Chapter Nineteen Birthday Surprises

"Our last game is this Saturday." Chance informed me as we walked through the corridor.

Sadly enough, our short break ended yesterday and we were back in school. I couldn't be very sad because in three weeks we would be getting another break. This time, a longer one.

"I know." I told him. "Y'all better win too. Can't go out with a lost."

The Big 12 ended this weekend with the championship. Luckily enough we weren't playing the Bears this year but Arizona State. I really wanted them to win. It was Levi's last football game.

Chance smiled. "As long as you're there, I win either way."

I rolled my eyes but secretly I loved his cheesiness. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him.

"So, what do you have planned for your birthday?"

"Nothing. I'm gonna be traveling that day."

"I mean afterwards." He clarified.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Saturday's the championship and I'll be busy all next week."

He nodded. "Hmm, interesting."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." He told me, shaking his head and smiling.

"You're such a shitty lair." I pointed out. "You have something planned, don't you?"

"Maybe. Possibly." He said. "I'll see ya later."

He kissed me goodbye and walked away. Instead of trying to figure out what Chance had planned, I walked to my dorm.

I opened the door and Cassidy was brushing her long dark hair.

"Now that you're back, I've been doing a lot of thinking."

"That's never good." I joked.

She smiled. "You got a point there. But anyway, I know we're gonna be traveling pretty much all day on your birthday. So I was thinking we could do something this week."

"Why is everyone so worried about my birthday?" I asked, sitting on my bed.

She walked over to me and pinched my cheek, lightly. "Cause you're our baby girl and we love you so much." She cooed.

I pushed her hand away. "Yeah I'm so sure. Don't worry about it. I have too much planned anyway."

"Yeah. Like what?"

"Well, I work tomorrow and you work today. You're not getting off until late. Wednesday we're both working and Thursday I promised Landon and Devon I'd watch their first basketball game." I explained.

"We can still do it tonight."

"Yeah right. By the time you walk into this room, you're gonna crash."

"Have a little faith in me." She said. "You're having a party whether you like it or not."

"Okay. Whatever you say."

"I gotta go and don't make any plans tonight."

I rose an eyebrow. "Just in case?"

She nodded. "Just in case." She confirmed.

She left and I fell back onto my bed. The week just started and I already had a lot ahead of me. I sighed. This is the only day I could relax and I was going to cherish it.

***

"You know you made Landon nervous when you watch him play, right?" Jayce told me, as I was putting my jacket on.

I arched an eyebrow. "Are you just saying that so I won't go or are you being serious?"

"You do make him nervous."

"Really? Because I watched him play countless of games and he seems fine to me." I stated.

"Yeah to you. I'm his brother, I know him better than you. You throw him off his game."

I rolled my eyes. "Landon will be fine. I think you don't want to me because I'm going with Chance and not you."

He shook his head. "I want you to go."

"But..."

"But not with Chance. We always go together." He said.

"Yeah well I'm sorry. You're taking Arianna and I don't think I can handle a car ride with her."

"She doesn't have to go."

"But she's going. She can't handle you being out of her sight for more than five minutes. I'm surprise she has called-"

Jayce's phone went off and he rolled his blue eyes.

I gave him a knowing look. "My point exactly."

"She's just clingy."

"And your girlfriend. Two bad words to put together. A clingy girlfriend. Now that's horrible." I picked my phone up.

I'm outside.-CK

"I'll see you at the game." I opened the door and walked out the room. Jayce followed.

"Are you seriously not going to ride with me?"

"No, Jayce I'm not. Chance is already here for me."

He rolled his eyes again.

We walked into the cold night and I head over to Chance's car. The car was warm and I was grateful. I leaned over to kiss Chance. And he took me by surprise when he gripped my head and brought me closer to him.

I pulled away and gave him a small smile. "What was that for?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. I just really missed you."

I laughed. "You saw me yesterday."

"Barely. You were working pretty much the whole day."

Chance pulled away from the curb and I glanced in the rearview mirror and I saw Jayce standing in the same spot with mixed emotions. He looked hurt and mad.

