Mark

"It's a date."

It most definitely wasn't a date. It was me doing whatever I needed to do in order for him to get the memo and leave me alone.

I had to work at the grocery store near my house on Saturday. So, as I was getting ready, I heard my phone go off.

"Who could that be?" I asked myself. The only person who texted me regularly was my mom, but I didn't think she'd text me when she could just yell for me since it was her day off. Maybe it was my brother. I checked the number and it definitely wasn't my mom nor was it my brother. This number was one I had never seen before. But once I read the message, I knew exactly who it was.

From: Unknown Number
We still on for later Marky?
Sent: 1:50 p.m.

To: Unknown Number
Dont call me that. My name is Mark.
Sent: 1:51

From Unknown Number
Too late I already did. And plus just mark is boring.

Sent: 1:52

To: Unknown Number
Well sorry my name bores you
Sent: 1:54

From: Unknown Number
Whatever. im still gonna call you marky. Anyway, you gonna answer my question or not?
Sent: 1:55

To: Unknown Number
If I want you to leave me alone yeah. I have work until 3:30 but ill just bring some clothes to change into and meet you there
Sent: 1:56

From: Unknown Number
Sounds good. The basketball court we play at is only a few blocks away from the grocery store. Dont get lost
Sent: 1:57

To: Unknown Number
I work there so i dont think that will happen
Sent: 1:58

From: Unknown Number
You never know ;) 
Sent: 1:59

I scoffed in annoyance and then looked at the time and saw that I was going to be late if waited another second. I ran down the stairs, yelled bye to my mom, and out the door to work I went. I finished work a few hours later and got changed in the bathroom at the store. I was just grabbing my stuff and clock out when I heard saw someone come into my line out of the corner of my eye. I sighed impatiently, thinking about how convenient the timing was. I walked up behind the counter without looking to see who the customer was.

He was paying for a few random things with cash so, still without looking up, I took the money he was holding out. I opened the cash register and counted how much change I owed him. I waited for his receipt to finish printing and handed it to him along with his change.

"Five dollars and seventy-six cents is your change. Have a nice--" This was the second time I was cut off by Jinyoung's presence. I smiled and automatically began to feel my face turn red in embarrassment. 

"I was wondering when you'd notice me," he said, laughing and taking the change from me.

"Sorry," I said, rubbing my neck. "I usually do, it's just I'm kind of in a rush so I thought that maybe if I didn't look up it would save time. It was a stupid thought. Sorry."

"No, it's fine. Where is it that you need to be?" he said as he put his change back in his wallet.

"Oh, just the basketball court down a few blocks. I'm meeting some friends there." Did I seriously just categorize Jackson as my friend? I must have really sounded like an idiot.

"I can give you a lift if you want. That way you'll get there faster," he offered.

"No, it's fine. I don't want to be a burden," I replied.

"No, you won't be. Just think of it as an apology for almost hitting you with my car," he said, laughing a little. I laughed too, remembering that like it was yesterday. 

"Alright. Sounds cool,"I finally agreed.

"Good. It's just over here," he said, motioning his head towards his black car. I closed the cash register and stopped to clock out before I grabbed my bag before following after him. He unlocked it and opened the passenger's side door  for me. "After you," he said, smiling that flustering smile again.

I got in and looked around. He had a really nice car, one I could only dream of having. It had leather seats and interior that matched the color of the paint. The steering wheel cover was the only colored thing on the whole car, which was a dark orange color. He saw me looking at it when he got in and said, "It needed at least a little color." 

I laughed and nodded in agreement. He put the car in reverse and started to back out. Then, putting the car in drive, he started towards the basketball court. We got there in less than five minutes and I saw Jackson, Yugyeom, Bam Bam, and Youngjae already playing a game. Jinyoung stopped the car and looked out my window, too.

"I'm guessing those are the guys you are supposed to meet?" he asked.

"Yeah. That's them." I said, feeling a sudden wave of dread come over me. "You want to come play too? I'm sure they'd be cool with it," I asked, hoping he'd say yes so at least one person I didn't mind would be there.

"No, I'll pass. I have to go finish unpacking--still," he explained with a chuckle. "Maybe next time, though." 

"Okay. Well, I guess I'll see you later," I said opening the car door.

"You bet," he said with a smile and then drove away.

Okay, so maybe I was beginning to abandon the whole wallflower thing. 

Jackson

Youngjae, Yugyeom, Bam Bam, and I decided to play a quick game before Mark got there. We were almost done with it when I saw a black car pull up in front of the fence that surrounded the basketball court.

"Is that him?" Yugyeom asked.

"Yeah. But I don't know who is with him," I replied, beginning to feel kind of worried.

"Who cares who it is? We get another player," I heard Bam Bam comment. I turned around and glared at him. I cared--way more than I should have.

I finally saw Mark get out of the car. He watched the car as it drove for awhile, then walked towards the opening in the gate. I tried to stop wondering who drove him here.

"Well if it isn't the one and only Marky," I said, trying to sound like myself.

