On the Court [Amy Open Tag]

[Amy Baker]

Had Amy a life, she would have been sleeping in and waking up at eleven for a lazy breakfast, probably hanging out with her girlfriends at the mall later and cuddling with a boyfriend [or girlfriend?] of some sort. As it were, Amy didn't, hence the bouncing orange ball being dribbled across the scarred concrete of the old basketball court with it's ill-fated chain basket that was hanging by three chains.

Almost everyday was a practice for her. Especially since she wanted the scouts to notice her and she couldn't slack for one bit. She had already built way too much muscle to be considered slender so she wasn't exactly inviting guys in, hence the rigorous training. Although, hanging out with Miquel really was a pleasant distraction. He proved to be very beneficial to their friendship. It was a bit different being with Miquel. Nothing bad, not by any standard but just different. Like something was missing.

The sound of Amy dunking the ball could be heard a mile away as she went to the bench that was currently occupied by her big sports bag. Amy grabbed her water bottle and gurgled down practically half the 5 liter bottle of water as the ball rolled off the court and on to the runner's pavement. No one was around so Amy didn't bother bringing it back. Her bare arms were glistening slightly under what light was peeking from the clouds. She started to lie down on the bench, catching her breath and not realising the ball had hit someone's feet.

[Evan Hughes]

Evan was having an awesome, awesome weekend so far, and he still had half of it to go! That was great news, to his mind. Still one day left to enjoy as much fun as he could cram into it. Which, for Evan, was a lot. He was never one to sit still and enjoy ‘quiet’ reflection. That was just boring. If he had to sit still, he wanted to be doing something at least. Like watching DVDs. Or drawing. He couldn’t draw that well, but something that small wouldn’t stop him. Or even better than sitting still was lying still, and he decided to indulge in some of that, sleeping in a little.

Eventually getting up, he jumped straight into the shower. That was generally the first thing he did when he got up, in an attempt to wake himself up some more. Either that or he ate a candy bar. Or did both. But he didn’t leave a candy bar in the bathroom, so it was just a shower today. Then after filling up on one of his favourite breakfast foods, pop tarts, he made his way out of the house, deciding to go for a walk. Maybe he would find a big hill to roll down.

He found something better than that soon, coming across someone running around on a basketball court. He hadn’t played for a couple of years, but when he did, he had loved it, and he thought he was actually pretty good at it. It was only team issues that made him quit. But running around, shooting hoops, cheering loudly, it was the perfect sport for him.

When he came closer and realised that it was a girl on the court, a considerably thirsty girl it seemed, he wasn’t all too surprised. Hannah, Brittany and Fallon, it seemed his whole weekend had been filled with girls so far (though just quietly, his time with Brit was the obvious highlight.). So when the basketball rolled over to his feet, he really couldn’t resist.

Picking it up, he dribbled it towards the hoop. “Hughes takes the shot. He shots...he scores!” When the ball sunk into the hoop, this was followed by loud, enthusiastic cheering on his part, and just a little bit of dancing. “I’ve still got it!” he grinned, jogging to pick up the ball, and jogging back to the girl. “Here’s your ball!” he told her, holding it out. “It’s Amy, right? How you going?”

[Amy Baker]

She heard her ball bounce on the concrete first before she heard the voice. A familiar one at that. You could never miss Evan Hughes' voice anywhere. They never hung out, mostly because she was way too focused with her sports to really make that many friends outside the circle she already had. It was a shame though, Evan seemed like a really fun guy to hang out with.

Sitting up on the bench and looking just as he made the basket, she clapped when it went clean through, bouncing back into his hands before he made his way to her. She took the ball from him and let it sit on the bench beside her. "Thanks. That was a good shot." She beamed. "Yeah, Amy. You're Brittany's boyfriend." Amy only knew Brittany because on her time off, she usually hung out at the bowling alley where her band played. She was a good singer. And really pretty. Something she would only admit to herself.

"I'm good. A bit tired though," she replied. "Been here since 5." She said before patting the seat beside her. "What are you doing here this early anyway? I never see anyone I know this early in the morning on a Sunday." She voiced. "Part of the reason why I like coming here at this time." She smiled.

