I walked across the quad, carrying my gym bag. A lot of people showed up tonight. They were expecting to see a good game. But I doubted it. There wouldn't be any thrill – that I was sure of.

I wasn't nervous at all. I guess it was because I know that the team we were up against tonight was not much of a threat. I mean, their school's name itself sounded comical. But despite that, we'd already played against them last year. Let's just say that we didn't break a sweat in that game.

More than a month had passed. I'd been busy with training. I needed to be in shape for the basketball season this year. The responsibility and pressure of being Captain was a bit hard when the games were getting closer each day. They got high expectations from me, which didn't help at all. I tried to keep my head in the game, though. That was all that mattered for now.

"Yo, Aaron! Wait up!"

I turned to see Luke running toward me, followed by Ethan.

"Yo." I nodded in greeting. When they caught up with me, we opened the entrance doors to the hallway of the school.

"There's a party at my place after the game," informed Ethan.

"There always is," snorted Luke.

"I bet you're confident that we'll win tonight," I told Ethan, smirking.

"Aren't you?" he asked cockily.

"Of course I am."

We stopped walking. I was about to open the door that lead to the locker room when Luke nudged me. I looked at him.

"What's she doing here?" asked Ethan, a little flabbergasted. He pointed at the opposite direction. I turned to see who he was pointing at. And I stared.

Dakota was walking towards us with Alyson. I blinked a couple of times to make sure I was seeing right... Yeap, she was really here.

This wasn't like her. She usually just went straight to the bleachers. Now that I think about it, she never ever goes near this side of the school. Well, it wasn't a mind-twister. It was obviously because of the "athletic people" that was always hanging out here.

"What are you doing here?" I asked when Dakota was close enough.

She stopped in front of me, raised an eyebrow, and pointed at herself.

"Editor-In-Chief, remember?"

Oh, yeah. I almost forgot that she got appointed to be the school paper's Editor-In-Chief. I remembered her telling me that she refused Mr. D's offer, not wanting to leave the Movie club since she was the one who formed it. But Mr. D told her that the school paper was going in the dumps and it needed someone like her, someone with an interesting kind of thinking. He noticed her potential in Creative Writing class, you see. However, she still refused. Again, it was because of the Movie club (Yup, she was stubborn). And so, Mr. D came up with the idea to put the club in charge of the movie reviews of the paper so that she'd be able to manage both. Dakota immediately agreed.

I had to say that I was proud of her. In a month, she made vast improvements. She changed the entire staff with her own club members, then she changed the name of the school paper from 'MVHS editorial' to 'The Stallion Press.' And instead of producing newspapers monthly, she made it weekly. She also didn't put any boring column in the paper – although, it contained a little too frank comments about the school and its students.

Since then, half the school had been reading it.

Anyway, I looked at Dakota questioningly.

"So?"

I winced when Alyson's camera flashed at me. Dakota selected her to be the paper's photographer.

"We just need a few comments from the basketball team's Captain before the game," said Alyson, putting down her SLR camera.

"There's nothing to say," I said truthfully. "We're gonna win anyway," I added, shrugging. It wasn't that I was being overly confident. I just know that we were going to win tonight. I could feel it.

"Whoa, dude. It rhymes," commented Ethan, amused.

"Cocky, aren't you?" said Dakota, with a raised eyebrow.

I shook my head. "No, I'm not cocky – just confident. By the way, I don't see Richardson with you," I added, looking around. To be honest, I didn't expect him to come. With his opinion on sports, why would he?

Dakota rolled her eyes. "He's in the city watching a Broadway show."

I tilted my head. Broadway show?

"I told you that dude's gay," whispered Ethan with an I-told-you-so tone. I couldn't help but grin at his remark.

"Well," said Alyson, placing her hand on Dakota's elbow, "you guys need to change. Thank you for the time. Go Stallions!" She added the last sentence as she pulled Dakota away.

Luke, Ethan, and I entered the locker room. Chattering engulfed us. Everyone was talking, not about the game but about the party at Ethan's place.

