I think the song name is appropriate for this chapter hehe.

"Come on Hunter! Shoot!"

"Whoop! He did it!"

The stands erupted into cheers as Shawn shot the winning basket, beating the other team by a landslide and bringing a second win for our school today. I stood up and clapped along with everyone else, not for him of course, but for our school. I looked at the cheerleaders on the opposite court, where Kayla was just standing there with her arms folded, glaring at Shawn and trying not to smile. I rolled my eyes.

The girls team had already played before the boys, so we all walked to our respective locker rooms and gathered our stuff. There was a good two weeks before the next match, which would happen in December. If we won that, we were in the finals.

Veronica, Ezra and Megan were waiting for Tyler and I outside so we could celebrate. Normally the team celebrates together, but we'll leave that for when we hopefully win the finals. There was usually a party at someone's house, but this time it was going to be just five of us and well... Shawn. It was weird how the six of us were a thing now.

After seeing him all sad and crying that day, it was weird to look him right in the eye. Everytime he happened to catch me glancing at him, I would turn away in a flash like I'd been stung by a bee or something. Why was everything so damn awkward with him?

"Hey, did you guys hear about the school trip?" Veronica asked the group. Megan seemed just as blank as me, but Ezra looked excited. "Yeah! Three nights camping trip to the lake, right?"

"Yup. It's beautiful. My family owns a lake house in the area. We go there every summer, its super fun."

"So, the entire senior year, camping in the woods? That's hilarious." I interjected.

"Aw come on. It won't be so bad. In fact, how about we stay at my lake house on our own instead? I don't want to share a cabin with the snobby cheerleaders anyway."

Tyler nodded in agreement. "That would be so awesome! We can tell freaky stories around the campfire, watch movies and play games! A whole house right by the lake just for us!"

"Wait, when is the trip? It can't be around an important match." I spoke.

"Relax Alex, we'll go after the semi-finals, two weeks before the final. It'll be great."

Veronica clapped her hands together like that confirmed it. "All right then. I think there are three rooms available with twin beds, enough for the six of us. The fourth room is my parents' so that's off limits."

We all went to Loco Latte after that, just eating sandwiches and cookies for dinner. Shawn joined us five minutes later as we arrived, kissing Veronica on the cheek and sliding into the seat next to her, the one right opposite me. I grit my teeth and looked away.

Besides that, the rest of the evening was really fun. I had all this nervous pent-up energy, and I didn't know what to do with it. You'd think I'd be tired after playing basketball for so long, but I wasn't.

"Hey Alex, can we work on the project? I'm free right now." Shawn asked suddenly, after finishing his turkey club sandwich.

"Oh, um sure?"

"Great, let's go. See you guys." And with that he got up, and awkwardly dragged me by the hand outside the café and to his car. What a weirdo.

I didn't say anything the entire ride, and neither did he, which was just fine by me. His house seemed to be empty again, which I was actually thankful for since I did not want to run into his father.

We worked mostly in silence, each of us doing our own thing. I hadn't brought any of my project stuff with me, and I was still in my basketball jersey since Shawn had abruptly decided to drag me out. I normally shower at home and not in the locker room so I hadn't brought a change of clothes either.

Still, the entire time I was jittery, and my brain did not want to work on a boring project. We'd made some gain way as our lives progressed, but I didn't really want to write anything at this point.

"Hey, want to play some basketball?" I asked Shawn. He looked at me in confusion, his eyebrows bunched up together. "The project?"

"It's fine. We've made plenty of progress and there's a lot of time till the due date."

"You do realise we didn't work on it for weeks, right? We haven't caught up that much."

"Since when do you care? Whatever, I'm going to go play on your court."

With that I left and went out to his court to play. I could navigate through his house a bit now, so I didn't really need his help. It actually felt great, practicing all my moves. My defense was good, but my offence could use a little work. I tried shooting, but for some reason I only got two out of three baskets. I tried again and the same thing happened. Are you kidding me?

"Your stance is wrong."

I snapped my head towards the sound of the voice, where Shawn was leaning against a pole, smirking at me with his arms folded. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough."

I rolled my eyes, turning back to the basket to shoot. I missed again.

"You're just making the same mistake over and over." Shawn said from behind, now walking up to me. I grit my teeth at him. "I've been playing basketball since forever. I know what I'm doing."

"Do you though?"

I groaned. "Fine then. Tell me what I'm doing wrong if you're so smart."