[Evan Hughes]

Though he liked Amy fine before, sure he didn’t know her all too well but she seemed nice and there was no reason for him not to like her, her clapping when he sunk the ball clear through the hoop only endeared him to her more. Evan always did like people cheering for him. That very reason was why he sometimes did really stupid things that he knew he shouldn’t do. Well, that and because those stupid things also happened to be really, really fun. Except when he seriously hurt himself. Actually, it was fun then too, it was just also more painful.

When she didn’t say his name, instead just pointing out he was Brittany’s boyfriend, he had to grin. He was used to people saying Brit was his girlfriend, it was nice to hear it the other way around. And he didn’t mind if Amy didn’t know his name, he wasn’t offended by that, wasn’t one to think that people should know who he was, unlike a lot of people at school. “Yep, that’s me, Brit’s lucky boyfriend!” he agreed with a laugh.

At the offer, he plonked himself down on the seat besides Amy, just a hint of a shocked look on his face. “Five? That’s like, really, really early.” he pointed out in case she didn’t realise. She couldn’t of, he figured, if she was up at that time. No one could possibly get up at that time willingly, he figured. That was crazy, and not the fun kind of crazy that he liked.

“Well, I tried sleeping in. But I couldn’t sleep any longer. I did eat a lot of candy last night, maybe it was the sugar. But I eat a lot of candy, so I must be used to it, so that can’t be it.” That made complete sense to him. “Oh, I get it. I’m wrecking your quiet time.” He smirked as he said this, making it clear he was only teasing her. “Well, I guess a polite person would leave now.” Though he was rocking a little, that was just him being permanently restless, and there was no sign of him going anywhere. And he just smiled all the more.

Something she said just sunk it, and he pondered over it just a few seconds more. “Wait, you come here, every Sunday, at five? But how do you do it, I mean, five is really, really early.” Evan reminded her again. “What do you come here for, training? You must be really good if you have to get up that early. I mean, the bad people don’t train much. So you must be real good.” He considered this more, stretching his legs out in front of himself. “Go on, show me your skills.”

[Amy Baker]

Amy grinned at Evan's...enthusiasm? Well if he was Brittany Barnes' boyfriend, he should be. She heard some stuff about interference but it was rumors she couldn't care to indulge in. Based on Evan's behaviour, Amy didn't think it had caused too big a rift between them so she was glad she gave him the benefit of the doubt. His shocked expression made her laugh quietly.

She scratched an itch on the back of her neck and shrugged. "I've pretty much woken up at five in the morning since I was a toddler." Which wasn't too much of a stretch. Amy's love for basketball transcended that of Barbie dolls and baking stations. On her sixth birthday, she was sorely disappointed that most what she got was Barbie dolls and doll dresses and those spray paint thingies that glow in the dark [although she did have fun with that one until it ran out] but Miquel had the decency to get her a burned CD of all of the greatest basketball games ever played since Michael Jordan first appeared. And her dad got her her very first jersey with her name on it. She still had that little jersey tucked away in her closet.

As Evan went on a babbling frenzy about candy, Amy funnily realised how true those rumors were. He definitely had a thing for candy and sugar rushes. When he teased about wrecking her quiet time, she frowned and nodded. "You really are. And yeah a polite person would." She gave an emphasis on the word polite. But then she dropped her act and punched him lightly on his arm. Being an athlete, minor league though she was, she had built a bit of muscle on her arms and legs so that little punch wasn't meant to hurt him but she was sure it stung but given Evan's propensity to get sugar rushes, she was sure it wouldn't even register on his radar.

"Yeah, I train here almost every day if there isn't anything holding me back. Uh...I dunno about being really good but I do okay," Amy was being way too modest but she was embarrassed and she didn't want to sound so cocky to someone she called a friend. When Evan asked to show him her skills, her eyebrows raised high and she started to shake her head. "Nope. Thanks but I'd rather save it for the games. You should come by some time. For the game. You can see...the game being played by other people and me..." the light haired athlete was getting slightly flustered.

The only people she didn't have problems showing her skills off by herself was her father and Miquel. Mostly she liked being in a group, she shines automatically when she's playing in a team. When it's just her, she would start feeling too self-conscious and she'd lose it.

