The Basketball
A/N: Heyyyyyyyo peeps! I'm back with a new story! It's a one shot that I really wanted to write four a while. I'll be gone four 2 weeks as well so you won't think I'm dead. Here ya goooo
Six years. Six years since I broke her heart. Six years since I lost her. The love of my life. June 4th. The day I told her I was going to come back to her. The day I went to our favorite spot to meet late four the first time. The day I thought I could outsmart Marcus. The day I left. Those six years her number is still ingrained in my head, the feel of her small soft hands entangled in my long rough ones, and the eyes. The eyes I promised myself to stare into four the rest of my life. But I broke that promise.
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Ages 8-10 Introductions
I watch a U-Haul pull up to the house next door. Luckily my father isn't home. I don't have many friends, so I walk out and greet the next door neighbors. I see a girl playing with a basketball on their driveway, and the other was a boy reading on the grass. The boy had hazel colored hair and blue eyes. The slightly younger girl had dirty blonde hair and blueish and grey eyes. They were pretty. The girl looks at me and gives me a smile as she waves at me. I return the gesture as I run towards her.
"Hi! I'm Beatrice! I'm eight. That's Caleb. He's nine," Beatrice points at the boy.
What's your name?" Beatrice asks.
"I'm Tobias. I'm ten. I live next door," I grin.
"Well Tobias, wanna play basketball with me?" she asks.
"Yeah!" I reply excitedly.
As we play, I get 4 three pointers. Beatrice gets six 2 pointers, which is surprising since she is short.
"Not bad Four," Beatrice giggles.
"Four?" I ask.
"Ya know, you got 4 three pointers," she explains.
"Oh, ok Six," I say back. She laughs in reply.
Age 11-13 The Protector
"Leave Myra alone, Peter," I hear a familiar voice say at the end of the hall. Tris. She is confronting a kid named Peter.
"What are you gonna do about it, Stiff? You're just a retarded piece of crap," Peter says to Tris. I feel the anger boiling in my blood.
I walk towards Peter and confront him.
"Dude, leave them alone or you'll regret it." I growl at him. He nervously gulps, quickly nods, and runs out of the school. I feel a pair of arms wrap around me. "Thank you, Tobias," Beatrice says gratefully.
Age 14-16 The Touchdown
As I catch the football I book it across the field. Eric gives me this dirty glare. I make a touchdown, but the jackass kicks the back of my leg with his cleat. I fall and groan. With a few swear words. We go on timeout and Eric is penalized. My leg is throbbing. I sit down on a nearby bench.
"I'm sorry, he is my friend. Do you not have respect four people who care about their friends?!" a voice nearby yells. Beatrice.
"Uh… Yes-no I'm sorry ma'am but we aren't allowed to do th- ," A kid stutters in reply.
"You think I give a shit?" Beatrice yells back.
"Uh-um sorry here you go-o," the poor kid mumbles. I see Beatrice running towards me.
"Are you ok Tobias? That idiot over there wouldn't let me see you," Tris asks, completely changing her attitude.
"Its fine Bea," I say, my face saying otherwise.
"Why are you wincing then?" Beatrice asks.
"Ok, ok it hurts. The medics will handle it," I say in pain.
"I don't see a medic," Beatrice stubbornly says. I sigh reluctantly as she checks my leg.
"Hmm… your leg isn't bleeding, but your skin is turning a shade of purple," Beatrice says while examining my leg.
I see her get up and ask the coach four a plastic Ziploc bag. He gives Beatrice a confused look as he takes the bag we use to store our extra eye black sticks. Tris thanks Coach Amar and runs to the cooler. She grabs a handful of ice and puts it into the bag. She then runs into the girls' locker room. A minute later she reappears with a small towel in her hands. What the hell? I try to get up, but my damn leg hurts too much. Beatrice walks up to me and drags me back to the bench. I huff in response. She takes the ice-filled bag and wraps it with the towel. She puts it on my leg. I realize she was making a makeshift icepack. It soothes my
"You didn't have to do that Bea," I say.
"I know, but we're friends," Beatrice smiles. I smile back.
Friends.
