“Hello there handsome” I said trying to get my bearings. 

“Get off me you nuisance” said a disgruntled voice attempting to push my chest. That

voice sounds familiar. I looked into their eyes finally to recognize them. 

“Justin! How have you been good looking? You changed your hair! And you look tanner, did you go somewhere over the summer?” I could’ve rattled off a million questions at him.

Justin was one of the only people in class who didn’t bully me. He was a sarcastic asshole, but he mostly kept to his own quiet of rather ordinary people group. They got fine grades and had good families, so the popular kids didn’t pay them much attention. He had been paler and shorter last year, even with traces of baby fat still on his face. Now he had grown up a bit more. No doubt by high school he would be one hot dude. He had deep black hair, olive tanned skin and light brown eyes. He reminded me of some creature you would meet while journeying into the woods near town. Last year he had slicked his hair back with gel and now he let it lay comfortably over his forehead. It looked fluffy and soft. I fought the risk to run my fingers through it. 

“Well, I was fine until you fell on top of me” He jabbed at me finally rolling me off of him. “Thank you for noticing my risk for skin cancer. My family dragged me to Italy and Greece over the summer As for my hair I got tired of gelling it back and cut it after my cousin lobbed a piece of gum into it at the beach.” He brushed himself off and glared at me once he was standing.

“I’ll make it up to you and share my candy then” I extended my hand waiting for him to pick which kind he would like.

Wearily he settled on the skittles and popped a few in his mouth before turning and walking away from me. It’s weird to see him alone. I assumed he was meeting up with his group, but I didn’t see them in the stands. Maybe this could be the fun I was missing out on. 

“So where are all your buddies?” I said catching up to him.

 “And I got bored of those goons following me around like some mama duck, so I ditched them”

He tried to sound confident, but I knew the truth. I picked up the pace and stopped in front of him so he couldn’t look anywhere but me. I leaned in hands behind my back.

“They dropped you from their group!” I said laughing at him

“N-no! I was just too good for them and needed time to myself.” He said turning red

“Well since you are all alone, I’ll keep you company” 

“Please don’t”

“Too late I have made my mind up” I threw my arm over his shoulder and continued to walk him to the bleachers 

We sat near the top and Justin pulled out his switch. I attempted to tune back into the game. We watched in silence for a while. To my surprise Justin let me keep my arm where it was. 

“Are you okay with this?”

“Yeah, do whatever you want just don’t mess me up” He wasn’t even paying attention to me. He kept his eye and fingers glued to his game.

Since Tyler had made varsity, it was a pretty good game to watch, if you understood it. I got bored after a few minutes and turned my attention to Justin’s switch game. It was much more entertaining. 

By the end of the basketball game, I had learned how to play Justin’s game very well.

Dave would for sure love this is he wasn’t watching Tyler pull his hair up into a bun. After the game ended the three of us were going to Tyler’s house to celebrate.

“I wouldn’t want you to be lonely tonight so come with me on an adventure” I said as we stood to leave the game.

“If I appease you this once, will you leave me alone” He sounded glum, but I knew he was probably excited about hanging out with me who wouldn’t be? I grabbed his hand and led him behind me.

“I won’t answer any questions with big words in them until you say we are friends and hangout with me tonight.” I stated as a fact without looking back at him.

“Fine” He said with a long groan.

With his resignation of defeat, I brought him over to meet Dave while we waited for

Tyler to get changed.