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Jamil focused his gaze on the basketball. Its echoing bounce against the floor was a familiar beat in his ear. The cheering crowd in the bleachers was the background noise.
He fluidly snaked his way around the opposing RSA team. They were focused completely on Ace, who taunted them by bouncing the ball under his legs and out of their reach. Floyd’s cackle from the other end of the gymnasium made the opposing team flinch even knowing they had successfully benched the mer for an invalid foul.
Jamil steadied his breathing and weaved his way into position. Sweat dripped down his cheek. He caught Ace’s eyes.
With a wide grin, Ace flicked his wrist. The basketball bounced under his legs. Jamil swept in between the RSA players flanking his teammate.
The brush of leather against his palm was as familiar as the handle of a knife in the kitchen. His legs locked once he was in place. The ball smacked against the floor once. It was like time temporarily stopped while the ball smoothly rolled off his palm.
The whine of the buzzer punctuated the soundless swoosh of the net.
The gym exploded into a cacophony of cheering and shouting. Jamil didn’t guard his wide smirk as his teammates gathered around him cheering. As he was jostled around—shoved in the shoulders by a shouting Ace and lifted into the air by a cackling Floyd—his eyes flicked to the bleachers for the first time since the game began.
He found the small group of freshmen midway up the bleachers. Jack and Sebek stood on both ends of the row like two tall bookends, Sebek looking vaguely impressed and Jack’s tail furiously wagging to match his smirk. Deuce, Epel, and Grim wildly jumped and waved as they rowdily shouted with the rest of the students. Yuu stood in the middle of the boys with a wide grin and a flushed face. Kalim, standing on the bleacher behind her, leaned forward to shout something in her ear. He shoved his cheek right up against hers.
Before Jamil could feel the heated bolt of jealousy in his chest, Yuu caught his eyes. She jumped in place when she had his attention, dislodging Kalim, and energetically waved at him. She wore the burgundy sweatband she had stolen from him before the game. The one that matched the other one he still wore.
Jealousy immediately flipped into something equally warm but with no temptation to strangle Kalim. He didn’t have a hood to pull over his eyes, so he chose to quickly look in any other direction. He hadn’t understood why she had wanted the faded old thing. Not until he’d spotted an RSA student give his sweatband to a girl who was obviously his girlfriend.
Floyd abruptly dropping him onto the floor saved him from any further embarrassment.