Feelings

“Wait, I don’t even know which team we are supposed to be rooting for.” MJ realized as you scored another basket. Peter clapped a little too loudly for you, making you look at him and crack a smile.

“Dude, it’s the second half already. Our school is the Raiders. You haven’t known that this whole time?” Ned asked her.

“You can’t expect me to pay attention to frivolous details when there are sweaty girls right in front of my face.” MJ dismissed with a wave of her hand. While they spoke, you were busy getting the rebound and scoring another basket. This time, Peter stood up to clap for you. You looked his way and waved your fingers flirtatiously at him. Peter felt his entire face up as he waved back to you.

“Dude, what are you doing?” Ned asked as he hit Peter on the arm. “Don’t wave her. You don’t want to be seen interacting with the college floozy.”

“Floozy? What are you talking about?” Peter snorted. “That sounds like a made-up Dr. Seuss word.”

“It’s real.” Ned insisted. “If you bothered showing up to AP literature in high school, you’d know that.”

“We were never in AP literature together. That was AP History, and you failed because you wrote a paper on how the Cold War wad ended by the invention of space heaters. And if you don’t recall, I was pretty busy in high school.” Peter replied without taking his eyes off you. You threw the ball from the three-point line and looked directly at Peter when it made it in. He smiled sheepishly at you before leaning over to MJ.

“What do you know about number 81?” He asked and nodded towards you.

“Not much. Just that she’s the captain of the basketball team and is said to burn through guys faster than Ned burns through chapstick.” MJ snorted.

“I always lose them. I always put them in my pocket and then they’re just not there anymore. It’s like they just disappear into the ether.” Ned said in exasperation.

“It’s not the ether, it’s the washing machine. I tell you this every time.” Peter sighed. “You need to start emptying your pockets before you wash your pants.”

“That’s just a theory.” Ned shook his head.

“It’s not, because you washed your phone twice and mine once, but okay.” Peter rolled his eyes and turned back to MJ.

“What were you saying about her?” He asked.

“Well, allegedly, she dates guys with expensive shoes, and then dumps them once they let her wear them.” MJ replied. “But then she doesn’t give back the shoes. That’s allegedly why she wears a different pair every game. I even heard that sometimes, she doesn’t break up with the poor guy and just starts wearing another guy’s shoes to let them know they’re over. Allegedly.”

“What?” Peter snorted in disbelief. “There’s no way that’s true. Who wears other people’s shoes? And how the hell did you know all that, but not the name of the team she plays for?”

“Because I pick and choose my areas of expertise.” MJ answered. “And the shoe thing is just something couples do sometimes. It’s like a cheesy romantic gesture. Same as wearing each other’s clothes. Only, she’s a sneaker stealer.”

“Wait, is that why our physics professor was wearing that one fancy black boot for a few weeks?” Ned asked.

“No. That was our Art History professor, and he broke his foot.” Peter corrected. “You really need to start paying more attention.”

Their conversation was cut short by the crowd erupting into cheers. Peter looked up and saw you cross over your defender and shoot the ball at the net. It went in, and you pointed directly to Peter once it did. Peter broke into a huge smile at the unexpected gesture and clapped loudly for you.

“Oh shit.” MJ chuckled. “She just marked you. Peter is next.”

“Marked me? She’s not a serial killer, MJ.” Peter said with a roll of his eyes.

“Maybe not.” MJ agreed. “But a serial dater. And a serial shoe thief.”

“Mmm. Cereal.” Ned hummed. “I’m out of here. You guys want anything at the dining hall?”

“You’re leaving?” MJ laughed. “This was your idea to come.”

“It’s not my fault you guys started filling my heads with thoughts of Captain Crunch.” Ned shrugged as he grabbed his stuff and stood up.

“Literally no one mentioned Captain Crunch in the past 10 years.” MJ mumbled and got up as well. “You coming?”

“I think I’ll stay and watch.” Peter said without taking his eyes off you. You had just scored a fast-break layup and got shot Peter another smile. He was so enchanted by you that he hadn’t noticed MJ had sat back down.

“Listen, Peter. I want to be clear here. I take no issue with her using guys to up her shoe game. In fact, I respect her deeply for the hustle. But I would take issue with her breaking my friend’s heart, and she’s kinda got a reputation for that.” MJ said in a rare moment of genuine concern.

