Nathan Hawkins
I hooked my finger and pulled on the collar of my suit that felt like it was suffocating, choking, me. I wanted to break out of this ugly velvet suit and throw it in the garbage. I wanted to rip off this tie and burn it, get out of this chair and run out the door. I wanted to be literally anywhere else but here. I swallowed and I swear I gulped so loudly, bracing in anticipation of my mother's glare. No, Nate, no one heard that, idiot.
I wanted Ollie to burst in here, riding on a white horse and whisk me away for a happily ever after, yet I was sitting in my dining room in a stupid suit, with a stupid painting staring into my soul, and a stupidly rich man sitting across from me. To my right was his daughter, Haruka Tachibana. She was slowly inching towards me. Soon I would have no more space to scoot away. I called her Haru. Or at least, had to. Probably to make it seem like we were getting along well. Here I was, having no idea where the heck to look. Definitely not my mother, she'd be no help. I was subconsciously playing with my food, curling my spaghetti with my fork infinitely. I didn't even notice until my mother put her hand on mine and widened her smile a little too much. Shivers. I know I should be talking more, but about what? I'm not about to spill my guts to these people.
My parents were sat on both ends of the table, easily having a back-and-forth conversation with Mr. Tachibana and his much younger wife that I swore looked like some random girl in my school. She was just way too young for him, that's for sure.
Mr. Tachibana then looked at me. Ah shoot. "So, Nathan, how is basketball doing?"
Ha. I was literally grounded. But I knew it wouldn't look too good in front of our company so I lied. Because my parents would've. "It's great! We just won our last game against our big-time rivals." We didn't, we had a crushing defeat from what Ollie told me. "Our team had a huge celebration. I think we're doing great." Ollie would be snorting at this.
"That's amazing. You're a very good player," said Mrs. Way-Too-Young-For-Tachibana. I bet she's never seen me play. She was full of crap and empty flattery.
Mr. Tachibana nodded with grace, but an air that commanded the room. You knew he was influential merely by the way he moved his head. So now you could imagine why I was so intimidated. My parents might be influential at least in this state, but this guy was in a different ballpark. I mean, he was the one that traveled half the world just to come to this rural place for a business meeting. He was probably loaded enough for the next five generations to live like the Kardashians.
"What college do you plan on going to?" Asked Mr. Tachibana. What was this? Thanksgiving dinner? This was such an uncle thing to ask. How was I supposed to know? All I knew was that I would probably follow my father's lofty ambitions and wishes. Definitely not become a political figure like my mom.
"Most likely one of the schools in the Ivy League," my mother spoke for me. "And if that doesn't work out, we'd like to send him to Britain." Like I said, anywhere but here. Preferably, with Ollie.
"He's really disciplined. He does his homework as soon as he comes home from school," my dad said to make me look good. Ugh. Am I a product to be sold? No, I didn't think so. So why were they talking like they were about to sell me. Screw this aristocratic bull.
"You're not homeschooled?" Haru asked. She didn't talk much this whole time, which I get. However, the last time I saw her, I was about thirteen and she was twelve and she tried way too hard, probably because her dad told her to. Back then, her hair was long, but now, it was an angled blunt bob. Haru wore a lilac silk dress that hugged her slender frame. Overall, she just seemed more mature. So it was a little weird she chose to talk just now. She was quietly chewing herself until now, looking at me expectantly with a hand covering her mouth.
"No?" Most Americans weren't homeschooled, so it shouldn't be a surprise. What, she thought I had a private tutor or something? As an only child, being homeschooled would be miserable.
My mother lightly laughed as if anyone said anything funny. "He wanted to make some friends, play on the basketball team. High school is good for that. Besides, all the private schools here in this area don't have the curriculum for him to succeed. They offer diverse courses. Overall, it's a lovely, quaint school." She had her political voice on, the one she used on TV. It was especially scary when she's mad. For this lunch, she had flat-ironed her gorgeous afro. I liked her natural hair, but now it was dead straight, and really long. She looked really different. Obviously I took after her more, as my dad was white and had brown hair. At least I had his freckles, but that was about it, as my mother's features were very dominant.
"Lucky," Haru muttered under her breath so that only I heard it. At this point she had cleared her plate and was twirling the fork in her hand under the table like a drum stick. She only pretended she was interested in the conversation. Maybe she and I were more alike than I thought.
We had continued this boring ass idle conversation for a painstakingly long thirty minutes when Mr. Tachibana received a call. "Excuse me, that's my assistant back in Japan." He stood up to take it in the corner of the room and I felt like I could breathe better. If we went by time zones, then it would've been around midnight in Japan. Huh. That's weird, either his assistant is a very devoted, hardworking or... nah, definitely none of my business. A few minutes later he wrapped it up and came back to sit down.
"I apologize for the interruption. I have everything financially prepared back in Osaka and Tokyo." He eyed Haruka and I. "I think it's time to let the kids out of the room." Ah, so that's how it is. We were just kids to them? Even though we were so close to graduating high school. Whatever, I just wanted to get out as soon as possible, so I'm not complaining.
My mother agreed. "Of course. You two can drive the go-karts, play golf, or go to the arcade." Like last time.
Before I could even respond, Haru spoke up. "Actually, ma'am, I was thinking Nathan could take me to a nearby mall. I'd like to walk off this delicious food. I am beyond stuffed." Great! Even further away. There was no way my parents would have objections.
Mr. Tachibana was preoccupied with something on his laptop as he was setting up a presentation or whatever they were doing. "Yes of course." As expected, my parents didn't refuse. They'd be for hours, that's for sure.
"Shall we?" She offered her arm and I had no choice but to let her loop hers around mine. In her eyes, something changed, like a glint of mischief. She was excited to leave and I couldn't relate any less.
We took big strides out the room, my shoes clacking on the floor, and strangely enough, it didn't sound like she was wearing heels because her footsteps were quiet compared to my dress shoes. She looked behind herself and in a low voice said, "How far is the nearest outlet mall?"
