——Aaron

“Coach Irving said Manuel is a better point guard than Zack. I really think otherwise,” Jasper told me under his breath. Why was he whispering? I had no idea. Maybe not to offend Zack, who was walking behind us with his girl Trisha.

“I’ll see what I can do. I’ll speak to coach later,” I said as we took our trays to our usual table in the center of the cafeteria where everybody could see us, and where we could see everyone.

“You’re the captain, dude,” Jasper said, digging into his fries before everyone could even sit down. “You need to see our defense later.” He added.

“Have you guys checked out the decorations in the hallway?” Diana, one of Nicole’s loyal followers and co-captain of Lediville’s cheering squad, shrieked. Her brown eyes sparkled with excitement. She looked down at her tray shyly when our eyes met.

Nicole arched her eyes brows. “I think the Booster Club did okay. I’m not particularly amazed.” She smiled at me and gently kissed my cheek. “Hey, babe.”

I quickly returned the gesture before digging into my mac and cheese. I was hungry. I wasn’t in the mood to talk about the school’s decoration for the upcoming Winter Formal.

“Check out the turd today, Nic.” I heard Trisha say which was followed by chuckles and giggles.

I looked up to see who the poor creature was. Of course, who else could it be? Samantha Banks. She was talking and smiling to Bruce and some other guy. Powerpuff Girl then joined their table.

As I watched, Sam looked in the direction of our table, and I could see how the expression on her face changed from sunny to cloudy. She looked pissed.

I looked away. Could she be mad at me for helping her? Flashbacks of the events that had happened last week flooded my mind. The weird feeling in my stomach came back in an instant. What the hell?

I was so busy pushing the images of Sam off my head that I didn’t notice her already standing in front of us.

Sam looked furious, but her nostrils weren’t flaring up at me. No, she was shooting daggers at Nicole.

“You owe me $62 for the tires, Nicole.” She threw a piece of paper onto the table.

Trisha quickly unfolded it. “Max’s and Sons Garage?” It was a receipt.

“Excuse me?” Nicole spoke. “I owe you nothing.

“You slashed my tires. Now you’re paying for it,” Sam demanded.

Nicole laughed at her mockingly. “And do you really think you can walk over to our table uninvited and demand that I pay you? No shit, turd. I’m not paying you. Why d’you even think I will?”

Zack and Jasper chuckled. But, I could tell that Sam means business. I had seen that look before. She wasn’t about to back down and accept Nicole’s lack of interest in paying her.

Sam moved closer to our table and slammed her hands flat on the table and glared at Nicole. “You will pay me because if you won’t, I will tell Principal Greene about what you did.”

Nicole casually flipped her hair. “No one saw us did it. You don’t have any evidence that you can use against us.”

This time, Sam smiled menacingly. “Of course, I do. You probably left your brain somewhere when you ordered your minions to slash my tires because you foolishly left me a note.” She grinned. “With your handwriting and initials on it.”

Nicole froze. Trisha and Diana both exchanged worried looks.

“You wanted to take the credit for being a bitch. Congratulations, Nicole. The credit is all yours.” Sam straightened up. “Pay me before the end of the day or your stupid note will reach Principal Greene’s table. And don’t even try asking your boyfriend’s goons to ambush me. I don’t have the note, I gave it to someone to keep it safe, and if something happens to me, it will reach Principal Greene.”

She then turned to me and said, “Marcy’s later at 4. Take it or leave it. And don’t be late,” before leaving. She didn’t give me any time to protest. Why should we meet at Marcy’s and not at my house?

“Shit.” Nicole cursed. “We need to do something.”

“Just pay her and don’t make it any worse,” I told her. It was kind of her fault that I received an earful from my father. Sam didn’t show up to my house because she slashed her tires. And because of her, I got in a very weird situation with Sam.

“Marcy’s later at 5, huh? Are you seeing her now?” Nicole was always an expert in turning the tables around. Her eyes flashed at me.

“She’s my tutor?” I shrugged. “If you have a problem with that, then talk to my father and convince him to drop her.”

“This is pathetic.” She turned to Diana and Trisha. “Stop eating. Let’s go,” and snapped at them. Her two best friends quickly obliged and stormed out the cafeteria with her.

I shook my head. Nicole could be a handful at times. It was her mess. I was pretty sure she was the one who gave the orders to slash Sam’s tires.

“Anyway, before we got interrupted,” Jasper said, “Zack and I have come up with some solid defense strategy against West Field High on Thursday. We will eliminate them, dude.”

He and Zack gave each other high-fives. And Zack started chanting.

Bobcats!

Bobcats!

Bobcats!

It didn’t take for everyone in the cafeteria to chant along. And as the captain of the team, I was obliged to cheer along. I didn’t want to, but I had to. It was just one of the many things that I secretly hated about being in the basketball team. We always had to support one another, no matter how silly it was.

With art, your love for the craft would always be an intimate one. Just you and your art. No need to be rowdy and exuberant in expressing your passion. You can appreciate your creation all by yourself.