Zenon's Game Chapter 63

~3 hours later~ 

Zenon was practicing layups in his back garden.  This evening had not gone to plan.  His sister was in her room crying and Candace was furious with him.  Jamie had surprised him by coming over, because she had something urgent to tell him.

And then she'd left.

He bounced the basketball and practiced his slam dunk.

His father had installed a hoop against the back of the house four years ago.  Since then, they'd covered the grass in tarmac to make a half-court with proper basketball stands.

Mr Albert would stop at nothing to get his son to the top.

"Hey Mr Albert, how was date night?" someone called out from inside the house.

"Axel, I didn't see you come in. It was good.  We went to that old Italian spot by the Rockford theater," Mr Albert replied from his armchair by the TV, "Zenon's outside, but don't distract him for long."

"Yes sir," Axel said as he walked through the house and into the backyard, "WHAT'S UP MY BROTHER?"

Zenon dribbled the ball to a standstill and raised his hand, wiping the sweat off his brow, "Hey man, it's late."

"You know I don't sleep properly.  Is everything alright?"

"All good.  Still waiting to hear back from colleges but we won-"

"I'm not talking about basketball." 

Zenon's voice lowered. "About Candace?"

"Yeah."

Zenon dropped the ball, and sighed, "Yeah man, I don't know what I'm doing.  She was a pain in my a*s*s all summer and then, as soon as it was over, I wanted more."

Axel raised his eyebrows.  He didn't expect this.  He'd guessed it, but he sure as h*e*l*l didn't expect Zenon to confess it. 

Zenon continued, "I'm going crazy.  Everyone thinks I'm crazy.  I almost punched Jake when he asked her out.  And Bryce is confused as f*ck why I invited her to his place today.  But she's unlike any girl I know and I don't know how to deal with that. I want to show her I'm changing."

"Don't change too much, bro," Axel said, "Some of us like you this way."

"And I'm angry, man.  They treat her so bad.  Her mum, everyone at our school, even my friends," he threw the ball into the hoop but it bounced off the rim, "Her fake friends organized a birthday dinner that they ditched. How messed up is that?! You should've seen how innocent and hurt she looked. It broke me."

Axel had one question to that. "Why wasn't I invited?"

Zenon grabbed the ball and dribbled it aggressively, his emotion spewing out into his performance, "And I'm worried-"

"OK, you have a lot of feelings today," Axel remarked, looking for a chair he could sit in.

This may take some time.

"I'm worried I'm going to hurt her. I can see it in her eyes already. I'm not good enough for her. I'm self-centered and overhyped," he smiled at that word, "And she's the most honest and genuine person I've ever met."

"She doesn't idolize you," Axel said, "That's good. I can't deal with that."

"Oh!" Zenon remembered, his eyes lighting up, "She said she started to fall for me."

"What?!" Axel gave up on a chair. 

"Outside my house tonight, she said she started to fall for me," he then admitted, "she also said that she wanted to run me over, but we go way back on that one..."

"That doesn't sound like a good thing," Axel pointed out, "Her wanting to kill you."

"Nah, it's fine. She runs everything over. It's her way of saying hello."

"You two are twisted."

Zenon smiled at that. "Yeah, I like her."

"Hey man, I never said anything about like.  That was all you."

End of Third Person POV

The next morning, I went on my daily pilgrimage to the Coffee Bean. Matt was behind the counter again, unable to recognize me - again.

"Name," he robotically said.

"Matt, I told you-"

"Matt, hey, that's my name too. Cool," he scribbled 'Matt' onto my cup.

I should seriously start collecting these.

Matt and Heidi were still dating and he still didn't know who I am.  Not to mention, I might actually be the Coffee Bean's most loyal customer.

The world instantly brightened with a cup of coffee in my hand. 

No Zenon, no pop quizzes, the sun was shining, and I hadn't bumped into my ex-boyfriend since semester started. I also hadn't gone to any mathlete meetings, so that was why. Small wins.

My coffee cup was empty by the time I arrived at school.  I waited patiently outside the girl's bathroom. From time to time, Bianca would block the entire thing so she could b*tch someone out. Today was one of those days.

While I was in line, a girl tapped my shoulder, "Candace, is that you?"

I turned around and found Cynthia (aka the 'C' in LUCKY) behind me. She was holding a palette of eye shadow that matched the floral choker she wore. She was waiting to apply her makeup in the bathroom mirror.

"Have you seen the photo?" she asked me.

Ironically, I'd never spoken to Cynthia before. She became friends with Julia over the summer and was Julia's in into the LUCKY girl gang, but Julia had never introduced us.

"What photo?"

"The one Bianca Rodriguez posted on her Instagram. You're in it." Cynthia stared at me like I was living under a rock, "You should know by now. It's kind of a big deal. Have none of your friends told you?"

I tried not to laugh. I guess she hadn't gotten the memo yet. I have no friends.

The bathroom doors opened, and Bianca walked out with Oma and a couple other girls. They left someone crying in one of the stalls. The line started to move as everyone filled in.

I stood back - nervous, confused and scared. The last time a popular girl took a photo of me, it was... I shuddered at the memory.

I asked hesitatingly, "What photo did Bianca post?"

Bianca was passing by with her entourage when she heard her name. She cast me a sideways glance and smirked. Then she moved on and her entourage followed, except for Oma. Oma hung back to rummage through her purse for something. Honestly, it looked like she was waiting to see my reaction.

"You haven't seen it?" Cynthia asked me incredulously. She pulled her phone out and showed me, "Look. That's you!"

I leaned in.

Cynthia pulled up Bianca's profile on her phone and clicked on the latest picture. It was a photo of Bianca in a yellow bikini in Bryce's pool. She was posing on a pineapple floatie. And there, in the background, was me. Drinking lemonade.

Phew.