Butterflies crashed around inside Paivi’s stomach. St. Andrew High School was hosting the biggest girls’ basketball tournament in the area, and her team had made it to the championship game. The night before, Paivi had a vision that showed people cheering for her, but she was unable to see the events that led up to it. She woke up briefly and tried concentrating really hard on the game, like Christian had told her, but it didn’t work. She was a little nervous about her abilities as well. She was supposed to tell Christian the score of the Chicago-Green Bay game tomorrow, and she still hadn’t had any luck there, either. She had been a bit preoccupied with the tournament all week and in addition to that, her mind had been clouded with thoughts of Jason.
Maybe tonight after the game, I can focus a little more, she thought.
As she sat in her Math class, she thought back to Monday. Jason had come to her locker that morning, looking a bit sheepish.
“Hey, Paivi, I, uh, I wanted to apologize for getting so mad the other day about the election,” he had said.
Paivi had given Jason the cold shoulder the entire week before. When Senator Stevens actually won the election, Jason fell into such a funk that Paivi didn’t dare talk to him. Besides, she felt he still owed her an apology and she wasn’t about to give in, as much as it pained her to avoid him.
“It’s about time.” She gave him a dirty look.
“Please don’t be mad,” he pleaded. “I had to suffer the whole weekend because you weren’t talking to me. I’ve been punished enough!”
“I just don’t know if an apology will be enough to win me over,” she added playfully. “What else have you got?”
“I know you have three games this week, what if I came to watch you play?”
Paivi was thrilled, but she couldn’t show it, she had to keep playing the game.
“That’s pretty good, but it did take you until Monday to apologize. That means you were a super sourpuss for almost a whole week.” She straightened some items in her locker that were already straight.
“Wow, you drive a hard bargain, Miss Anderson. Okay, what if I throw in a movie on Saturday night. Your choice. I’ll even go to,” he gave a loud sigh, covered his eyes and whispered, “a chick flick.”
Paivi slammed her locker and turned to face him. It felt like they were the only two people in the crowded hallway.
“Mr. Santos, I am impressed! That’s quite the offer! I think I can live with that. Apology accepted.” She held out her hand to Jason and shook it. Her fingers tingled as their hands touched.
“See you later in Current Events,” she struggled to get the words out.
A movie with Jason…could the day get any better? she thought, turning in a daze, and running smack into Christian Nelson. Her heart dropped a little.
“Are you sure he’s not your boyfriend? You are with him and awful lot.”
“No,” she answered curtly. “I don’t have a boyfriend. He’s just a friend.”
“Just a friend? Right. Whatever. Anyway, any luck with those scores yet?” He walked next to her as she moved down the hall towards her biology class.
“No, not yet, but I’m working on it. I promise. See you later!” she added hurriedly as she dashed away from him through the classroom door just as the bell rang.
Paivi blinked her eyes, waking from her daydream. Mr. Patel was still going over the same problem on the board with the class. At least she hadn’t missed much. She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. What if she couldn’t get those scores? What would Christian do? Paivi rubbed her eyes and tried to focus on the problem. She was letting all of these things cloud her mind when she should really be focusing on the game tonight. Everything else would just have to wait until later.