When the hell did I develop asthma?

One look at the infamous Eli Shepherd and I had forgotten one of the basic functions of human survival: oxygen intake.

The fact that I had a strict no boys rule and that Maddie had practically sworn me off of him immediately did nothing to quell the raging desire I felt for this mountain of a basketball player upon seeing him for only the second time in my entire life.

School had just started and I kept to myself and my fellow theater geeks, so I'd heard no peep of anyone 'popular' if that was still a thing in college. Apparently, it was, considering the way everyone made a wide berth around him and his two buddies beside him, both equal in stature and beauty.

It was going to be like bleach to my eyes having to look at 'ordinary' people from then on out. These perfect specimens of the male body had done me in, and I was a large proponent of cutting out beauty standards for both men and women, but there I was acting like a hormonal fool just at the sight of them walking in almost perfect synchronization towards us. Me. Holy shit, they were walking towards me...

I was going to faint. This was going to be the end of my social career at college. Maddie would have to push my limp body off the court with the giant paddle mops we'd been using to clean the floors.

'Mercy' by Shawn Mendes came to mind and I started humming along to the chorus absentmindedly to calm myself down, casting my eyes to Maddie to distract myself and while it helped slightly, I was still achingly aware of the fact that I was about to be bombarded by a conversation I wasn't wholly prepared for.

"Does that sound good to you?"

I just realized that Maddie was speaking and I was not paying any attention. At all.

"I'm sorry, what?"

She laughed a little, noting the starstruck look on my face and continued without pointing it out as they grew closer, and bless her soul for doing so because I didn't think I could've survived being embarrassed at any level in front of any of them.

Being an introvert was hard, especially when my life goal was being a performer, but I settled for socially awkward on my best days.

"I asked you if you wanted to come to Patrick's party that he's having next Friday night. Everyone's going to be there, and since you'll be at the gym you'll need to get to know everybody anyway."

"Yeah, that sounds awesome," I told her, completely distracted for the first time since the rest of the basketball players had walked back onto the court.

My first college party. It wasn't like I was unpopular in high school, quite the opposite really, but with my cousin who lived with me, there was no competition with her. She was the petite blonde with big boobs, and I was the leggy brunette, with my dark skin that everyone said made me look 'exotic' but really was just code for something that I didn't understand until I left.

There was a preference for girls back at my high school, and that didn't include a girl with Cherokee coloring and brown eyes and pitch black hair that fell to the waist and didn't hold a curl no matter how much hairspray was involved.

I had no experience with makeup, but over the summer I took to the internet and Ulta, and voila a new Virginia was born, or rather, V as I had allowed more and more people to use that as my nickname. Too bad it was too little, too late, and my ex Jared had moved on in two months. Right on over to my cousin, Sara, to be exact.

It was hard enough sharing my home with her like a sister, but even harder would be going home every weekend and seeing her with Jared like they'd been the couple all along. But, it was one of my dad's 'stipulations' for paying for my college education.

And I wouldn't complain. Nope. Not once...Okay, maybe a little, but only in my head.

"Virginia?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry you were just zoned out for a second, and you were humming Shawn Mendes I think. Anyway, this is Miles, Wilt and Eli. They're Patrick's best friends," Maddie said in introduction and once again I felt my cheeks flame up. I had a bad habit of zoning out, if that wasn't obvious already.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly, noting that all eyes were on me, and I should have burst into flames on the spot.

Once it was clear that no one had run to grab the fire extinguisher, I allowed my eyes to peek around and realize that there were four large basketball players circled around me and Maddie, and I was completely intimidated.

"Nice to meet you," I continued awkwardly, not sure how to go on with life after how royally screwed I was. This had to be the most awkward first meet anyone had ever had.

"So you're the new girl, huh? Are you a ball chaser or do you just really need the money?" One of the guys that had walked in with Eli had asked me that, and I trailed my eyes over his dark brown skin that shone like caramel underneath the lights, his hair completely buzzed, his neck showing off an intricate tattoo curled on the side of his neck that was reminiscent of a coiled snake prepared to pounce.

"Ball chaser?"

My confusion was either naive or cute, both of which I deemed were bad things.

They all cracked up, all except for Maddie of course, who threw a scowl at the guy who'd asked me that.

"No, Wilt, and I hate that you call women that, it's so disgusting. Ignore Wilt, he's a giant douchebag."