"About an hour. We have a mall in this town, but it's the regular indoor one. The outlet mall with all the luxury brands is a five minute drive from the main city."
"Perfect."
When we got to my garage I didn't know which car to pick. She didn't even hesitate to walk up to the nearest one, a white Corvette, but definitely not one of the more expensive cars. "Classy," I simply commented, picking the keys out of the big bowl of car keys.
She lounged herself in the passenger's seat, reclining the back. "I have a vintage purple one back home." She wasn't even looking at me, thrumming her fingers along the outside of the car as the window was rolled down.
Once we had gotten on the freeway, I just had to ask her why. "Why the outlet mall? Are you planning to buy some clothes?" From the amount of luggage they brought, it seemed like they were staying for a month. So I doubt she needed anymore. But with that amount of money, it seems like there's not enough to spend on. I kind of get it. Kind of.
"Mmh. Maybe I'll get some ice cream." She had crossed her legs and I could see she was wearing some light green chunky sneakers under her silk dress. She didn't care that I could see it. Haru pulled out her phone from her seemingly invisible pockets and snapped a selfie where I wasn't even looking at the camera.
"Why did you take a selfie?"
"You sure ask a lot of questions." I clamped my mouth shut. This is why I don't talk to girls. At least she didn't sound too annoyed with me. I could hear her nails rapidly typing something on her screen. "What's your insta?"
"Uhm, nathanhawkins underscore 03. No spaces or capital letters." I think from that she could tell that was my basketball number. Most of the photos were basketball-related and had people like Ollie, Robyn and the rest of the team, many sweaty photos especially.
"Your team looks like a bunch of chads and himbos."
I shrugged with my right shoulder. "Pretty much."
"Who's the guy with the blonde hair?" She showed me a picture of me piggy-back riding Ollie. It was a fun practice free-day coach let us on the field. It was a fun, chaotic day.
And, this was also the same guy who has been living in my mind rent free this entire day. "My best friend, why?"
"Sure." The way she said it was in a quick remark, muttered so quietly that I almost didn't hear it. She sure wasn't a talker. At least with me. "Nevermind. I uploaded the selfie to make it look like we were hanging out."
"Isn't that what we're doing?"
"Publicity stuff. Don't mind it." Uh, okayyy. I was skeptical, but I kind of understood. When the silence lingered for an uncomfortable second longer, she reached over to turn on the radio. It was already on the station playing the most popular hits. The overplayed songs, basically. I'd rather listen to orchestral music, but most people wouldn't know that. Not even my parents. At least I wasn't like Ollie who listened to country music. Gag.
I was thankful she turned on the music to fill the awkward void of silence other than the tires on the freeway. So I was slightly startled when she took the initiative to talk. "Does your dad let you go wherever you want?" Huh. Didn't expect that question of all things
"Define wherever." I obviously couldn't just buy plane tickets to China willy nilly, even if I had the money.
"Well, honestly, I'm amazed my father didn't tell us to take the valet and some bodyguards. Probably just means they're following us from a distance." She subtly glanced at the rear view mirror. Ah. That's why she was staring at the side mirror the whole time, I thought she was just pacing out.
"Y-you have bodyguards? What, are y'all involved in the Yakuza?" I tried to make a joke but she didn't laugh, narrowing her eyes. Tough crowd.
"My OtÅ-san is a cautious man. He's very over-protective of me."
"But you're a grown woman." She definitely matured immensely since I last saw her, that's for sure.
"Exactly," she huffed in disdain. "The stereotypical Asian parent is based on my father, I swear, I can't do anything. I'm glad we escaped. " She made it sound like we just escaped from prison. Well, the more I thought about it, there was some truth in that.
"Same. Your dad kind of scares me, not gonna lie."
"I get it. He is." She didn't even deny. "We both have pretty influential parents, but at least you get to go to a public school. Is it anything like how it is in the movies?"
"That depends on the movie."
"What about Riverdale?"
I snorted. "I assure you nothing like that. Not every high scholar looks like a bunch of hot twenty to thirty-year-olds. Especially theater kids. In general, a lot of media portraying high schoolers is really unrealistic and the slang is super cringey."
"Oh," she said, slightly disappointed. "It's fun though, right?"
I nodded. "For sure. There's way more freedom in high school than middle school. You can do a lot here. And only go to a smaller high school. I'm surprised they didn't enroll me in one closer to the city. But it's probably for convenience."
"That's nice." We continued to talk about life in high school and I started to feel really bad for Haru. It seemed like she really wanted to live a normal life. I guess her life isn't exactly a slice of life manga either.
"We're near the city," I said as you could see the skyline. It wasn't the largest city by any means, but there was a good few high-rise buildings and luxury hotels.
"Ukhido City?" Haru read the sign aloud. "That's Japanese. That's odd." It was, because my town was predominantly white, so one would expect the nearby city to be as well.
"There's a large population of Asians here because a while back some Japanese guyâI forgot his nameâstarted a textiles and clothing company out here, so many others saw the opportunities and took it. They built restaurants, an abundance of stores and whatnot. There's a lot of historical stuff here but I didn't pay enough attention in social studies." I gave a pretty vague explanation that I hope satisfied her curiosity. "You still want to go to the outlet mall?"
"Yeah, if there's ice cream."
"Let's go." There shouldn't be anybody I know from school here. I briefly glanced at the clock on my dashboard. They should still be in school. Taking a test that I'm missing. Ugh. What a pain.
~~~
We were walking around the mall I was pretty unfamiliar with, ice cream cone in hand. I liked visiting the local mall with Ollie and my other friends. This place was really open. And there were Karens everywhere.
We were a little out of place considering our semi-formal clothes, but she didn't seem affected. "What do you usually shop for?" I asked her, her own eyes flitting between the storefronts in mild interest.
"I like collecting skateboards."