When I changed into my jersey, that was when I felt the anxiety. This was our first game with me as the Captain Ball. I carried the responsibility of my team. But that was the thing; this wasn't just about me being Captain Ball anymore, or about me being able to play well in the game. This was about our team and our game now.

"Like Michael Jordan once said," I told the team. We were about to go outside. I just felt like I had to say something before we go on and play our first game of the season. I looked at each and every one of them, and then I grinned as I quoted, "'Just play. Have fun. Enjoy the game.'"

They grinned as well. Some yelled, "Yeah!"

Ethan stood up and went to the middle. He stretched out his fist, Luke and I followed. And so did the rest of the team.

"Stallions, on three."

"One! Two! Three! STALLIONS!"

After that, I waited for the other guys to leave the locker room, leaving me and Luke alone. When we were, I turned to Luke.

"Yo. I need to talk to you."

I didn't get the chance to ask him about Dakota for the past month because we were pretty preoccupied with the preparation for tonight's game. But I guess it was time that I asked him about it. I mean, Luke had been a close friend to me. He knows how I get when it comes to Dakota. And if he really liked her, I should know.

"What's up?" Luke asked me.

I studied him for a moment, and then asked, "Do you like Dakota?" It was too straightforward. But we were guys. We didn't beat around the bush like girls did all the time.

"She's okay," he shrugged.

Frankly, that wasn't the answer I wanted to hear.

"I meant, if you're interested in her in a non-friendly way," I explained.

Luke seemed bemused. "What?" He paused. "Are you serious?"

"Well, yeah," I said carefully.

He chuckled. "No, man," he said, shaking his head. "Of course not. Where in the world did you get that idea?"

I frowned in confusion. "You've been looking at her differently for the past few weeks," I told him. "I noticed."

Not just that, I'd been watching him. I didn't tell him about it until now because I wanted to be certain that I wasn't just seeing things. But I always caught him looking at Dakota's direction. Why would he look if he was not interested? Why would he be all ears whenever I talked about her? I know I was onto something here. So why did he deny it?

"You're getting the wrong idea," he said, looking me straight in the eye. I can see that he was hesitating as he said the next words, "I'm interested in someone else."

I blinked. "Who?"

Luke didn't answer. He just stared at me. It was quite obvious that he was deciding whether to tell me or not. This was the first time he hesitated on telling me something before. If so, then the girl must be really important to him.

BAM!

The locker room doors suddenly opened. Ethan came inside the room. He looked at us as though we were crazy.

"Dude!" he exclaimed. "Where the hell have you two been? They're waiting outside. We have a game to play, you know."

Luke and I exchanged looks. Without a word, we went outside.

I could hear the crowd's noise by the bleachers. And when we stepped into the light, there was a roar of cheers from the crowd. I could hear my name being chanted along with our team name 'Stallions.' In an instant, I felt excellent – refreshed, even. And even though I know that we would be wasting our time putting effort in this game, I felt the need to do my best.

This was what I always felt whenever I hear the crowd yell my name. My thinking gets over powered by my instincts. And my instincts have never failed me before.

We went to Coach and waited for our names to be called for the introduction. The announcer blabbed on with the usual greetings. Then, he finally announced the starters.

"The starters for the Mount Valley High School Stallions are Aaron Ford, Luke Wright, Ethan Tyler, Nigel Collins, and Sam Castillo," the announcer's voice boomed in the gym, I now recognized him to be Eunnikoh Montgomery – a sophomore from the AV club. We called him 'Nick.' There was no other way to describe him other than he reminded me of a bear. But not the scary one.

Anyway, the guys and I went to the middle of the court while Nick announced on the microphone the other team's starters, "And for the Franken Stein High School Sharks, we have Christopher Wilson, Bryan Sanders, Adam Lively, John Ray Olsen, and Nathan Moscovitch."

I couldn't deny that I heard the sniggers from our side of the bleachers. Like I said before, their school's name sounded comical.