“I second that.” Ned chimed in. “I don’t care who she’s dated, but I’ll care if she hurts my best friend. So just be careful, man. She is no better than the Wicked Witch of the West. She’ll stop at nothing until she has your shoes!”

“Who the fuck makes a Wizard of Oz reference?” MJ asked Ned as she led him off the bleachers.

“Um, it was a Wicked reference. What the fuck is the Wizard of Oz?” Peter heard Ned ask as they left the gymnasium. Peter turned his attention back to the game now that his friends were gone, but their words lingered in the back of his mind. He glanced at your red and blue shoes and wondered if there was any truth to the rumors. But when you shot him a smile as you dribbled past where he was sitting, he decided he just didn’t care.

After that day, Peter became a frequent attendee of your basketball games. He made sure he always got there early so that he could get a seat in the front. Because of his newly developed habit of going to your games, you formed a habit of pointing to Peter every time you made a basket. He felt like something of a fangirl every time you did it and couldn’t help but turn into a blushing mess. After the fourth game he attended, you ran up to him during halftime with your basketball balanced on your hip.

“Hey.”

“Hey? Me, hey?” Peter asked and pointed to himself. He probably should’ve figured you two would talk eventually, yet this unexpected interaction made his heart pound in his ears.

“Woah. Was that English?” You chuckled. “Because if not, I can pull up Duolingo right now. That little freaked out owl would like it, too.”

“It’s okay.” Peter said once he composed himself. “No need for the freaky bird. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Peter.”

“I know.” You smirked. “I asked around about you. Heard you’re kinda elusive.”

“That’s a nice way of saying you had to ask 20 people before anyone knew who I was.” Peter said with a timid smile.

“Only 12 people, actually.” You corrected. “And guess who knew you?”

“Who?”

“The janitor in the Whitaker building. Apparently, you always make it a point to say hello when you pass him in the hallway.” You said with a smile that told Peter you were impressed. Peter smiled back and felt his nerves slowly melt away.

“It’s true.” He told you. “I’m extra nice to him because my roommate and I accidentally started a fire in the bathroom freshman year, and he had to come put it out at 3 a.m.”

“Now, what were you doing in the bathroom with your roommate at 3 am that became a fire hazard?” You laughed and gently tossed your basketball at Peter. He caught it with ease, grateful to have something to nervously roll around in his hands.

“It’s a long story, but basically, we were trying to heat up a brown sugar Pop-Tart with the hand dryer, and the wrapper was a little too close for comfort, so it started making lightning, and then a fire started.” Peter answered, immediately feeling his face burn bright red over how long he had talked. He was just beginning to internally beat himself up over his answer when you started to laugh.

“That wasn’t a long story at all.” You said with a reassuring smile.

“You haven’t told me your name yet.” Peter said as he passed the ball back to you.

“Do I need to?” You asked him with a cocky smile and caught the ball.

“No.” He confessed. “Because I asked about you as well.”

“Did you?” You asked as your smile faltered. “What, um, what did you hear?”

Your tone was different now. It was a genuine question, with the implication you already knew what he had heard. All the confidence you had approached him with seemed to have fallen away.

“Well, I heard you’re the best small toward the Raiders have ever had. But I didn’t just want to take people’s word for it. I like to see things for myself.”

You stared at Peter for a moment, really looking into his eyes to determine if he was being truthful. Peter gave you a soft smile that said, “Yeah, I’ve heard about it, no, I don’t care.” And that was all you needed to know.

“Small forward.” You said finally. “And I’m glad to hear that about you. Cause I like to see things for myself too. But tell me, now that you’ve seen for yourself, what do you think?

“Well, I don’t know much about basketball, but I can confirm that you really are the best. You score a lot of the….” Peter trailed off when he realized he didn’t know enough about basketball to finish that sentence.

“Points.” You finished it for him.

“Right. Points. I was between that or “innies”. Because, you know, the ball goes in the net. A lot, when you have it. You’re, uh, you’re really good.” He felt shy again from the way you were holding his gaze. You sensed his timidness and tossed the ball back to him to give him something to fidget with.