"Huh. I didn't pin you as a skateboarder."
"It's a hobby," she said with a halfhearted shrug. "I've met Tony Hawk before and he signed my skateboard. You probably know him."
"Yeah, who doesn't? But, honestly I don't think I would recognize him in a crowd. He looks like an average American."
"That's why I went to one of his shows. Besides skateboarding, I also rollerblade, roller skate, and ski." She threw the paper that was around her cone into the trash from a decent distance. She could carry my basketball team.
"You are way more active than me, holy cow. If you're not allowed out of the house often, then how do you get time to do all that stuff?"
"It's not like I'm completely isolated from the world. My dad brings me along on his numerous business trips quite often. It's just that I'm under some sort of supervision most of the time. He's just glad I'm at least active instead of hanging out with the wrong crowd."
"That must suck," I said with a grimace, just thinking if it were me. My parents would've found out about Oliver and I a long time ago. We weren't exactly the most subtle, thinking about it retroactively. It's a miracle that only Robyn and Emerson caught us.
"I try to rationalize it. He's probably doing it for my own good." She walked into an Under Armor shop, continuing to talk. "Anyways," she started to flick through some long, bulky jackets. "What do you think about this color?" she asked, pointing to a sky blue overcoat. Talk about a topic change. Okay. This wasn't my business. I didn't need to pry. After she goes back to Japan, I probably won't talk to her again.
"It's nice." It wasn't ugly, but it was kind of basic.
"Meh." She only gave it one more look before putting it back on the rack. She moved onto another section when a sale associate came over.
"Do y'all need any help with anything today?"
"Uh, not really. We're just browsing around, but thank you though." I mustered a civil smile.
"Okay. Let me know if you need anything." The sales associate walked away and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. It was always so awkward, talking to employees. I didn't want to be a bother. Maybe one day when I feel extra brave, I'll tell the barber I didn't like my haircut.
When I turned back to Haru, she was scrutinizing a sports bra with wording around the band and a complicated-looking strap criss--cross thing going on. Don't judge me. I don't know a thing about bras. "This one or this one?" she held up another one, but this one was gray instead of black. Instead of the straps being complicated, it was a regular one, just with some sheer detailing.
"Uhm, isn't this something you should be shopping with your friends that are girls?" It's not like I was her boyfriend either. It's just weird. If I wanted to look at underwear, I'd sit in the men's underwear section and stare at the packaging. Okay Nate, that was super sus to think. Thank goodness no one can hear my stupid thoughts.
"It's not like it's lingerie. Besides, I'm basically a chessboard, so there's really nothing to show anyways." She was nonchalant about it. Meanwhile, I almost choked on air. "Now that I'm looking at it, it's kind of ugly. I want to go to another store." When she saw my expression, she lightly chuckled through her nose. "Don't worry, it's not a bra store. Is there a Burberry here?"
"Of course, there's a lot of designer brands at this outlet mall. We just have to walk a bit."
"Fine by me." she shrugged and walked out the store. "I like wearing sporty clothes because it's really comfortable, but my dad always makes me wear super fancy dresses and heels. I purposely wore a longer dress so he wouldn't see my sneakers. Anyways, i like some of the streetwear from Burberry. I think Gucci is overrated."
"Yeah, I prefer Yves Saint Laurent, Louis Vuitton, and if I'm feeling quirky, either Givenchy or Baliencaga."
"Have you heard of Kenzo?"
I shook my head. "I'm not that familiar with Japanese brands except, maybe like, Uniqlo?"
"I like to shop their clothing, but also Comme des Garçons. The brand with their signature red heart with eyes."
"Ooh, so that's how you pronounce it. I have a pair of Converse from that brand's collaboration." It was weird talking about this luxury stuff because most people I knew at school didn't shop at these unnecessarily overpriced clothing stores.
There was such a drastic difference in vibes from the Under Armor store to the Burberry store. Most of these designer stores had at least three intimidating-looking security in suits. I mean, I was a tall guy in a suit, but I was just an awkward lanky boy. There were also at least five more sales associates.
"Hmm, I haven't had a new bag in a while. I'm thinking either crossbody or fanny pack." she already seemed more interested in the stuff here. Personally, I have some scarves and trench coats from Burberry. And some cologne from a relative who's name completely escapes my mind.
I tried to have some input and be somewhat involved. "I think a thick-strapped crossbody bag that rests right above the hip is really good."
She made an impressed sound and crossed her arms. "I like that! I'm going to ask someone about it." She walked up to one of the ladies in black suits and tall black pumps. Her poor feet. "Excuse me ma'am, do you have a cross-body bag with thick straps?"
"Why, of course." She led us to the bag section and held up a tan and beige colored one with the brand name printed with big letters. The lady had naturally curly hair that was pulled up into a severe Jojo Siwa ponytail and fell to her hip. I couldn't imagine growing my similarly textured hair that long. She must have a lot of patience. Last night, my mother had taken the time to braid my hair and style it into dreadlocks, putting some silver dreadlock beads as well. There was no way I'd pull off silk-pressed hair like she did. "Something like this, I presume?" She held it out for Haru.
"Ooh, I like this one. Thanks!"
"No problem, dear. Just call for me if you need any more assistance. Love the dress, by the way."
"Are you going to buy it?" I watched her open the zipper and inspect the red inner lining. Honestly, I'd buy the bag.
"Probably in another color." She looked up to the nearby display case and pointed to an off-white one with the brand name in red print and red-brown leather lining it. The strap was white with more leather accents. "Can you reach for that one?" With ease, I grabbed the bag. "Awesome, thanks." while she was admiring something, my eyes drifted off as I spaced out. Maybe I should get something too.
A different employee approached me. "Good afternoon, sir. Anything caught your eye?"
There was a reason why I usually didn't shop luxury brands in-person, everyone was always watching you. It's worse with a lot of my friends because they're a little too rowdy most of the time. "What would be a good gift for a friend?" I wanted to hang out with Ollie, but that alone time wouldn't happen for probably a good while. So I could maybe give him something to make it up for him.
