Hate & Basketball - TWELVE
school had rolled around again, and honestly the only thing keeping zanine sane was the fact it was already wednesday.
just two more days until friday.
today had actually been going pretty well too.
because everything immediately went downhill the second she got to third period.
well… attempted to get to third period.
she had accidentally left her phone upstairs on the third floor after second hour, and by the time she realized it, the passing period was almost over already.
so naturally, zanine ended up sprinting through the halls like her life depended on it.
by the time she reached the gym doors, slightly out of breath and irritated, she already knew she was late.
unfortunately, mr. lee looked like he was in one of his moods today too.
the gym was weirdly quiet when she walked in.
everyone was already seated on the bleachers while mr. lee sat near his clipboard doing attendance.
“i’m here!” she blurted immediately while hurrying inside.
every single head in the gym turned toward her at once.
zanine could physically feel embarrassment creeping onto her face as she slowed her pace slightly, trying not to look as out of breath as she actually was.
mr. lee stared at her over the rim of his glasses.
“nice of you to join us.”
a few students snickered quietly.
“sorry,” zanine muttered. “i forgot my phone upstairs.”
“and your phone was worth being late?”
the gym laughed louder this time.
mr. lee sighed, already pointing toward the court. “well. i hope it was worth it because now you’re doing suicides. on the line.”
zanine’s eyes went wide instantly. “hold on— mr. lee!”
she groaned dramatically, tossing her bag aside. “you should be used to it already,” yuma called out loudly, earning a couple laughs from maki and kei.
zanine shot him a deadly look. “yuma, shut the hell up.”
but even as she spoke, her attention flickered without permission.
sitting a row lower than yuma.
blonde hair catching the gym lights again.
he wasn’t laughing this time.
and somehow that was worse.
zanine quickly looked away, tightening her ponytail as she stepped onto the line.
mr. lee lifted his whistle.
zanine took off immediately.
her breathing got heavier fast, legs burning as she pushed harder anyway, refusing to slow down even as her chest tightened.
“let’s go zanine!” someone from her team called.
she ignored the voices, focusing only on the line in front of her.
but every time she turned back toward the bleachers—
and it was messing with her rhythm in a way she didn’t want to acknowledge.
“focus,” she muttered to herself under her breath, pushing harder on the next sprint.
because whatever that feeling was—
she didn’t have time for it.
when she finished, zanine immediately shot mr. lee a glare before dragging herself over to the bleachers and collapsing beside lily. her breathing was still uneven, chest rising and falling as she tried to catch her breath.
lily didn’t say anything at first, just gently patted her shoulder like she understood the frustration without needing words.
“okay! you’re all free to do whatever,” mr. lee called out suddenly.
and just like that, he walked off the court like nothing had happened, clipboard in hand, disappearing toward the equipment room.
“damn,” yeji said, watching him go. “who pissed in his cereal?”
“i should’ve,” zanine muttered under her breath.
manon snorted immediately. “please.”
ella opened her mouth to add something—but then footsteps approached.
maki, yuma, nico, harua, and fuma all came over and dropped down closer to the girls, taking up space on the same bleacher row.
ella immediately rolled her eyes.
“how were the suicides, zanine?” yuma asked, already grinning like he was waiting for a reaction.
“i don’t know,” she shot back instantly. “why don’t you go try them?”
yuma raised both hands in surrender. “hey, i’m not the one who showed up late today.”
“barely late,” zanine corrected sharply.
zanine scoffed and reached for her phone, already done with the conversation.
but before she could fully check out, she felt it again.
she looked up without thinking.
sitting slightly lower than the rest, just watching her.
no joke this time. no smirk. no teasing.
zanine’s mood dipped instantly.
“…what?” she asked flatly. “you got something to say too?”
nico didn’t respond right away.
he just shook his head once, expression unreadable, then looked away like nothing happened.
zanine stared at him for a second longer, confused, annoyed, and something else she refused to name.
then she exhaled sharply and turned back to her phone.
except this time, it didn’t feel as easy as it usually did.
lunch came around and nico was honestly starving.
even though he didn’t usually mess with school lunch half the time, today his stomach was loud enough to make it personal.
he stood in line behind euijoo, leaning slightly over his shoulder like he was already bored of waiting.
“can i have your lunch?” nico asked casually.
euijoo turned around immediately, eyebrows furrowed. “no?”
nico side-eyed him like the answer was disappointing but not unexpected.
he shifted his attention forward instead, spotting jo a few steps ahead.
“jo,” he called. “can i have your lunch?”
jo blinked at him. “why?”
nico didn’t even hesitate. “i’m hungry.”
jo stared at him for a second like he was genuinely considering if that was a valid argument.
then he sighed. “let me keep the rice.”
nico nodded immediately. “deal.”