“Thank you. Is that why you keep showing up at my games? Because you think I’m good?” You asked with a playful tone.

“Amongst the other things I think you are.”

“Woah. You answered that kinda like Yoda.”

“Yeah. I hoped you wouldn’t notice.” Peter laughed in embarrassment. Before you could answer, your coach blew a whistle to signal the end of halftime.

“Duty calls.” You sighed, feeling the same sinking feeling of disappointment that Peter was experiencing now that your conversation was over.

“Good luck. Or, break a leg? What do they say in basketball?” He asked and tossed you your ball back.

“Good luck is just fine. And I appreciate it. See you later, Peter.” You waved to him as the rest of your team flooded back onto the court. He watched some of the other girls come up to you and look in Peter’s direction, probably trying to find out why you spent all of halftime talking to some stranger. Peter felt a smile tug at his lips when he saw the excited reactions of your teammates as you told them something he couldn’t hear. But since they all snuck glances at him as you spoke, he could safely assume it was about him.

When your game finished, Peter watched as you celebrated your 5th consecutive win with your teammates. Since you’d scored most of the points, you were the center of attention in the room. Even so, you left the celebration early to run up to Peter.

“Congratulations. But is winning still exciting when you win every time?” Peter asked with a teasing smile.

“It’s gotten a little more exciting now that I have a cute boy cheering me on.” You said so bluntly that Peter almost choked.

“Well, this may be hard to believe, but I only started watching basketball when I found out the captain was really cool and pretty.” Peter returned the compliment, earning another smile from you.

“I’m glad the feeling is mutual.“ You told him. “And since you’re such a basketball fan now, I wanted to let you know that I have a game this Saturday.”

“I’m aware. I already cleared my schedule.”

“Oh yeah?” You asked him. “Did you clear it enough to take me out after?”

Peter was caught off guard once again, but was determined not to mess up this opportunity. He quickly composed himself and shrugged in response.

“I can probably move some things around. Squeeze you in.” He said nonchalantly. Luckily, you appreciated his attempt at humor and laughed.

“Good.” You answered. “I’ll see you then, Peter.”

Peter watched you walk off before letting out the breath he had been holding in for the duration of your conversation. As his eyes fell down to your green and black sneakers, his smile fell a little. He couldn’t help but wonder where you’d gotten them from.

Saturday night took a painstakingly long time to arrive. Without your number or any classes together, Peter’s only way of seeing you was attending your games. He sat in the front row of the bleachers with a rose sat upon his bouncing knee.

“We should not be here.” Ned said into his ear.

“You should not be here.” Peter corrected. “She invited me.”

“A friend doesn’t let another friend go into the lion’s den alone. Especially not the den of the lion that breaks guys’ hearts and uses them for new shoes!” Ned whispered harshly.

“That is the most ridiculous rumor I have ever heard.” Peter rolled his eyes. “So, she owns a lot of shoes. So what?”

“Enough for a new pair every game? You know that’s weird.” Ned insisted.

“Maybe she just likes to shop.”

“Ask anyone, Peter. All the athletes at this school say they dated her and they all say the same thing about her. She dates you until you give her your sneakers, and then she dumps you. Is that the fate you want?”

“Well, my sneakers are from Walmart and there’s a security tag stuck in the heel of the left one that sets off every metal detector I walk through. So I sorta doubt she’s gunning for them.”

“It’s not about the price. It’s her trophy.” Ned told him. “She wears them to let everyone know she’s taken another victim. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“You make her sound like she’s some cartoon villain wearing the bones of her enemies as a necklace. They’re just shoes. And that’s just a stupid, misogynistic rumor. You don’t even know her.” Peter replied, starting to get irritated with his friend now.

“Exactly. I don’t know her personally, but even a random college NPC like me knows about her. You don’t get a reputation like that out of nowhere. There’s gotta be some truth to it. Aren’t you the least bit worried I’m right?”

Peter hesitated for a moment as he watched you run across the court in light blue sneakers. He didn’t care about the alleged boys of the past, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t starting to worry about getting hurt.

“No.” Peter said after a beat. “I don’t believe any rumors. My sneakers are safe.”

“Maybe.” Ned agreed. “But what about your heart? Is that safe?”