"Popular gift items are scarves, wallets, belts, perfumes. Who's the lucky friend?"
"A guy I'm thankful for."
The employee nodded. "You know what, how about a hat? Bucket hats have been popular lately." I imagined Ollie in a bucket hat. He'd look hot. I mean he always is... Anyways.
"Yes, that sounds good. Is there a bucket hat with a pattern that matches a pair of pants?"
"Why yes, there is a vintage matching set with the same beige-checkered pattern." I followed the salesperson. "Here it is." It was the classic signature pattern of Burberry with the red stripe. He'd look so good in it.
"I'll buy the whole set." I thought about it, and he could wear the hat and trousers while I could wear the shirt and shoes for it. Like a couple.
"Wonderful! What sizes?"
"All large and the shoes are size thirteen."
"Just wait right here and I'll fetch you those pronto!"
Haru approached me, shopping bag in-hand. She already paid for it. "Hey, you getting something?"
"Yeah, this full set," I said, pointing at the display on the mannequin.
"Good taste."
The sales associate came back with everything neatly folded on top of the shoe box. "Will this be everything for you today?"
"Yes, thank you."
"Great, you can just follow me to checkout then."
After I had paid for everything, Haruka swung the bag at her side. "Anywhere else you wanna hit up?"
"Not really."
"You know what I want to do?"
"What?"
"Play basketball."
"Uh, just you and me?" It's really not that fun throwing a ball between yourself and one other person. And I felt like it was still slightly awkward between the two of us.
"No, silly, you have friends, right? You're on a basketball team."
By no means was I close with half of the team, but I was excited at the thought of hanging out with Ollie. "I'll try asking the group chat." What was I supposed to do, say no? I had to accommodate my guest's wishes.
"Great! I can't wait to get out of this dress."
~~~
So that's how I ended up in my basketball court with a weird bunch of guys from my team and Haruka having a staring contest with Julius. Our group consisted of Julius, Jun, Erwin, Andrew, and Aiden. There were some of my closer friends like Robyn, and most of all, Ollie, who was subtly stealing glances at me. Well, I guess I wouldn't exactly call him a friend. Someone close to me, but so much more than that. Sometimes he'd wink and I'd have to look away all flustered. I wanted to tell him to stop, but I didn't have the heart to.
"This is someone visiting from Japan. She's a daughter of a... close family friend of my dad's." I didn't want to explain unnecessary things to my team so I just lied for everyone's sake.
Julius wriggled his eyebrows. "Nathan, why didn't you tell usâ"By the tone of his voice, he didn't even need to finish his sentence for us to know exactly what he was going to say.
"Don't even start, Julius. We're like cousins." No, nope, nah. Not in front of Ollie especially. Why do people always assume that one guy and one girl remotely interacting are automatically dating? It's a stupid notion. I gave Ollie an apologetic expression, which he returned with some playful tongue-clicking. Whatever that means.
After those first impressions, I had to introduce all of them to Haru, which was something I dreaded, mostly because of the twins and Julius's unpredictable nature and affinity for sometimes creating an awkward situation.
"These two are the twins, Andrew and Aiden. Please refrain from talking to them as much as possible."
Haru furrowed her brows, ready to ask a question when Julius spoke up. "Haha those two horny bastards flirt with anything that talks."
It took everything in my power to not groan aloud. Everyone else laughed. "Hey, if you're looking for a good time we can give you that." Aiden winked at Haru and she made an appropriate, disgusted face.
"I think I'm gonna throw up!" Robyn said, shaking his head in disappointment at their behavior. "Can we just pick teams now?" He clapped, and I was thankful for our captain.
I cleared my throat. "Sure, but there's an uneven number. There's nine of us."
"I think I have a good idea of balancing things out," Robyn offered.
"I'll be on the team with less people," Haru said, all fired up.
"Fiesty one, is she?" Ollie asked, looking at me.
"I'm confident in my abilities," she said with a sly grin.
In the end, my team consisted of Haru, Julius, and Erwin. Robyn's team was Ollie, Aiden, Andrew, and Jun. We figured Robyn could make up for the twins' lack of height as we had Erwin, the tallest player. Jun was also relatively short in the realms of basketball and didn't communicate that much, and well, I can't say anything bad about Ollie. He was a good player, and I'm not being biased. We just couldn't separate the twins or that would be something impossibly scarier than their teamwork. I also didn't want Andrew and Aiden on the same team as Haru anyways.
Off the court they may be pieces of trash, but I never knew 5'6 twins would be a force to be reckoned with when playing. They were very fast and had some of the most flawless passes on our team. There was no other explanation or than their twin telepathy or being on the same wavelength to pull off some scarily good plays. They pulled a fast one on me where Aiden distracted me. I thought he was about to steal my ball so I shifted more to the left when out of nowhere, Andrew came and stole it right from my hands.
Robyn whooped. "Nice one!" Andrew was facing me with a smirk when he passed to Robyn behind his back. Robyn effortlessly made a three-pointer.
Haru was to my left and she huffed. "They're better than I expected."
I shrugged halfheartedly. "Eh. We suck going against other schools."
But it was her turn to smirk this time, confidently popping her fingers. "I haven't even touched the ball yet." I guess that was her way of telling me to watch her.
"Cocky, are you?" Ollie said with a raised eyebrow. Haru simply smiled and moved over to her defense position.
We got a chance to steal the ball when Erwin blocked Jun from making a point. Julius got the rebound and brought it back. Jun seemed pretty down, so Robyn, being a good team captain, patted his back. "It's okay, next time. You got this, Jun."Jun ducked his head and stepped back.
