03 | skipping beauty

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CHAPTER 3

There was something so satisfying about watching a basketball pass through a net.

It was like I held all my troubles in the same palm that I held the ball, watching them travel further and further away from me whenever I released and bring about the clarity that I only seemed to get whenever I scored.

I got that feeling full force when I extended my arms and landed back on my feet, grinning at the familiarity of the swishing sound that followed.

Danny had been seconds away from hitting the ball out of my hands before I made the shot, only two points behind.

I always looked forward to the afternoons we spent lazily dribbling a ball around together after a lecture, something about the way the sun felt when it beat down onto my back and the fact that we didn't have the pressure of Coach watching.

I realised that I had been facing the basket that whole time, and spun around to face Danny with a smug grin, chuckling at the stony expression on his face.

Although I was pretty damn competitive myself it was funny to see how heated Danny got whenever he lost to me, which was pretty much every time.

He may have been a great player, but I was better. That's just how it was.

Reading the thoughts that I'm sure were displayed on my face, Danny scowled. "Shut up."

I laughed. "Didn't say anything."

His eyes narrowed. "I could see you thinking it."

My mouth had to work hard to fight back the grin threatening to form. "You're probably just imagining it."

He turned away from me and started to walk, but I was pretty sure he was smiling.

I jogged up to him and sure enough, he was shaking his head with a little glimpse of his teeth on display.

His elbow shot out in a sharp jab to my ribs and I restrained myself from doing the same back. Since I'd just kicked his ass in that game, I figured it was only fair.

A pretty group of girls walked past us a couple of minutes into our journey back to the University complex, and they stopped to talk to us.

Or should I say, Danny sweet-talked them into stopping to talk to us, somehow getting three out of five of their numbers.

One of the remaining two looked disinterested, staring at her phone screen instead of the people around her.

I watched as the other's eyes did a sweep down the length of my entire body, and she looked at me flirtatiously when she was done.

My body was something I worked hard on, running and basketball both contributing a lot. Obviously it was nice to see the effect it had on her, but I just wasn't feeling it for some reason.

Her blonde hair danced in the wind as she watched expectantly, clearly waiting for me to make some kind of move. When I didn't she let out a small huff, moving to join the bored friend a little way away from her.

"See you girls around." Danny waved, giving them a look that he wouldn't live down for the next couple of years if I had anything to do with it.

"See you girls around!" I mocked when they were out of earshot, chuckling at the way he only responded with grumbled profanities and an increase in pace.

I had already begun to open the door that led to the section of the apartment block that we lived in when Danny spoke up, voice suspiciously cautious. "Gabe."

My head spun around and I met his eyes with a hard stare. I had known him for long enough to know I wasn't going to like whatever he asked me next.

"I need a favour." He said.

"No." I replied, sticking the key back into the keyhole.

He chuckled, almost nervously. "Just hear me out first."

I shouldn't have heard him out.

- - - -

I opened the door of my car and revved the engine, as if I was about to leave.

The panic that jumped onto Danny's face reminded me why I did this every time he got in the car with me.

"Wait up!" he shouted, and I chuckled under my breath.

What he had asked for was harmless enough, just a ride to some social function that he had been invited to.

Or so I thought.

He leaned forwards in his seat and twisted the dial that controlled the volume of the speakers blasting music into the car until it was silent.

I didn't like where this was going already and watched him from my peripheral vision, waiting for him to come out with it.

"I need you to come with me." He said.

And there it was. My instant answer was no, and I gave it to him several times. He wore me down eventually, and I said yes just to get him to stop talking.

I parked the car and got out with him, shading my face from the glare of the sun and walking inside.

The hall was overflowing with people. Smart suits and cocktail dresses swam in my vision as we entered, and I scowled at Danny for letting me come here in my sweaty training gear.

The only consolation was that he was dressed in the exact same way, so at least he could share some of my embarrassment.

I was wrong.

Danny sheepishly revealed that his brother had thrown it around about the same time that I let my eyes scan the room, noticing that the majority of the people here were complete strangers.

This wasn't my crowd at all.

To make it worse, at some point while I made that realisation Danny himself had disappeared from my side, leaving me feeling lost and out of place.

A foreign feeling to me as someone who got on with pretty much everybody, usually without even trying.

I told myself to suck it up, strolling up to a random group of people.

There were four of them, two men in pressed suits with strikingly similar features and two women who were practically hanging off said suits.

Just my luck. I'd intruded on some kind of family reunion.

My suspicions were confirmed by the fact that they fell completely silent as soon as I entered the circle they had formed.

Awkwardness spread, wrapping around each of our faces as we stared at one another.

"That's it." I thought, making my mind up to leave and wait for Danny in the car.

I didn't bother to excuse myself from the group since I wasn't counting on them even noticing my absence.

Instead I walked to the entryway of the hall, sighing in relief as soon as I felt the fresh air bathe my face and my trainers hit the pavement.

I glanced up to be met with a vast stretch of clear blue instead of the depressing grey that usually coloured the sky in London.

My mood cleared as I looked at it, reminding me of the documentary that I'd been watching the other day, something to do with light levels and serotonin.

I ran my hand through my hair, deciding to sit on the stairs that lead into the building instead of in the car.

Being outside was always the best way to clear my head, usually by going on a hard run and pushing until I couldn't focus on anything but the sound of my heart pumping in my ears.

Since I didn't have the luxury of being able to run I leaned my back against the hard brick, allowing myself to get the relaxation I hadn't been able to that day.

I let my eyelids shut for a while, but grew bored quickly and opened them again.

My eyes glazed over the landscape and honed in on a girl.

Any tiredness I had been feeling disappeared in an instant. I was suddenly feeling pretty damn awake.

With headphones on her ears and her eyes cast downwards, she seemed oblivious to the world around her, and happier because of it.

She added a light skip to every step, bouncing her curly hair as she went.

It reminded me of candyfloss, with it's volume and density.

The only difference was the colour, since instead of a bright pink it was dark brown, gradually becoming lighter the further my eyes travelled down the coils.

She was beautiful in every sense of the word.

I felt my breath catch as she made eye contact with me, only to be harshly shaken out of my trance by the sound of approaching footsteps.

"You've been staring off into space for like 5 minutes. You okay man?" said Danny into my ear, causing me to flinch.

"Uh... yeah I'm good." I mumbled, my eyes sweeping through the crowd to see if she was still there.

Great.

She must've walked away while I was distracted.

I made sure to take a mental note of the streets that surrounded us incase there was any chance that she would come back here, and headed towards the car with Danny.

Who the hell was that?