And without further delay, the story.
Echoes bounced off the gymnasium walls as easily as the boys' basketball team dribbled the orange ball up and down the court. It was only practice but of the ten boys on the hardwood floor, each of them was struggling to breathe in lungfuls of air. Half wore silver pennies and the other half green, the colors of King High.
"Right here!" yelled one of the boys, pivoting around his opposing teammate.
His skin glistened with an hour and a half's worth of strenuous exercise but he moved with stamina and energy. He was easily distinguishable, even from the top of the bleachers where Spencer Carlin sat, with his dark hair swishing past his eyes and several inches putting him well above the other boys, but her attention rarely found itself focused on him. She sat, back propped against the wall, sandaled feet resting on the row in front of her, a determined look settled on her face, and a slim, black cell phone attached to her left ear.
"Mom…" she drawled, attempting to interject her defense before her mother's argument reached a point of no return.
"Mom."
"Mom!" Spencer said forcefully.
The buzzing noise that was Paula Carlin's voice ceased so suddenly that Spencer raised her eyebrows in surprise. She hadn't expected success. Shock didn't stop the younger Carlin for very long, though, as she smoothly placed an argument before her mother.
"Look, Mom, I know you want me to get out more and that you think I don't have a very active social life. I get it. Really. In fact, I'll admit I don't really try to go out all that often but –"
Paula tried speaking again but Spencer just raised her voice.
"- But I promise that Aiden and I will go out tonight. It's a Friday, after all. There's a basketball party or something that he has to go to. Ok?"
A silence between the two women on the phone took place while the reverberations of the basketball practice surrounded Spencer. The Carlin mother was notorious for her firm stubbornness when it came to controlling her daughter's life, a stubbornness her daughter had come to inherit.
Spencer had learned long ago that her mother interfered at every turn and so she taught herself to wriggle free of that controlling grip in the most subtle of ways, often fooling Paula into believing she was still in charge.
The silence broke with a stern affirmation from mother Carlin which brought a grin to Spencer's face.
"Thanks, love you, bye!" she hurriedly said then hung up with a snap.
As if the conversation had been synchronized with the coach's plans, the phone call ended at the same time the team met in a huddle at the sideline. The blonde got to her feet deliberately, stretching slightly to shake the stiffness from her body. An hour and a half was a long time to sit.
Her stretching didn't go unnoticed. Several of the boys on the team eyed her curves enviously and stared openly at the stretch of skin that appeared between her white tank top and low-cut denim jeans. The one boy obviously unaffected, though, was the same boy as before, the one whose hair was in dire need of a trim and was clearly the team captain.
When she reached the bottom step the coach gave the boys permission to disperse. One boy advanced towards her, a confident smile tainting his lips. His blonde hair stood slicked back on his head.
"Hey, Spencer." said the basketball player when he got within speaking distance of her.
She glanced up at him startled because her attention had been focused on the team captain arguing with the coach.
"Oh, uhm, hey, …" her greeting trailed off when a name didn't come to mind for her to match to the face.
"Trevor," he supplied. "What's up?"
"Oh, nothing much. Just watching you guys practice," she said amiably, meanwhile trying to step around him. "The team's really coming together."
"Definitely. I guess you saw me out there working my magic." He halfway joked.
"Yeah," a half frown appeared on her lips. "You were really something. And I'd love to stay and talk but I've got to…"
Instead of finishing her sentence she pointed at Aiden and then strode towards him. He and the coach had finished their discussion which had left the boy standing pointlessly by himself, rubbing the back of his neck. Spencer stopped her progress so that she stood slightly behind him and to the right.
"What was that about?" she asked directly, skipping all small talk.
By now the gym had emptied, even of Trevor who had lingered after to speak with Spencer, but Aiden still looked around to make sure no one could overhear them.
"Coach wanted to know how the team would feel if he pulled Kyle off the bench and onto the court." he stated.
"Well, how does the team feel, oh fabulous captain?" she teased lightly, backing away to the exit.
She had no intention of staying in the gym too much longer than necessary and Aiden sometimes needed prodding in the right direction to start moving. He unconsciously followed but only to elbow her in the side.
"I told you to lay off calling me that," he attempted to say in a menacing voice that came out as exasperated. "But the team does not like that idea very much considering Kyle is the coach's nephew and is as athletic as a baby giraffe."
Spencer snorted to hold back a full blown laugh. It was a fitting image of the gangly sophomore. Her hands pushed open the double doors and Aiden continued to follow her. She paused in front of the boy's locker room and stared up into his eyes.
"You'll figure it out." Spencer told him soothingly.
Aiden smiled at Spencer's sentimental words.
"Shut up, you brat," he said, a laugh escaping at the end of his words. "I don't need babying." But despite his seemingly harsh words he pulled her into a hug.
Spencer squealed and shrugged off his embrace.
"Get off me, you sweaty oaf!" She danced out of his reach.
"Oaf? Nice insult." He ran a hand through his damp hair.
"Whatever," Spencer replied, hardly moments after she had lost her composure. "Just make yourself presentable, Mom wants me to go out tonight and you're my escort."
The boy didn't bother with a reply. He gave her an odd two fingered salute before trudging into the boy's locker room. Their friendship could use some work.