Julius was surrounded by Ollie and Aiden. He had to pass the ball to someone else. Haru had her arms eagerly waving, but unfortunately for her, Julius couldn't see her past Ollie. Sensibly, for once, he chose to do and do a quite literal overhead pass over Aiden, given that he was significantly shorter. This was a common problem in our games, so we try not to make Aiden the first line of defense like that often. The ball was with me and I didn't give them a chance to run over to block me when I scored from where I was standing. Erwin was the closest near me so he gave me a high-five.
"Nice," he said in his deep, baritone voice.
Haru was frustrated that she didn't even get to touch the ball, but she didn't let it get the best of her. She just inhaled and exhaled deeply and prepared herself. Since I started off with the ball, I decided to pass it to her. She licked her lips happily and with godly speeds, zipped past defense and scored a two-pointer.
Julius whistled, impressed. "Bro, she can carry our whole team." That's exactly what I said earlier as a joke but I've never actually seen her play.
Haru came back to us to have an all-round high-five. "I thought they would have fast reflexes." Well, in her words, they were 'himbos.'
"I don't think anyone saw that coming," I said. Erwin nodded his head in agreement. "We need to pass to her more. If Haru gets cornered, just do a behind-the-back pass and I'll be there. Sounds good?"
"Music to my ears," Haru said, rubbing her palms together.
Once again, Erwin simply nodded, a man with few words. He's our team's gentle giant. On the other hand, Julius was the complete opposite, given all the dummy without the thicc. "That was some real hot girl sh*t." And the cringe continues.
Haru made a confused face. "Is he trying to hit on me too?"
I coughed into my hand awkwardly while Julius tried to explain. "It's a Megan Thee Stallion reference." Oh the pain, make it stop already.
"Oh." she said. "I guess I'll need to have that one explained."
"Are y'all done chatting over there?" Robyn taunted. "I'll admit, that was a fair point, but let's get serious now." He readjusted his headband while the twins licked their lips. Yet, again, Ollie winked at me the moment he met my eyes. One would swear he had a persistent eye-twitch.
"So it took little 'ol me for you guys to start trying? Nice." She took all of this in, and renewed everyone's playing spirit.
By halftime, we were all sweaty and panting heavily. We were ahead by a small margin of three points, but now the ball was with them after Jun got a rebound shot. "Fifteen minute break!" Robyn yelled, throwing off his sweat-soaked sweatshirt. Everyone cheered and collectively let out a sigh of relief. It was a much needed break. Some collapsed and sprawled all over the floor, others stretched. People had their own conversations while I threw some face towels.
"I'm going to get some refreshments," I said to everybody. A cacophony of happy, tired noises arose from the group. I got a thumbs-up from Haru when I asked if she'd be fine, leaving her to chat with Robyn. While Ollie was doing some wall stretches, I took the opportunity to tap on his shoulder. "Hey."
"Hey, yourself." He pushed off the wall and leaned towards me. "I've missed you."
I lightly chuckled, putting some distance between us so I could look at him properly. "You literally saw me yesterday."
He shrugged. "Still. A day too long."
I nudged him with the back of my hand and started to walk away. "Let's go get some refreshments."
"Why are we taking the long way to the kitchen?"
Our voices echoed in the lofty, lengthy hallways. "My parents are having a meeting with Haru's right now. We'd pass the dining room if we went that way, so we're looping around."
"Makes sense." Our sneakers were squeaking on the polished floors and we fell into a comfortable silence. Even if we weren't talking, I was glad he was here. It was nice that we got along now. It was so painful before. I just wanted to hug his arm tightly and never let go, but that's too clingy and way too suspicious. There's also a lot of people at my house.
When we came to my kitchen, I told Ollie, "Can you grab a food cart from the pantry? We'll just put the drinks on it so it'll be easier to wheel it over to the court."
"Sure."
I reached into the fridge and pulled some water, Gatorade, Powerade, Bai, sweet tea, and sodas. I took a bucket and put some ice and got a small stack of red solo cups just in case. Some Guys liked to rub pure ice on their face after sweating so much.
"Here ya go." He helped me load the cart.
"Thanks, Babe." It just slipped out my mouth without even giving it a second thought. By the time I realized, I snapped my head up at Ollie, my hands immediately going to cover my face in embarrassment. I started to stammer. "I-uh, that just came out." I was extremely lucky there were no maids in the kitchen at this moment.
"Babe?" He teased. I was glad my skin was dark enough that it wouldn't show the blush that fully enveloped on my cheeks and my ears. "I like it."
"Sh-shut up." I scurried over to the cart and started to push it away when Ollie stepped in front of me.
"Where do you think you're going? There's still at least twelve minutes left."
"E-exactly. They need their drinks."
"They can wait." He leaned in for a kiss when I put a hand on his chest.
"Not out here in the open." I slid my hand down to hold his and pulled him towards the pantry. "Not too long."
"Mmn." He closed the door behind him. It had no lock, but it was easy to hear if anyone were to approach because of the floors. He pinned me against the door and started to pepper kisses on my neck.
"Ugh, I'm sweaty."
"I don't mind," he muttered. I could feel him smile on my skin. He ran his hand through my dreads, kissing me with renewed vigor as if I was the oasis in his endless desert. "Your new hair is so hot," he breathed.
By the time he got to my jaw, I was impatient, so I went for his mouth. I could tell he was surprised but we just melted into the kiss. Suddenly I became hyper aware of what I ate earlier, the sweet taste from the ice cream all coming back at once. There was no desperation but satisfied longing, my heart doing somersaults and handsprings at his touch. He nibbled on my lips and I let out a small noise which he smirked at. I wrapped my arms around his head, one hand sliding down under his shirt
"You're such a tease," he said in a low voice, pulling back. I almost whined, but then I remembered we had some drinks to deliver.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. My lips were already swollen. "I have something to give you later."
"What is it?"
"You'll have to wait." I gave him a final kiss on the cheek and cautiously opened the door. Coast was clear.
When we came back, everyone swarmed us, eager to chug the drinks. "What took you guys so long?" Julius said, putting ice down his shirt. "Ahh, that's nice."