We made to the gym ten minutes later and Chance parked the car. We hopped out and made our way to enterance. We got our ticket.

"Hey Cole." Skylar greeted me, smiling.

I hugged her. "Hey pretty girl."

"Landon told me not to tell you this but you make him nervous when he's playing basketball."

Okay so Jayce wasn't lying. Why did I make him nervous? When he played football, he never got nervous. Maybe it had something to do with Landon not wearing a helmet.

"I'll make sure he doesn't see me then." I told her.

She nodded her head. "Okay." She said before walking to her older brother.

I spotted Hailey and Levi sitting in the middle of the bleachers and we walked toward them. I sat beside Hailey.

"Hey. Thanks for coming."

"No problem."

Jayce walked up the stairs and took a sat beside Levi, away from me. Arianna looked like she didn't want to be here. She probably didn't but she wasn't going to let Jayce come by himself.

The game started and the starting five walked out onto the court. That's when I noticed Andre. He was the jumper. I made a mental note to catch him after the game ended.

Landon stood behind Andre. He was the point guard and Devon was one of the shooting guard.

The ref blew the whistle and threw the ball into the air. Andre jumped and tipped the ball back. Landon got the ball and quickly called out a play.

They made four passes before Devon got the ball and shot a three. The ball hit nothing but net.

"Yeah! Go Dev!" Hailey cheered for her brother.

As the game went on, I noticed Landon's demeanour changed. Did he see me in the stands? Did I really make him nervous?

Landon did a jump shot and it bounced off the rim. The other team rebound, ran down court and scored.

"I told you, you make him nervous." Jayce said to me.

"Yeah I noticed."

Half time come and I jumped up. I head down the stairs and leaned over the rail as I called Landon's name. He looked my direction and I motioned him over.

He walked my way. "Yeah?"

"I make you nervous, don't I?"

"Skylar told you didn't she?"

I shook my head. "Actually, Jayce told me."

He rolled his eyes. "Of course he did."

"Why do I make you nervous?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I guess I want to impress you."

I smiled. "I am impressed. You're a great basketball player. Don't worry about impressing me. Play the game. I'm going to support you no matter what, alright?"

He nodded. "Alright."

"Now this second half, I want my eight points."

He grinned. "I got'cha."

"Good. Now go play."

He headed back to his team and I walked back to my seat.

"What did you tell him?" Jayce asked.

"Watch and find out." I replied.

The third quarter began and Landon brought the ball down. He held up three fingers. The other team's PG, tried to steal the ball but Landon did a quick spin move and headed for the basket.

I smiled when he scored. As Landon ran down the court and looked at me and held up six fingers.

"Six?" Levi said. "What's that's supposed to mean?"

"It means, he has six more points to score." I explained.

The game went on and eventually Landon made six points. Two of them were free throws.

"Remember the time Mom got kicked out the game?" Levi asked, smiling.

I laughed. "Oh my gosh. Yes! How could I not remember?"

"I mean y'all were the reason why she got kicked out in the first place." Hailey said.

"No. Levi was. I was eleven. He's was fifteen." I defended myself.

I was going to tell you what happened. It was actually a pretty funny story.

It was the middle of the season in the second half of the game. Hunter just got the ball and he was about to shoot it when the other guy missed the ball completely and smacked Hunter's hand, loudly. Usually when this happened, you shot free throws.

But the ref had another idea. He gave the ball to the opposing team since "Hunter" was the last one to touch it before it went out of bound.

That didn't go to well with Mom. She stood up and yelled. "That's a foul! And you know it!"

The ref didn't listen to her and gave the ball to the other team.

"Oh first you're blind and now you can't hear me." She said, angrily.

"No, I think he can hear you." Dad told her.

"Clearly not. That's okay. He's going to hear me as soon as I go down there." She started making her way down the stairs.

"Go get Mom." I told Levi.

He shook his head. "You go get her."

"Well someone better go get here before she gets kicked out." I said.

"I think it's too late for that." Dad responded.

Mom was being ushered out by a police.

