A/N: I'm sorry that this took so long to come out, but it was problematic at first, and a week of sitting in the corner did it some good. :P I hope you enjoy this! - nadz
Equilibrium
They had been skirting around each other for months since the championship game and the mayhem that followed it. Awkward conversations, sneaked glances at each other and the number one rule of never being left alone with the other had become a staple in their sort-of friendship. They thought that they had their friends fooled, but their strange behaviour was hard to miss.
Jason blushed a bright red whenever the petite girl appeared with Gabriella and Taylor during basketball practice. This was usually followed by a lapse of concentration by the number 23, a complete lack of co-ordination and utter embarrassment. Kelsi, on the other hand, seemed to pull her hat even lower over her face whenever the lanky boy was around, once completely blocking her face leading to her crashing down some steps and spraining her ankle.
But it was Jason's deer-in-headlights imitation when Kelsi showed up at school one day without her hat that really caught their attention.
Their old balance of easy existence around the other no longer fitted, totally erased by Jason's one impulsive act. It was a slow awkward tango as they both tried to find some sort of equilibrium again. And their friends had prime seats to the show.
The boys smirked and teased, watching as Jason started making an effort to talk to Kelsi more often, stuttering conversations slowly turning to laughter and comfortable companionship. The girls giggled and gossiped, noticing how Kelsi now wore her hair down more often, and seemed to 'forget' her hat a lot, until one day, she totally stopped wearing it altogether.
They no longer tip-toed around the other, each afraid of doing something that might disturb the precarious balance they had. They talked for hours now, with Jason calling Kelsi every night, sometimes to have heated debates, and sometimes just to ask how her day was. Neither bothered to sneak glances at the other anymore, preferring to openly admire and stare instead, sometimes to the point of sickening their friends. Being alone together was no longer a problem, and when Jason finally got the nerve to kiss her during one of those moments, all Kelsi could think about was how right it felt.