"For the second time, don't call me that," he said, already sounding annoyed. I just smirked and he rolled his eyes.

"You remember everyone, right?" I asked changing the subject.

"Yeah," he said, nodding to them as if he was saying hello. They nodded back.

Just as we were getting ready to divide up teams, we all turned our heads as another car pulled up in front of the court. It was a silver car with the top back since it was a nice day out. The driver had on a muscle shirt and sun glasses. He parked the car and waved at us. As soon as he did this, I knew it who it was.

"Jaebum!" I yelled. "Hey, man. Did you get a new car again?"

"Maybe," he yelled back with a shrug. "I was getting sick of looking at red."

"Privileged bastard." I laughed and patted his back when he walked onto the court.

"Youngjae texted me and said you were gonna be here so I thought I'd come show you how to play basketball," he explained. I looked at Youngjae and he started to get nervous, his face turning a faint shade of red.

"So...that's what you do on your phone all of the time. Text Jaebum," I said. 

"Of course, he does. He certainly wouldn't be texting you s," Jaebum said as he wrapped an arm around Youngjae's neck, which only made him blush more. I just laughed. 

"Alright, enough ing around. Let's go," Bam Bam said. Then, we all gathered on the court and began to play.

Mark

As much as I hated to admit it, the basketball game was a lot of fun. It had been so long since I had people who genuinely wanted to hang out with me that I guess I forgot what fun it could be. I was on a team with Bam Bam and Jackson while Yugyeom, Youngjae, and this guy named Jaebum made another team. They put up a good fight, but our team ended up with the victory. 

"You guys had to have cheated," Jaebum said, unable to accept his defeat. 

"Yeah right. What you saw out there was nothing but skill," Jackson replied. "With a hint of awesomeness because I was on the team." 

"If by awesomeness you mean hogging the ball the whole time, then you'd be right," I added. Jackson turned around to look at me  as the others laughed, smiling because he knew I was right.

"He does have a point," Bam Bam began to say still shooting the ball behind me. "You could have passed it around more."

"Alright, alright. I get it. So maybe I'm a little bit of a ball hog," he admitted with his hands in the air. "But we won anyway, so you s are welcome." We laughed.

 "I'm hungry. Let's go eat," Bam Bam said, changing the subject.

"I say pizza," Yugyeom suggested. 

"Sounds good to me. As long as Jaebum buys," Jackson said, starting to run to his car.

"Why do I always have to buy?" he asked in a sort of whiny tone.

"Because you just bought your third car this year, so clearly you have the funs," Jackson said. "We're just poor high school students." Jaebum just rolled his eyes and cracked a smile. "Come on, Marky. You can ride with the ball hog."  He shouted from the driver's side. I laughed, not even caring that he called me Marky.

Maybe getting closer to Jackson wouldn't be so bad after all.

########

After pizza, we departed from Jaebum and Youngjae and then Jackson dropped off Yugyeom and Bam Bam. The drive to my house was silent, with only  the faintest sound of a cooling breeze swirling through the night sky until Jackson started talking.

"So, was actually being sociable fun?" I looked at him and he was smiling, but still paying attention to the road.

"If you must know, yeah it was. I honestly had much more fun than I thought I would," I replied as he parked the car in front of my house. 

"Well, I guess this is it. See you at school....oh wait, I forgot," he said. 

"Forgot what?" I said as I was taking off my seat belt.

"Our thing. I guess I actually have to start avoiding you, huh?" I turned away from his face, surprised he still cared about that. I didn't know what to say. I could have agreed, but what if I found myself wanting to hang out with him more? Then I'd have to put my pride aside and approach him first and I didn't think I could do that.

"Well, maybe not avoid me entirely," I said shyly, looking down at my lap. I felt his eyes move to me and then I looked at him. "Just don't be too obnoxious, okay?"

"What? I thought you wanted me to leave alone," he said, sounding rather confused.

"I will if you don't just agree and shut up," I said. A smile grew on his face and he laughed as he glanced away for a moment. 

"I'll do my best," he said, smiling at me. I tried to push my smile down, but a small corner grin escaped before I got out of the car. "See ya," I said before I shut the door. He honked as he drove off and I waited until his car disappeared to go inside where my mom was sitting on the chair, looking impatiently angry. 

"Where were you? I thought something happened. I sent a million texts and called a million times," she said, now standing up. I my phone and saw she was right. 

"Oh, I must of had my phone on silent," I said calmly. "I was out with some guys from school. You know being sociable and not locking myself in my room," I said hoping she'd let me go with a warning.

"I'm glad you are making friends, Mark, I am," she said with a relieved sigh, "but you know the rules. If I text you, text back. If anything were to happen to you when I wasn't around--"

"Mom, calm down," I said, walking closer to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Nothing has happened in months. I'm fine. I know the signs and I'd call 911 before anything happened."

She just looked at me, letting go of another sigh. "Next time, answer me," she said, poking her finger into my chest.

"I will. I'm sorry." I smiled, making her smile back a little instantly. I went up to my room after that and started to think about the day's events. I smiled. Maybe things could be different.