The door to Nelson’s room is slammed open for the second time that day. Nelson sighs and looks up to find Nathan standing there, glaring at him.
“Why the hell would you do that?” He demands. “Take Lincoln into our team? He’s no good!”
“Have you seen him play?” Nelson asks, going back to the documents he was studying. “Coz I have and he’s a damn good player.”
“basketball is a serious game, Coach!” Nathan exclaims. “He has no practice in playing with a high school team-”
“He plays great underground and I’m sure he’ll be equally good in my team,” Nelson says curtly. “If you have a problem then it ain’t my problem.”
Nelson’s tone is authoritative and final. There will be no more arguments on this and Nathan is furious. He storms off towards the boy’s locker where the other players are changing into their clothes.
Lincoln is there as well, already changed into his basketball jersey. The Coach also assigned him a number: 10.
Nathan storms into the locker room and charges right at Lincoln. Lincoln stares warily at him as they come face to face. Everyone else goes quiet as the two most popular boys of the school face-off against each other.
“Quit the team!” Nathan demands. “This isn’t your place.”
“Are you gonna decide where I belong?” Lincoln sneers. Nathan steps closer so that no one else can hear his next words.
“Should I really remind you where you belong?” he whispers.
Lincoln’s eyes flare up and he is about to hit Nathan when several of the players come up to stop him.
“Don’t even dare to hit him, Wright!” One of the players warns. “He’s the captain of the team.”
Nathan smirks at Lincoln. “If you won’t leave on your own, then I know ways to make you leave,” he coolly states.
“I will not leave and you can do whatever the hell you want!” Lincoln snarls. “Besides, I didn’t start this. You did. You’re the one who vandalized Halsey’s locker this morning. You and your friends!”
Every word he speaks is filled with venom for Nathan. Nathan raises an eyebrow. Vandalized a locker?
“Think whatever you want but by the end of the week, I’ll make sure that you’re out of this team!” Nathan vows and walks away. Lincoln fumes in anger as the other players follow suit, leaving him alone.
He hadn’t planned to enter the team but after seeing how Nathan had targeted Halsey, Lincoln couldn’t stay put. Seeing her cry only makes him feel bad and he wants to teach Nathan a lesson. By entering the team, he’ll be defying Nathan’s threats.
But what if Nathan decides to reveal their secret? What’ll happen then?
“I’ll have to keep an eye on him,” Lincoln mutters. “No one can know this secret. No one.”
…
The rest of the day went by without any more events. Halsey’s locker had been cleaned by the janitor and the lock was changed. She did not face any harassment directly but the students were staring at her during lunchtime and Lydia had passed by, giving her a smirk. Halsey got uncomfortable by the attention and ran to the library.
Lincoln found her there and consoled her by making funny impressions of their teachers. He is quite good at it and Halsey managed to laugh with him. The whole episode is still plaguing her mind but being with Lincoln calmed her down.
Nathan skipped practice that day and so did a bunch of his friends. The Coach was not happy about it and decided to duly punish him later. Lincoln had to go through the process of trying out for the team and he passed with flying colors. Nelson is impressed by his agility and performance, thinking of how to utilize his natural skills on the field.
Once the classes end, Lincoln meets up with Halsey.
“Are you sure you don’t wanna complain to the principal?” He asks as they head for their part-time jobs.
“No,” Halsey says, shaking her head. “It’s not worth it. I can’t handle all this right now.”
“Hales, they trashed your locker!” Lincoln exclaims. “You must take action otherwise-”
“What’s gonna happen if I do?” Halsey asks warily. “Someone else will pick on me tomorrow. It’s best to ignore it. They’ll stop eventually.”
Lincoln is about to argue but Halsey adds, “Besides, I don’t wanna be a burden on Charlotte. She’s going through some issues in her lounge and she’s already stressed. This’ll freak her out and I don’t want that. Can we please forget about today?”
“Fine!” Lincoln groans. “But if it happens again, we’ll tell the principal. Got it?”
Halsey winces. She secretly vows not to let Lincoln find out about any more such incidents because fretting over them isn’t worth it.
“Fine,” she lies. “I will.”
“By the way…” Lincoln dramatically pauses and says, “I’ve joined the basketball team!”
“You what?” Halsey gasps in surprise. “Oh my god! Congratulations!”
She throws her arms around him and hugs him tightly. Lincoln is overjoyed to see that his friend is happy for him.