Just friends.
Age 16-18 PrOm?
I wait four her to get out of Chemistry as Zeke, Shauna, Lynn, Will, Christina, Marlene, and Uriah get into their positions. Thank god four free periods. As the bell rings, Tris walks out as I wait patiently next to the door. As Bea walks out I smile.
"What's with your face?" Beatrice asks jokingly.
"It's called smiling. You should try it," I smirk. She bursts into laughter. As we walk out, everyone does what they need to do.
Will stands to the left as Christina stands next to him with a poster that has the letter U on it. Marlene has a poster that says GO. Uriah has a poster that has a peace sign. Lynn holds a cake that has been baked into the letters P & R. Shauna holding a cake that are baked into letters O & M. Zeke is holding up a poster that says with. I then hold up my poster that has an arrow pointing at me.
In total, the whole thing says: Will you go to prom with me?
Bea stands there in shock she reads the whole thing.
"Do you like i-" I get cut off as a pair of soft lips meet mine.
Age 16-18 The Day the World Ended
Tobias: Hey Bea, could we talk?
Beatrice: Yeah of course. Where do want to go?
Tobias: Can we go to our spot?
Beatrice: Yeah, of course. See you there! (͡ ͜ ʖ ͡ )
I arrive there 20 minutes late. Bea is standing there, concerned.
"Where were you? Is everything ok?" Bea asks, worried.
"I… was handling something at home," I say sadly.
"Ok… Is everything alright?" Bea asks.
"Bea, I think "this" relationship isn't working," I lie. Her face drops.
"Y-you want to break up with me don't you?" Tris says quietly as tears brim her eyes. My plan was to lie to her and break up with her so I would get over it quickly. But it just makes me guiltier. I can't lie to her. I can't hurt her.
"No. Bea, I need to tell you something," I say.
"What?" Bea says curiously.
"My dad doesn't want us to be together. My parents are getting a divorce soon, so if I "break up with you" now and wait till the divorce, we can date again. My mom will let us date. But four now we'll be good friends, okay?" I ask. In full honesty, I really do want to be with her. Maybe when my mom wins the court case I can be with her fourever.
She nods.
"I'll do anything to keep my best friend," Bea says happily.
"Me too."
Oh, boy how wrong I was. As soon as I got home, I found my bags packed up and ready to go. We moved to California. Marcus won the court case four my custody. He found out that me and Bea met up, and so he disconnected my phone. Trying to call Bea was impossible. We didn't have a landline, and trying to call with Marcus' was suicide. I never got the chance. I cried in my room four hours, which turned into days, which turned into months, which turned into years. Whenever I would go to my college classes, my eyes were always red and puffy. I lost the girl I cared about the most.
After I graduated, I moved back into Chicago and now live in an apartment. I found Zeke and Shauna and the rest of the gang, all except four Bea. I asked Christina, but she said she didn't know. Apparently they still are in touch, but Christina doesn't really know where she is. Chris has been living four six damn years and doesn't know where her best friend lives. She asked her to send her address but Tris is on a business trip. AND CHRISTINA DIDN'T ASK WHEN SHE WOULD BE COMING BACK. But everyone knows she still lives in Chicago. And that day on, I swore to find Bea. It's been two years and I haven't given up.
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I type some things on the computer as my boss Tori calls me up.
"Four, we need you to come up to the meeting office in Room 476 please," Tori says on the intercom.
"Roger," I reply. I really hope I get a new assistant. My last one Nita was hell. She would try to flirt with me after I turned her down many, many times. There was only one girl I was interested in.
Bea.
I walk into the elevator and press the Level. 15 button. As I get out and walk I can hear Tori talking to someone.
"If you don't mind me asking, what does Four's nickname mean?" A familiar voice asks.
"I think it was a childhood nickname his neighbor gave him. Something about 4 points in basketball," Tori explains. I knock lightly on the door. Tori opens it four me.
"Four, meet your assistant Tris. Tris meet your boss, Four," Tori says. I shake her hand. It's firm. It's familiar. I look at Tris. She looks very very familiar. I just can't put my finger on it though.
