"Henry!!!" Shouted a small girl not so far away from the table. Henry looked up and smiled as he waved back to the cheerful girl running towards him.
"Congratulations on winning yesterday's game!" She cheered as she sat down on the empty seat in front of Henry. Henry could only flash her a smile.
"I'm sad that you don't even see me throwing the last shoot." He faked his sulking.
The girl rolled his eyes before answering. "I know you are going to win anyway. I saw you talking to a girl before the second half of the game started. Who is she?" She teased.
Henry was shocked as he brought back the memory from yesterday's game. When did he talk to a girl? And then the realization hit him. That girl from the opposite team.
"You saw that?" He replied, hiding the excitement over the fact that the girl of his dream was looking at him.
"Actually no. Caleb told me about that. I wonder what type of girl she is. In what way did she feels attracted to you?" The girl shook her head as she thought to herself as if Henry couldn't find a soulmate.
"Grace babe..." A voice interrupted their conversation as a man sat down next to the girl and hugged her tightly.
"Caleb!!" She cheered much happier. Henry looked down at his phone trying to avoid looking at them. Because he can't handle it.
"Hey, Henry. Congratulations. It was a nice game yesterday." Caleb congratulated him and he just nodded in reply.
"Shall we go now?" Caleb asked and Grace nodded. "Bye Henry gotta go now. See you tomorrow." She bid goodbye and even before Henry got to waved back, they had already walked away. Henry sighed out heavily.
"HENRY!!! HENRY HENRY HENRY HENRY HENRY!!!!!" A loud voice shouting from across the garden. Henry looked up to the voice calling him. He looked around and saw a shorter guy running in a hurry while fixing his glasses towards Henry.
"Hey Zac, what's wrong?" Henry asked as the boy reached his table. Inhaling, exhaling in a rush calming himself down.
"I know you gonna hate me for this. But listen to me first. Yesterday, after winning the game, I was so excited and happy that I ran to the opposite bleachers and took a girl's shoes. I don't know who it was and now I feel stupid for doing that. I don't know how to give the shoes back. Can you please go to the opposite school and gave it back?"
"Wait what!? ARE YOU CRAZY ZAC? Sometimes I really don't want to believe that a nerd is actually intelligent because you are just the definition of stupidity!" Henry shouted back not caring all the eyes set on them for being so loud at the school's garden.
"I know. I'm sorry." Zac pleaded with his head looked down on the ground.
"That's all? How am I going to give back the shoes to their owner when I don't even know who the owner is." Henry frustratedly sighed out. Damned him for having this stupid-but-actually-clever friend.
"There were not so many people at their bleachers yesterday, I guess if you asked around, their players must know it, I noticed one of the players was dating one of the girl's friends," Zac suggested.
"Clever, aren't you? Then why don't you use that brain before you do it?" Henry scolded. Zac just looked down and accepted all the lectures he got from Henry.
"I was just... excited." He replied slowly not wanting to be heard by Henry.
*****
That evening, Henry went to the opposite team's school which is not so far from theirs. He jumped over the school's back gate with the shoes inside his bag because he knew if he entered from the front gate, he will attract too much attention and it will be a bigger problem later. He jumped off and landed on the ground just fine. He walked around the school confidently as if it was his school.
He halted when he saw the familiar faces of the player and his group of friends. James, Bryan, Sammy, Tasha, Violet, and Rachel were sitting leisurely at the hangout place.
"Bryan!!! Give me back that paper!" Tasha shouted as she tried to reach over Bryan who was taller a few inches than her. He put the paper up on the sky and then like the elementary children they were running around the hangout while the other just laughed at them. James had his head leaned on Sammy's shoulder who was busy typing on the laptop. Henry scoffed while looking at them.
"Do I really have to meet them? Why can't I met other players?" He whined to himself. He looked around the place to see if he could find other players and he spotted a very familiar girl standing in front of the vending machine while watching her group of friends playing at the hangout.
Henry walked closer to her and hid behind the wall corridor. When the girl passed by he pulled her into him. So they were both leaning over the corridor wall.
"Oh my gosh!!! What do you want from me? I have nothing on me right now.." The girl was panicked. Henry laughed at her reaction.
"It's me! Remember?" He said. Amber opened her eyes and turn left to look at Henry.
"Oh... it's you. What are you doing here?" She asked as she calmed herself down and leaned on the wall relaxingly.
"I have to return someone's shoes... My stupid friend stole it from her and was afraid to return it. Do you know whose shoes is this?" Henry explained as he took out the shoes from his bag.
"MY SHOES!!" Amber half-shouted at Henry.
"It was yours?"
"Yes!!! Damn that glasses boy. If he still wants to have a good look in life he better----"
"Okay!! Wait, wait!! He said sorry. He regretted it. He was just too excited and too happy that he didn't realize what he was doing. Please forgive him this once.." Henry interrupted. Amber looked at him fiercely but it didn't scared him and if anything, he just pleaded more using his charming point, his face obviously.
She scoffed and turned her face in another direction. She was angry but she is a soft-hearted girl who can't be mad at someone for too long.
"Fine!" She replied and took her shoes from Henry. She was about to walk away when Henry called her.
"Hey.. by the way," Henry said and Amber stopped. She turned to look at Henry still with an angry expression.
"What's your name?" He asked and Amber's face soften.
"Amber... and yours?"
"I'm Henry." Amber nodded to Henry's reply and then bid him goodbye as she went back to where her friends were and Henry can now be in peace as the problem considered settle.