[Kayla Whitaker]

Kayla had been having a pretty good weekend so far, mostly spending time with her brother, she hadn't seen her friends much, but that was okay. Her head was still sort of spinning from last night...the random invite to Haley's sweet 16...with celebrities. Kayla tended to try and look for the good in most people but had never found much of it in Haley before...but now however... Now Kayla, thought maybe the normally uppity girl deserved a chance.

In fact, Kayla had had a rather bad dream about it all...and she classified it as bad because it involved Haley in a way that she had never thought of her before. Kayla knew she didn't have a crush on the other girl...after all, she was usually a bitch...it was just the surprising niceness thing. Plus, Kayla didn't like girls like that, or at least she kept telling herself that. She'd never had an official crush on a girl anyway...she just seemed to be noticing them more than the boys lately...eek...this was bad.

And when Kayla felt bad she liked to run. Okay, well, she liked to run either way, but it was especially good when she needed to blow off some steam of get her mind off things, which in this case was girls. She pulled her long brown hair back into a ponytail and threw on a T-shirt and some running shorts as she headed out, for what was sure to be a long run. She ran for awhile before she reached the old basketball quarts which she fully intended to run on by until she saw a familiar blonde there.

To Kayla, Amy was like the perfect girl. She was a really talented basketball player, super nice, really pretty, and liked boys, or at lease Kayla assumed she did. Kayla of course wasn't necessarily best friends with her but she knew her well enough that she should say hi, even if she was preoccupied with that guy. Oh wait...that guy was dating someone else...maybe Kayla wasn't interrupting.

"Um...Hey, what's going on?" Kayla asked as she made her way onto the quart. "I was just running and I saw you..." she trailed off, feeling a little dumb.

[Evan Hughes]

Toddler...that was like really young, Evan thought, like two or something. Which was like a really early age to be waking up at five in the morning. In fact, he couldn’t think of any age that would be okay to wake up that early. Except maybe old, like, really old, maybe around 40? 50 maybe. Because old people liked early dinners, which must mean that they went to bed early, and so, unless they really liked sleeping for most of the day, it probably meant they woke up early too.

He couldn’t do it though, most definitely not every day, and not willingly either, unless there was a really important reason to. Like, a movie he wanted to see was opening really early, or to line up for concert tickets, or if he really felt like pop tarts. Barring those and other related, important reasons, he couldn’t see himself being able to drag himself away from his nice, warm, kick ass bed. Especially since he got those Batman sheets not so long ago. He really liked those sheets, they had Batman, and Robin, and old school Joker and Penguin, and even Brit agreed that they were cool. Plus they were all cottony, so really comfy. It was a difficult choice for him, but he was glad that in the end he decided to go for the Batman sheets instead of The Hulk sheets. Though he might go back and get them later, green sheets would be cool.

The punch took Evan by surprise. Well, not being punched, he expected that (he knew Amy would be teasing of course, she didn’t seem the type to go around punching friends after all), but the strength of the punch. That actually hurt a little. Not a lot, but enough to get his attention, to make him laugh and bump her playfully. “Hey, I’m polite. But I’m still not leaving.” he teased in return. “I mean, this seat is like super comfy and getting up seems so hard. And I didn’t have much breakfast this morning, only like, four pop tarts, so I don’t have much strength yet. So you’re just gonna have to put up with me. It’s ok though, you’ll love my company. I’m fun!”

If she trained every day, especially if she got up every day at five to train, which must mean she trained a lot, then she must be good, Evan figured. She must be one of those modest people, who downplayed their skills but was like secretly awesome. If that was the case, and he was fairly sure it was, he would love to see her play. He still loved the sport, even if he no longer played it, and going to games was fun, being loud and cheering obnoxiously.

If Amy was flustered, he didn’t notice it in the slightest. “Sure! I’d love to come and watch you all play! I can be like a cheerleader or something. Do you guys have cheerleaders? Cause if you don’t, I can totally be one. I won’t wear the skirt or anything, so don’t worry about that.” Evan grinned. “But I will cheer really loudly, I can make up some chants and things like that, and if you ask really nicely, I might even bring some pom poms. Or at least a foam finger. You’ll have to tell me when your next game is, I don’t wanna miss it. And I’ll drag my friends along too, and so there’ll be a massive cheer crowd. What team do you play on anyway? The school team?” He really did love basketball, he couldn’t wait to go and watch.