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Something about Four just reminds me of someone so familiar. Who is it? He has wavy chocolate hair, a hooked nose, an upper lip and a spare bottom lip, and the most beautiful pair of eyes I have ever seen. He has a light stubble, which makes me very attracted to him. Oh my god. The only guy you love is Tobias, Tris. He is very muscular, but not body builder muscular. He's an actual Greek God. Ah. He reminds me of Tobias. I try to connect the dots. 4 pointer? Nickname? Those must be coincidences. Tobias did 4 three pointers.
"Well, you guys can have an hour off to know each other!" Tori smiles. Four thanks Tori and we head to the elevator.
"So, did you live here befour?" I ask.
"Yeah, I was born here actually," Four replies. Another clue. We walk to Chipotle and get burritos as we talk. Four insists to pay, much like Tobias on our dates. But just thinking about him makes tears brim my eyes.
He got separated from me.
Tobias never knew this but ever since we had windows parallel to each other, I could hear and see a lot of things. I heard every time Marcus and Evelyn would fight and how much he would beg Evelyn to win his custody. I heard Evelyn's humorless laugh and the hope in Tobias' voice. As soon as we came home from our last meeting spot, I saw a moving van in front of his house. I thought Marcus was leaving at first, but when I say a tear-stained Tobias with all his clothes packed, my heart shattered. I looked into his room.
It was blank.
It was like when I moved there, only
Different.
I shake my thoughts out of my head. I must focus. As we walk back to the building, another assistant Drew elbows me in the arm. Hard.
"Ow," I wince. Four notices my pain.
"Oh my god are you ok? Follow me," Four says worriedly. We run into the elevator. As the elevator goes up, Four checks on my arm. It's bruised. We walk to Four's office. He has shelfs neatly filled with paper, books, and stuff you'd expect in an office. He has cabinets neatly lined up one by one. There is a desk, preferably four his assistant. I wonder what happened to his last one. He has a desk with an iMac, a pen holder with a few pens. He has a mini fridge and a microwave. I'm not really surprised. He doesn't seem like a guy who would eat and talk in the break room. His office is very neat, but it is very bland.
Except four one picture on his desk. I try to check what it is of, but a coffee cup blocks my view. He goes to his mini fridge and gets some ice. He pulls out a Ziploc bag from a cabinet under his desk. While he gets the stuff out, my arm is throbbing. He pulls a towel from a shelf. Where the hell does he get this stuff? He must have everything. He wraps the bag of ice with the towel. Then it hits me.
He is Tobias.
The boy with the eyes I loved.
The boy with the basketball.
The boy who protected me.
The boy who got hurt playing.
The boy who asked me to his Senior Prom.
The boy I loved.
I need to confirm that he is the Tobias I love. By that picture. Tob- Four asks me to get a coffee from the break room. I nod. I run quickly the break room and grab a black coffee. Four didn't tell hme what he wanted, so I just guessed. Black Coffee was one of the only thing he drinks. It was also mine.
I dash into the elevator and press level 10. I arrive there in 2 minutes.
Four seems surprised that I made it to his office so quickly. I put the coffee on his desk.
"Thanks," He smiles.
"No problem. It's my job after all. I got black if that's okay," I say.
"That's actually my favorite. Thanks," He grins. He decides to throw the old cup in the waste basket. As he picks it up, He aims four the baskets and shoots. He makes it. I see the picture. It's our prom picture.
"Not bad, Eaton," I say. Four gets confused, but immediately smiles. He takes some old papers and crumples them up.
"You try Prior," he smirks. I grab a paper ball and make it. He makes it 3 more time as I make it 5 more times.
"Good game, Prior," Tobias smiles. I laugh.
"Seems like you haven't changed since our first Bball game," I smile. Tobias' face lights up in realization.
"Bea."
"Tobias."
And then I feel a pair of soft lips attack mine.
A/N: Heyo peeps. This took me a day and a half to write. THIS ONESHOT HAS BROKEN RECORDS. This is the shortest amount of time and is currently the longest chapter I have written. YAY This is the last time I'm posting this month. Sorry. I NEED A VACATIONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN k bai