The Hat Trick

chapter ten

that night I left the locker rooms a little later than everyone else. I wanted to organize my locker area; I can be a neat freak at times. and Luis, being the wonderful friend he is, stayed and waited for me.

when I finished organizing, we left and headed to the dormitories. we were walking, just talking about the game and how well we had done, when I felt something touch my hand.

I looked down and saw Luis' pinky and mine interlocked.

"slick move." I giggled. he smiled over at me and grabbed my whole hand this time and interlocked all our fingerd this time. "even slicker." I said, smiling up at him.

"you know what I've noticed, Hallie?" he asked with a grin.

"no, what?"

"you look at me differently than you look at other people." he said, looking over at me as we walked hand in hand.

"what do you mean?" I asked.

"well when you look at any other guy, your facial expressions, your eyes, they look normal. and beautiful as always, of course. but when you're looking at me, your face, your eyes, they... glow." he said, struggling to find the right words.

"is that a good thing?" I asked. he stopped walking and turned toward me. "yes. it makes me feel special, you know? I love you. I'm so lucky to have you as my beautiful best friend." he said as he started to lean in.

we kissed.

I could feel his slight smile on my lips. I pulled away after a few seconds. "I love you too." I said. we weren't even dating.

we walked the short remaining distance to the dormitories hand in hand, but in silence.

when we made it inside, he walked me into my room and told me goodnight.

"hey Hallie. where've you been?" asked Julie. "I just stayed after the game a while longer to clean up my locker a little." I said. "where you with Luis?" Connie asked suspiciously. "uh... yeah. he... helped me organize." I said nervously. "ah, okay." said Connie.

"well, I don't know about you ladies, but Im tired. I'm going to sleep, goodnight." I said tiredly as I changed back into Luis' sweatshirt and climbed into bed.

as I lied there, I couldn't help but think about him. he really made my night.

but I also thought about Adam and how cute, caring, and sweet he was.

that's when I finally realized... I was catching feelings for two guys at once.