Falling Away #Watty 2023

•Chapter 14•

She gave me a blank look. I groaned. "Well, do you?" I asked again.

"No, I haven't played basketball before. I just watch."

"Don't worry, I'll teach you." I grabbed my phone and called my driver.

In a couple of minutes, we were waiting for him outside next to the car. I was wearing shorts and a tank top; I don't care what anyone else might say. I am a hot girl.

Gemma sat next to the fountain, texting on her phone. I was glad she was coming along with me. My driver finally arrived, and we got into the backseat. We talked about some things on the way; I realized Gemma was fun to be around. She had a great sense of humor.

When we reached the basketball court, Gemma and I both got out of the car. Gemma thanked me for taking her along, and I replied that anytime.

She smiled.

We walked inside and saw the boys practicing on the court. One of the guys on the other side wasn't playing well; he didn't have much power. His ball kept getting caught in his opponent's arms, and I couldn't help but laugh. This was such a waste of time, I thought.

"Hey yo. Here comes the queen of basketball," Justin said, spreading his arms as if expecting me to fall into them. I tied my hair into a ponytail and rushed over to do our bro shakes. Our ball fist hits each other and then we spread our arms heavenward. That's how Justin and I acknowledge each other; it's like our own secret code.

I've always liked Justin, even though he's a jerk. At least we understand each other. We have different interests and personality traits. For example, Justin is an asshole with a huge ego and a temper, and sometimes it pisses me off because he doesn't take anything seriously. But he's very good at basketball. Sometimes he closes his eyes and tosses the ball into the net.

Who the hell is that awesome?

Justin has been my friend since kindergarten, but I've never really seen him as more than a friend. He's a very outgoing guy, and he's funny too, but I've never felt anything special between us. One of the guys tossed the ball my way, and I caught it midair and dribbled towards the basket, tossing the ball into it.

I grabbed the ball before it touched the ground and held it up, looking straight at Justin, who stared at me with an astonished face. "You didn't see any of that, did you?" I asked, smiling and throwing the ball at him.

He took the ball from my hands. "All I saw was your awesomeness!"

"Did you hear that, Gem?" I said, but she shrugged. She wasn't finding it as much fun as I was. Grabbing another ball and dribbling again.

Justin watched me intently, then took a step forward. I tossed the ball into the net, letting it bounce back. Justin ran after it, making a few quick steps to catch up. He made a quick jump, catching the ball, and dribbled before throwing it high. I jumped to catch it, almost missing it. Justin laughed at my failure.

I waved at Gemma, asking her to come join us. She hesitantly walked towards me, and I handed the basketball to her. She sighed deeply, throwing the ball towards the net, but it fell in the opposite direction.

"Ouch, Zoey. Your friend sucks at basketball," Justin laughed.

I shot an angry stare his way. "Says the guy who learned how to play basketball from his mommy's belly." I scoffed. He didn't seem fazed; he outstretched his hands, walking away to the nearest corner.

"Zoey, I don't think I can do this," Gemma interjected, lowering her head.

"Don't listen to him, everyone sucks at this game until they're taught," I tried to console her with a slight nudge. "Watch me, you hold the ball like this, hit it on the ground, catch, and throw."

She tried and didn't get it, and each time she failed, I could see a smirk on Justin's face. After trying for what felt like a zillion times, Gemma successfully tossed the ball into the net. She jumped, rushing towards me in a very tight hug.

"I did it, Zoey! I finally did it!" She yelled, raising her hands heavenward. I chuckled, hugging her back.

"Yeah, you did. Let's celebrate with a bowl of ice cream," I smiled, grabbing both her arms.

A few minutes later, we were seated at a small table, waiting for our bowls. I glanced down at my phone; it vibrated, indicating a text message from Ashley.

Ashley: Zoey, where are you?

Since when does she care about my whereabouts? Frowning, I typed back to her.

Zoey: I went out with a friend to get ice cream.

"This is cool," Gemma's voice snapped my attention away from my phone, and I looked over at her. She was holding a spoon with strawberry ice cream, holding it up with a smile.

Taking the spoon and scooping up a bit of ice cream, I said, "I can't believe I did something great today. I probably conquered the world." Gemma boasted, bringing out her phone from her pocket to take some selfies of us.

She was taking the friendship thing seriously, even though my first attempt to be friendly to her caused her to be away from school for two weeks.

"Gemma," I called. She turned to me with a smile. "I really want to say that I'm sorry for everything I did to you. Especially that Friday night party I hosted to embarrass you."

She lowered her gaze to her almost empty bowl. "That's in the past, right? So let's forget about it."

I felt bad for reminding her, but at least I cleared my guilty conscience. After we were done with the ice cream, I took Gemma to my favorite shopping mall. We shopped for clothes, shoes, bags, and jewelry.

I collapsed into my bed with my phone, scrolling through all the messages I had sent to Caroline and Betty, but to my shock, they didn't even open them. Not even all the apology messages, emojis, and GIFs I sent them. I wonder why they didn't open them? Maybe they deleted them or read through them without opening them. Or maybe they just forgot about it.

My head pounded with a dull pain. A headache. I couldn't believe I lost my childhood friends because of some stupid prank. But the question that kept lingering in my mind was, were they truly my friends?

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