He picked up the basketball and placed it in my arms, standing behind me and putting his hands on my waist to change my position. I gulped, not liking how close he was. He used his leg to kick mine out, so I was standing differently. He lifted up my hands, placing the ball over my head so my hands were in a L position. Let me tell you that when I say his face was RIGHT next to my neck, I'm not exaggerating. I could actually feel his breath. I shuddered.

"All right, now you follow through like this..."

Shawn was still talking, but I barely noticed it anymore. All I was trying to do was not concentrate on the fact that his body was literally right behind mine and I could feel well um... everything. The idiot didn't even seem to realize it.

"-Aaand, now shoot." He used his hand to push the ball out from mine, and it went into the basket with a satisfying swoosh. I still stood there frozen, waiting for stupid Shawn to realize what he was doing. He turned his neck to look at me and his face was literally an inch from mine. My eyes widened, and I knew I should leave, but I couldn't find it in myself to move. What the hell is wrong with you today, Alex?

It finally seemed to have dawned on Shawn what was happening, because his expression changed. His eyes flicked down to my lips, but I knew what that meant.

Oh, hell no.

I backed away from him, running to the side of the court like my face was on fire. I grabbed my phone and my gym bag, slinging it over my shoulder. "Um, I just realized I have to er... do something. I got to go. Bye!" I had barely started to walk away when Shawn suddenly yelled across the court.

"You were there that night, weren't you?"

I froze in my tracks.

"You followed me that night. It was you." His voice got louder and louder as he walked closer to me. Crap this can't be good.

"After I left the roof, you followed me to the graveyard. You've always been uncomfortable around me, but now you can't even look me in the eye. Did you hear everything I said?"

I didn't answer, trying to figure out how to play this. How on earth did he know I was there? This was insane, not to mention extremely awkward and uncomfortable. He stopped and stood right in front of me, forcing me to look into his eyes. His expression was solemn, and his face was a little red. I cleared my throat and tried to move past him but he just stood in my way again. I sighed.

"Yes. I heard everything you said."

He ran his hands through his hair, staring at the ground in distress. He grabbed my hand, squeezing it so tightly that it hurt. I winced but didn't say anything.

"Please tell me you won't think of me differently now."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't want you to look at me differently or ignore me or something. And if you tell anyone you saw me cry, I will kill you." He smiled and laughed at the end like he was joking, but I could tell he was actually serious about that.

I glanced at his hands still holding mine, and the B4L tattoo still on his arm. I still did not understand that. "What does B4L mean?"

"Basketball for life."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "Seriously? Why would anyone ever tattoo that on their arm?"

"Hey I was drunk, okay? I woke up the next morning and it was on my skin."

I rolled my eyes, smiling a little. "Really?" I said sarcastically.

"Okay, yeah that's a lie. Since I guess there's no harm in telling you now... The B actually stands for Bethany. That was my mother's name. I don't know how, but I somehow wound up in a tattoo parlour the night she died. I thought it was a good idea at the time. I just tell people it stands for basketball, as it's easier than the truth."

"Oh. Um, I don't know what to say right now."

He finally let go of my hands and cleared his throat, scratching the back of his neck and blushing red. "You don't have to say anything. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"I guess. B-bye!" My teeth actually chattered a little, since it was getting really cold now and I wasn't all hot from basketball anymore. I turned around and started to walk, but Shawn stopped me again. "You want a ride home? It's getting pretty cold. No surprise since its December and all."

"No thanks, I can manage. It's not that cold."

"Alex, I can see you shivering."

"I'm fine."

He didn't say anything else, but took off his hoodie and handed it to me, leaving him standing there shirtless. He grinned like a little boy, showing off all his pearly white teeth. "Here. No excuses, bye!" Then he ran off inside.

I stood there gaping after him. Since when was Shawn Hunter actually nice? And so sensitive? Yeesh, I was not expecting that today. For some weird reason I unconsciously started smiling and I forced my muscles to stop disobeying me. Nah, you are not falling for it. The dude is not nice. He cheated on his girlfriend for god sake. The hoodie still felt nice though, and I actually liked the way it looked. It was completely black and had 'hell was boring' written on it in white in a small font. It was surprisingly snuggly and comfortable. The smell of Axe deodorant was still lingering on it, but it wasn't so bad now.

Once I reached home, I took out my phone and saw some unread messages from Asher.

Hey how was d match 2day? I'm sure u won😉

Also, r u interested in being my girlfriend?