Chapter 15: The Summer Festival (Don't fall in love tonight.)

Practice was ending, we all sat in a circle around our coach who stood with a box on a chair.

She clapped her hands together saying, "Alright ladies, we're going to end practice a little early tonight. I know the school's summer festival is tonight and I hope to see you all there. But first," she tapped the box beside her, "Uniforms. Starting with number one, our captain Hina." She clapped, urging us all to clap before pulling out a white sleeveless jersey, with black around the shoulders and two yellow stripes through the black. Alone with a pair of black spandex. She went down the line from there, going based on year. And me being the fourth 3rd year, I received the number 4. Which caused giggles to spread throughout the team. Which I didn't understand. The coach also handed me my warm ups, since I'm the only one who hasn't had them yet. A white zip up and white sweatpants, lined with black and yellow stripes.

"Thank you coach," I nodded. I took my seat beside Aimi and just waited for this to be over. She's been talking to me more since Tuesday, when during lunch Bokuto walked into her room. Walked straight up to her and asked her to join him at the Summer festival. The guy actually tucked in his shirt before going in. She looked a little shocked when he walked into her 2nd year classroom. And she wasn't the only one. Bokuto is kinda a big deal. At least to the people who aren't close enough to him to realize how annoying he can be.

He had sat down on her desk, smiling deeply, almost shyly as he said, "Hey Aimi."

She had her head down, like she always does. And didn't look up until he said her name. She snapped up surprised, gasping, "Bokuto, hi." She looked confused for a moment, "Did you need something?"

He laughed a little saying, "I just wanted to ask you something."

She sat back, already blushing, as Bokuto went on, "I was wondering if you'd go to the Summer festival with me. You know, like a date?"

"Uh..." she hesitated and I was afraid she was going to make up some excuse.

But Bokuto was on it, he stretched a little, letting his muscles flex as he stretched his spine making him sit tall. He looked over his shoulder at a group of 2nd year girls who were watching. He said, "You know it would be really embarrassing if I came all the way to the 2nd year wing, just to be shot down."

She laughed a little, dropping her head again, "I'd like that." She said softly.

Bokuto smiled, getting lower to her saying, "So that's a yes?"

She nodded. And Bokuto shouted, "Sweet!"

Just then Akaashi spotted me in the hall. He stopped by me, as I stood outside the classroom watching Bokuto and trying to go unnoticed. "Z?" He said curiously, "what are you doing down here?"

"Umm," was all I had.

So Akaashi poked his head into the doorway. His eyes dropped in annoyance, "What is that fool doing."

"Asking Aimi to the summer festival," I answered.

He looked confused for a moment, looking at me. Studying me really. He looked back into the room calling, "Bokuto."

I ducked behind the doorway but heard Bokuto's voice excitedly say, "Akaashi! I got to go. I'll get your number from Z." He ran out the room excitedly looking at Akaashi, "Akaashi hey, I was hoping I would run into you."

"Since when did you like Aimi," Akaashi asked. His eyes had slid to me then back to Bokuto.

Bokuto just shrugged and smiled, "Yesterday morning." He threw an arm around Akaashi and started down the hall.

Later that day, Aimi gave me her number to give to Bokuto. And Bokuto texted her, with me sitting right there next to him.

Now she sits next to me. Still looking down. She didn't laugh when I got my jersey.

Once everyone had their uniform, Coach let us all go.

We cleaned the gym and by the time we were out, the boys were out too. Bokuto approached me and Aimi was still at my side.

"Hey, hey, hey," he called out as he walked up to us. He waved bye to some of his teammates and jogged the rest of the way to us saying, "Coach decided to let us go early." He leaned on a post, leaning close to Aimi saying, "I might have told him I had to get ready for a date tonight to sway him a little bit."

I huffed a little saying, "I'm shocked he believed you."

Aimi laughed a bit and Bokuto shouted, "Shut up, Z." He was careful to not call me Baby Bird around her.

I rolled my eyes saying, "Yeah yeah, now go home and take a shower. You're all sweaty." I shoved towards our bikes and he went willingly.

He looked over his shoulder winking at Aimi before grabbing his bike. I quickly mounted mine and started to ride off. Bokuto quickly caught up as I turned the corner.

"I see you're eager for your date tonight," he laughed.

"Shut up."

He sounded more polite now saying, "I'm sure you and Aito will have a lovely time."

"As will you and Aimi." I said, pausing before saying, "Just don't fall in love tonight?"

He smiled, laughing lightly before saying, "You too."

We went home and I showered, and pulled on a dress, black with sunflowers on it, that hugged my waist and flared out to my midi thigh. There was still some time before Aito was supposed to get me.

I sat at the kitchen table with Mrs. Ito who was drying dishes. "You look lovely Zara."

"Thank you Mrs. Ito." I said just as my phone buzzed.

I reached into my pocket. Pulling it out as she said, "Too bad you're not going out with Bokuto."

