Invitation

Staring at the clock, a young High School first year was mentally counting the down the last few seconds until freedom.

3… 2… 1…

The shrill sound of the school bell echoed throughout the classroom and hallway as it signaled for the end of school. Humming a quiet tune to herself, the young teenager happily started to pack away her supplies as the teacher at the front of the class bid them farewell until the end of a well-deserved break from school. She had just about finished packing when a classmate and friend of hers bounded over to her desk.

"Hey, [Name]-chan," the brunette male greeted as he watched the female finish up packing.

"Hello, Kawahara-kun," she replied, placing the last of her things in her bag before standing up next to the boy.

The two of them made their way out of the classroom together, waving goodbye to their teacher as they did. It was the last day of class before break and the two were happily discussing their individual plans for the mini-vacation, Kawahara's consisting mostly of street basketball and [Name]'s mostly consisting of staying at home to relax. Kawahara chastised her for not taking the break as an opportunity to go out and explore, but she merely brushed it off.

"I'd rather explore the inside of my eyelids," she teased, earning both an eye roll and a laugh from her classmate.

"I know," the boy exclaimed as he snapped his fingers at a new idea, "You should come by the park tomorrow. The guys and I are meeting with a few people from other teams and we're all going to have a friendly match with each other."

"I don't know Kawahara-kun," [Name] trailed off, entertaining the idea of joining in, "I don't know much about basketball, so I don't think it'd be fun for me to watch."

"Liar, basketball is always fun, even when you're just watching from the sidelines. Besides, we won't only be playing basketball. Think of it like… a picnic!" When the female still didn't look convinced, he tried another tactic. "You won't be the only girl, I promise. Coach Riko and Tsuchida-san's girlfriend will be joining us as well."

Sighing in defeat, [Name] finally agreed to join them in their fun and games and Kawahara couldn't help but fist pump in victory. The two made their way off school grounds, talking about the next day's event and walking together in the direction of their homes before they came to the street where they broke apart.

"I swear, you're always asking me to come see your games," the girl grumbled as they stood, waiting for the crosswalk's light. "Why don't you just get it over with and ask me out so I can say no?"

Kawahara scoffed. "As if you're my type. I just don't want you to turn into a hermit."

When the light signaled for pedestrians to walk, [Name] made her way across quickly, bidding her friend farewell as they both laughed at the joke they shared.