Afterwards, we returned to our bench and removed our jersey jackets. I grabbed my bottle of water and took a drink.

"Have fun winning, jock," someone said with a bored voice behind me.

I knew that voice so well that I didn't need to turn around to see whom it belonged to. Nevertheless, I glanced at Dakota and let out a crooked smile.

I certainly will.

The buzzer went off, which was the cue for the players to go inside the court. And then the game began...

The base of the music from the stereo system made the chandelier tremble. A lot of people were dancing wildly in the living room. Some were taking a swim at the pool outside. A few couples were making out in every corner of the house.

I laid my back on the chair, but my hold on Annabelle's waist didn't lessen. My free hand was holding a half-empty plastic cup of beer.

Obviously, we won the first game of the season. It was like playing with little kids. We had fun, I wasn't sure if the crowd felt the same, though.

Ninety-eight to twenty-one was the score, Stallions in the lead.

There was a tiny tinge of pity in me for them. But then I thought, if they wanted to win, they would've trained themselves harder. I didn't see their effort in anyway. We were really lucky to have Coach there to guide us. Even if he was strict, he never forgot to remind us that we were there for a reason. We were born to be in that court. No one can take away our will to play but us.

"Hey!" said Ethan loudly, calling everyone's attention.

We were in the kitchen of Ethan's house with the other players. Annabelle and her friends were there as well.

"Let's play 'I've Never,'" suggested Ethan excitedly. The others agreed. Well, a party's not a party if the 'I've Never' wasn't played. "I've never," he started, looking at everyone, "did it with a doll."

Trixie took a shot. We sneered.

"I've never been devoted to anyone," Trixie admitted, smiling seductively at boys around the kitchen table.

Luke took a shot.

Why didn't I take one, too? 'Cause I didn't feel that way for Annabelle. Being devoted was like being in love, which I hadn't experienced before in my whole life. Neither did Luke – as far as I know. That was why I turned to stare at him.

"I've never cheated on her before," said Luke with a somewhat sincere face.

Whoa! Hold up there, dude. Who was the 'her' he was referring to? My mind was deeply puzzled over this, while the others muttered, "Oooh."

Almost everyone took a shot, including Annabelle and Ethan. I curiously looked at Annabelle. But then, I got distracted when I heard Ethan whisper to Luke.

"Dude, it's supposed to be in general," he said.

I put two and two together. Ethan knew who the mysterious girl was. 'Cause if he didn't, he wouldn't have noticed the 'her' in Luke's statement.

So Ethan knew. Why the hell didn't Luke tell me? And the only reason that kept coming to me was that the girl was Dakota. Otherwise, he wouldn't have any other reason why he wouldn't tell me. He must have thought that I'd get mad at him or something since I get too protective of her sometimes. Damn, I was acting like a girl by over thinking this.

All of a sudden, Mark – one of the reserve players – came inside the kitchen and walked up to Ethan.

"Dude, there's a brawl outside by the pool," Mark informed Ethan seriously before burping. He paused to look at us. Then, he grinned and exclaimed, "It's freaking awesome!!!"

It resulted to a sudden outburst from the people in the room. They rapidly went outside to witness the fight. The only people who didn't follow were Luke, Annabelle, and me.

Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzz.

I felt a vibration beside me. It must be from a cell phone. Proving that I was right, Luke took out his phone. He casually looked at me.

"Hey," he said, still glancing at the text he received. "I gotta bounce. Later, man," he added to me, and nodded to Annabelle. After that, he left.

I watched him go.

"I didn't cheat on you, okay?" muttered Annabelle.

"I know," I replied, my eyes on Luke as he swung the kitchen door open. He looked as though he was in a hurry to meet up with someone. Would it be with the mysterious girl? What if the girl really was Dakota?

"Really, I didn't," I heard Annabelle say.

"Yeah, I believe you," I said distractedly. I turned to her and said, "Look, I have to go. Will you be okay?"

Annabelle tilted her head. "What about our plans for tonight?"

"Can't we do it some other night?"

She pouted.

"Please, baby?"