"Mrs. Ito," I sighed, "I told you this. Me and Bokuto are friends."

"You two are close."

I saw that I had gotten a text from Bokuto, 'Come outside.'

I smiled a bit, grabbing my bag from the table saying, "We're good friends."

I slung my bag onto my back and went towards the door saying, "I'll be back later."

I slide on my chucks and went outside to see Bokuto, sitting on his bike. He was in a tight shirt that showed almost every muscle in his body. It was tucked into a pair of loose fitting jeans, that made his already long legs look longer. He wore the same chucks as me, and wore a bright smile as I walked up to him.

He leaned forward on the handle bars of the bike. "Well aren't you cute?" He said.

"Aren't I always?" I said as I stepped to the front of his bike, placing my hands on the handle bars. He sat up now saying, "True."

His eyes scaled up and down me as he smiled, "I just wanted to see you before we parted ways tonight."

He leaned forward again, bringing his face close to mine. I didn't move away as he said, "I hope you have fun tonight."

He placed a kiss on my cheek, but close to my lips. The corner his brushed lightly against mine. I wanted the feeling of his lips on mine again.

Before I knew it I was turning towards those lips. But it I feel like Bokuto came in more too. Pushing his lips to mine for a moment before he pulled away. Both of us remembering that we were moments away from being on dates with other people.

I dropped my head, wishing I was stronger than this, but Bokuto lifted, he smiled, repeating the words I said earlier, "Don't fall in love tonight."

He kissed me once more. Then I moved from in front of his bike, repeating his words, "You too."

He nodded, rolling away to pick up Aimi.

I leaned on against the stone fence outside of Mrs. Ito's house. I watched as Bokuto road off, smiling helplessly. His deal seemed so foolish to me. As if there could be anyone else. As if he's letting there be anyone else.

"Close friends uh?" I heard Mrs. Ito shout from the front door.

I closed my eyes laughing saying, "You're seeing things Mrs. Ito."

And I saw Aito coming around the corner. I started walking towards him, smiling, "Hey Aito."

"Zara, hey. You look nice," he said, looking me down.

"Thanks," I said walking past him a bit, "Come on, you ready?"

He smiled, "yeah," as he jogged a few steps to catch up with me.

We walked back to the school. Mostly talking about our teams and our teacher's strictness.

"Yeah, he more like a general than a teacher," Aito laughed as we came back to the school grounds.

"Some people last year told Bokuto that if you just turn your work in on time, you'll survive," I shrugged as we turned into the festival.

Colorful lanterns hung everywhere, lighting the different stands with games and food. People from the school and community all moved along the paths. Children with sparkles ran around, weaving through the legs of taller beings, smiling and laughing. Bringing a smile to my face too.

Aito laughed a little too, as he looked to me smiling. He took my hand, and pulled me into the crowd saying, "Come on, I'm starving."

He pulled me towards the a noodle stand saying, "I think you'll like this place."

I saw flames on the sign, which made me hesitate, "Um..."

But by the time I got an Umm out, he had already ordered. But you know what. I'm brave, I can try this. I won't die. After all, I'm pretty hungry too. Breakfast and two lunches is not enough apparently.

Excitedly, Aito passes me a container of steaming noodles and a pair of chopsticks. "I hear this place has the spiciest noodles around here."

Dang it. I knew it. I'm not the biggest fan of spicy food. But, that excited look on his face was too much. He looked as if he had done so well, bringing me here and getting me the hottest food he could find. So proud of himself.

He took a slurp of the noodles, and quenched his face together, puckering his lips. "Hot," he breathed, going in for another bite.

I took a deep breath, and took a brave bite. Trying to get it down as fast as I can, with it touching my tongue for just a brief moment. And even with this brilliant idea. I realized that I hadn't thought about the most important thing with eating spicy foods. A drink.

Everything burned. Every zone of my mouth tingled, yet I went in for another bite. Getting teary eyes now. The shop owner looked to me and smiled, holding out a small cup of tea. Quickly I took it, gulping down the whole thing. Aito was red in the face, but able to still eat. I on the other hand was done. I am not going to sit here and suffer.

The red faced Aito laughed, "I thought you would like spicy food."

"Not really," I struggled to say, throat burning as the words passed through.

"Oh I just figured," He said, looking down at his serving of noodles. He took another bite and smiled, "Guess I can handle more heat than you."

I laughed, but it was forced. "Guess so," I said. Knowing exactly why he figured.

I took another cup of tea and Aito finished his noodles, then took me to play a few games. The first one was a basketball shooting game. I sighed as he approached it excitedly. I don't like basketball. I've never liked basketball. And I'm not very good at it. Despite my height, my speed, my Blackness, basketball has never been my sport. But everyone assumes it is.

There were two nets set up next to each other, Aito stepped up to one saying, "You're probably gonna kill me in this."

