Part III

It was a week before the tournament. Most of the athletes from Yale already arrived. Alex was walking along the corridors to her next class. She had practice prior to the class that made her out of sync. Angel, one of her teammates was with her. Along the way, she zoned out for a few seconds because of the fatigue. She bumped into a girl sporting a familiar Yale sweater in the process. The girl dropped her books and was going to bend down to get it, but Alex was faster. Holding on to the books, Alex slowly stood up and noticed the girl in front of her was wearing a skirt.

Now when was the last time I even stared at a hot pair of legs?

Alex's eyes blinked as she looked up to see the girl smiling at her.

Oh yeah...

Since I saw Marissa's yesterday…

Alex smiled back.

"Hi welcome to Harvard. I'm sorry about that. I could get clumsy sometimes." Alex handed the books to the brunette in front of her.

Angel was grinning behind her.

"Hi. Thanks. I think that's the warmest greeting I ever had." The brunette replied.

"Oh well… Um… We have to be on our way. See you around." Alex smiled and started to walk towards class.

Angel's attention was still with the brunette but Alex dragged her. From a distance Angel shook her head.

"That girl is hot!" She said pushing Alex slightly as they reached the door of their classroom.

Alex shook her head then went inside the classroom. She took her seat beside her girlfriend then gave Marissa a kiss on the cheek. Marissa was sending a text message to Summer. She smiled to find Alex beside her.

"I'll bet anyone would date her." Angel took the empty seat behind them.

"Nah… She has to force me to do so. So you can't say anyone would date her." Alex grinned and faced the blackboard.

----

"Inna!"

"Hey! Didn't know you were going here. I thought you were on the injured list." Inna responded giving him a hug.

"You know… You have quite a match up on this year's tournament. But it's all good. You'll have fun." Trey replied as he let go of Inna.

"So… Have you scouted the opposition?" Trey asked as they started to walk the lengths of the quad.

"No… I don't need to. This tournament is for new friends or maybe more… I don't want to make enemies here." Inna smiled.

"You must be joking. Let me guess… Some girl from Harvard caught your eye?" Trey gave her a playful nudge.

"Maybe… Now what makes you say it's a girl?" Inna arched one of her brows.

"You don't have to hide anything from me Inna. So where are you staying while you're here?"

"They gave us complimentary rooms on the dorms. I might have dinner with the Cooper's tomorrow night. Lindsay's back from Yale I think."

"Didn't she graduate a few months back?"

"Yeah she did. I saw her there. She was getting copies of her transcripts. You know how the registrar works." Inna shook her head.

"Yeah… Well… nice to see you. Good luck! I'll see you around." With that Trey ran to the gym.

Inna was watching Trey run when somebody bumped her from behind.

"Oh sorry!"

It was Alex.

"I'm sorry… I wasn't looking." Alex tried to smile.

Alex Cohen you are definitely an ass…

Looking at the girl, she remembered it was the same girl she bumped into earlier.

"You seem to have a habit to bump me… Miss…?" Inna smiled.

"Alex Cohen." Alex replied gently shaking Inna's hand.

"Inna Van Stein."

"Oh… You're the…" Alex stammered.

"Player from Yale…" Inna finished her statement with a smile.

"I uh… I'm sorry about that. I tend to get… clumsy… sometimes." Alex smiled back nervously.

Inna bit her lower lip and tucked away her stray hair on the ear.

Alex Cohen you are so adorable.

Alex for her part tried to be friendly but ended up just smiling at the other girl.

Alex…

Think quickly!

You are not going to have more conversations with her.

You don't want Marissa to feel bad.

"Um… I should go. I'm late for practice. See you around." Alex started to walk away from Inna.

"Yeah. See You around." Inna replied.

I'm going to make sure of that…

----

"Marissa! Dinner's ready!" Julie yelled from the dining room.

Marissa skipped down from her room and saw five plates on the table.

"Who's joining dinner?" She asked her mother.

"Oh… One of your sister's friends. She's here in Boston." Julie replied as she gave Marissa a kiss on the forehead.

"Hi guys." Lindsay appeared from the living room.

"Who's your friend?" Marissa asked.

"Inna"

"Inna the basketball player?"

"Yeah. How did you know?"

"She made quite a stir at school because of the tournament"

"Oh don't worry. She's nice. She won't hurt Alex." Lindsay grinned as she sat down beside her sister.

"Right… I just hope you're right. I don't want Alex to get hurt." Marissa replied as she stared at her empty plate.

Lindsay was about to answer when the doorbell rang.

"She's here." Julie said then walked to the living room to meet the visitor.

Marissa just stared on her plate.

"What's wrong sis?" Lindsay asked as she rubbed Marissa's back.

"I'm scared… I know she's safe… But I'm scared… It's like… Something's going to happen to her…" Marissa looked at her sister with tears in her eyes.

"Hey… Hey… Alex is fine. We can talk to Inna to make sure she has no intention to roughhouse your girlfriend on court. She'll be fine ok?"

Marissa just nodded.

I don't know what I'll do if something happens to her…