Chapter 36: My Love and Basketball
Ring!
Ringg!
Ringgg!
The sound of my alarm startles me as I have already been lying in bed awake about the last half hour. I get up to turn it off and go to see if the twins are awake so that we can all be ready to leave at the same time. It's game day and for some reason I'm nervous as though I'm the one playing. After making sure the twins are up I go back to my room and turn on some calming music as I roll out my yoga mat and begin to stretch. Stretching and completing my breathing exercises I begin to feel more at ease and all the nervousness I felt disappears. I send Mekhi a text telling him good morning and wish him good luck.
Me: Good morning! Good Luck today!!
Mekhi: Good morning baby! Thank you, I'll do my best.
Me: You're welcome! <3
Mekhi: I'll be looking for you in the stands.
Me: I'll be waiting…
Mekhi: ;^)
When I'm finished I take a quick refreshing shower as I worked up sweat while stretching. I then begin my usual morning routine and get dressed putting on Mekhi's jersey that I purchased yesterday and do my makeup accordingly. I put on a few beaded necklaces in the school's colors of blue and gold check my appearance once more and head down to the kitchen.
"Good morning," I say to Journee as I enter the kitchen.
"Good morning Na na," Journee replies in her spirit wear.
"Did you sleep well," I ask her.
"Yeah, for the most part. After the game I'm going over to Bailey's house and I'll be staying the
night," she says pouring boiling water into her mug and bowl.
"Okay, that's cool. Do you know if Jackson has plans," I say and right before she can answer Jackson strolls into the kitchen.
"Yeah, I'm going over to Nathan's; Rylan and Roman is going to meet me there as well. I guess you'll be here by yourself tonight sis," Jackson says grabbing a mug for himself.
"Probably not. I'll see what the girls are doing," I say to him as I prepare breakfast and coffee for myself.
"Cool. Thanks for the spirit wear," Jackson says.
"Thank you," Journee says following Jackson.
"You're welcome. We have to leave early to avoid all the traffic heading to the stadium," I say to them.
We eat our breakfast in peace. I text our parents about our plans for the day. They inform me of their plans to return home tomorrow. I let the twins know and they proceed to their rooms to gather their belongings for after the game. I make sure the kitchen is cleaned and return to my room to straighten it up. After some time passes we head out to the stadium. The time it took to get there wasn't so bad however the traffic getting to the parking lot and actually parking is building. Once we get parked we walk through the parking lot where people are selling all kinds of things and music can be heard playing. The atmosphere is buzzing with excitement and positive energy.
'I wish the girls would've come along for this game. We could've had so much fun. It's good for the twins to experience this as well, I suppose.' I think to myself as we continue walking around.
"Wow, this is so cool," Jackson says looking around taking in all that's happening around him.
"Yeah, it's not too bad," I say to him as the smell of something being grilled wafts through the air.
We all look at each other and laugh as we realize that we're standing still just sniffing at the air. If their thoughts are the same as mine we're thinking that we should've held out for breakfast. Just as we're starting to walk again I hear someone call my name.
"Lena, yooo wait up," a voice says and I turn around to look for its owner. I then see Nate and Owen making their way towards me.
"Wow sis, you know a lot of good looking guys," Journee says in my ear looking at Nate and Owen.
"They're Mekhi's friends," I say to her before they reach us.
"Hey Lena," Owen says giving me a side hug and Nate does the same.
"Hey guys. This is my brother and sister. Jackson and Journee," I say to them introducing my siblings.
"It's nice to meet you," Nate says shaking each of their hands and Owen follows his sentiments.
"Are you guys going to the game as well," I ask unsure of what else to say.
"Yeah, mind if we hang out with you guys for a while," Owen asks.
"Ummm," I say hesitantly this is only my second time seeing them but I don't want to be rude to Mekhi's friends.
"It'll be fine don't over think it," Nate says reassuring me.
"Okay then, it's alright with me," I say agreeing to their request.
"Cool, let's keep walking around," Owen says.
We continue walking with me in the lead, the twins behind me, and the guys bring up the rear. People stare at our odd group for a few seconds too long, it could be the handsome guys walking with me. Not letting the stares affect my mood I decide to find a few places to take pics with my siblings and a few selfies for myself. I post some pictures to my news feed on social media and continue wandering with my crew. Owen and Nate are such great sports with our aimless wandering that I decide to do something nice for them.
After a little more wandering we decide to make our way to the stadium to get our seats and refreshments. When we get to the ticket booth I remove our tickets from my bag and they return the stubs to me. We wait for Nate and Owen before deciding to use the bathroom then getting refreshments. Jackson heads to the bathroom with Owen and Nate while Journee head to the ladies room.
"Did you know that Mekhi's friends would be with us today," Journee asks as we're waiting in the queue for the bathroom.
"No, I had no idea. I just met them a few days ago," I reply to her.
"Oh, it's really nice of them to accompany us," she says.
"Yeah, it is. Now that you mention it I'm curious as to why they've stayed with us for so long," I wonder out loud.
'Mekhi is probably being cautious since I'm here with the twins and considering the disagreement with that wretched girl earlier in the week.' I think to myself.
"Mekhi probably asked them to accompany us," Journee says.
"You're probably right. I feel bad though they could've done something else with their time wasted on us," I say to her.
"Possibly, however they could have only agreed to Mekhi's request because they were coming to the game anyway," Journee says logically.
"True. I'll let this go for now," I say thinking about how to bring this up to Mekhi.
"You should. He's only concerned about your safety especially because you're with Jackson and me," she says.
"You're right. Good observation," I say to her.
When we're done using the bathroom and washing our hands we meet the guys at near the refreshment area where we get all kinds of goodies and drinks. To thank Nate and Owen for accompanying us I buy them a beer. With our goods we make our way to our seats and I realize that Nate and Owen are sitting with us as well. Lucky for me I'm near the tunnel where our team will be coming out again. This time I have a seat not so high up that I don't have to reach so far to grab Mekhi's hand.
When we get settled into our seats we can see both teams practicing on opposites ends of the court. My heart skips a beat as I find Mekhi shooting the ball and chatting with Cameron. 'He looks so handsome and happy in his element. Ugh, I could watch him all day.' I take a few more pictures and selfies and post some of them to my news feed captioning them 'My love and Basketball'. After a few minutes both teams gather and return to their respective locker rooms. People come out to dry the floors and set up for the national anthem. We chat with each other until the lights start to dim and the announcers begin their pregame talk.
Then the lights dim even further as they announce the opposing team and their starting line-up. The opposing team's fans cheer really loud for them causing our fans to cheer even louder when they get ready to introduce our team. I lean over to watch them come out the tunnel and reach my hand down to touch Mekhi's. First Cameron claps my hand and wink. Followed by Mekhi who comes and grabs my hand with his panty busting half-smile and I nearly melt returning his smile. 'Yeah, I'd be crazy to not make him mine while I have the chance. He is so fine.' I reiterate to myself.
I've already made my decision and now I'm questioning whether I should've told him right away or not. Now they're asking us to stand for the national anthem sung by a local celebrity. Standing with my hand over my pounding heart for the national anthem I decide that I'll tell him tonight. When it ends and we sit back down I look over at my crew and see that the guys are totally engrossed with what's going on and Journee is looking at me with a knowing smile. I return her smile and settle in to watch the game.
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