Will

"Jameson, come here!" Coach yells from across the locker room

I grab the bottom of my jersey wiping the sweat off my face and jog over to Coach Rogers, the adrenaline from the home game win still running through my veins. Some of my teammates are still celebrating and talking while others are hitting the showers.

"Nice job on the court today kid. I want to see this same heat at the rest of the games after break." While giving me a nod of approval.

"Thanks Coach" I say, pleased with myself. I scored half the points at today's game. Although I was scouted out of high school, Coach didn't put me as a starter until this game since I played well in the second half of the last few games. Hopefully, he'll start me more despite me being younger than some of my other teammates.

Walking back to my locker, I begin stripping off my sweaty jersey. Since the day I realized how well I played ball it's been my dream to go to the NBA. It will also allow me to become financially dependent and to avoid my family, other than Alana of course. My parents and my extended family have always been rich and entitled and I'm getting sick of the way they use money to control me. My mom is better but she still follows in the footsteps of my dad.

I use to be like them. Spoiled and ungrateful but when I began to meet more people playing ball, it really opened my eyes to the way I live in comparison to others. I quickly shower and get redressed from the clothes in my travel bag.

"Yo, Jameson! You going to the house's party tonight with us? Last night to really party before Thanksgiving break." Devon asks me while drying his hair with a towel. There's a Basketball house not too far away from campus where our upperclassmen teammates live. We throw parties once in a while but we usually go out to other places since the team doesn't want to risk getting caught. Plus, not all of us have fakes so house parties are our only option.

"Yeah, let me ask Thea if her and her roommates want to come since she couldn't come out last time."

Overhearing us, Quinn asks curiously, "Thea again? You guys hooking up?"

"Nah, we're just friends. She made it pretty clear the first night we met and she hasn't shown any interest in me in the times we've hung out. She's great though and keeps me company whenever you assholes are busy and I'm bored."

Devon, Quinn and I are all freshmen and we've been pretty tight since we all started school together. I found out Quinn also lives about 30 minutes away from me back home in Washington on the opposite side of the country from here. Dev is from down south though. His accent and manners always charms the ladies.

"Shame. You think she would be interested in me if I asked her out?" Quinn asks

A weird feeling lights up in my chest. Jealousy? Nah, when have I ever been jealous with one of my closest friends over a girl. Then again, Thea has been one of the only girls I've actually hung out with without having sex after. I feel kind of protective over her and I don't want any of my friends to screw up my friendship with her. She's genuinely nice to spend time with. We have that kind of relationship where we can hangout in complete silence without it being awkward.

Maybe she was lying about relationships with me and didn't want to awkwardly decline me? What if she's actually interested in Quinn and they hit it off? Would I be okay with all of that?

"I don't know, man. She told me Halloween night that she needs to focus on her grades so she's not looking for any kind of relationship. Casual or not but I guess you can try." Hoping I don't sound too put off with the idea of Quinn and T together.

Quinn shrugs, "I'll see how I feel. You still seeing her roommate Dev?"

"Once in awhile, but she said she's not interested in anything more. Fine with me, the last thing I wanna be is in a relationship in college. I just want to live my life before even thinking about any kind of commitment."

His statement and look in his eyes makes me think there's a story behind his commitment issues he's subtly referring to. The guys and I walk to my car while I pull out my phone to Facetime Thea. She picks up on the third ring looking comfy in bed.

"What's up, Chan? Are you and your roommates interested in coming out tonight with me and some of the guys to celebrate our win today? Plus, you owe me. You promised you would come out before break."

She groans and snuggles deeper into her blankets. "Will, I'm too lazyyy. After break? Pleaseee"

I huff, "Nope, I'm coming to pick you guys up at 10. You have an hour and a half to get ready. Plus, didn't you hear me? I want to celebrate our win."

"What sport to you play again?" She asks sheepishly

The guys and I look appalled. "T, we've been friends for like a month now and you don't know?"

She looks guiltily at the camera, "Okay, I didn't think about it and after two weeks I felt too embarrassed to ask. When I saw you wearing apparel I only saw a 'B' so I wasn't sure if it was Baseball or Basketball. It could even be Badminton for all I know!" She cried

The three of us snicker. Quinn grabs the phone from my hands "I'm disappointed in you. These big hands aren't used to swing a bat" he says, while wiggling his eyebrows.

She rolls her eyes and looks at the screen with disgust "Why would I be looking at your hands, you weirdo."

"Girls always talk about how they like our big hands." Devon mentions

I grab my phone back while climbing into the driver's side of my car.

"Be ready at 10, I won't be drinking much so I'll make sure to get you guys home safely."

She sighs, "Fine. Only Sienna can come though. Kari went to meet her boyfriend's family this weekend and you know Stella is a homebody."

I met Kari and Stella a few weeks ago when we all went out to eat. Kari complained about how the guy she was seeing didn't want to put a label on them but he must have changed his mind. She was probably the most outgoing out of all of them. Stella was also sweet but she's not a fan of crowded areas of random strangers.

"Okay, be ready."

At 9:15 Quinn, Devon and I are knocking on the girl's room.

"I got it!" I hear Stella yell as she opens the door for us

"Hey Stells" We greet her and step into the main living area

A futon and tv are set in one corner of the room while two desks are on the other end of the room. The room has a similar layout to ours where one bedroom is smaller than the other so they're forced to put their desks in the common area. Since the girls wanted to put a futon and couch in here, the other bedroom (Thea and Stella's) have to squeeze their desks in their room but there's more than enough space for that. I've been in here a few times but this is Quinn's first time here.

"Nice place, smells good in here too" he says while looking at all their other decorations that are put up on the wall. The space is a mixture of modern with a little bohemian. I can tell the bohemian comes from Thea and Sienna just based off of how they decorated their side of their own rooms. A pumpkin scented candle is lit in the corner and although its definitely illegal to do that in a dorm with a bunch of other students, Stella is here a majority of the time and everyone here is smart enough to remember to blow out a candle unlike the guys I live with.

Spanish rap music is also playing loudly, courtesy of Sienna probably. The guys sit on their futon while chatting with Stella and I hear Sienna pop out of her room to greet them.

Striding to Thea's door I give it a quick three knocks and wait for a "Come in!" before walking in and leaning on the doorframe with my arms crossed

"Will? What the hell are you doing here? It's only 9:15!" She says sounding exasperated and what looks like the same exact position I left her in when we hung up on the phone.

"I had a feeling that if I didn't come early and made sure you got ready, you would make an excuse to not go" I say dryly

She snickers, "You know me way too well already. I really wasn't going to bail I swear. I was literally going to get up in a few minutes."

She removes the fuzzy throw blanket that she was cocooned in, stands up and stretches. I avert my eyes from her scantily clad body dressed in tiny pajama shorts and a tank top.

"Go, I need to change" She waves me out, closing the door

"Don't forget to bring a jacket, it's pretty cold out!"

"K, thanks!" Her muffled voice comes from the other side

I turn around and peek my head into Sienna and Kari's room. Sienna is usually the one who wears the raciest clothes in the group. Definitely confident in her body. I'm not sure if Devon has seen what she's wearing but I'm sure he'll be coming back here after. Works for me, means I'll be getting our room to myself tonight.

"You ready to get drunk tonight Sienna?"

"Jameson, I'm always ready" She says laughing

We can always count on Sienna to make sure the rest of us have a goodnight.