"Noted," I said, earning a chuckle from the man, Wilt, in question, and with my super powers of deduction, noted also that the second man with Eli must've been Miles, his pale white skin a stark contrast to the rest of us and matching only Maddie in color, and probably Eli if it wasn't obvious that he sun tanned, but his bright red hair was unique and most likely made him an adorable kid once upon a time.

"I'm Miles," said the red haired guy I'd just been looking over, which only left Eli for me to have an introduction with.

"You didn't answer his question," Eli rasped out, and long gone was that sex-dripping smirk that he'd thrown my way before he'd retreated to the locker room. No, in its place was a calculating grin, almost...mean? That didn't make any sense, because what could I have done in the past thirty minutes for him to suddenly dislike me?

"Which question?"

"Are you just a ball chaser, or did you only take a job like this for the money?"

I didn't even have to think before I 'answered' his question.

"Did you ask Maddie that when she got a job here?"

Patrick stiffened and threw a look to his friend, who only raised an eyebrow in response to what I'd asked him.

"I'm pretty sure I can figure out what you mean by 'ball chaser' and if I ever decided to go for someone, it most definitely wouldn't be a basketball player. Does that answer your question?"

I dialed up my 'bitch' meter to a solid seven, because the way he was acting and speaking about women was really getting on my fucking nerves. So what if it made the rest of them not like me?If they didn't like me for calling out misogyny then they didn't deserve to be my friends anyway.

"Damn girl, we're not all assholes like him. What do you have against the players?"

I turned my attention to Wilt and answered his question as honestly as I could.

"Nothing against the players, well, not those kinds of players anyway. I do, however, have a bad habit of attracting the wrong kind of guy, so pretty much all of them are being sworn off. Probably for good. I think I'll get a cat instead, they're better company anyway and aren't sexist assholes."

Maddie cracked up along with Patrick and a few of the other guys close enough to hear but I didn't even get a smirk out of Mr. Sex God of my Dreams, no, he was pretending to play on his phone while keeping a keen ear on the conversation, that much was obvious.

"Okay Bruins, we gotta go and do some paperwork before the next team comes in for practice. See you later guys," Maddie said, pulling me away after placing a chaste kiss on her boyfriend's lips. I didn't miss the snort and eye roll that Wilt threw their way, either. Did he have a thing for Maddie? Or did he really just hate public displays of affection? Or maybe I was just way too nosy? All of the above could be true, and it still wasn't any of my business.

"Bruins?"

"Like Mike Bruins?"

"Mike Bruins is your dad?!"

So many questions at once, all from Patrick, Wilt and Miles, all at once, but the only reaction from Eli was him picking his head up from his phone and I prayed to the beings above that no one would Google me, or my dad. He was all over my social media. Note to self: turn all family photos private and all social media private as well. I did not need that messing up this job for me.

"No, it was just a coincidence. I don't even know who that is," I lied, hoping that it was a winning performance.

"Oh, I was so excited there for a minute. Can you imagine, being able to meet a legend like that?"

"I know right, shame about that accident, and what happened to his wife too! Fucking crazy, man."

I stiffened to a board right then and there, and a slight breeze could've knocked me down. Flashes of my mother floated through my mind, her bright and shining face, warm mocha tresses and chocolate eyes...

I had to tune it out, hum a different song. 'Praying' by Kesha was the first song that came to mind so that was what I went with, humming along to the low notes of the intro and the first chorus quietly.

"Okay, we really have to get to work," Maddie said with a concerned look towards me, and I could tell she thought my behavior was weird but she didn't comment on it.

Eli left without so much as a 'nice to meet you' or a goodbye, both of which I received from Patrick, Wilt and Miles.

What an asshole. Why did such a shitty attitude have to be put in such a beautiful body? What a waste.

But I did watch his retreating body as he left the courts, head almost reaching the top of the door frame on the way out. He was going to be trouble, I felt it in my bones, but there was also something in my bones just desperate to itch its way out. It was grief, and I had way too much of it for just an eighteen year old girl, and the only tried and true method to get it out was through singing.

I couldn't wait until this night shift, where I could use the acoustics to my benefit and just let it all out so I could get back to my usual sarcastic self. If only I could sing out my pent up desire for a certain basketball player who'd already gotten under my skin...