Peter was silent and felt grateful that the game started. Right away, you owned the court the way you always did. Nothing else could enter Peter’s mind as he watched you command the room and the ball. All the silly rumors faded away and all he could do was be awestruck by you. You pointed to Peter each time you made a basket, and the crowd was starting to take notice. Peter heard some snickers coming from behind him and saw guys pointing his way to mock you, but he ignored it.

“She’s coming. Be cool.” Peter whispered to Ned when you ran up to them during halftime.

“You are asking a lot to me right now.” Ned mumbled under his breath. Peter stood up to greet you and to his surprise, you threw your arms around him.

“Peter! I’m glad you made it.” You said as you squeezed him. Peter stumbled back in surprise for a moment and the hugged you back. He could once again hear people reacting to the two of you from behind him, but he tuned it out.

“Of course I came. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. And this is for you.” He smiled sheepishly as he held up the rose he brought. You smiled softly at him in return and accepted the flower.

“That was very sweet of you. And seriously, thank you for coming. Pretty sure you bring me luck at this point.”

“And I’m pretty sure you were good at basketball before I started coming to your games.” Peter replied, making you laugh.

“Maybe. But it’s nice to have someone rooting for me for once.” You told him as your eyes wandered to the group of boys sitting behind Peter and Ned. When Peter looked over his shoulder to see what you were looking at, he saw the boys blowing you kisses and laughing at themselves. The normally confident look on your face was replaced by a zoned out expressed.

“Well, they confiscated my sign and giant cardboard cut out of your face that I made. But they can never take away my ability to cheer.” Peter said, brining you back to the conversation.

“You’re cute.” You chuckled. “Are we still on for later?”

“Yeah. Absolutely.”

“And will you be joining us?” You playfully turned to Ned to ask. Peter swallowed and looked to his friend, fearful of what he was going to say.

“Unfortunately, Peter said we can’t make this thing a polycule until after the Raiders make the playoffs so that you’re free of distractions.” Ned answered.

“How thoughtful of you, Peter. I’ll start ticking the days off my calendar immediately.” You replied without missing a beat. You and Ned smiled at each other before looking back at a very confused Peter.

“I don’t understand what’s happening.” Peter said as he looked between the two of you.

“What’s happening is your girlfriend just passed the vibe check.” Ned said, making Peter shut his eyes in embarrassment and hoped this wasn’t the moment you realized you were too cool to give Peter a chance.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to happen today. Who cares about this basketball shit? I only care if the friend of the guy I haven’t gone on a date with yet likes me.” You retorted. Ned laughed again and Peter felt himself relax. For some reason, you were still standing there, despite Ned’s attempt to scare you away.

“I should probably head back to my team. Hold this for me until I’m done?” You asked nicely and handed the rose back to Peter. Your fingers touched as you passed it and he felt sparks fly. You exchanged one last smile before you ran off to join your team.

When the game ended, Ned left Peter to find you after telling him how cool he found you. Peter wanted to roll his eyes and say the knew that the whole time, but he held his tongue. He waited with the rose near the locker room until you were ready.

You came out soon enough, clothes changed and skin still a little damp from your quick shower. Peter could smell your body lotion radiating off of you and found it hard to remember his own name.

“Are you ready?” You asked him with a nervous smile. This was a departure from the usual assured look you had on your face, and it gave Peter a glimpse into your more vulnerable side.

“I am. Let me get that.” Peter said and took your backpack off your shoulder. He accompanied you to dorm to drop off your basketball stuff and the rose, making easy small talk as you went. He did his best to not gawk when he got a glimpse into your room when you opened the door to put your stuff inside. When you shut the door, Peter got a look at your fully packed shoe rack. He hated to admit it, but it sparked his curiosity about where they came from.

“So how many games do you think you would’ve attended before talking to me?” You asked him, pulling his thoughts away from the shoes.

“Hm, let me think. When do you graduate?” He asked, making you laugh. You were heading off of campus now, hands bumping into each other every now and then.

“Really? You were never going to approach me?”

“And risk getting rejected? No way. I was happy to cheer you on for the rest of my college career and fantasize about lives would be like if I had a backbone and asked you out.”

“So, tell me.” You began. “What were our lives like in your fantasies?”