This excitement was making him even more active than normal, and he couldn’t help but rock back and forth slightly as he spoke to her. Amy really did seem nice, and she was obviously friends with Brit, he wondered why he never talked to her much before. It couldn’t be that she didn’t like him, because unless she was an amazing actress, she didn’t seem like she minded him now. “But seriously though, am I interrupting your training? I can just sit here quietly.” he offered with a laugh.

“Or I can talk to her.” he offered, as someone else approached. He wasn’t sure of her name, she was Silver, he was pretty sure, but he still felt kinda bad not knowing. She seemed nice though. Unless someone was frowning, or looked angry, he thought everyone looked nice. “Hey ya!” he greeted first, grinning teasingly. “You were running? On a Sunday? What’s with everyone being active on Sunday morning? Making me feel lazy!”

[Amy Baker]

Amy's eyes widened when Evan looked surprised at her punch. It wasn't like she applied pressure on purpose. But when he laughed, her body visibly relaxed and she too followed in with his laughter. "Okay fine fine...I suppose I should just let you stay here. I'm not rude either..." she shrugged playfully and grabbed the orange ball beside her, bouncing it on her lap. "You ate four pop tarts? Dude...you should like...eat a bagel or something. In addition to the pop tarts I mean. No use eating a bagel alone for breakfast. Might as well be a bird if you just wanna eat bagels for breakfast. My dad always said breakfast like a king or something..." she shook her head in amusement.

His enthusiasm to watch her play bowled her over. Not a lot of people actually went to a girls' match, usually choosing to go for the boys' matches so his enthusiasm was greatly appreciated. "It'd be good to have some of you come to support us." She gave him details for the upcoming match and just as she was about to say he should stay and to reassure him that he wasn't bothering her, his attention was turned to another.

Her eyes followed his until they landed on the pretty brunette Amy remembered she had bumped into at a cafe. "Kayla!" She was genuinely surprised to see the girl there. Mostly because Amy hadn't stopped thinking about her since that day. They had made plans but Amy had neglected to fall through with the plans mostly because she was kind of afraid what it might lead to.

Amy got up, her basketball leaping off her lap, bouncing on the floor. She wanted to stop the ball but then she couldn't be bothered. A pretty brunette was standing just out of reach and she was thinking about an inanimate object? What was wrong with the picture? The irony of the situation did not escape her. "Hey...hi...I've been meaning to call you but...basketball season's almost over and I've been super busy training and stuff..." she also trailed off, feeling pretty dumb herself for babbling.

The blond turned to Evan who was starting to laugh at what he had said. She joined in the laughter and bumped his shoulder with his fist; just a tap this time. "Maybe it's because you are lazy, Evan." She said, finally using his name. Of course she knew what his name was. He was like...the biggest prankster in Gould. Amy appreciated a good prank. Even if it was a prank on her, she'd appreciate it if it were good.

She couldn't help but turn back to Kayla with a smile. "Um...wanna join us? We don't want to interrupt your run but...I was just resting and Evan came along..."

[Kayla Whitaker]

Kayla bit down on her lower lip as Evan approached her. "Oh...I run most days..." she trailed off. "I'm uh, Kayla by the way," she said, when Amy stepped in and started talking about how she wanted to call her. Really? Kayla didn't think Amy would really want to hang out with someone like her, who was a total dork in comparison.

"Oh, it's alright," Kayla said as she twirled a strand of hair from her ponytail around her index finger. "I've been busy too," Kayla found herself saying although it totally wasn't true. "My brother is home from college for a bit so I've been hanging out with him and stuff..." she trailed off again. Okay, that was true, but it wasn't as if it was taking up all of her time or anything. She wasn't one to lie really, she just didn't want to sound incredibly lame.

"Um...yeah," she said when Amy asked if she wanted to join. "I was mostly finished my run anyway," she told them. "Its nice to meet you, by the way, Evan," she said. "So I'm guessing you're not a big sports fan?" she asked. From what she knew of the boy he mostly walked around eating candy. Of course, that wasn't a bad thing, after all Kayla knew that she was rare and that most people her age weren't quite so healthy. Kayla still felt a little bit out of place though, mostly because she still felt as if she'd interrupted.

