Basketball Jones

The gym was empty when the new kid walked in, staring around at the vacant basketball court he had found. Someone may have been there though, considering the rack of basketballs that was carted off to a side. Shrugging, the boy went over and grabbed one, turning around to stare at the rim. He dribbled the ball once, twice, then bent his knees, squared up to the hoop, and fired! … And he missed, the ball clanking off the rim and bouncing to the other side of the gym. Great. Sighing, he jogged over and grabbed the ball, returning back and stepping a bit closer. He took another shot, getting another off-the-rim miss for his trouble. Once he retrieved that, he decided to just stand right in front of the rim and shoot. That would be much easier.

About ten minutes later, he was shooting from the arc, having successfully made that right-in-front-of-the-rim shot, and a few more farther-away shots at that. Now he was testing his luck from three point land, and with a satisfying 'swish' the ball fell through the net and bounced just under the rim. Pumping his fist in celebration, he went back to the rim to retrieve the ball. This was getting rather tedious. It would be easier if the ball just came back to him after each shot.

Well, that person would happen to have been a girl. She had gone to get a drink back at her dorm after coming into the gym to practice. Not really practice playing sports, she was a little too weak for that; her fragile body wouldn't last very long with it. Personally, the teenager had gone in there with multiple bags filled with fruit to fill up her lifeclock. Her parasol was open, she didn't really believe in this whole "unlucky thing" when umbrellas are open inside. Looking back to her bags, she took a seat by the area where the rack was originally. Grabbing a few fruits, she was about to start energizing her amount of time left, until she heard a ball bouncing onto the ground with a loud thump that was echoed by softer sounds. Turning her attention nervously to where the ball's direction came from, she realized someone else was inside the gym and she definitely couldn't do anything about it.

Quietly dwiddling her finger across the floor in a circular motion, and her other hand holding the parasol, she was hoping that he wouldn't notice her, but that was unlikely. There was a black parasol with pink on it at the side of the room, yeah, totally unnoticeable. She was too naïve to realize that though, and often used it as a cover anyway.

When he picked up the ball, something he hadn't noticed before caught his eye. Turning around, a black and pink parasol was sitting right next to the basketball rack, something that hadn't been there before when he had first came in. Raising an eyebrow in interest, he slowly walked over and looked at it. It was standing up at an angle befitting someone actually holding it, so obviously someone had gotten in when he wasn't looking and had just sat down here, and they were… hiding behind an umbrella? "Uhm, hello there," he said to the person behind the umbrella, or at least he hoped there was. He'd look really dumb talking to a parasol. Then again, if no one was here, then no one would know he was talking to said parasol.

Looking up slightly from where she sat, she winced at the fact that she as right and indeed, he had approached. The parasol... She wasn't going to exactly get rid of it - she liked it too much, but it kept making her stand out. Really, she might as well be called another freak at the school. Not knowing how exactly how to respond, Lamia just sort of gave a slight nod to acknowledge the other person and give them a greeting that way. She wasn't one who was going to start the conversation or talk for the fun of it - let alone want to interact with anyone except her brother. Maybe Lindsey or something, she wasn't sure at the moment. Her voice was stuttering, and then there was silence. "U-uhmm..." A really long and awkward silence.

Perhaps he had stood there too long saying nothing, since the silence was dragging on past the realm of regular uncomfortableness. Was she really going to sit there this whole time? He knew it was a she by the feminine voice. "Hey, uh, do you want to help me out?" he suggested, giving her - or the umbrella anyway - a soft smile. "It's getting pretty tiring to have to fetch the ball every time I shoot it. Maybe you could help me with that. We could even shoot together if you want." He didn't know why this stranger would want to bother fetching the shots he took, since if it was tedious for him it would be tedious for her, but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained. He might as well try to be friendly or it would just continue to be awkward.

Well, besides the pink frills, it could probably be obvious that Lamia was a girl hiding. She listened to his request for awhile, before pondering on whether or not she should accept. If she accepted, that would be interesting - she wasn't very good at sports or anything, too weak for them. Heck, she could barely shoot a basketball correctly without it going in the wrong direction. Yet, while she did have a lifeclock to fill up again, maybe picking up a ball wouldn't be too bad. Really, the worst that could happen was that she was going to trip and break bones. Nothing that should be serious... Hopefully. Closing the parasol in a careful manner and getting up from where she was sitting, leaning the umbrella on the wall, Lamia nodded to him. "I-i'll... just pick them up... I-if you want..."