“They were great. You were drafted by New York Liberty, so I moved back home to be with you. I’m from Queens, by the way. You have a two great years before you’re promoted to captain. I attend every game.”

“Are you really from Queens? I would not have guessed that about you. And how did you know I like the New York Liberty?”

“Yep. Queens born and raised. I’m surprised you don’t gather that from my hardened bad boy disposition.” Peter joked, earning another laugh from you. “And I knew that was your favorite team because you always wear a bracelet with their colors. And I maybe saw a poster on your wall to confirm what the colors are for.”

“Wow. A Queens boy. Here I was thinking Kanas or something. You seem too soft and kind for New York. Especially because I’ve seen so many crazy videos of the subways. Like seriously, what is going on over there?” You asked as you toyed with the sea foam green and black bracelet on your wrist.

“I wish I knew. But you would never have to take the subway because we’re gonna live in a penthouse right near Barclays. I will be placing the down payment on it tonight, depending how our date goes.”

“You’ve really thought it all out.” You said with a pleased smile. “But what about you? What will your job be in this fantasy? Which is my indirect way of asking what your major is, by the way.”

“It’s bioengineering.” He replied. “So I’ll be working at Wendy’s and doing immoral science experiments in our aforementioned penthouse.”

“Bioengineering? You have a brilliant science brain and you thought I would’ve rejected you?”

“Of course I did. You’re the captain of the undefeated basketball team and I’m friends with the janitor.”

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short. You also started a fire in the bathroom.” You reminded him as you reached the frozen yogurt spot he was taking you to. He held the door for you on the way in, which made you give him an endearing touch on the shoulder.

“Oh yes. How could I forget? That’s totally way cooler than all those pictures of you holding trophies that line the walls of the gym.” Peter said sarcastically as he filled his cup with Cake Batter flavored yogurt.

“I hope you didn’t look too closely at those. I went through a fake freckle phase for a minute there. And then they would smear all over my face during my games, but I just kept doing it. No one stopped me.” You sighed and filled your cup with yogurt as well. Peter couldn’t help but admire you, unable to believe he was really on a date with you and not just watching you from court side.

“I hate to say it, but I think it would take a lot more than fake freckles to get me to not find you extraordinary.” Peter said shyly, You gave him a playful smack on the arm as you moved over to the topping station together.

“Wait, I take back what I just said. I’m trying really hard not to judge you right now.” Peter said as he watched you put popping bubbles onto your yogurt.

“What? These are so good. It’s like a little strawberry explosion in your mouth.”

“I’m telling you right now, I’m not seeing a second date in our future. And to clarify, it’s because of those little pink things you just put all over perfectly good yogurt.” Peter joked and pointed to your yogurt.

“And to think I held my tongue about your Cake Batter yogurt in hopes you’d put down that downpayment you promised me and take me on a second date.” You sighed wistfully.

“Woah, woah, woah. I’m just teasing.” Peter assured you. “If you’ll have me, I would love a second date.”

“I don’t know. Maybe I can squeeze you in. Move some things around.” You said to callback to what he said when you first asked him out.

“Damn. I hope I make the cut.” He played along and blew out a breath. To his surprise, you linked your arm with him and rested your head on his shoulder for a moment.

“I’m also just teasing.” You told him. “I would also love a second date. I love having you at my games, but it’s hard to get to know you when I’m on the court and you’re on the bleachers. And I want to get to know you.”

“I want to get to know you too.” Peter said softly. “Fake freckles and all.”

You left the yogurt shop soon enough, with Peter paying of course. You strolled down the sidewalk together, eating your yogurt, and making easy small talk. He was slowly coming out of his shell as you talked since you seemed genuinely interested in everything he said. It felt easy to talk to you. Despite your very different interests, you found a lot of common ground to link the two of you.

“Hold on. Your shoe lace is untied.” Peter said and handed you his cup of yogurt. Before you could respond, he bent down to tie it for you.

“God, I feel like Cinderella.” You chuckled. “But you shouldn’t have bothered tying them. They always come untied because the laces are so slick.”

“Why do you wear them then?” Peter asked as you handed his yogurt back to him. You took a bite of your own and looked over at him.

“Can I tell you a secret?” You asked, making Peter’s heart skip a beat. His mind immediately went back to the rumors Ned had told him about.