“This calls for a celebration tonight!” Halsey squeals. “I’ll tell Charlotte and we’ll all order pizzas!”
“Alright!” Lincoln says. They have reached a crossroad.
“I’ll see you tonight!” he adds, waving at her as he heads off towards the comic store he works part-time for. Halsey waves him back and goes the opposite way where Charlotte’s lounge is. Charlotte is not there but her assistant Maddie handed Halsey an acoustic guitar to deliver.
“If I didn’t have to go over to the bank, I’d have gone with you,” Maddie says, faking an apologetic tone. “But you’ll have to do it on your own.”
“No worries!” Halsey claims. “I can take it to the Antons’ house on my own!”
She picks up the guitar and goes off to deliver it to the Antons’ home on her way to her babysitting gig.
Halsey slowly walks along the pavement, quietly enjoying the warm sunny day. The Antons live a few blocks away from the lake so the view there is quite pleasant. Her eyes fall on a deck at the lake which is isolated at that time of the day. There is no one around so she slowly approaches the deck.
Looking around once more to make sure she isn’t seen, she sits on the deck and unzips the guitar bag.
Halsey carefully takes it out and positions it. She isn’t that good at playing a guitar but she secretly practices it at Charlotte’s lounge when no one is around. Halsey likes to sing when she’s alone, sometimes by the lake. She’s too embarrassed to sing in public.
What if they hate her? What if she’s a terrible singer? These thoughts plague her mind. She’d rather sing alone in peace.
She takes a deep breath and starts to sing while softly playing the guitar.
“Under the bright sky
I sing a song for you, oh my!
When I look into your eyes,
I feel so nice
My love for you is divine
But I don’t know why
You’re so far away
Your heart has gone cold
And your feelings don’t unfold
But I still sing for you
With all my love I-”
The rustling of leaves makes her startle and she nervously looks around. To her shock, a tall figure steps out from behind a tree.
It’s Nathan.
“I was wondering who disturbed my sleep,” he slightly sneers. “So it’s you.”
Halsey is completely stunned and scared. Her hands are shaking at the sight of him. Memories from last night and that morning are swirling in front of her eyes, making her very nervous. Nathan approaches the deck and stops right in front of her. Halsey feels like a tiny mouse in front of a giant as he looks down at her.“Your friend joined the team today,” he states. “Did you know?”Halsey fervently nods her head. Her heart is beating too fast and for a wild moment, she’s afraid that he’ll kiss her again. What if he does?“Tell him to quit,” Nathan orders. Halsey slightly looks up, surprised by his demand.“Tell him to quit the team and I’ll tell my friends to lay off you,” he offers. “Lydia’s the one who wrecked your locker, right? I’ll tell her to stop if you tell your friend to quit the team.”“No.”Nathan blinks in surprise. Even Halsey is shocked by her own audacity but she couldn’t stop herself from saying it out loud.“What did you say?” He whispers in a dangerous tone.“I-I wo
Halsey sneezes out of cold. She’s in the car with Nathan, too nervous to talk. The events of the day had taken a toll on her. All she wants is to go home and hide under her blanket. No person ever scared her as much as Nathan Jacobs did. “You live with the Wright’s huh?” he asks in a deadpan tone. She nods in response. “C-Charlotte is my godmother,” she says. Nathan’s fingers clench around the wheel but he shrugs it off. “Is that your place?” he asks, pointing at a two storeyed house near the town’s cafe. “Yes,” Halsey replies. “I should get going…” As soon as the car stops, she runs out of it but to her shock, Nathan follows her. She instantly grabs her spare gl
“Oi sleepyhead!”Halsey is snoozing in the library, too tired to read that day. She does not sleep well at night because her mind has been filled with Nathan’s threats. He also knows her long buried desire to sing and it only makes her more nervous. What if he tells his friends and they make fun of her?She jolts awake to find Lincoln sitting across her. He looks very worried.“Are you alright, Hales?” He asks. “You don’t look so good.”“I’m fine…”Lincoln leans forward to touch her forehead. “You’re not sick,” he mutters.“I just couldn’t sleep because of the history quiz,” Halsey lies. “I stayed up at night to read.”“You work way too hard!” He groans. “Are you gonna come and watch the game tonight?”Lincoln is going to play his first game that night and he’s very excited. He never played professionally before but the coach has been praising him a lot. Nelson selected him for the game that night which earned the ire of Nathan but Lincoln doesn’t care.“Of course I will!” Halsey excl