She rolled her eyes as she sighed. When she looked at me, she said, "You owe me."

I smiled and kissed her.

I ran outside to where Ethan was. The crowd formed a circle, watching the two guys hit each other at the center. I must say, I was impressed with the thinner one. His attacks were well delivered. I shook my head, trying to focus on my objective.

I pushed through the crowd. Finally, I made it inside the circle. I chuckled at Ethan who was now refereeing the fight. He appeared to be enjoying himself.

"Ethan, can I borrow your Hummer?" I yelled over the noise.

He reached into his pockets and pulled out the car keys. He tossed them to me without looking.

"Take care of it," Ethan said as he intensely watched the tussle.

"Thanks, man," I said appreciatively. "I'll bring it back to you tomorrow."

Ethan turned to me, nodded, and smiled.

I quickly went to the parking lot, and automatically saw Ethan's Hummer H2 with a matte olive paint. I opened it using the keys. Then, I climbed inside, and started the engine after putting the keys to the ignition.

My destination: the Evans' house.

I stopped the engine when I arrived in front of Dakota's house. I pulled out my phone and dialed her number. After the third ring, she picked it up.

"Yo, D."

"A."

"Where are you?"

"I'm in Genovia."

I paused, my forehead creasing. Then, it smoothened in realization.

"You're watching the Princess Diaries again, aren't you?"

"Duh."

"Could you go out for a sec?"

"Why, are you outside?"

From the car, I saw the curtain from their living room move.

"Isn't that Ethan's car?" asked Dakota, her voice in disbelief. "Why are you guys outside my house?"

"I'm alone, nerd," I told her, rolling my eyes.

If Dakota was at home, where did Luke disappear off to? I called his mom if he already got home; she told me that he was with his girlfriend. I was shocked to hear that. I completely had no idea.

So who was the girl he was talking about? It didn't make any sense if it wasn't Dakota. I always saw him looking at her direction, in the hallway, cafeteria, and parking lot. He also got a bit mad when Ethan badly talked about nerds. How could the girl not be Dakota?

I absent-mindedly leaned on the steering wheel.

But then again, there was no way that the girl can be Dakota. She was with me all summer. And when school started, she was too busy with her extracurricular activities, while I was always with Luke during daytime. There was no time for the both of them to spend any time with each other.

I racked my brain. Think, man. Who else is there?

There was... Alyson Wallace.

Yeah, it made sense. Luke was always looking at Dakota's direction because Alyson was with her all the time. He got offended by Ethan's comment about nerds 'cause somehow, Alyson was a nerd, too. And that time in the cafeteria, I thought it was too casual for him to offer her another ice cream sandwich when he barely knew her. Then, earlier, I caught him smiling at the bleachers. I faintly remembered a camera's light flashing. Luke rarely let anyone take a picture of him.

I laid my back on the driver's seat, thinking.

Luke and Alyson...

"Is that even possible?" I unconsciously said out loud, my voice in uncertainty.

"What's not possible?"

I jumped a little in startle. I forgot that I was still on the phone with Dakota.

I started the engine, as I said urgently, "D, hurry up and come with me. Now." I had to confirm my hunch on Luke and Alyson.

It wasn't that I didn't respect his decision of keeping it a secret, because I did. He surely must have had a good reason for hiding it from me. The problem was my curiosity was getting the best of me.

In a matter of seconds, Dakota came rushing out of the house. I opened the passenger's door for her and she climbed in at once.

"What is it?" she demanded, panting. Her hair was messy, as usual, and she was still wearing the clothes she wore earlier tonight – white long-sleeves and cargo pants.

I put the car into first gear. Then, I sighed.

"I think there's something going on between Luke and Allie," I said, my eyes straight ahead. I could feel Dakota's eyes on me.

"Be specific," she said, after a long pause.

"I believe they're together."

There was another pause.

"Is that even possible?" she asked in bewilderment.

She didn't know, huh? Alyson didn't tell her, then.

I shrugged.

"Let's find out, shall we?"