When I looked at Robyn he gave me a knowing look, then wriggled his eyebrows. He walked over to me, sprite in-hand. "Look who kissed and made up."
"It was more than a kiss," Ollie said.
I choked on my water, almost snorting it out my nose. "Ollie, please shut up," I demanded weakly.
"Aww, no Babe this time?"
"Wow, pet names already." Robyn snickered. He and Ollie fist-bumped, dissolving into laughter. Haru joined us, with her arm around Jun. "Look who's all buddy-buddy with our team."
"Why did no one tell me Jun was this funny!"
"Well he doesn't talk that much," Julius yelled.
Jun was timidly smiling, hands clasped behind his back. He always stood like that, shifting his body weight on his heels. "S-sorry."
"No need to apologize, Jun. I don't blame you for not wanting to talk to our team," I said staring at the twins and Julius who were goofing off with the basketball.
"He reads Junji Ito mangaka and listens to Burnout Syndromes. He has exquisite taste."
We all knew Jun's ethnicity was Japanese, but we never heard him speak it. "Are you fluent in Japanese?"
"Uh, well I can vaguely understand a conversation if I heard one, similar to reading it. I can't speak it, though, only basic sentences. My dad is actually Persian so my mom didn't get that many chances to speak in Japanese and gave up teaching me. I kind of regret it, but at least I don't have to watch anime with subtitles." Huh, the more you know. This was probably the most I've heard come out of his mouth in one place.
Haru patted him on the back. "It's ok, buddy. English was difficult for me when I learned it. I can imagine it the other way."
"B-but your English is flawless."
Haru shrugged. "I'm multilingual, thanks to my dad. I've been learning it since I could babble nonsense, don't be too hard on yourself."
"Sorry to cut your convo short, but halftime is almost over!" Andrew yelled, while wrestling with his twin and Julius.
I looked down at my watch. He was right. "Okay, team, huddle up!"
"I'm guarding Ollie, Julius, you guard Jun, Erwin guard Robyn, and Haru, I trust you to get the twins. Don't let them get the pass to Robyn. He's their best shooter." Her speed was on their level, and there were a few times she saw past their decoys. Even though she was the shortest of all of us, she had some great stamina, perception, and speed. She could definitely hold her own against our point guards.
Haruka pushed her bangs under her white headband. She seemed very excited. "Let's win this, boys!"
Julius whooped and we all got into position. Jun started off with the ball, dribbling on the edge of the court. Being the small forward, he could make a variety of shots, so we had to shut them down before he got the chance. Julius was being an annoying pest and blocking Jun's possible trajectories, making unnecessary noises. Jun managed to get a bounce-pass in Olllie's direction, which I intercepted.
Ollie did the hot thing where he poked his tongue inside his cheek. "Okay, Nate."
Now the ball was in our possession, I dribbled it across to half court. Ollie was good at guarding, but not good enough, I turned my back on him and managed to pass the ball to Haru, who came out of nowhere. She was gone in the blink of an eye, but the twins were quick on her heels. When they thought she was going for a shot, Andrew readied himself to get the rebound while Aiden prepared to block her shot, but at the last second, she angled perfectly to pass back at Erwin who had a clear shot. Like a volleyball set pass. That's a new one. When the ball was stolen, Erwin got away from Robyn in big strides. How Haru knew he'd be right behind her was a mystery to me, like she had eyes in the back of her head. Erwin had the ball and went for a layup, which he scored. Robyn was so close to catch up to intercept, but he wasn't fast enough, already tired from running around.
"Let's go!" My team yelled in unison. That felt exhilarating. It was fun to play against Ollie, too. This was way different than normal games. Since I knew exactly what tricks they had up their sleeves, it was overall more competitive. But Haru was a wild card, which explains why we were all playing differently to adapt to her. Height didn't seem to be an issue for her since she had both impressive jumps and avoided in-air combat as much as possible, using her speed as an advantage.
When the game was finished, we had miraculously won by just one point. It was an intense buzzer beater. Erwin really popped off today, getting in a slam dunk. I was glad I was on his team because I wouldn't want to get in the way of that beast. The gym erupted into cheers and groans and high-fives.
Julius was jumping around, somehow still filled with energy. "What a game! Basketball hasn't been that fun lately."
"That's because Coach ain't here," Andrew said.
"Or you'd be benched the whole time," Aiden said while the twins snickered to themselves.
Robyn wiped his sweat with his already damp face towel. "You're lucky Coach ain't here because he would've yelled at you for not playing like that in real games."
"You're just salty you lost, Captain," Julius gloated.
Robyn rolled his eyes. "Julius don't even get me started with your sh*tty ass passes. You're lucky you have Haru to carry your ass." Everyone cackled.
Jun was beat, but I was glad he started talking to us more. "Yeah, Haruka is really good. Are you on a team?"
She shook her head. "Nah. I'm just super athletic. The gym I go to has international locations so even when I'm traveling with my dad I get to play in their basketball gyms with many different players. When I was in Sweden, I went up against a guy who was 220 centimeters tall."
"That sounds tall," Julius said, "but we don't understand the metric system."
Haru smirked. "Sorry, Americans use the imperial system for some reason. That's like seven feet and three inches."
"Holy sh*t, a whole seven feet?! That's how tall Erwin's doctor projected his height to be," Julius said.
Haru's eyebrows raised to her hairline. "He's still not finished growing yet?"
Erwin shook his head. "Nope. I grew two inches in the last year." He was one of the oldest ones in our basketball team and when will he ever stop growing.
"That's how much the twins grew since fourth grade," Julius said. Now he's gone and done it. If there's something you've learned being on our basketball team, never mention the twins' heights. And Julius said that knowing full well he had just signed a death contract. We'll never see him again. He started sprinting laps around the court, attempting to escape the devilsâI mean twins. "Oop, that's my cue to leave!"
