I don’t think I can handle any more information. Are we not done with the tour yet? This is going to be a long day!
“Talia, please don’t fall behind,” Mr. Adkins noticed she wasn’t staying with the whole group.
She forced herself to walk another step as the muscles stretched tight on her legs. “Coming! I should start to do more extracurricular activities.”
“Students, please stay together and don’t get split up!” Mrs. Harris gathered the twenty-four students in a group. “It would be a hassle if we had to find anyone who gets lost in this university.”
This university had better opportunities than the college near my home. Should I attend this graduate school, or should I rather enroll in the one near my home?
The school tour finally ended at 5 PM that evening. Her heart leaped with enthusiasm as she sat on top of her sleeping bag. Massaging the poor muscles on her legs, she glanced around the small room. The area smelled of the dust in an attic, and dozens of blankets and mattresses had been laid down in the small room. Several females were putting makeup on their faces while the other classmates were changing into colorful dresses, causing a lot of ruckus in their resting area.
“Are you guys going somewhere?" Talia raised her eyebrow. "What's with all this dress up?"
Sophie tilted her head and frowned. "Haven't you heard that the university’s basketball team was having a party in the gymnasium to welcome new students?"
"So… Are we even allowed to go there though?" Talia turned to look at every single girl in the room. "We're not even students of this campus!"
Grinning at her, Sophie chuckled. "They said everyone is welcome to join."
It was still early in the night, and since Talia couldn’t sleep at all, she decided to tag along with them to the gymnasium. Standing up from her sleeping bag, she went to open her suitcase and searched through her clothes. She chose a white flowery dress that she received as her eighteenth birthday from her grandma.
I look just like Cinderella. Will I find my prince charming here?
Staring at her reflection in the mirror inside the bathroom, she had her auburn hair curled down to her waist. Even with no makeup, her white skin radiant in the night as her red lips beamed at her. With her small and slim figure, she walked back to join the rest of her classmates.
Mrs. Harris already gave permission and reminded everyone to come back before midnight in order to wake up at dawn to catch their bus on time. Talia grabbed her backpack and followed the rest of the girls to cross through the campus to reach the gymnasium at 9 PM.
Entering through the door, music blasted their ears and the hallways sparkled with golden lights from the bulbs. Plenty of men and women drank beverages and the other people danced in the lounge area that had been set up. Talia's eyes widened at the change of decoration as she moved closer behind everyone during their walk into the room.
"Stop hiding behind me," Sophie shoved Talia away from her. "I'm going to go dance with the boys over there. Do you still plan to follow me too?”
Talia glanced toward a room on her left, hearing loud ruckus on the other side. "You go ahead. I want to go explore to see what’s happening elsewhere."
“I heard earlier from my cousin, who is a member of the basketball team, that they’re playing a game during the party to impress all the newbies to join their team. The cheerleaders oversaw the party to celebrate their big win from their last game and collected new registration sheets from newbies in the lounge." Sophie shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. “Trust me! You will get bored in the gym!”
Rather than dancing in the crowd, she preferred to watch a match instead. “Oh well, I love sports. So, I want to check out the game.”
“Okay!” Sophie nodded. "We'll go rest in that area in the lounge. You can come catch up with us later."
3
Passing through the doorway, a group of basketball players, wearing red and black jerseys, had a match in the middle of the court. Since she only joined the soccer team in elementary school and never played basketball, she still understood the rules to make sense of the game. Based on their defense and offense, the odd numbers must versus the even numbers.
As she walked closer toward the stand, an orange globe rolled in front of her and banged against the wall. She ambled toward the item, picked up the ball, and turned around to bump onto the chest of a strong, muscle man. He grabbed her arm to prevent her from falling onto the floor. Sneaking a peek at him, she gawked at the most handsome man that she had ever seen in her life.
This young man grinned and gazed with admiration or a shocked expression at her. He had an oval face, blue eyes, and long black hair. Two dimples appeared on each cheek and the fragrance of apples floated from him.
Her heart fluttered with happiness. They were so close to each other that their lips were just a few inches apart. She blushed and avoided staring him straight in the eye. Tilting her head down at his chest, she realized he wore number 7 on his jersey.
“You can have this back,” Talia shoved the ball into his hand. “Sorry for holding onto this for so long.”
He chuckled. “No worries. Thanks for the help though.”
Strolling to stand at the corner of the court, he spared one more glance at Talia before he threw the ball into the court as the basketball players continued their match. Talia froze on the spot and forgot to head to the stand due to their close encounter.
Her gaze followed his form in the boisterous match, seeing he dodged the number 46 and passed the ball to his teammate 21. Though one of the opposite team members, jersey 32, intercepted the ball and dashed to the other side of the court. As the odd teammates chased after the even members, and the handsome man successfully brought the ball back to their scoring hoop.
"Jersey Number 7, watch out for player 58 on your left side!" Talia shouted at the top of her lungs, noticing a dark figure on the handsome guy's back. "And don't pass the ball to your teammate 95 since your opponent 60 will go for a feint and try to steal the ball."
The handsome man somehow followed her directions and stood behind the line to shoot a three-pointer into the basketball hoop. The viewers on the stand applaud the odd team for their scoring.
"Yay!" Talia cheered as she clapped her hands. "You rock!"
The player in jersey number 7 threw a fist into the air as he jumped in excitement. Turning to Talia, he laughed, batted an eye, and smiled at her before he continued to join the match with his teammates.
Oh, my goodness! Did… Did he just wink toward my way? Is he flirting or just greeting me?
Talia watched the game for a long time and calculated the handsome guy to be a decent player based on how he won the most points for their team. The jersey player number 7 managed to shoot four more three-pointers after he shot the last score from her instruction. He even kept staring at her after he shot each goal into the hoop on the opponent's side.
Was something on my face? Hm… He’s a terrific player at far distance aiming. Was he a shooting guard or pointing guard?
Talia finally noticed the pain under her soles increased each second as she stared at her legs. Deciding to head out to find the rest of the classmates in the lounge, she took a step before something round and heavy bounced onto her leg. She glanced downward on time to see the orange basketball. Not again!