking the situation.

I let out a nonchalant sigh as I stared at the blinding screen of my laptop, plopped onto the warm sheets of my bed. As comfy as I felt, there were still lots of assignments I had to complete, such as my research paper for English.

As much as I don't want to work on it, there's a spark in me that's a tad bit excited. Ms. Davis allowed us to write about something we like, rather than it picked out for us.

As Lizzie and I spoke, my fingers glided across the keyboard of my laptop, searching for topics to write about. My eyes were glued to the blinding screen. Colorful pictures and endless links to websites all showed up as soon as I hit the search button. Lizzie did the same, however, her sharp, crystal eyes were focused on her notebook as she casually scribbled a few things onto her paper with a blue pen. The ink's hue was bluer than the crashing waves of the seashore.

"But anyway, did you figure out something you can write about for your research project yet?" Lizzie queried, adjusting her black glasses as she peered at me from her notebook.

"No," I replied briskly, maybe too brisk, "Not yet."

Still, I haven't found a topic that I liked. I've been thinking of writing about something related to art, which might keep me from falling asleep.

I've never been into art my entire life, mainly because I was never good at it. I would've picked art class as an elective to enrich my skills, but that was out of the window when too many people decided to pick it this year. There's always next year—but since art class is a class that most people pick here, I wouldn't count on it.

"Have you at least thought about something to write about? There's plenty of options out there." Lizzie shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, I've been thinking of writing about something art-related, I guess," I answered bluntly.

"That's an interesting topic." She acknowledged.

I nodded my head in agreement as I made a brand-new Word document for my project. After tilting it with my name, class period, today's date, and topic, I closed my computer shut as I glimpsed at my watch. It was only four-thirty in the afternoon, one hour left until the basketball game Tyler invited me to would start.

At first, I wasn't planning on attending the game. Basketball has never been my interest, and I don't have any money that I'd like to spend on the game. But when Tyler texted me that he had a spare ticket, I couldn't decline the offer.

I hadn't told Lizzie and Tracey about it just yet. It wasn't because I didn't want them to know about this. It was mainly because within the past day, there was never a time that came up that seemed right to speak up about it.

"Guess what?" I mused, pulling the neatly folded ticket out of my back pocket, "I'm going to the basketball game today."

Lizzie raised an eyebrow as her mouth dangled wide open the moment I said this. She set down her pen, clasping her hands together as she shot me a bewildered look.

"You're going to today's game? You never go to any sports games, no matter what." She uttered, her lips pursing into a smirk.

"I know, I know. But Tyler invited me to come. He even gave me a ticket." I replied, "I just couldn't reject the offer."

"I understand." Lizzie agreed, placing her notebook and laptop inside of her backpack, "I'm going to the game with you. We should get going, so we won't be late."

"Not yet. I need to find something else to wear." I proclaimed, opening the door of my closet.

As soon as the door was open, I looked up, down, left, and right for something decent enough to wear. I wouldn't worry about my outfit choice if it wasn't Tyler who invited me. But today, it's the opposite.

I rummaged through my small collection of shoes first. Most were just sneakers and boots. I found a white pair of sneakers and plopped them beside my bed. The only thing that I needed to find was a cute outfit. Without hesitation, I randomly grabbed two hangers of plush sweaters. Other than one being dark green and the other being yellow, they were almost identical.

"Which one should I wear?" I queried, clenching both of the sweaters in my hands.

"Both look nice, but maybe you should wear the green one? Since we're going to the game, green would be suitable because it's one of the school's spirit colors." Lizzie suggested, "It will also match your jeans."

"Great idea." I acknowledged.

I quickly replaced the red blouse I was wearing today with my dark green sweater. After, I managed to neaten my hair and apply a little bit of make-up.

When I finished getting ready, Lizzie and I headed downstairs to meet Mom to see if she would drive us to the game. Instead of seeing her get ready to go, she was at her work desk, her eyes focused on the blinding screen of her computer monitor.

"Mom? Are you still going to the game tonight? Lizzie and I decided to go, and we figured that it would be nice if you drove us to the school." I questioned in slight confusion, raising an eyebrow as I planted my hands on the rim of her desk.

She glanced up at me from her computer screen, primping a strand of her chocolate-brown hair behind her ear. She let out an exhausted sigh before she said anything.

"I'm sorry, girls. I was planning on going to the game today to see Rafael, but I have a lot of work to do, along with several phone calls to make." She apologized with a groan, rubbing the temples of her eyes.

"We understand, Ms. Jiminez-Cruz." Lizzie assured, "Rose and I can walk there. The school is only a few blocks away from here. We'll get there in no time."

"That's good to hear." A smile spread across Mom's fuchsia lips, "You two should get going now. The game will start soon, and you don't want to show up late. I'll see you later."

"Adios!" I said before motioning Lizzie to the front door.

She trailed behind me as we headed out of the front door, ready to walk a few blocks to the school. In several minutes from now, I'd find myself on the bleachers I never expected myself to sit on today.