"Don't touch me! I can walk myself out."

"Let's just blame it on Dad, agree?"

I nodded my head. "Agree."

The game ended and Chance grabbed my hand. We were walking out the door when I remembered something.

I stopped walking. "Hold on. I forgot I had to talk to someone real quick."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

I shook my head. "No it's okay. I'll be fast."

"Okay. I'll be waiting in the car."

I walked back inside and I saw Andre walking out the locker room, putting his headphones on.

"Andre!" I called out before he puts on his headphones completely.

He turned around and I walked over to him. I didn't know what I was going to ask him but I already had his attention.

"Um, I, you don't know me but your grandma knows my mom and I was wondering if you knew how?"

He frowned. It was a weird question to ask someone.

"I don't know. She knows everyone. You can ask her, she's right there." He pointed behind me.

I turned my head and sure enough there was the woman who made my mother go pale. She wasn't alone either. She was with two younger kids, a boy and a girl, and a lady who looked like their mother.

The old woman looked at me and her eyes brightened up. Obviously she knew me but how. I never seen her before.

A man walked out from the gym and wrapped his arms around the lady. The old woman, said something to the man and he looked in my direction.

He looked surprised to see me and I frowned. Why did they look like they knew me?

I looked away from them and they started heading my way. I looked at Andre.

"It's okay. I'll ask another time. By the way, you played great tonight." I said before walking away, quickly.

I glanced back and they reached Andre. The man said something to Andre and he looked at me with a wide eyes.

I didn't know why I left in a rush. It felt like I was missing something. Something felt wrong and I didn't like it. Mom was hiding something from me and whatever it was, she wanted it to stay buried.

***

"Are you ready, birthday girl?" Cassidy asked me, picking up her backpack.

Earlier this morning, Cassidy woke me up by jumping on top of me. She yelled 'Happy Birthday' at the top of her lungs. Then a few seconds later my phone vibrated, nonstop as my family and friends wished me 'Happy Birthday'.

I nodded. "Yeah. Let's go."

We walked onto the elevator and walked out the doors. The buses were already waiting for us. We had three buses. One for the cheerleaders and two for the football players.

I was about to walk onto the bus when I heard my name being called. I looked over my shoulder and I smiled.

"Save me a seat." I told Cass as I walked over to Chance.

Chance grinned. "I wanted to give you gift before it's too late."

He pulled out a navy blue box from his jacket's pocket and handed it to me. I took it from him and he watched as I opened the box.

My jaw dropped and my eyes widen. I wasn't expecting anything like this. Maybe a cute bracelet or necklace with a heart but this...this was crazy.

I shook my head, closing the box. "I can't accept that." I told Chance.

He frowned. "Why not?"

"It's a diamond necklace."

He nodded, slowly as if he didn't see the point. "Okay and? I brought it for you."

"I'm can't accept it." I shook my head. "I won't accept it."

I gave him back his too expensive gift and walked onto the bus. Out the corner of my eyes, I saw Jayce walking towards his bus, shoving a small item into his basketball shorts.

I took a seat beside Cassidy and a few minutes later we were on our way to the airport. We made it and instantly we rushed to the terminal where our plane was taking off.

Our plane didn't leave for another hour or so but with a group as enormous as ours we needed all the time we could get. We waited in line to go through security and it felt like hours passed before it was finally our turn.

After we were all checked, we walked farther in the airport. We didn't have much time to kill before it was time to depart. We showed the flight attendant our tickets and she directed us to our seats.

I sat by the window, Cassidy sat in the middle and Hailey was on the outside. After explaining the safety procedures and where all the exits were, the plane began to move.

I settled in for the two hour flight. Before I knew it, the plane was high in the sky.

We arrived in Arizona around five o'clock and our buses were parked outside, waiting to take us to the hotel. I walked onto the bus and sat in the first open seat I saw. Cassidy plopped down beside me.

The bus pulled into the heavy traffic and it took nearly an hour to reach our destination.

