Chapter 22: Decision, Part 4

He simply smiled his sexy half smile, and held up a hand, watching me as I walked away. Away from him, I took deep breaths to clear my head. Being near him was a heady experience, intoxicating. I ran down the hall-perhaps a bit faster than human speed-to the gym. I needed to run, to exercise, to clear my head. I needed time to think.

Inside the gym, I ran down the stairs and into the girl's locker room, my head still filled with Zac. What was I doing? I thought as other girls ran around the locker room in various stages of undress, preparing for gym class. Ignoring them, I quickly ripped open my backpack and pulled a gray T-shirt and navy shorts from it-not as sexy as I like, but typical gym attire-as thoughts of Zac assaulted my mind. How could I let Zac have this effect on me? I sighed, leaning my head back against a locker door, not sure I had a choice anymore.

"Hi!" a familiar, perky voice said. Sandra. "You have gym now?" she asked, clearly excited, already dressed and ready to go.

I half smiled, pulling off my shirt, for vamps really had no modesty. Modesty was for the insecure and vamps were very secure, or, at least, most were. Soon, the other girls rushed out toward the gym in an effort to be on time.

I didn't want to tell Sandra that the answer to her question was obvious. She was a very nice girl. "Yeah," I simply said with a smile, as I pulled the hideous gray T-shirt over my head.

"Well, great! So do I!" Sandra replied, a bit intimidated by my semi-naked body. I continued dressing, slipping off my skirt and pulling the navy shorts over my tanned legs. "I'll ... uh ... I'll just wait for you upstairs."

"No, don't leave," I replied, catching her verbally before she ran out. "I mean, you don't have to go. I'm almost ready. But, then again, I don't want you to be late."

"That's okay," Sandra said, looking out the door. Within a second, I changed into my tennis shoes and was ready to go.

Then, I thought of something I just had to know. "Zac really hasn't had another girlfriend?" I asked, looking her straight in the eye, seeking the truth.

"No," Sandra answered, never taking her eyes from mine. "Not that I know of, anyway."

"Okay," I replied in disbelief. I'll be damned. "As attractive and self sacrificing as he is, it's a wonder some nice girl hasn't snatched him up yet," I replied, knowing I could trust her.

Then Sandra looked at me with very serious eyes. "Well, maybe he hadn't met the right girl yet."

I thought for a moment, then gave her a half smile. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

"What about you?" Sandra asked, sincere. "Do you have any boyfriends?"

I laughed. That was a very good question. In my whole life, I could honestly say "no". I had never fallen in love ... until now. "No. Never."

Sandra smiled broadly. "Well, then, why not just see where it goes?"

Sandra's smile was contagious because I felt a smile stretch broadly across my face, as well. "Let's go," I said, teasing, feigning impatience. "You don't want to make me late, do you?" Then I ran out the door, with Sandra following close behind.

"Me make you late?" Sandra yelled after me as we both ran into the gym.

In the gym, Mr. Sullivan, the gym coach, was giving the class instructions in the fine points of basketball. I knew the game well, but listened attentively as he explained to the class how to play. As I looked around, there was Alicia. Great. But I vowed to let bygones be bygones, that is, if she did.

Coach Sullivan divided us up into teams and, luckily, Sandra was on mine. She didn't seem very athletic, but she was a nice girl and I already considered her to be a friend. I felt protective of her, for some reason. Alicia was on the other team. Interesting.

Sandra was wringing her hands nervously as we waited for Coach to blow the whistle.

"What's wrong?' I quickly asked her under my breath. "You look like you're going to pass out!"

"I'm not good at this!" Sandra confessed. "I usually end up falling flat on my face ... literally." Sandra looked worried. "The other girls get rough and I end up flying onto the floor."

"Don't worry," I said, grinning mischievously. "I have your back."

Sandra grinned, then joined the huddle to break.

And guess who was assigned as my guard? Alicia! And to think I wanted to go home! I grinned, crouching into my ready position, awaiting the kill-figuratively speaking, of course. But I remembered the promise I made to myself to behave ... we shall see. Alicia crouched down before me in her ready position, looked me right in the eye, and sneered, as one side of her mouth curled upward. So, that's how it's going to be. As you wish.

Our team got the ball first then ran it down the court with Alicia's team hot on our heels. We expertly passed the ball between us, working together. But when Sandra got the ball, the other team rushed her, making her nervous, so she passed it quickly to me and I threw it half court to make the basket. But this did nothing for Sandra's self esteem, so I decided to fix it.

The other team got the ball and ran it down the court, but I expertly stole the ball and our team ran it back down the court to our side. Everyone passed the ball around, but avoided throwing it to Sandra, even though she was open quite a bit. So I passed it to her, then ran interference, clearing the road for her.

"Shoot it, Sandra!" I yelled, so she closed her eyes and threw. It circled the basket a few times then fell in! I high-fived her and we took our positions again, but now, Sandra had a bit more spring in her step, having faced the other girls head on. Before long, our other teammates were throwing the ball to her, too, and she ended up making three more baskets.

I let the other team make a few shots to make it look good. Then our team got the ball again. A girl passed it to Sandra, but suddenly Alicia stopped dead in her tracks, right in her way. Sandra bounced off her and hit the floor, landing hard on her ass.