Chapter 10

My day had been going pretty well. Breakfast with Santana, exemptions from homework from teachers, I was almost on cloud nine. The fact that the butterflies in my stomach had grown three sizes and were making me crazy was the downfall. I met up Santana and Brittany again for another fun-filled lunch. Today, Brittany was sure the new kid, who was apparently a clone of someone named Mercedes was checking me out. I, however, am pretty certain that wasn't the case. Just before we were getting up to leave, a girl I had never seen before tapped my shoulder.
"Hi, I'm Tatum. I think I've lost my phone. Do you mind if I borrow yours for a second?" the brunette asked. I looked up at her; she was pretty with golden green eyes and a cute smile.

"Sure," I said. As I reached for my phone, I looked over at Brittany who was giving me the thumbs up, then to Santana, who looked a little less impressed. Tatum used my phone to send a text and then handed it back to me.
"Thanks," she said with a wink and a smile.
"Anytime," I replied, as I leaned my elbows on the table, and turned my head to watch her walk away. When I returned my attention back to the table, I had on a confident smile that quickly disappeared when I saw Santana's expression. Brittany on the hand, looked like she just won a million bucks. This made me chuckle as I checked out my phone. I clicked my messages button to find a message sent to a random number.

555-303-1314 : I love watching you play, maybe you can teach me sometime?
Good luck tonight, I'll be cheering from the stands.
Tatum xox

My mouth drops. But is quickly replaced with a chuckle as I look over my shoulder to see if Tatum was still around. While I was checking out the crowd, Santana reached across the table and grabbed my phone.
"Oh really? The 'sly text to hand out my number' trick? That's not very original," she said with a bit of a sneer.
"It was kind of hot," I said, trying to get a little more attitude out of her. She looked at me with a look of repulse.
I laugh a little, "she's a looker too" says Brittany. This makes me laugh more. Santana was still not convinced. We finished lunch and headed to the rest of our classes.

After school, we had a light practice that involved a short run, a couple drills and some final plays. As Coach was finishing up, the camera crews were arriving. This really got the nerves shaking. I went into the locker room to shower and redress. As I was coming out of the locker room, Santana called my name from behind me. I turned and saw her in a slightly different Cheerios uniform. This one included a black long sleeve t-shirt and her hair was down around her shoulders.
"Wow, you look amazing," I said, as I looked her up and down.

"Thanks," she said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "We're going to get something to tide us over until after the game, want to come?"
"I'd love to, but its almost game time. I think I'm just going to hang around here and toss the ball around, I have to calm my nerves some how," I reply.
She shivered and crossed her arms in front of her.

"Okay, want me to pick you something up?" she asked. I took my jacket off and handed it to her. She smiled and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"No, we have some snacks in the locker room. Thanks though," I said, nodding in the direction of the girls' locker room.
"Okay, well, I should go so we can get back before the game starts," she said, looking down at her feet and then back to meet my eyes. I nod. She takes a step closer to me; I can smell her perfume. It makes my head swim a little. She presses a kiss to my cheek and slides my jacket off to hand to me.
"Keep it, hopefully I can see you after the game to get it off you," I say, with a hopeful smile. She puts it back on and grins as she turns to walk away.
"Don't you already have a date? With Tatum?" she calls back over her shoulder. I shove my hands in my pockets. Is that jealousy I heard as she sneered the girl's name at the end? I laugh quietly and head to the change room.