"Probably not," I muttered while picking up the ball. I've never liked the weight of a basketball. It moved differently than a volleyball. It's like with volleyball, you use gravity as a weapon, while with basketball, you're trying to push through it rather than work with it.

Aito and I had ten shots each, Aito made 7, and at his final shot shouted, "Kobe!"

I made one shot. He turned to me playfully saying, "Didn't have to take it so easy on me."

"Oh no, I suck at basketball," I admitted.

"Is that why you play volleyball?" He asked, "I mean, with you being so tall and everything, had to play one of the two."

I didn't have to do anything, I wanted to say. But I just said with a straight face, "I like playing volleyball. I've just never liked playing basketball."

"Oh," He looked dumb now, "I just thought-"

"Let's play another game," I suggested. It's too early in the for me to lose my date over him saying dumb shit.

The games he then took me to involved, gun shooting (which I'm actually not bad at), Dice rolling, and card guessing. I was one stereotype away from walking out on this date. Then he brought me a lemonade. One of my favorite beverages. But when I took a sip from my straw, I felt the sugar grains hit my tongue and grin between my teeth. I moved my straw around to stir it up a bit. Maybe they just didn't mix this batch well. But the lemonade was still so sweet. It tasted more sugar water with a hint of lemon. I mixed, I felt that there was a pile of sugar at the bottom of my cup.

Then Aito, spoke proudly again saying, "I told them to put extra sugar in your's."

I quit. "I'm gonna go find a bathroom." I said, quickly turning away. Practically running from him. I dropped the diabetes inducing lemonade in the first trash can I saw and tried my hardest to get lost in the crowd. It's a little hard to do with a curly afro, but I'm just despite to get away from this fool. Everyone started to gather towards the front yard of the school, so I moved with them. I heard people excited saying that the fireworks were starting soon. Kids ran about passing unlit sparkles to random people as they walked towards the front. A small girl handed a few to me with a huge toothy grin and skipped away. I was able to smile again now. Breath again. Now that I was away from Aito. I'm sure he was doing his best, but I was also doing my best to not feel offended.

Someone turned to me with a lit sparkler, inviting me to use theirs to light one of mine. I did so, thanked them and moved more into the crowd as everyone started to sit down in the grass. I still stood there, with my lit sparkler, looking around for a place to sit. Then realizing I had no friends, so it didn't really matter where I sat. Then I heard him, his booming, "Hey, hey, hey!"

My head snapped towards him and quickly I rushed over to him. He sat down in the grass alone, waving a sparkler in the air like those guys on runways trying to guide airplanes.

I sat down beside him, excited to see him. "Hey," I said, then looked around asking, "Where's Aimi?"

Bokuto laughed, "Turns out she's afraid of fireworks. So I took her home and came back to see them myself. Where's Aito?"

I shrugged saying, "I don't know. I had to get away from him before I slapped him." I said it pretty calmly, lighting another sparkler and waving it around.

Bokuto must not have heard the calmness in my voice though, "What happened? What did he do? Did he hurt you? Try to make a pass at you? I'll kick his ass!"

He started to get up, but I grabbed his wrist pulling him back down, "Bokuto chill, it's fine!" He sat down, still looking concerned as he looked at me, "It's fine, Bokuto. He was just being an idiot."

Bokuto seemed to relax now. Being an idiot was something he could relate to. "What he do?" He asked.

"Well, are you familiar with some of the stereotypes of African-Americans?"

"A few," he said, using my sparkler to light one of his.

"Well, I don't really fit a lot of those stereotypes."

"Yeah," Bokuto nodded, as if this was something he noticed.

"Well, Aito hadn't noticed that, and instead of asking me what I liked and what I wanted to do, he just went on doing things as if he had just skimmed a, 'How to date a Black girl for dummies,' book."

Bokuto smiled a bit asking, "Wait, what did he do?"

I rolled my eyes, putting on a sarcastic tone, "Well first took me to get the world's spiciest noodles because you know Black people love they hot stuff. I mean, I don't know if I can go a day without going through a whole bottle of hot sauce right. Then we played some games that consisted of basketball, gun shooting and gambling habits. Then to top it all off, he got me a lemonade with extra sugar cause you know us Black folk can't drink anything without a half a pound of sugar in it."

Bokuto was laughing. He folded his arm across his raised knees, and dropped his head into it laughing. Turning red a little like Aito did when eating those noodles. He finally looked up saying, "Oh he got you so wrong. You don't like spicy food. You even pick around peppers in your food. You hate basketball, and yeah you like sweets but when something is too sweet your cringe."

My eyes fell on Bokuto, softly saying, "Yeah?" How did he pay so much attention? And why doesn't he pay this much attention in school?

His eyes went towards the sky, pointing one of his long fingers saying, "It's starting."

I saw the blue light reflecting off his smiling face, before I turned my eyes to the sky. Trying to hold on to what Bokuto and I pleaded for.

Don't fall in love tonight.