Was she the only one who noticed?

Everybody cheered for the MVP of the boys varsity basketball team when he won the finals, only she saw a sort of unsaturated hunger etched permanently across his handsome features. His passion aroused her, she knew it wasn’t for the game, it was for something else. Still, she didn’t know anybody like that.

But there was an odd part of him that struck her as, well, odd. At lunch he would slide his tray across the counter, choosing his food very carefully, taking the same thing every day, which was definitely not unusual, and walk over towards the tables filled with naïve, troubled teenagers. And he would just stand there and look at them, as if he was still choosing, and they were the dessert now. Then, when he finally decided, he’d glide over towards a table and they would welcome him happily. It was like he thought he was a king visiting the townsfolk.

She was watching him today, like every other morning, when he looked her way. He seemed to stare right through her. "Come on, Connor!" yelled a basketball player. She instantly turned away, her pulse quickening for a second. Yet again, time seemed to stop for a moment, only to continue a second later.

He stood still, he’d seen this girl watching him before, but he figured her for another admirer. Who was she? "Yeah, wait up!" he called back uncertainly, putting her face to memory.

She wondered whether he knew all along she was watching him, and chose to ignore her. Or more importantly, whether he noticed that she knew he wasn’t the same as everybody else.

Walking out of the room, she turned the corner, heading towards the basketball court. She pushed open the double doors, there was nobody on the court, she was probably early. She chuckled silently to herself, there's a first for everything.

He knew she’d come, he heard she really enjoyed basketball, she was aggressive too. It showed she was determined to get to the top, and she was. He’d seen her play, she seemed to get better and better every time. She was just like him, determined, headstrong, and willing to do anything to get what she wanted.

She started walking forward, her mind already set on the day’s practice, when something caught her eye. She turned her head towards the bleachers on her right. There he was, that stranger she knew all too well, staring straight through her again. Her pulse quickened for the second time, she felt her face blush.

He got up and walked down the steps towards her, she didn't know what to do. Should she just keep walking? Or should she confront this stranger she wanted to know so much more about? Was he dangerous? Of course not. Right?

Too late.

He stopped in front of her. "Hey," he said casually, flashing a lopsided smile.

She felt her breath catch in her throat.