Before he and the twins left, I yelled, "Use east side doors, my parents are having a meeting in the dining room." A blur of a thumbs up was the last thing I saw from him. "We're going to prepare a coffin for him now."
Robyn shook his head. "He just never learns. Forever the class clown." Erwin stood up in tandem with Jun. Robyn took a blue Gatorade. "Oh, you both leaving now?"
Erwin nodded. "Yep."
Jun collected his belongings and ducked his head. "Erwin and I rode together. I haven't gotten my license yet."
Robyn snapped and pointed at them. "Ahh, I remember now. Cool. See you guys tomorrow at practice."
The two of the quietest members of our team left so now it was just Ollie, Robyn, Haru, and me.
"Today was really fun," Haru said contentedly. "I wish I could stay longer, but I'll only be here for three more days. And I know you guys are pretty busy. It'd be nice to have one more game."
"I agree, but yeah, we all have some final exams coming up soon," Robyn said.
I lazily nudged him with my foot. "And your birthday."
Ollie's eyes lit up. "Ohh, yeah, November the eighth, right? I only remember that because you share the same birthday as DanTDM."
"And Gordon Ramsay," Robyn added. "Em always reminds me of that."
I snorted. "You remember it by DanTDM, Ollie? Oh my gosh, you're such a nerd."
"If you didn't watch those old Minecraft YouTubers, what even was your childhood?"
Robyn held his Gatorade up like Leonardo DiCaprio giving a toast. "Bro! Exactly. Remember, SSundee, CaptainSparklez, Banjancanadian. Those parody songs were the fattest bops."
"Aye, bro, that's who I watched too." Ollie held his fist out for a fistbump.
"I didn't really watch those guys that much, more like Stampy and iBallisticsquid. Don't clown me, my mom wanted more family-friendly gamers."
Robyn put a hand on my shoulder with a pitying look. "I'm so sorry, you were robbed of a proper childhood."
I felt bad that Haru was left out of the conversation, but it would make sense if she had no idea who they were. I'd actually be more surprised if she watched them. When I looked over at Haru, she was smiling at her phone. Then she snorted. "Nathan, read the comment section on my Instagram post from a few hours ago."
I pulled out my phone and read the comments. "Apparently I'm a hottie. 'Found someone new to simp for.' 'He's daddy.' 'He could crush my head with my thighs and I'd say thank you.' Haru, your followers are a bunch of thirsty kids." I didn't know whether to be flattered or creeped.
She cackled. "I haven't gotten this many comments in a while since I met John Cena on the street. I'm glad you can't read the Japanese comments."
"Well I gotta go pick up Em from school," Robyn said distractedly as he typed something on his phone.
"Em's still at school? Actually I'm more surprised he didn't come with you," Ollie said.
"He likes to help out in the library on Mondays. He's staying longer than usual to help out with a bake sale as well and he just texted me they're wrapping things up so I better get going."
"Tell him I said hi," I said, waving at him.
"Yep," and he left, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.
"Oliver was it?" Haru asked.
"Yes?" His eyes briefly flitted over to mine. Impatient, was he?
"You're really familiar to me somehow, but I know we haven't met before. Are you active on instagram?"
"Not really. I only have a few thousand mostly random followers and I'm pretty inactive." It's true, we had mostly mutual friends from school and other basketball teams. His instagram was pretty dead, only posting one to three times a month.
"Wait a second." She looked up something on her phone, which I couldn't see until she tilted the screen towards us. Ollie stilled, while I gulped. Haru had pulled up Cleo Valentine's instagram. "Aha! I knew you looked familiar. Small world. Are you dating Cleo? It's hard to tell with her, honestly, it seems like she has a different guy in every post and her captions are so generic." She was casual with it, as if she was Cleo's friend.
I spoke up for Ollie, asking Haruka, "Are you friends with Cleo?" He hadn't told his parents yet that they'd broken up. He wasn't ready to talk about her. It was already difficult enough for him to open about it between us.
Haru averted my gaze and scratched under chin. "I'm not sure. We met in a fashion show in Italy and we chat sometimes. We're just mutuals on insta and Twitter."
"I... used to date her. But we didn't click that well and we're just busy with our own lives. She's too mainstream for me. There was a lot that came between us." Ollie locked eyes with me, this time not subtle enough. Although it didn't look like it, what he just said was monumental. He didn't talk about this with just anyone.
Haru smiled between us. "You have a type. I get it." I swear she was looking straight at me when she said that. Did she know? She sighed wistfully while Ollie sputtered. "I want Cleo and I to get closer but it's hard. She's so guarded. Her Internet persona is so different from how she is face to face. She actually has a personality, but everyone thinks she's a hoe. I'm gonna say something I never thought I'd admit out loud," she said nervously, her eyes flicking over to the doors. "I like her, as in a crush thatgivesmebutterfliesandshit." She said that last part so fast I could barely catch it.
"I'm ninety-nine percent sure that she's straight and I'm ninety-nine percent sure I'm pan. I just don't know. In Japan, there's still a lot of taboo surrounding... that stuff. You guys are lucky. I move and travel too much to make proper friends, most of mine are online, but they eventually stop responding. You guys seem like genuinely nice people. You're friends are fortunate to have you two." She was fidgeting, much more vulnerable here than I've ever seen her, a complete one-eighty from when we were playing basketball.
Ollie was at a loss for words, trying to process all this information. In no means was he that close to Cleo, but the whole situation with his parents was getting out of hand. He was still very guarded. "H-How did you know?" he didn't have to specify it for any of us to understand what he meant.
"It's the way you look at each other. I've never seen that much love and adoration in a couple's eyes in a long while." She paused herself, hesitant and cautious with her words. She was still a kid, I remembered, only slightly younger than us. But she talked like she was years beyond her actual age. "That's how my dad used to look at my mom. Not the woman that's with him now. My birth mom." She smiled in reminiscence, albeit sadly.