“Yeah, go for it.” Peter said with attempt to sound calm.

“I’m very superstitious.” You confessed. “I have to touch the top of the doorframe before a game, or I won’t play as well. I have to put my left sock on first, or I won’t run as fast. And I can’t throw out any pair I’ve won a game in, or I’ll throw out my good luck. No matter how old and sucky the pair is.”

“Wow. I was not expecting this.” He smiled in surprise. “How old are these, then?”

“Oh God. I think these were a gift for my 12th birthday, maybe? I can’t remember. I went through puberty pretty early. That’s how I got into basketball. I figured I’d put my height to good use, right? Anyway, my shoe size has been the same since I was like 11. Basketball has always been my thing, so anytime I was getting presents, it was shoes. But I’m not complaining. I’ve built up quite the collection over the years.”

“Yeah, I noticed that you always wear a different pair to your games.” He replied, making you let out a sad sounding laugh.

“Well, that’s because you’ve only been to 5 of my games. I only have 14 pairs of shoes.”

“Only 14?” He laughed. “I have these sneakers and my dress shoes.”

“No flip flops?”

“Men’s feet should never be out.”

“Good answer. I agree.” You chuckled. “But what do you do in the summer?”

“Sneakers year round, baby.” Peter insisted.

“I like that. And I like you calling me baby.” You said as you linked your arm through his again. Peter felt his face heat up and gave you a timid smile. As you walked together arm in arm, he let his eyes fall down to your shoes.

“I think it’s really sweet that you hang on to shoes so that you don’t throw your luck away. Clearly it’s working.” Peter said with sincerity.

“I think so too. I’m not sure why everyone turned it into something so weird.” You replied, catching Peter off guard.

“What do you mean?” He played dumb.

“Come on. I know you’ve heard the rumors about me. You’ve been staring at my shoes all night.” You said with that same sad laugh from before. Peter admittedly had stole a few glances at them, but none that he thought you noticed.

“I never believed them.” He said instead of trying to deny what you already knew to be true.

“Who told you?” You asked without looking at him.

“My friends.”

“Your friend who accompanied you to my game tonight?” You asked with a sad smile.

“Yeah.” Peter reluctantly admitted.

“Did he come to protect you from me?”

“I told him I didn’t need it. And that the rumors were the dumbest thing I ever heard.”

“I think so too. I don’t know why I became such a lightning rod for slut shaming at this school. I’ve never even dated one of the meathead athletes here. And if I did, who cares? I rejected one, though. A boy on the basketball team who didn’t like that I knew more about sneakers than he did. Or tha I had a bigger collection. Right after I turned him down, all the rumors started. Funny how that works.” You said with a calmness to your tone that Peter wasn’t expecting.

“Does it get to you? All the dumb stuff people say?”

“It used to.” You admitted. “But I have a great support system around me. My teammates know who I am. And dumb rumors don’t stop me from winning games. So at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what people who don’t know me say. I only concern myself with people who choose to see for themselves.”

Peter stopped walking and turned to face you. You stopped walking as well and tilted your head as you stared at him.

“You don’t deserve to be talked about that way. I’m sorry my friends ever believed that nonsense. And I’m sorry I ever entertained it, even for a second. I know how it feels to have a rumor going around about you and it sucks. I should’ve known it was bullshit as soon as I heard it.”

“It’s okay, Peter. You have shown me that you care about getting to know me. And I don’t blame you for wondering. I do wear a lot of shoes.”

“You do.” He admitted. “But I like it. I hope you never stop.”

“I don’t plan to. I’m not going to let some stupid rumor make me throw out my luck.” You said as you started walking together again.

“What was the rumor about you?” You wondered. “You said you know how it feels.”

“I do. In high school, people thought I was a male escort.”

“What?” You laughed in surprise. “What the hell did you do to make people think that?”

“Hey, I didn’t ask you questions about the origin of your rumor.” Peter pointed out.

“You’re right, you’re right.” You held up a hand in defense and squeezed his arm with your other one. You were back on campus now, walking as slowly back to your dorm as possible so that the date wouldn’t end just yet. As you walked, one of boys from the basketball team passed by. He looked you and Peter up and down and let out an obnoxious laugh.