He smiled and nodded, taking the ball and walking back to the three point line from which he had so recently departed. "Thanks a ton. I'm Jacob, by the way." He squared up and took another shot, this one also swishing seamlessly through the hoop. The girl who was now helping him seemed rather young, almost too young to be here. Obviously she was old enough though, or she wouldn't be here. As he stepped forward a couple steps to accept the assumed return throw, he also noticed the patch over the girl's eye. It was a very curious thing, but he wasn't going to ask about it. Maybe she would be offended if he brought it up.

Nodding, Lamia watched quietly as the ball went through the hoop perfectly, before going over to pick it up. Grabbing it up delicately and checked for some bumps or something, she passed it back to Jacob in a somewhat measly way, taking a few bounces or so before it actually reached him. The girl realized one thing though, most people always seemed to either notice she looked too young for her age or her eye patch. However, did she really have to explain it? She didn't like to or anything, but it seemed rude at the same time. Yet, after a bit of thinking, she did need to get to know other people and need to get rid of her fear of talking to others or socializing... But, maybe now just wasn't the time for that.

The two continued to shoot for awhile. Well, Jacob did. His new friend just passed the ball back to him. It didn't bounce very well, and he had to step forward to retrieve it, but it was more convenient than before. Interestingly enough, she hadn't introduced herself after he had. In fact, she hadn't said a single word since he had invited her to shoot around. It was a bit awkward, considering the relative silence besides the sounds of the basketball bouncing around the court. Still, maybe she was shy and didn't want to open up to a random stranger shooting hoops at a school for people who could probably blow up the world.

"So what's your name?" he asked gently, not trying to pressure her or anything, but hoping that maybe they could get some dialogue going. Anything, really.

As they continued, she had personally hoped that he wouldn't exactly ask her for anything like her name, but it was always a curiosity of people to ask others about things like that. Not everyone, but most. And unfortunately, she was with one of them. Blinking a few times, Lamia didn't see what she could do. It wasn't very interesting when nothing else was happening except the sound of the ball's thumping on the ground echoing around the room, but... She just wasn't up to be a person to talk - at all. "U-uhmm..." It was almost the same thing she said whenever she met someone new, it has to be the same reaction each time - a bunch of stuttering.

Jacob held onto the ball, stopping the only noise that kept the room from stifling silence. He had accepted at this point that the girl was shy, but too shy to even say her name? That was rather crippling, it would seem. "Interesting name," he quipped, hoping that it was played off more as funny than sarcastic. Truth be told, it was feeling a bit awkward to make conversation when the recipient didn't want to reciprocate. It wasn't bad, persé, but it did make things rather difficult. To at least have something to do, he took another shot, successfully sinking it in.

Truth be told, she's just horrible at talking to the opposite gender. Okay, maybe a little bit with other females, but with males? Just pretend she fainted from a tranquilizer. No, just kidding. Anyway, it was getting to the point that she didn't know how to respond - Lamia wasn't even sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or an insult, so she simply stayed quiet, picking up the ball before passing it more forcefully back. Before she realized it, she had just gained a sudden bit of power - why? Was it because she was just afraid of being judged? It didn't matter though, it wasn't she wanted to bother with love. At all. So why so nervous?

Well, the ball got back easier than it hard before. That was good, right? Maybe she just didn't like the joke. Dribbling the ball a couple more times, Jacob ended up just grabbing the ball and taking it back to the rack, setting it down before walking back towards the girl. Obviously she didn't want to make conversation, so it was rather hard to do such conversation, wasn't it? "Well, I think I should be heading back to the dorms now. This has been fun, though." He figured that sounded convincing, but maybe it was just a tad bit forced. "Maybe I'll see you around sometime?" He thought better than to look for a handshake.

Nodding, Lamia didn't exactly catch the sound of convince or force - too oblivious to hear differences in tones. "S-sure... See ya..." That was the most she could say, and the least she could do. At least she was trying to be polite, but it was way too obvious that the girl had to work on her social and interaction skills. Literally. Before he left, she picked up her parasol and bag of fruits from before, giving a small bow before exiting the room. The moment she left, she realized how stupid that was at all costs. A really lame reaction from a pretty lame girl. Perfect match.