Awkwardly CLUELESS - 00

Lou backed up the big guy in a corner while dribbling the ball. She looked for any openings to see what options she had.

“Yeah go Lou, put some more muscle into it!” her dad Adam, was at the center blocking another guy from coming after her. She managed to push the big guy all the way and he came sprawling to the concrete court. She raised the ball to shoot for a three pointer and throw.

Whoosh!

The ball slid right in the hoop. “Good job Lou! Nice hustle! Varsity team wouldn’t think twice getting you in the team!” Adam said as he retrieved the ball and passed it to the guys they were playing with. Lou smiled at her dad, she felt pride that he thought she was good enough for the team she was trying out this school year. She knew it was a stretch and she didn’t want to spoil his fun, but the school she was enrolling to have high standards when it comes to sports and she doubts that she can even pass the cut. “You need to bulk up though. You know meat, ribs, lots of protein. They might not let you in if you stay too skinny.” Adam continued as he went into position.

“Don’t worry Dad. I plan on filling up this summer.” She answered heartily as she started blocking the other guy while the ball got tossed around.

They were playing a friendly match of basketball with two guys Adam met at the buffet earlier. The guys were looking for something to pass the time while they were waiting for their girlfriends; they mentioned something about a spa day. Whatever that meant. Her dad seeing this opportunity to get her to practice said that they could play. The score was an even two so far and she admits that she was having a good time.

Lou then noticed Adam gave a signal to fake going left, then right to distract the guy blocking her. Adam passed her the ball and from her angle, she was too far from the ring and can barely do another three point shot. She took her chances, she leapt up threw the ball and waited for the ball to whoosh right in. She felt everything slowed; she was still in the air, arms outstretched, and the ball bouncing a bit to the ring and slightly tipping over.

Come on! Go in! Go in!

Her feet touched the ground as she held her breath, waiting for the ball to drop. It felt like forever, when it did drop his dad gave a big whoop! “Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about! That was amazing! You were amazing! Definitely point guard material.” Her dad was beaming at her. He patted her back, a little too hard for her comfort but she had too much adrenaline that she didn’t mind.

One of the guys cleared their throat. They looked at the two guys who were smiling sheepishly at them. “That was a good shot.” one of them said. She noticed that it was the guy she pushed. Hope I didn't push him too hard, she thought solemnly. She looked at him from head to toe and he seems to be just fine. She shrugged it off. They were acting a bit too awkward than how they were before, it might be because they underestimated her earlier because she was skinnier and a lot shorter compared to them.

She gave them her biggest smile to release the tension, “Thanks a lot man.” She gave him a thumbs up as she said, “You know what they say, practice makes permanent!”

She laughed and they laughed along too. They sounded a bit off for her but she knew that they were just intimidated with her ball handling skills. She would get awkward too if she played against someone who was a lot smaller than her. She gave them a big pat on the back. Adam picked up the ball again and started dribbling, “Are you chicks planning on just clucking there or do we have a game to finish?”

She went into position and they started to play again. That’s when she noticed him.

Seth was walking around the gardens when he spotted a nearby basketball court.

He was trying to find a quiet spot where his dad, Peter and their relatives, wouldn’t follow him around. Peter, who just came back from a recent trip from Hong Kong, decided to bring their whole family to a nice summer vacation.

When Peter said ‘whole family’ Seth thought he only meant Jamie, his step-mom, Jacky her step-sister and him. It didn't cross his mind that his dad would take it literally. He sighed and started walking towards a shade of a tree next to the court to get out of the sun.

Peter already told him the real reasons for the sudden trip. It was for Jamie and Jacky, the new additions to their family. Peter and Jamie remarried a few months ago and everybody was shocked with the news. Besides from him, Jacky and a few close friends were the only ones invited to the small wedding and everything was done fast and in secret.

This was to prove that they weren't hiding the sudden marriage.

So much for a quiet vacation. He can still actually hear them from where he was hiding singing a terrible rendition of a song by Taylor Swift. Jeezus.

While Seth stared at the court he couldn’t help admire the guys playing, he noticed one of them in particular and the guy stopped and stood there staring directly at him. Seth looked back to make sure he wasn’t imagining things, when he didn’t see anything or anyone behind him, he looked back to the court again. The weird guy was still staring. Hard. It looked like he was glaring at him. What’s his problem?

Seth couldn't help notice that the guy was going through a very awkward stage of puberty; he was the shortest and skinniest of all the other players and Seth couldn’t imagine the guy playing ball, if he didn't saw it with his own eyes. Much less survive the whole game. Whoever put him up to this was an asshole.