"Alright, listen up." Our coach, Bill, said. "As soon as y'all get your room key, head to the room and settle in for the night. Don't try to sneak out or anything, okay?"

We climbed out the bus and entered the nice hotel. The workers knew we were coming ahead time so they had our room keys ready.

Hailey grabbed ours and we headed to our rooms as the coaches checked in. Since there was four to a room, we got stuck with Arianna. Surprisedly, she hasn't said a word.

Hailey unlocked the door and we stepped inside. I placed my bag on the first bed and Cassidy did too.

Hailey glared at us. "I hate y'all." She mouthed, throwing her bag on the other bed.

We just smiled at her. I checked my phone and it was barely 7:20 p.m. We had forty minutes until curfew.

We did have a later curfew but our last away game, we got into big trouble. Long story short, some of the girls thought it would be totally fine if they slept in the boys' room and it really wasn't.

Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door and Cassidy went to answer it. Coach Bill walked in and scanned the room.

"Just checking." He stated. "We don't need a repeat of what happened last time."

As soon as he left, Arianna informed us she was going to take a shower. Cassidy laid back on the bed.

"What did Jayce get you?" She asked.

I frowned. "Jayce? You mean Chance?"

Cass shook her head. "No, I mean Jayce."

"Jayce didn't give me anything but Chance did. Why?"

"Oh. I saw Jayce walking over to you with a gift in his hand." She explained. "So I figured he got you something."

That explained why he was shoving an item in his pocket. He probably did have something for me but Chance beat him to me.

"What did Chance give you?" Hailey asked, sitting on our bed.

"A diamond necklace."

"Diamond?" They both said in unison.

I nodded. "Yeah. It wasn't a small one either."

"Where's it at? Do you have it?" Cassidy questioned.

I shook my head. "No. I didn't accept it."

Hailey frowned."Why not?"

I shrugged. "We've only been dating for a month and it didn't feel right. I don't know."

Once again, there was a knock on the door and Hailey groaned as she got up.

"Coach we're all here-" She stopped as she opened the door.

There was a worker standing outside and she handed Hailey a card. She thanked her before shutting the door.

She read the front of the card. "It's for you Cole."

I frowned. "For me?"

Hailey passed me the small card and sure enough my name was written on the front. I opened it and there was four words written.

Come to Rm. 402

"What does it say?" Cass asked.

"Come to room 402." I told her.

"That's Levi's room." Hailey said. "Why didn't he just text?"

I shrugged. "I don't know but I'm gonna find out."

I stood up and as soon as I was opening the door, Cass and Hailey suddenly wanted to come. We were five rooms away from them and when I stood in front of the room, I knocked.

"Levi?" I called out.

There was no response but the door turned and I pushed it opened. I walked inside and it was dark. I hardly could make anything out then out of nowhere, I was attacked as the lights flicked on.

"SURPRISE!" They yelled.

From head to toe, I was covered with silly string. I was shocked at first then I grinned.

"I love y'all." I told them, smiling.

Levi hugged me. "Of course you do. We're the best."

"Why didn't you just text me?" I asked.

"Coach took our phones." He explained. "Anyway, since you were complaining so much about this stupid animal, I got it for you."

He handed me my gift. "It's not stupid and I wasn't complaining."

"You're doing it right now."

I rolled my eyes. "Thank you, Levi."

I looked around the small room and I saw Jayce leaning against the wall, looking at me. He glanced away.

I opened my mouth to say something but got interrupted when Bill popped up.

"What did I say?"

I turned my head and I saw him, along with Arianna, standing outside the room.

"Go back to your room, girls. Now."

Cassidy rolled her eyes. "You little snitch bit-"

"Cass" Hailey said in a warning tone.

I looked at the boys and smiled. "Thanks for my surprise."

"Don't thank us, it was all Jayce's idea." Nolan said.

I looked over at Jayce and he was staring at the ground.

"Thank you, Jayceon."

His head shot up and I smiled at him when he looked at me. He hated his first name but I loved it. He usually glared at me when I called him his full name but not this time. The corner of his lips curved up just a little. But that was enough for me.