***

The blaring noises of wild students, chuckling teachers, and socializing parents were all I could hear as we entered one of the many double doors of the large gymnasium.

Many people were walking by, huddled together like sardines in a can. The crowd was probably twice as large as what we had to deal with during an ordinary school day, since there were students and parents from Central High School, the school out basketball team would be playing against.

Lizzie and I rummaged our way to the far side of the gym, claiming a spot to sit on the bleachers.

We stocked up on snacks to eat, mainly buttered popcorn, candy, and soda. I ended up using an extra three dollars from Lizzie to pay for it since I didn't bring any money with me.

"Remember, I'll pay you back tomorrow for the money that you gave me today." I proclaimed, unwrapping my chocolate bar before inserting a piece into my mouth.

"Don't worry about it. You don't need to pay me back." Lizzie reassured me, making room on the bleachers for a few other people.

"If you say so," I said, shrugging my shoulders as I took another bite of my chocolate.

A minute prevailed until everyone had to find somewhere to sit on the bleachers for the game to start. Everyone standing was quick to find a spot to sit before the coaches of both teams came to the front to announce that the game would begin shortly.

In the meantime, the cheerleading squads from both schools gathered at the opposite sides of the gym. For our school, the cheer captain began to chant, leading the others to do various stunts and tricks that I could never do.

From the dark green cheer uniforms to the white pom-poms in both hands, being a cheerleader like Tracey must've been great. Cheerleading was something I never wanted to do, but I usually enjoyed watching them do astounding stunts.

Once the cheerleading performance from our school was finished, Central's cheerleading squad started their performance. Some girls did backflips while others made a human pyramid with the cheer captain on top. I was a bit surprised that there isn't an ambulance nearby in case any of the cheerleaders get an injury.

When they finished their routine, they all stood next to each other, red pom-poms dangling in their hands.

When they finished several minutes later, the two basketball teams ran up to the court and positioned themselves accordingly. Once the coach blew his sharp whistle, the game promptly began.

The basketball flew from place to place, constantly being dribbled against the floor and passed from hand to hand.

Lizzie and I knew nothing about basketball. Anyone could tell by the way we were acting. We stood in our seats, not saying any words, as everyone else cheered for the team they were rooting for.

Instead of watching the players of our school's team make excellent shots and passes, I gazed at Tyler, who stood at the edge of the court, already rubbing some sweat off of his forehead. I have to admit that even this way, he looks cute. Maybe not more than he already was, but he still looked adorable.

After this game is over, I might as well visit him.

***

Once the game was over, everyone dispersed the bleachers to head home for the day. Instead of heading for the exit doors to go home, I made a beeline to the edge of the basketball court, where the Westdale Hawks were celebrating their victory of winning the game.

A few minutes later, nearly all of the boys went to the boys' locker room, all except for Tyler, Rafael, and their friends. As a group, they approached us with small grins on their faces. I gazed at Tyler, who was in front of me, clutching his fingers against a dark green, reusable water bottle.

"Thanks again for the ticket, Tyler. I'll try to pay you back tomorrow." I acknowledged, my eyes meeting up to his.

"No problem, and no need to pay me back." He simpered.

"If you say so." I felt my cheeks flush into a strawberry-red hue.

Hopefully, the color wasn't too visible. It would be humiliating if it was. 

"Well," He cleared his throat, "I have to go now. I'll see you later."

"Bye." I grinned.

He turned around, strutting to the boys' locker room as his friends followed him. Lizzie flashed me a wink as she motioned me to across the gym to the exit doors.

"He's nice." She applauded. 

"Yeah... He is." I nodded my head, clutching my unopened soda bottle.

I had it since the game began, never bothering to drink it. Instead of letting wasting it, or saving it for later, it's best to drink it now. I feel thirsty, anyway. Cracking the handle open with my finger, I let the tip touch my lips as I took a small sip. The soda was orange-flavored, my favorite.

We continued to brush past crowds of people who were also heading towards the exit doors. To pass the time, I started to chat with Lizzie, not paying attention to our surroundings.

My feet stopped moving as soon as I crashed into someone, spilling a little of my soda on their clothes. At a closer inspection, it turned out to be Millicent. My smile faded as I saw the infuriated scowl on her face.

"Watch it! You got your soda all over my blouse." She scowled, her piercing glare expanding moment by moment, "Don't you know how expensive this is?"

"I'm sorry, Millicent. I can help you get cleaned up." I apologetically offered, my eyes widening at the faint, orange stain on her blouse. 

My gaze lowered down to the floor, empty candy wrappers and popcorn kernels scattered everywhere. I was bewildered, wondering why she was acting this way. She might've been a little upset that I ruined her expensive blouse. I probably would've felt the same way too, but ten times calmer than her.

"No way. Get lost." She scoffed, narrowing her eyes at me before storming off. 

Lizzie exchanged to me a perplexed glance, her eyes widening with realization. She planted a finger on the tip of her chin as she let out a huge sigh. 

"The way she's acting... is odd."