The Space Between Us(8)

"Wait, does my dad think that you want to date me?"

"I'm not sure," he said as he bounced his basketball on the pavement as  we made our way to the hoops hanging under a large covered area. "It's  not a big deal. Let's drop it."

"Ok," I said quietly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset." He stopped bouncing the ball and looked over at me.

"I'm not upset, promise. Now, let's play Horse."

"Ok," I tried to smile, but still felt the tension coming off of him. It  wasn't until I had lost the first game that I felt like we'd moved  passed the awkward moment of the evening. I watched him dribble down the  court and then execute a perfect lay-up. He was gifted when it came to  sports. I was cursed. But I enjoyed trying to keep up with him,  sometimes. I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn't want there to be  weirdness between us. Something told me, however, that the weirdness was  something I was going to have to get used to. Things were slowly  changing between us. I could feel it. And I knew he felt it too. I just  didn't know what we were going to do about it.                       
       
           



       



Freshman year continued without much incident. Asher and I still walked  to and from school together, until basketball season when Asher made it  on the Varsity team. It was quite a big deal to be put on the varsity  team as a freshman and he was doing amazingly well. He didn't always get  to start, but he always played, and I was so proud of him. Reeve and I  went to most of his games and cheered him on. I even had my dad help me  make a special jersey that had seventeen on it, his lucky number.

At one of his games, a girl who looked like she could have been a junior  or senior sat next to Reeve and me. She saw me cheering Asher on and  kept sending glances my way. Finally she said something to me half-way  through the game.

"Your boyfriend is really good." I turned toward her, finally able to  look at her without it being weird. She had long blonde hair and it was  split in to two braids that hung down past her shoulders. Just as I  started to answer her, Asher made a three-point shot and the crowd  erupted into intense screaming. After a few seconds the noise died down  enough that I was able to answer. I leaned towards her but only turned  my head far enough to make sure she heard me, but not far enough to take  my eyes off the court. I didn't want to miss anything.

"He is really good, but he's not my boyfriend."

"He's not?" The blatant surprise in her voice had me turning to look at her again. "That's interesting."

I did not like the way she said that. It was as if I had just told her  that there was one piece of chocolate fudge cake left just for her.

"I just always see you guys together, and you're always at his games,  wearing his jersey." She said, looking at me with a perfectly pleasant  expression on her face that for some reason I wanted to smack off of  her.

"Well," I said, trying not to sound too irritated by her, "Asher is my best friend and I am just supporting him."

"So, he's single?" Single? He wasn't dating. You couldn't be "single"  unless you were on the market, right? Asher wasn't on the market, was  he? I tried to keep the panic from my eyes.

"He's not dating anyone, no." I murmured.

"Interesting." There was that damn word again. I exhaled loudly. Reeve,  sitting next to me, heard everything. She leaned over to me.

"Just tell her he's taken," she whispered. My head snapped back to look at her.

"But he's not," I whispered back. She rolled her eyes at me.

"Yes, he is. You guys just won't admit it." I felt the blood rushing to my face. I hated how easily I blushed anymore.

"We're just friends, Reeve, for like, the thousandth time." I said with  exasperation. Reeve winked at me, and then leaned forward and  half-shouted to Pippi Longstocking next to me.

"Hi, I'm Reeve, Asher's friend. You know, number seventeen? Anyway, I  heard you asking about his status and he is definitely single. And he  loves blondes. You should ask him out." I was sure the heat with which  my stare pinned Reeve down was going to melt her face right off. Making  sure my face was hidden from the blonde beauty I mouthed at Reeve, "What  are you doing?!" Reeve shrugged, rolling her eyes, then leaned into me.

"Maybe you guys just need a push." She grinned wickedly at me. I scowled back at her.

"How do you know he likes blondes?" I asked, not sure where the question came from.

"I don't know if he likes blondes, but I'm betting on brunettes," Reeve answered with a wink.

I was thoroughly confused, but too distraught to do anything about it. I  knew Asher and I were just friends, but I never considered that he  might date someone. And I wasn't prepared to deal with the idea of Asher  going out with someone. As much as I liked to spout to people about how  we're best friends, I couldn't ignore the fact that I became  territorial and jealous thinking about the blonde girl asking him out on  a date.

After the game, Reeve and I waited in the hallway outside of the locker  room like we always did. We stayed a ways away because there were always  a ton of people milling around and we would just get in the way.  Eventually, I saw Asher come out of the locker room. He looked up to  find us in our usual spot and my favorite smile graced his face when our  eyes locked. I couldn't help but smile back at him. My smile fell from  my face when I saw the blonde beauty intercept him as he was halfway to  us. She stopped him by placing her hand on his arm. He was caught off  guard and looked down at her hand, which she left on his arm for a  ridiculous amount of time. When she finally removed her hand, it was  only to push back some stray hairs that had come loose from her braids  and tuck them behind her ear. I watched as Asher's eyes followed her  movements and my stomach turned when I saw a smile cross his face.                       
       
           



       

She was obviously doing most of the talking, and he nodded and spoke a  few words here and there. At one point I saw him get a little confused,  then he looked down at his feet. When his eyes came back up to hers, he  said something I couldn't make out. They exchanged a few more words, but  then she walked away and he continued towards us.

"Let's see what Mr. Carmichael has to say about that," Reeve whispered to me before he made it close enough to us to hear.

"Hey, Asher. Good game. Who was that you were talking to?" Reeve asked eagerly.

"Uh, Samantha? I think that's what she said her name was." He turned to me and smiled. "Hey. Like the game?"

"Parts," I said with a shrug. He gave me a questioning look. "Your three-pointers were amazing."

"Thanks, Bit," he said with a dazzling smile.

"What did Samantha want?" Reeve asked, queen of subtlety.

"Uh," he said, suddenly uncomfortable. "She asked me to the Spring  Fling." The Spring Fling was the semi-formal dance that the high school  put on for all the students. It was coming up in about a month.

"No way! She's really pretty. What did you say?" Reeve was being really  pushy and it irritated me. Asher shifted uncomfortably and I saw his  eyes dart to me before he answered.

"I said no."

"Interesting," Reeve said. I began to really hate that word. "Why would you say no? She's an upperclassman and really pretty."

"Because I don't want to go with her." He said sharply, shooting hard  stares her way. My eyes batted back and forth between them, trying not  to get caught in the crossfire.

"Is there someone else you want to go with?" She asked him.

"Reeve, drop it," he said.

"I just don't understand why you would turn down a perfectly good date.  It makes me think there's someone else you'd rather go with." I saw her  eyes turn on me.

"Reeve, that's enough," I said quietly. I didn't like the feeling I was  getting from their conversation. Part of me wished Asher wanted to go to  the dance with me, but more of me wanted everything to remain the same.

"You guys are hopeless," she sighed. "Ok, well, my dad is probably  waiting to pick me up. I will see you guys tomorrow," she said, sounding  way too cheery. She walked away and left Asher and I staring at each  other uncomfortably.

"Are you ready to go?" Asher asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," I responded quietly. I turned to walk down the hallway with him.  Once we got outside, I felt a little more relaxed. It was dark so I  couldn't see Asher all that well and welcomed the idea that he couldn't  see my face as clearly anymore either. Reeve stirred up all kinds of  thoughts and emotions in me that I didn't know if I was ready to deal  with. It was spring and even though it wasn't raining, there was still a  chill in the air. I wrapped my arms around my waist.