The game

Nora woke up to peace. Tina was not around, a note on her bed read– "I'll leave early today, Nick's having pre exam stress. Sorry girl. Don't be angry." Nora rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock in her room, '10:30'. "Shit." She jumped out of the bed and headed to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later she was running across the campus when she saw Mrs. Adams enter the class and shut the door behind her, there was no chance of her getting into the class now. She slowed down and came to a stop when she saw Luke. He was walking in her direction, staring down at his phone. "Good morning." Nora called out. He looked up and saw her, "Morning. You're not in class?"

"Umm...long story. You have an exam today. All the best." She smiled.

"Thank you." He said. They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, when Luke spoke, "I'll be late if I don't leave now."

"Sure." Nora said. He nodded and passed right beside her. She turned to look at him. The way he walked had something about it, he walked like he owned the place. Nora heard a few giggles from two girls who were staring at him. "He's that senior, right? I now understand why girls are going crazy over him." One of them said.

"Is he single? I really want to be with him." The other said. Nora turned to look at their faces, startling them, then she looked at Luke who was entering a classroom and walked away.

The classes ended soon. Tina went away with Nick to his place so she had the room to herself. She stepped and headed to Lawson park with her headphones on. The park was not crowded today, but the basketball court was. She pushed through the crowd and made her way to the front. She noticed Tina seated at the bleachers, turning her gaze she noticed Luke, George, Nick and Joel playing against a team with Edward in it. Tina was in her full spirit, cheering for the team, Nick in particular. The game was intense with only two minutes to go. The ball was in the hands of the opposite team. George snatched it off their hands and headed toward the basket, passing it to Nick. Edward made his way in and got the ball back and headed his side, Joel managed to get the ball back on the far side of the court. With forty five seconds on the clock, he passed it to Luke, which caused an uproar in the crowd. He went for a five pointer, the crowd silenced, the ball hit the ring and made its way inside it. The scores changed, 56 to 52. Joel ran up to Luke and gave him a high five, George punched his shoulder and hugged Nick. The girls squealed when Edward and Luke shook their hands and moved to the bleachers.

The crowd dispersed, with some heading to the bleachers, talking to the players. Nora went to the bleachers to meet Tina but they were packed with people, asking questions about the game and girls awing at the guys standing there. "Tina." Nora said. Tina turned around and waved at her, calling her in the front, she sat down beside her. Everyone finally went away. "Give me a towel. Please." Nick said and took Tina in a hug. Tina squealed but hugged him back. "Nora. When did you get here?" George said, "Did you see the game?"

"Just now. And yes I did, the last two minutes though." She shrugged.

"Nora can you get some towels from that bag." Tina pointed at the bag under the bleachers. Nora nodded and went to get the bag. She saw Luke with a girl, a fresher from their university.

"You're a senior," the girl said, "I've seen you a lot of times in university and here. I admired you a lot. Over the time this admiration turned into something I couldn't understand but now I do, I like you, in fact it's more than just like. Can you go out with me?" She finished and looked up at him. He sighed, "I'm sorry but I cannot accept your feelings but I'm grateful you expressed them."

"Do you have someone you like?" The girl almost whimpered.

"Yes l do." He said and walked away. The girl stood there for a few minutes and then left hurriedly, Nora grabbed the bag and headed back and handed the bag to Tina.

"What are you doing here?" Nora turned around to see Luke standing behind her. His grey t-shirt, drenched in sweat clinged to his chest, giving way to his firm muscles underneath. He had a towel around his neck and a water bottle in his hand. Nora looked up at him, his blue eyes shining more than ever.

"Hey we're leaving." Nick announced, Tina's hand in his. Tina waved at Nora, her face was flushed. Nora rolled her eyes and waved back.

Luke tapped his bottle on her head, "You didn't answer my question." He said. Nora turned around suddenly, the bottle almost hitting her in the face. "Have some patience." She hissed. "Anyway I didn't plan on coming here. It was just a coincidence."

"Good. I'll leave, I have to be somewhere." He swung his bag over his shoulder.

"Hey wait !" Nora shouted, he turned around. "You were confessed to just now."

"Does that have anything to do with you?" He quirked his eyebrow.

"No. You said you liked someone." She said in a small voice.

"Perhaps you are well aware of that fact too Nora." He moved forward and pulled up her headphones from around her neck to her ears and smiled, "Even though you might not acknowledge my feelings but what I said was true." She stared at his back as he walked away.

Nora was left alone in the court. It was frustrating, the way she froze every time she saw him. She was frustrated the way her heart started beating faster every time he was near her or even touched her. Nora shook her head, pushing away all her thoughts, she fired up the music, "Three extra laps." She murmured.