“Lou what’s going on?! Why are you just standing there? Move it, come on!” the one holding the ball yelled at ‘Lou’. Apparently, Mister Stares-A-Lot had a name. He can tell that the guy with the ball yelling was related to ‘Lou’ since they have that same ash colored hair, their eyes were also the same shade of brown but he couldn’t tell since he was a few feet away. ‘Lou’ looked softer compared to the guy holding the ball but they looked so much alike.

‘Lou’ looks like a girl, he thought. He can easily imagine ‘Lou’ getting picked on for being too effeminate.

The guy guarding ‘Lou’ had seemed to abandon him and went to block the guy with the ball. There were two guys hustling him now. He tried to hold his own, he dribbled and maneuvered to get the ball out of reach, and then he passed the ball to ‘Lou’ who was still staring at him. The ball hit ‘Lou’ square on the head and he dropped to the ground. Seth covered his mouth trying to hide the smile crossing his face.

“Lou! Lou! Are you okay? Lorraine! Sweetie!” Adam ran up to his daughter when he saw her took a big hit on the head.

“Lorraine?” one of the guys asked, Adam remembered his name was Lucas, coming closer to them. The other guy, which he couldn’t remember the name, picked up the ball that bounced off in the corner. “Isn’t that a girl’s name?” the nameless guy said, checking the ball like it was injured and not his daughter. He threw them a hard look making them quiet. “Call the NURSE! Call the paramedics! Get the lifeguard!” he almost shouted at them, he kept shaking Lou and she didn’t seem to stir.

"Your boys gonna be fine, Adam." Lucas said, he checked his daughter and examined her head, "It doesn't look like he's injured. Just a tiny bump. I bet he gets this all the time! You know how boys are."

Adam was close to exploding, "She's a girl." He said evenly. Lucas just looked at him, like he was talking in a different language. The nameless guy laughed, "Did you just say that your boy was a girl? That’s rich! I mean I did notice him looking kinda like a girl -an ugly one but-"

"Shut up, Spencer!" Lucas said he gave Adam an apologetic look. "You’re not helping!" He continued glaring at him. Spencer raised his arms and started walking away muttering stupid questions to himself, "What the fuck did I do?"

"Uuuhh.."

Adam tensed when Lou started to get consciousness, "Oh sweetie, Lorrie baby. Are you okay? Can you hear me? Are you bleeding somewhere?" He asked as he helped Lou get to a sitting position. Lou touched her head and tried to stop the dizziness she felt.

"I'm fine dad. Just a tiny bit dizzy but I can handle it." She grumbled, she found the bump on her head and tried pressing it down, a surge of pain exploded from her head making her howl.

"Idiot! Don't touch it like that. We need to put some ice on it." They didn't notice Spencer come close, he checked her head and he also found the bump, "Be thankful it’s just a bump. If your old man threw that ball any stronger, then we might be looking at a head wound, it’s good that it’s not that serious." He said patting her on the back.

"I'm really sorry, Lou. I should've considered what would happen before passing that ball to you?" Adam looked like he was about to cry, "It’s okay, dad. Like uhhh… Sorry but what’s your name?” she looked at Spencer. “Spencer.” Lucas answered. “Right Spencer. And you are?”

“Lucas” Adam answered. “Right, right. Okay. So like Spencer said, it’s nothing serious, okay? Don’t beat yourself up over it. I just got...umm I got a little distracted. You know, with the summer air." She said.

Her dad seems to take the explanation, Lucas and Spencer looked at her like she had an extra head though. She ignored them.

She tried standing up and she still felt a little bit clumsy, Lucas caught her. "Look be careful... Uhh Lou... Uhhh" he cleared his throat "Lorraine." It sounded like he was trying out a new foreign language and he was testing out a new word he learned. He helped her up, "As little as your injury might seem, you took quiet a shot, put some ice on your head and you need to lie down, soon. We have to make sure you get enough air so your head would clear up." He said pointedly.

"You should listen to him, Lou. He sounds like he knows what his talking about." Adam said taking her by the arm. "We should start by getting that bra off of you. As far as I know that thing squeezes the chest making it harder for you to breathe. Besides, you don’t need that thing anyway-”

Lou didn’t hear what her dad said next. Her ears were buzzing with so much shame and embarrassment. She felt her face grow hot and her ears turn pink. Lucas and Spencer also didn’t breathe, let alone move. She didn’t dare try and look at them; it would make everything more awkward. It was unbearable! She slowly raised her head, she registered that her dad was unaware of her embarrassment and kept talking about her not needing bras as long as she grew some muscle.
Make it stop! Make it stop! Make it stop! Oh God, please make him stop!

Lou looked up and soon regretted it. Outside the court was Seth looking straight at her, he was only a few feet away and she was sure he heard every word coming out of his dads’ mouth. She felt her world crumble around her in so much shock.
Why me?