~June 4th~

Riley passes the ball to Cindy.

Cindy dribbles it down half court.

Cindy passes to Caesar.

Caesar fakes it right and passes left back to Cindy.

Cindy dribbles and does a roundabout around her opponents.

Cindy throws it back down court to Riley.

Riley shoots for the three pointer.

He jumps.

The ball soars for the basket…..

IT'S IN!

Cindy, Caesar and Riley chant and cheer as they come in for a group hug, while the other team skulked away angry that they had lost. Cindy broke apart from the boys to taunt them.

"HA! That's what y'all get when you try and beat ME on my turf!"

They held their heads down as they walked away quicker and both Riley and Caesar doubled over in laughter while Cindy stood in a victory pose. She then turned towards them.

"Nice game, you two! Man Reezy, you were right! We play waaayyy better together as a team!"

"Told you so!"

"And Caesar," Cindy beamed as she went over to help Caesar up, "I didn't know you were a beast at basketball! I only thought you stuck to soccer!"

"Haha well, you know," Caesar said in a slightly lower tone as he took Cindy's outstretched hands and pulled himself up, "Don't judge a book by its cover, C."

He got up, only to find himself just mere inches from her. "Hmmm. I won't next time," she said, a small smile spreading on her face as she looked up at him.

Riley looked on while he was on the ground. He immediately noticed the extreme closeness between his two best friends. Well, his best friend and Huey's best friend. Quite suddenly, something emitted inside his body. Something quite strange. And he found that the more he thought about Cindy and Caesar, the more the feeling swirled around inside him, and the more he looked at them, the more he wanted to leap up and strangle Caesar. Caesar then whispered something into Cindy's ear, and the duo laughed. Riley, becoming quite irritated, was about to yell something offensive, but then changed his mind at last second and yelled something else instead.

"Aye! Y'all ain't gonna help a nigga up? Some friends y'all are!"

His outburst caused them to jump apart, breaking the trance that they were submerged in.

"I'm sorry, Reezy," Cindy laughed as she went over to help Riley. She held out her hand. Riley, however, declined it.

"Nevamind. I can do it myself," he mumbled as he got up himself. Cindy looked a bit hurt, but shrugged it off before Riley could look back at her.

"Hey, Riles," Caesar called as Riley dusted himself off, "Me and C are going to the mall to catch up with Amy and Hiro. You comin'?"

Riley froze as the feeling came over him again, but in a stronger surge. As much as he wanted to see Hiro and Amy, he wouldn't be able to control himself if Cindy and Caesar would be all over each other again.

"Nah. I'm good," He replied curtly as he grabbed his stuff and headed home.

"Awww, but Riley!" Cindy called after him, the hurt evident in her voice.

But Riley took off for home. He just couldn't right now. The feeling was overpowering him like an electric charge. In no time, he reached the Freeman house, flew up the stairs into his and Huey's room, and flopped down on the bed, burying his head into his pillow. Huey looked up from his desk at him.

"So how was the game?"

"We won. By a long shot."

"Then why do you look so defeated?"

Riley sat up and looked at him. It was unusual for Huey to wonder about his well being, and when he did, it usually didn't have good results. But feeling the need to vent his emotions, Riley let everything spill.

"Well we won the game, and then C-Merph and Caesar got a little too close for comfort. Well, for my liking anyways. And then Caesar invited to the mall with him and C-Merph, but even though Amy and Hiro would be there, I just didn't want to go."

He finished there, leaving out information, like how he wanted to strangle Caesar. But Huey knew Riley all too well, and he knew that there was more to it than Riley let on.

"Well, isn't it obvious?"

"What's obvious, nigga?"

"You're jealous."

Huey turned around back to the desk as Riley shot up and looked at Huey's back. Jealous?! Riley Jerome Freeman did not get jealous!

"Naw nigga! You wrong! I ain't jealous!"

"Trust me," Huey said as he typed away at the computer, "You're jealous. Whether you like Cindy or not, or you just want a girlfriend yourself, you're jealous."

Riley threw himself back down and turned over onto his stomach. He definitely didn't like Cindy, but he sure as hell didn't want Caesar nowhere near her. But whatever the case was, he managed to come up with a conclusion.

Jealousy was a bitch. An ugly little bitch indeed.