She picked up the ball which had now bounced by her feet and started to dribble it a bit. She made her way toward the hoop and took a shot, but it bounced off the rim, back at her. She caught it and took another shot, making it this time. She felt more comfortable moving around, physical activity. "Yeah, not quite as good as Amy," she said with a slight laugh. "So, what are you guys up to anyway?" she asked looking back at them.

[Evan Hughes]

For a moment, when Amy suggested that he eat a bagel, Evan wondered how she thought anyone could possibly survive on just a bagel for breakfast. Even if you piled it with a tower of yummy stuff, it was still just a bagel, and certainly not enough for a meal. Especially when that meal was the most important meal of the day. Well, tied most important meal of the day, if you counted in lunch, dinner, dessert and the three, minimum, snack times.

If that’s all she ate for breakfast, or stuff like that, then she must be starving. He eyed her off, thinking she didn’t look like she was. But then again, she did seem surprised that he ate four pop tarts. Maybe she thought that was a lot for breakfast, though he far from agreed. She could just be one of those people who didn’t each much for breakfast, but ate properly the rest of the day, like his mum. He didn’t get it though, the point of wasting a meal time. But then, before his far too hyperactive mind went into complete overdrive and formulated a plan to get Amy to eat more breakfast with him this morning, a plan with nothing in it for himself, of course, she spoke again, and he realised he was getting a tad too excited. He should have figured that, she didn’t look like the boring, starving, stick figure type.

A bagel in addition to his pop tarts? Yeah, he could do that, Evan figured. He could go a bagel now actually. Toasted, with cheese and pizza sauce. Maybe a bit of salami on top of it all too. And some chocolate. Now, that would make a mad breakfast. “Yeah, don’t know how anyone could eat just a bagel. That’s like...almost eating nothing. Your old man must be super smart. That’s what I do! Except this morning. Don’t know why I didn’t eat much. And oh, you’re gonna let me stay? That’s super nice of you Amy. It’s so cool how you own the basketball court. And this comfy seat.” he teaded.

“Oh, I’ll get more than some of us. I’ll grab a big ‘ol crowd, it be awesomesauce! We’ll all cheer you on! And the rest of your team too, I don’t want them feeling bad, left out, if they’re not cheered on. So I’ll make sure we’ll cheer on all of your team.” Evan kindly planned, offering her a big grin. “But just so you know, you’re totally the favourite.” He couldn’t wait to go to the game now, and drag along everyone he could. It was going to be great!

“Hey Kayla!” Evan greeted, louder than he really needed to. But no one who knew him even slightly ever expected him to be quiet. “Actually, I do like sports. I used to play basketball heaps, but not anymore. Though, I guess, I don’t watch a lot of sport. I like sport movies though, does that count?” he wondered, before laughing at Amy’s light tap. “Hey, I’m so not lazy. I do plenty of stuff! I...well, I do stuff! When I figure out what I do, I’ll tell you both.” he offered with a smirk.

Amy and Kayla seemed like they knew each other well-ish, better than he knew them at least, not that he was put out at all by this. He loved making more friends! You could never have enough, he figured, especially when there were so many cool and nice people to meet and hang out with. He watched as the newcomer took the ball and only took two attempts to score, something he thought was pretty good. And so he showed this, by erupting into a wild cheer the moment the ball sunk through the hoop.

“Well, no one’s as good as Amy. She’s a show off.” Evan teased. “And we’re not doing much. Just talking about bagels. And making me feel hungry. You know what? We should totally get bagels. That would be awesome!” But before he could get too excited by the idea, he gently took the ball off Kayla, deciding to make a shot himself. But he wasn’t going to settle for anything other than a slam dunk, dribbling towards the hoop as fast as he could, before sending himself and the ball flying. As much to his surprise as anyone else’s, he actually scored, though as soon as his feet hit the ground, he winced. “I’m too old for this.” he laughed, retrieving the ball before making his way back to the two girls. “I would offer to play you both, you know, a game of two on one, but I wouldn’t want to make you both feel bad when I win.” he teased again.