New friendships

He was staring at them so intensely. She knew that look very well, it was desire. It was the same look she gave her previous love interests. The same way she looked at a rare paper back novel or limited edition shoes. Theo had that look in his eyes as he sat on the bleachers and watched the basketball game.

"Stop drooling!", she said as she sat on the empty space next to him. Winnington University's basketball court was a work of art. The indoor court and the outdoor one made for training has accommodated many NBA players.

"What the fuck are you doing here currents!", she jerked at his statement, she was mad when she first heard it but now, she actually loved it.

"Umm, I'm here to see a two-pointer", she said while staring at the score board.

"Do you even know what that means? Please leave", it sounded like both an order and a plea.

"Why?", she moved her eyes slowly to him recording every expression he made.

"Because—its not important Currents, I can't be the cause of yet another student leaving the program, and especially not you", she was dazed. This was the most emotion she had ever seen from the boy.

"Why me?", she asked inquisitively. She was itching for an answer, at this point the main reason she got Brie to drive her into the main campus for had eluded her.

"Mia, if you're caught here, you'll be put on probation and it wouldn't take time before you're kicked out. Is that what you want?", his hazel eyes lost the twinkle that Mia first saw when she looked at him.

As she continued staring at him, she felt a burning sensation in her chest. Not like the one she got when she had scotch, this one was stronger. She thought carefully before uttering her next words.

"I see the way you look at them, you love this right, this is where you want to be",

"No, no currents—and I see you're not wearing ugs today". He was clearly deflecting.

"There was nothing wrong with the shoes I wore yesterday", she thought to herself.

"My shoes were perfectly fine Theo, now don't change the subject", he chuckled slightly before finally facing her .

"Mia, what do you want? Really? You want to talk about my dreams and aspirations, I don't think so".

"Your friends and classmates", she blurted out.

"Currents! There really is nothing to talk about".

"The scholarship kids got kicked out", genuine surprise washed over his face and it was evident through his expression that he wasn't aware of this.

"So what do you want me to do, go before the school board?", he asked sarcastically.

She nodded her head, "yes—sss".

"Okay, I'll see what I can do, but I'm not making any promises", he smiled at her before looking at her legs.

"No, for real, your kicks, very impressive currents". She smiled from ear to ear.

"Okay, we're done here, now get out!", he gestured towards the exit.

"A shame, I was actually starting to enjoy this sport, three-pointer".

"What the heck is that? Do not desecrate this sacred sport", he chuckled softly.

"Well, maybe you can teach me a thing or two", she touched his right arm and couldn't avoid his biceps, he wore a jersey that showed off his arms, seemed like he played the sport often.

"Umm, Mia you should start going now, Brie's here", he withdrew immediately then swallowed hard like he had something hard in his throat.

Brie seemed like she had been standing there for a while. Mia walked towards her with her hands fixed to her side, she pouted like a toddler that got caught stealing candy. She knew Brie was upset, she had sat down in the car for a while.

"I told you, there was no point of coming here, you risked us getting caught", Brie had this tone Mia had never heard before, she sounded upset.

"I'm sorry, I wanted to take a chance, I thought it would be worth it".

"On Theo, really, well you wasted that chance", she scoffed.

"You can't just give up on someone like that", Mia charged.

"Theo is a lost cause", Brie threw her hands in the air. "And the sooner you know that, the better", she continued.

"That's a little harsh now, 'lost cause', isn't that a stretch?", Mia's tone had lost its usually soothing nature, it was more aggressive.

"Chill, currents, you don't know this dude, don't give your self a headache", she was right, Mia didn't know anything about him. Defending him shouldn't be her job.

"Ready to go, or you have more concerns", Brie gestured towards the car as she jingled the keys.

"Sorry—Yeah", she rubbed her right arm gently, Mia's cheeks were flushed. Here she was, playing devil's advocate.

She hopped into the car with a burning feeling in her chest, Theo just withdrew from her the first chance he got, just like he did with Jenna. The signals she was getting were mixed and she was the queen of clarity.

They got to campus just in time to sign out.

***

"Darbs, what happened?", Darby stared out of the window looking dejected. She stood there silent ignoring all the questions Mia threw at her. Mia walked towards the window to view the same image Darby saw, students departing. They had their boxes and most of their things packed up.

Mia was heartbroken. The feeling of anger and disappointment spread through her quickly. It was Friday, if they were leaving that meant Theo didn't ?

Mia put on her slippers with walked to the elevator in her large hoody and boxers.

She caught a glimpse of Jenna and wanted to say goodbye—to apologize for not being able to convince Theo.

Before the elevator doors could be shut, a hand stopped it. It was Darby. They were out of the building and in front of Jenna's mum's car in two minutes. Saying last goodbyes is never easy, even if the person has crooked ways.

"No hope with Horbs corp Prescott?", Jenna tilted her head with accusing eyes.

"Horbs Corp", Mia had heard and seen that name so often she was starting to think it was dèjà vu.

"No I—", she was cut off.

"Mum, hey mum, where are you going?", Jenna's mum was reversing out of the car park without giving her a single heads up.

Her driver pulled down the window at the back seat, it was a tinted Lexus with 'Reina' inscribed into it. Rich people have a thing for customization.

Her mum took a glance at her before throwing her face into her phone. The driver pulled out of the parking lot and took an aggressive swerve.

"Emergency meeting, seems like the God shown his infinite mercies today", Jenna read out a text from her mum.

"Seems like you held your end Prescott", Jenna had excitement all over her face .

"What—what's happening?", shock filled her expression. Darby shared a similar look on her face.

"You're going to have to pay for this in some kind of way", she got a text from the unknown number. It was the perfect time to save his number.