“that was too easy,” euijoo muttered.
“you snooze, you lose,” nico replied, like that explained everything about his morals.
jo handed over the tray parts one by one as they moved forward in line, and nico acted like he hadn’t just successfully negotiated for food like it was trade diplomacy.
“you’re insane,” euijoo said again, watching him.
“i’m hungry,” nico repeated simply, like that justified everything.
jo slid him the rest of the meal with a warning look. “don’t make this a habit.”
nico already had a fork in hand. “no promises.”
behind them, someone in line laughed, and nico barely reacted—too focused on finally getting something to eat.
for once, his brain wasn’t overthinking anything.
as he and the others made their way toward the table, they immediately slowed down.
“…the hell?” nico muttered under his breath.
because it wasn’t just any group sitting there.
all already spread out comfortably like they owned the place.
“yo,” nico called as they got closer, stopping right behind the table.
zanine looked up from her tray instantly, eyes locking onto his.
“this is our table,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
for a second, the entire table went quiet.
then yeji leaned back slightly, arms crossing. “since when do tables have ownership?”
“since we sat here first,” yuma added quickly, nodding like that was a legally binding argument.
“you didn’t sit here first,” lily replied calmly. “we arrived at the same time.”
“incorrect,” kei cut in immediately. “we got here spiritually first.”
manon stared at him. “what does that even mean?”
“it means move,” yuma repeated, pointing lazily toward another table.
zanine let out a short breath through her nose. “or what?”
that made the air shift slightly.
nico’s eyes flicked to her at the same time she spoke.
and for a second, neither of them looked away.
“or we’ll all just sit here,” nico said casually.
ella immediately shook her head. “no.”
that got everyone’s attention.
“there’s way too many of us for that,” she continued.
“we’ve been sitting here since school started, ella,” maki said, already annoyed.
“i don’t think i asked, maki.” she shot back instantly.
“okay! stop it,” fuma cut in, stepping between the tension like he was physically tired of their existence.
a few people at nearby tables were already watching.
fuma exhaled. “we’ll just sit over there.”
he pointed to the table right next to them.
harua immediately nodded. “that’s fine.”
taki followed quickly. “yeah, that works.”
nico didn’t move right away.
his eyes stayed on zanine for a second longer than necessary.
he walked toward the other table without waiting for the rest, shoving his tray down like it had personally offended him.
yuma followed, grinning to himself.
because whatever that was between them?
it was getting harder and harder to pretend it wasn’t there.
the cafeteria slowly returned to normal once both groups settled at separate tables.
because even with one table between them, the tension was still there.
“why was he looking at you like that?” ella asked quietly before taking a bite of her food.
zanine nearly choked on her drink. “looking at me like what?”
“exactly,” yeji added immediately.
“you guys are actually obsessed,” zanine muttered, avoiding eye contact with all of them.
manon glanced over toward the boys’ table. “nah. i think they’re the obsessed ones.”
zanine followed her gaze without meaning to.
because the second she looked over, nico looked up too.
their eyes met immediately.
and this time, neither of them reacted right away.
it only lasted maybe two seconds before zanine looked away first, grabbing her drink like she suddenly became fascinated with the label on the bottle.
“…oh my god,” lily whispered beside her.
“i hate this conversation already.”
“you hate every conversation involving him,” ella pointed out.
“because you all make things weird.”
“we?” yeji repeated. “girl, all he did was look up and somehow you forgot how to function.”
“i literally drank juice.”
“with attitude,” manon added.
across the way, the boys weren’t much better.
“you smiled,” yuma suddenly said.
nico looked up from jo’s stolen lunch immediately. “what are you talking about?”
“when she looked at you.”
“you kinda did,” harua admitted carefully.
nico stared at him in betrayal. “whose side are you on?”
“there are sides?” taki asked innocently.
“apparently,” kei muttered while eating fries.
maki glanced over toward the girls’ table briefly before looking back at nico. “you’re making it obvious.”
nico frowned. “making what obvious?”
the entire table went silent for a second.
then jo laughed quietly into his drink.
“damn,” euijoo said. “he’s gone.”
“i’m not ‘gone,’” nico argued immediately.
“you looked at her before you even sat down,” yuma pointed out.
“and you literally stopped walking.”
nico opened his mouth—then closed it again.
meanwhile, at the other table, zanine stabbed at her food dramatically while trying not to think about any of this.
because now she could physically feel when nico looked over.
sometimes she looked back.
uh oh things are changing
i’m kinda getting writers block and running out of ideas .. i’m thinking as i go so if it starts to suck im sorry
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