"The way we look at each other?" I asked, my eyes nervously glancing at the doors as if my parents were about to burst in any second. It was an absurd notion, as I knew they were very busy.
"In Korean culture, they would say you have 'eyes dripping with honey.' It refers to the way someone looks fondly at someone else, eyes so full of affection it's as sweet and overwhelmingly like honey."
Ollie sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. I like him too much," he admitted to her, not even looking at me. I knew he was fighting back a blush. He was embarrassed.
"Let me see those 'honey eyes' she's talking about. Say it to my face."
He childishly stuck out his tongue. "Nah."
Haru laughed lightly. "You guys are too cute. Well, I'm tired. I'm gonna go take a nice, long bath. Goodnight, guys. It was fun." She looked at Ollie specifically. "Hopefully we all get to get together soon, so you can explain what 'hot girl sh*t means'. Sayonara!" She winked at us, shaking her hair out of the headband.
"Night," I said to her. Once she left, the silence was deafening. I couldn't quite discern his facial expression other than the fact that Ollie was contemplating something. I put my hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "Let's go to my room. Remember I had a surprise for you?"
"Oh, yeah." He was spaced out. "Okay."
"Alright," I said standing up and offering my hand to him, "come on."
Once we had come to my room, I ignored turning on my lights and went for one of the bags next to my bed. "What's this? Oh, Burberry. Nate, you didn't have to." He peeked into the bag. "It's nowhere near my birthday and Christmas is more than a month away still. What's the special occasion?"
I shrugged. "This is to make up for the fact that I didn't get some alone time with you. Dumb business stuf, you know. I didn't even get to go to school." I reached for the other bag with my part of the set. "We can match!" I showed him my shoes and blouse to compliment his hat and pants.
"I'm serious, Nathan, you really didn't have to. At least we got to play against each other that was fun. You didn't need to do anything. I understand this is what your parents wanted you to do. You're enough for me." He grabbed my hands into his. "But for your sake, I'll definitely wear them tomorrow at school if you are as well. That is... if you are going to school tomorrow."
I scoffed. "Oh, I'm definitely going to school tomorrow. Even if my mom asks me to stay again, I will literally sneak out and trust you to catch me from the window."
Ollie smiled at me, pulling me closer to him. He lifted a hand to brush my dreads out of my face, the other hand around my waist. My skin burned at his touch, warm, just like his eyes. My room was facing the backyard, where the sun was setting, blanketing everything in red hues. The light in his oceanic eyes made it seem like we were starring in Titanic. If his eyes were honey, I'd gladly drown in them.
He leaned closer, his breath hot on my ear. "I wish I could stay the night."
My spine tingled while my stomach did backflips. I put my forehead against his, looking up at him through my eyelashes. "What's stopping you?" My throat felt rawâraspy from the game earlierâbut this man made me want to scream from the mountains how much I loved him. "Stay."
"But we have school tomorrow. What if we get caught?" He didn't even mention his parents being worried if he stayed over.
"The door is locked and there are a lot of hiding spaces in this room if push comes to shove. Enough talking, more kissing." I pulled his head towards mine, caressing his soft tufts of blonde hair.
"Needy," he muttered, taking a breath.
"Mm." At some point I had my legs wrapped around his torso, while he carried me with his arms around my waist. His strength was impressive, but I didn't want him to do all the work. I got down and pushed him against the bed, our roles reversed from yesterday so I looked down at him.
He was breathing heavily, but smiling. "You're so beautiful," he said.
I leaned down to kiss his neck. "That's my line." I let my hands roam, traveling across his body as if I was exploring it for the first time. I removed his shirt and gazed at him. My cheeks hurt from smiling. I was so happy being with him, being myself. I traced the lines on his abdomen. "Someone's been working out."
"And someone's hungry today," he teased, licking his reddened lips. "You're being bold lately, I like it," he whispered fiercely, grabbing my chin and pulling it down to him.
Later, we ended up cuddling, with him being the big spoon. We were watching a random video of a man in Alaska camping in the forests with his adorable fluffy dog. At that moment I was content with everything in my life. I wanted to stay like that forever. I looked back at him to see him reflecting the same smile I had. I gave him a quick little peck on the nose. "I love you, Ollie."
"Damn, Nate. Let me say it first for once."
"No chance," I laughed, shifting to be even closer to him.
"I love you too, Nate."
We watched the dog play fetch with the man in the video. "Do you have any idea what the plans are for Robyn's birthday?" I asked. "Em hasn't said anything yet." Last year we drove seventeen hours to the beach. It was well worth it. The resort's view of the ocean was gorgeous.
"Nope."
The video gave me an idea. "How about we go camping in that national park a few hours away from here? They offer a lot of activities there. It'd be a cool surprise for him." About four hours away, there was a popular tourist destination with many places to hike, fish, swim in the pond, kayak, basically a lot of things to do.
"That's a good idea, you should tell him. Later, though, I want to sleep." He held me tighter.
"Okay, Ollie. But it's still early. My parents might check up on me."
He groaned. "Ugh. I'm so tired. But as soon as someone knocks, I'm going to hide."
"Okay." I didn't want to think about what would happen if we were to get caught. It was so much work to just be happy, but it's worth it. Ollie is worth it.
Him and his ocean eyes filled with honey and blueberry skies.
~~~
WOWIE it's been a while,, and now the year is going to change. I'm just glad I got this last chapter of 2020 in right before the New Year. I thought I wasn't going to make it, as, originally, this chapter was supposed to pick up from Em and Robyn but I was stuck so y'all get this haha. This is the longest chapter I have written ever, PERIOD.
I'm glad for all the followers I have gained and have stayed with me faithfully though everything. I love you guys so much, so I'm glad I can give this to y'all in return in hopes of making you guys smile as much you all did. I would tag every single one of my followers but there's already enough text here lol.
If any of you need to someone to talk to, a friend, someone to vent to, or ask advice, I'm here. Love y'all <3
Word Count: 10,026