Bridon loved how simple things were on the court. There was an objective, there were obstacles, there were two sides, and that was it. He was good, he knew it, and it was exhilarating to hear the crowd cheering for his as he burned up the court and led his team to victory. Or help Kyle, the other big shot, of course, lead them to victory. He didn’t mind sharing the attention; he played for the love of the game, and it was nice to have someone to share it with. So unlike the theater, where attention was the objective and had to be fought for. No, here on the court, attention was secondary. It was all about the game.

Bridon was shooting hoops after school, the cheerleaders practicing off to the side as he worked on his hook shot. He noticed Livvie Testaburger out of the corner of his eye and had to frown to himself. It was strange to see her in uniform with the other girls; she was the last person he expected to take up THAT particular hobby.

Girls had always fawned over Bridon; it was a fact of life to him at this point. He had his pick and he wasn’t oblivious to that, though he didn’t take advantage of it either. What was the point? It felt suspiciously like being used whenever a girl took an interest in him for his looks or popularity, and Bridon didn’t want to cause drama. He was just nice to everyone, letting them see in him just what they wanted to, and avoided getting too involved with anyone specifically. It wasn’t where his focus was anyways. But Livvie had never fawned over him. She was too busy following around Kevin, was it? Something with a K. Bridon didn’t really know the kid; they’d had some random encounters over the years, but never really had a conversation. Bridon had once known Kevin? Kolin?’s friend Stan, but that had never really become a friendship. Stan was pretty much hostile to him at any rate, and though it had led to Bridon’s finally realizing his dream…they’d never become close. Anyways, Livvie had basically ignored Bridon right off the bat, not in an unfriendly way, but it was new to be treated that way for him. It had made Bridon notice.

And he’d liked what he’d noticed. Except that she trailed K around like a lost puppy, and Bridon could never understand why the other boy didn’t seem to pay her any attention. Livvie had an honest face, and the more Bridon saw of her, the more he wanted to, if only to discover why she was seemingly immune to him. And then she’d come back from summer vacation in seventh grade, and Bridon knew he had to get to know this girl. She had grown up to be completely…beautiful. And she still ignored him, which was frustrating. She’d always been the exception to the fawning rule. Even when he’d made his intentions obvious, she’d have none of it. She was too obsessed with that kid in orange, K. Bridon respected her enough to back off when she turned him down multiple times, but he had to wonder what interest K held for her. The other boy was a notorious womanizer, Bridon had discovered, and he couldn’t help but think that Livvie must not know that, if she still followed him around the way she did.

When Livvie came to high school, **** changed. K noticed; how could he not? She wasn’t a little girl anymore, and K liked his women. Bridon hadn’t even bothered though, because Livvie’s feelings couldn’t have been more obvious. They HADN’T changed. He’d followed that story through rumors, and nearly approached her about it when it all got pieced together. What was she DOING with K, who obviously didn’t appreciate her as anything more than a ****? And now she was prancing around, looking like a cheerleader save for the self conscious expression on her face and the crease of concentration over her eyes as she did the steps jut like the other girls. Only she didn’t look like a cheerleader to Bridon. She looked like Livvie in a uniform, adorably trying to yank her skirt down to cover more of her legs when she thought no one was looking, with that focused look on her face that made it seem more like she was studying for a test than working a crowd. He wondered if K even noticed these things. She’d looked so sad lately, no doubt because of K’s stupidity. It got a little better after awhile, she no longer looked like she was constantly on the verge of collapsing, but still. She looked so tired and confused all the time; couldn’t she see that K was eating her alive? Such a damn waste.

Bridon scowled as he missed a shot, thinking over this, and then quickly turned around when he heard someone come up behind him.

“Sup.”