“A new guy? You really go through them, don’t you? Looks like you ran out of athletes, though.” The guy said to you. You paid him no mind and kept walking, but Peter was less inclined to let him get away with speaking to you like that.

“What were those things called again?” Peter asked and pointed to your yogurt.

“Popping bubbles?”

“Can I try one?” He asked. You nodded and spooned three onto his open palm.

To your surprise, Peter pelted the popping bubbles at the guys head with such speed that they exploded in his hair. Before the guy could react, Peter grabbed your hand and took off running. You ran all the way to the football field and quickly tucked under the bleachers, laughing to the point of breathlessness as you went. You crouched down and made your way to the middle of the bleachers, staying silent until the coast was clear.

“Peter!” You exclaimed. “That was the point guard on the boys team. He’s gonna kill you if he sees you again.”

“I don’t care.” Peter insisted. “He doesn’t get to speak to you like that.”

“Thank you.” You smiled softly and put a hand on Peter’s face. He felt his face warm up under your touch and looked into your eyes.

“For what? Messing with that losers low taper fade?”

“That.” You chuckled in agreement. “And for taking the time to get to know me. It’s been a really long time since anyone did that.”

“I’m glad I did. Because you are worth getting to know. I like that you’re a superstitious shoe collector who knows exactly who she is. Even if she gets the nastiest possible topping on her-“ Peter was cut off by his shirt being pulled forward and his lips landing against yours. He welcomed the surprise and kissed you back, tasting the sweetness of your dessert on your lips. Kissing under the bleachers was the most cliche thing the two of you could possibly be doing, but he loved every second of it. You both did.

“Yogurt.” He breathlessly concluded his interrupted sentence when you pulled away.

“Wow, Peter. You just had to finish your sentence, huh?” You chucked and pecked his lips again. He happily kissed you back, not stopping until his lungs pestered him for air.

“This was a very unexpected but welcome end to our night.” You said as you wrapped your arms around his neck. “But I guess kissing you on the first date really doesn’t help me beat the promiscuous allegations, does it?”

“Oh well. Too late now.” Peter shrugged and cupped your face to kiss you once more. He walked you back to your for afterwards like the gentleman he was, and was given a room tour upon arrival. When he looked at you 14 pairs of lucky shoes on display, all he thought about was how lucky he was to know you.

The next time Peter attended one of your games, it was as your boyfriend. Your teammates dubbed him the official First Husband of the Raiders and welcomed him with open arms.

As Peter watched you make your third basket of the evening despite the game just starting, he felt a sense of pride. You had on his pair of beat up sneakers, so it was only fair that he wore a hoodie you leant him with your last name and jersey number printed on the back. Peter had Ned and MJ beside him, meaning you had the loudest cheers out of the whole gymnasium.

“Are we being too obvious? Is this too hard of a launch?” You shouted at him as you dribbled by. A member of the opposing team attempted the get the ball from you, but you didn’t even let them get close.

“It’s not obvious enough until there’s a ring on this finger.” Ned called back and held up Peter’s left hand. You laughed and made another basket, making sure to point at Peter afterwards.

“So if I start sitting on the stands during the girls swim team practice, does that mean I’ll get a girlfriend? Because it worked for Peter.” MJ leaned over to say to her friends.

“I wouldn’t count on it. I don’t think this has ever happened before in the history of the world and I don’t think it’s ever going to happen again.” Ned said to her. Peter was barely listening, too busy being enchanted by you.

When the game was over and you had successfully carried your team to another victory, you hugged your girls and then ran straight to Peter. He stood up to greet you, just like the first time you approached him, but this time, you threw your arms around him to kiss him. You could hear the crowd going crazy behind you, but neither of you cared.

“Hey, handsome.” You said when you pulled away. “Did you know these shoes have a security tag embedded in the bottom?”

“I do.” He admitted. “But I can’t throw them out now because you just won a game in them.”

“Uh oh.” You smiled. “Look who’s superstitious now.”

“Maybe you’re rubbing off on me.” Peter smiled. “Now can I take you and lucky pair number 15 out on a date to celebrate your latest win?”

You left the gymnasium with Peter, his friends, and a few of your teammates. And for the first time in a long time, you felt like you were being seen for who you were and nothing else.

Tag List 🏷️

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