Lincoln sprints forward as the ball comes to his direction and he catches it before dribbling it across the court. He is being blocked by a large player with bulky muscles. The player tries to take the ball from him but he dodges it and passes it to another of his teammates.Nathan is at the center, blocked by two players but he goes past them and catches the ball from another one of his teammates. The game starts to become intense as the two teams are locked in a point war while the audience cheers.Everytime the Eagles score, the audience cheers but groans and curses at the opponents when they score. Halsey timidly watches the game, her eyes on Lincoln. She occasionally glances at Nathan as well whose attitude changed from domineering to a more serious one. He is shouting his orders at his teammates or encouraging them when they score but he doesn’t even look at Lincoln. The match continues for a while and Halsey is becoming increasingly worried about the outcome. It’s Lincoln’s fi
“Earth to Halsey!” Halsey is startled and looks around to find Charlotte calling for her. They are at a steakhouse, waiting for their orders to arrive. Lincoln is sitting opposite Halsey, not talking.“What’s wrong?” Charlotte laughs. “You look as if you’re lost.”“I was just thinking about tomorrow’s math test,” Halsey lies.“Study study study!” Charlotte complains. “That's all you can think about! Just loosen up and relax.”She pinches Halsey’s cheek in an attempt to lighten the mood. Lincoln doesn’t say anything but glances at Halsey as if he wants to ask her something but thinks the better of it.“I was just worried…” Halsey says sheepishly. She loathes lying to Charlotte but with Lincoln there, she can’t tell her the truth yet. What if he overreacts? Or worse, picks a fight with Nathan?The food arrives and Charlotte tells them to dig in. Halsey tries to focus on her dinner but her mind is still plagued with the thought of Nathan. What if he told people about their kiss?Halsey
School is bustling with students. It is a warm, sunny day so most of the students are inside the cooler corridors, escaping the heat. Halsey has literature first that day but to her dismay, Nathan also happens to be in that class. He bunks classes most of the time but after getting a warning, he’s forced to join classes.Halsey is sitting in a corner, away from everyone’s gazes. Thankfully, she has not been bullied by Lydia after that day but she’s still watching out. Lincoln still urges her to complain to the principal but Halsey hates confrontations. She wants peace.She takes out her book, a poetry collection of Tennyson. Halsey opens it and starts to read the poem, “Lady of the Shallot” when she feels something slam on the chair next to her. To her shock, Nathan is putting his bag on it.“W-What are you doing?” She squeaks.“Sitting here,” he mutters lazily and sits down. The other students are staring at Nathan in shock as well. One of Lydia’s friends, Daisy, takes a picture and
Lincoln is at basketball practice. The whole team is lined up on the court and they are practicing shooting the ball. He is behind a curly haired boy and is chatting with his fellow players when Nathan enters the court, already in his jersey. Coach Nelson looks up and frowns at him.“You’re late, Jacobs!” He barks. “Ya know I hate late comers! Ten laps around the court!”“Yes sir,” Nathan mutters and begins to run around the court. He’s used to Nelson’s punishment but also knows that as the best player in the team, Nelson has to keep him with the Eagles. Nathan’s gaze meets that of Lincoln’s and the latter only smirks at his punishment. By the time Nathan is done, he is panting hard but is ready for practice. “Listen up y’all!” Nelson yells. “You’ll be shooting the hoops in a serial today. I gotta go to a family event so the session won’t be long. But our next game is in a month so we’ll be practicing twice as hard from tomorrow!”“Yes Coach!” Everyone declares. Lincoln is the first
Now I regret this, Nathan scowls inwardly. He is with Halsey at the same trench where he threw her guitar in. Halsey keeps on glancing behind her to make sure that no one sees them together but it seems the people rarely ventured that way. The trees are too thick there and the spot is not easily visible from the road unless someone ventures that way. Also, the lake doesn’t have a protective barrier so most people avoid it.Nathan is feeling sleepy just by glancing at the first page of Pride & Prejudice.“Let’s read the first chapter,” Halsey suggests. “I’ll focus on Elizabeth and her sister’ dialogues while you focus on the other characters. And-”Nathan throws the books aside and yawns. “Boring!” he sneers. “Are there any other books?”“This is a classic,” Halsey explains. “We can get a lot of marks if we can-”“Let’s just pick a comic and re-write that!” Nathan jokes. “That’s gonna be more interesting than some chick lit which makes no sense!”Maybe it just doesn’t make any sense to