Zephyr had grabbed his food and was sitting down when Sophia walked up. "Something go wrong?" He asked, though he guessed the mutter was just to avoid bringing more attention to him. He sighed slightly- this was what he didn't want to happen. He didn't want her to just not be his friend because she didn't like getting STARED at because NO ONE did. Zeph hated being semi-popular. At this point the school was kinda split in half with the drama - the kids that loyally followed Lydia and the kids that still were in awe of... something about him. He still hadn't figured out why he was popular. Maybe he should ask.

Sophia silently shook her head. "Nope" she said, though her voice was low. Her eyes traveled to where Blake was sitting. He was staring at her. She could see the hurt in his eyes. He knew. Sophia took a deep breath and let her eyes drop to her backpack. She didn't want Blake hurt, but she needed him to understand his place and her boundaries.

Zephyr watched her for a couple seconds before slowly letting his gaze drift to Blake. Ah, the reason Sophia said yes. Somewhere deep down there was a slight pain. He knew it was stupid, but he couldn't help be the TINIEST bit offended that was 90 percent of why she said yes. Zephyr could tell Blake was attached to her, and she didn't like that, so he understood... but he couldn't help feeling like he was being used. He let out a small sigh and ate quickly, stressed about the game tomorrow, and Sophia, and the whole prom thing, aaaand maybe getting beaten up by Blake a little. Zephyr of all people knew boys could get scarily protective.

(I forgot I'm supposed to play both of them lol)

-

Blake may or may not have stared at the corner table for five minutes straight. He was trying to figure out how to accept the situation when one of the guys tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey Blake. You heard about Zeph and his new date? He and Lydia split and now he's got a new girl. Apparently Lydia dumped him for this other basketball player. I don't even know his name." Blake wheeled around. "I know this already" he muttered before picking up his tray, throwing it away and leaving to go to his class early.
-

Sophia dropped her head to the table. "Ughhh" She couldn't believe that Blake would even THINK about trying to be more. She decided she wouldn't think about the boy unless he made his presence known- like came up and pulled her to the dance floor kind of known

Pfft I may have forgotten sort of too lol))

-

Lydia strutted to the cafeteria, followed by her group of friends, a couple boys, and Robert. She sat down at a table and glared over at Zephyr and Sophia. Mostly Zeph though. Ugh. At least he looked miserable. Lydia sniffed before starting to eat her food, pretending not to care about anything.

-

Zephyr was a little worried about Sophia's mental state right now, but he didn't say too much. "Good luck at your game on Monday. I'm sure you and your team will do great." He said cheerfully, taking a stab at the whole kindness thing, then standing. "I'd better get to class." He said before slipping away quietly, most gazes following him out. He went straight to Science, then the other classes, and lastly basketball. Zephyr pulled on his uniform and jogged out onto the court. They got given a huge pep talk on tomorrow, practiced quite hard, and mentally prepared themselves.

Sophia was about to respond when he picked up and left. She stared blankly down at her tray before getting up and putting it away. She went back to grab her backpack and hurry off to English. She made it through the whole class without a problem then hurried to the field. She couldn't think straight, so she hoped practice would help. Coach pushed everyone to work harder. They needed to be pumped up for the home game Monday because they couldn't practice Saturday or Sunday. "Tomorrow is the last practice for some of y'all. It's before the home basketball game so y'all can watch that." Sophia nodded before swinging, the bat and ball collision forcing the thoughts of thre basketball game out of her head.

As Zephyr was practicing he dribbled the ball across the court just to be practically slammed into from the side by Robert. "Lank, sober up! If we are going to do good in the game tomorrow we need a temporary truce, if you will, so stop acting like an idiot and play along!" Zephyr hissed, more comments coming to mind but none surfacing. Robert glared at him for a moment before moving away. Zeph hoped that was a rough okay. He threw another hoop before gesturing the players over. "Okay everyone. First game of the season tomorrow. Think of it as a warm up. Don't worry about winning or losing. Try your best, don't mess around, but roll with the punches. We got this." He stated firmly, looking at each person before walking off. The coach dismissed them right afterward. He changed out of his basketball uniform and sucked in a slow breath.

Sophia ran to the first base, charging through it and slowing down. She walked back to the base and got ready to run. When she pitcher threw the ball, Soph took off like a bullet. The batter his an air ball and Sophia froze. The outfielder caught it and she ran back to first just in time. Coach called game a few plays later when her feet hit the home plate. "Good practice game. Play this good during the season and we have this in the bag!" Coach said as the girls filed into the locker room. "I think I'm going to leave" she ventured out. "Thank you Coach... for everything. See you tomorrow" the two smiled at each other before Sophia made her way to the gym. She climbed up the bleachers, dropping her bags lightly against the seats. She sat down and glanced around for a minute before pulling out her painting she had done that day. She hadn't had time to draw on it like she wanted, so she did that now. She drew small flowers on the ground, each one bigger the closer to the bottom of the page it was.

Zephyr went back out on court after he changed, absent-mindedly shooting a few hoops as he thought. Game tomorrow. Prom next day. Softball game the day after that, which he definitely wanted to watch- to him, softball was fascinating. So different from basketball in so many ways. His brain was running laps, but he quickly noticed Sophia in the stands- practice must be completely over. Zephyr put the basketball away and walked up there. "That's a really good drawing." He commented quietly.

"Oh. Hey. It's nothing" Sophia quickly out it and hee pencils away. "Are you ready for the game tomorrow? I heard about half of the school is planning to come. " no one had even heard that there was a softball game after prom, and she didn't expect many people to show up.