Rayne

In the meantime, on the basketball court, while Alliyah worked…

“Hey, guys, look what I found!” Ocean joked, pointing at Lamar.

“I’m the new and improved Alliyah!”

Everyone shook their heads, chuckling.

Soon, they were forming teams:

“So, it’s Z, Lamar, and Blue against me, Rayne-”

“Oh, I don’t play. I’m just watching.” She said as she sat down on the side of the court.

“She’s wearing leather boots, bro, pick up the clues.” Malcolm sassed.

“Fine. Z, Lamar, Blue against me, Colson and Malcolm?” Ocean cleared up.

“We’re gonna crush you so hard.” Lamar glared at his opposite team while pretending/attempting to crack his knuckles.

Colson crossed his arms:

“I’m not going down without a fight.”

As they played, Rayne drew them. She never knew that outdoor basketball had such a fascinating aesthetic until then.

She tried capturing the way Z moved her slim body so effortlessly and graciously through the guys. And tried drawing Lamar guiding the ball through the gap between Colson’s feet while his big afro bounced as he ran with it. She couldn’t properly convey how Blue’s sweat made his tattoos shine - she planned to work on it when she had more time. Nonetheless, she sketched Ocean jumping and holding onto the hoop after scoring

Just as anticipated, Lamar’s team won by far.

“All right,” Ocean dried off sweat from his face with a black towel. “I’m taking you home, and you’re never playing with us again. You’re better than Alliyah!”

Except for Colson, who had his arms crossed, and was biting his lip ring, both teams laughed and congratulated Lamar before Ocean really took him home.

“By the way, we’re all going to Alliyah’s tonight. Everyone goes. I’m looking at you, Rayne.”

Before she could protest, Ocean and Lamar were out of the basketball court already.

“Hey, sweets!” Blue called out as he jogged in her direction, then squatted down to her level. “We’re going to get nachos, wanna come along?”

Rayne studied his features as she pondered: she liked the look of his curly hair, which couldn’t be covered by his pink baseball cap, and his light green eyes channeled a certain calmness and conveyed honesty.

“Ummh, no. But thanks.” She wavered a smile.

“Oh… Are you sure?” She could tell he was disappointed. Or wanted her to believe so.

“Yeah, I have work to do. Especially, since it seems I will be forced to go to Alliyah’s tonight.”

He laughed:

“Yeah, she and Ocean are like that.”

He waved her goodbye, and she watched as he stood back up and rejoined Z and Malcolm with a quick jog. Colson had disappeared without greeting anyone goodbye.

Later that day, Ocean reached out to her to tell her that Alliyah had canceled the evening at her house because apparently, she was still overwhelmed by work.

Rayne didn’t even pretend to be disappointed. She was more than happy to stay in the safety of her place.

“We can have dinner together if you want, though.” Ocean suggested.

“No, thanks. I’ll just stay home, get some work done, and look for places to rent.”

“Kiss the cats for me.”

She rolled her eyes but smiled before settling in for a calm night in.