Basketball is great.

So long as you aren't competing against an absolute asshole and his team of bitches.

And if you're smart enough to watch your back around him.

I did compete against him, and I didn't watch my back.

Now, I'm in the nurse's office with an aching arm, adrenaline diminished. It's not the bearable ache either. It's the kind that makes you want to rip your bones out and your head spin.

The school nurse, Matthew Zinnia, kneels, carefully applying a hard cast to my arm.

"This is the fourth time this week you've been here," he says.

I wipe my nose with my free arm. "So?"

He looks up at me briefly. "Kids don't get bruised noses randomly."

"I do."

He sighs. "And every time I ask about your home life---"

"There's nothing to talk about. Everything's fine, so quit worrying," I say, and wince when he bumps my arm.

"Sorry," he says.

There's a stretch of uncomfortable silence while he finishes my cast.

He stands and dusts his hands off. "You'll have to wear that for a good eight-to-nine weeks. Knowing you, probably nine."

I look at him. "Wait. You mean I won't be able to play for two months?" That would only leave a month for tournament preparations.

"That's just how long you'll have the cast. It could take half a year to heal completely."

"Half a year?!" I stand. "I can't wait that long. My tournament---"

"Will have to wait," Matthew says, turning back to me. "You won't be doing anything with that arm. You broke it, for God's sake."

I groan and rake a hand through my hair. This won't do. If I'm not there, my team will have to resign.

Matthew pats my shoulders. "Sorry, son. That's just the way things go."

"Yeah, when your opposing team plays dirty," I mutter under my breath.

The coach might not have caught it, but I know Juniper tripped me in that court.

"So, you know who did this? Or did you just fall?" Matthew asks. He puts a couple bottles in the cabinet.

I scowl and wipe my nose again. "No. I just fell."

Matthew sighs again. "I was hoping you'd tell the truth this time. Get on home. Your mom'll be worried."

If she's sober, I thought.

"Bye." I do a peace sign and leave.

I walk down the hallway, my arm still aching like hell. Voices hit my ears and I duck behind the wall.

"I mean, come on, really?"

My basketball team. I go to stand, but the next sentence stops me in my tracks.

"I don't even know why they let that Italian scum be the captain of our team anyway."

The others laugh.

"Alright, guys, that's enough." Evan. "You know how seriously this school takes discrimination."

Their voices fade into the distance.

My breathing picks up and I can feel tears prick my eyes. Evan was the one I trusted, and he's betrayed me.

I clench my teeth and stand. I do the only thing I've ever known. I ran.

Ran to my favorite spot in the world.

When I arrive at the bridge, I nearly scream.

The person waiting for me turns out to be the person I want to see the least. Juniper.

I cross my arm on the rail, the other pressed to my torse with a sling. At this time, the water glows orange and pink from the sky.

"Hey."

I scowl at Juniper. "What?"

He rubs his neck with a shy look, eyes downcast. "I'm sorry."

I turn away. I really don't know what to say to that. Juniper has never apologized to me. For anything.

He crosses his arms on the rail and stares out at the water, too. "You have every right to hate me. I pretty much broke your arm. But it was an accident. So, I'm sorry."

I hate how ready I am to forgive him. "It'll heal."

He smiles at me, but it almost looks pitying. "Truly nothing fazes you, does it?"

"What do you care? Even if it did faze me, which it doesn't, you shouldn't care." I really don't like that smile. It pisses me off.

He bumps my shoulder with his. "We should hang out more. Outside of the court."

I scowl and wipe my nose. "Why would we do that? That just makes things complicated."

Juniper plays with his hands. "'Cause you're a good kid. And we have a common interest."

"A common interest where we oppose each other."

He chuckles. "Yeah, I guess. But that's only for this tournament. Then we move on."

I stare hard at the water in an attempt to not look at Juniper. "My teammates hate me."

To be honest, that wasn't intentional. I really didn't mean to say that.

Juniper turns his body to face me. "Why is that?"

I blink against the stupid pricks in my eyes. "I don't even know. All I know is they called me Italian scum."

"Xenophobia," Juniper mutters, tone dripping with disgust. He puts his hand on my shoulder and I wince a little. "Don't let those assholes get you down. I think it's awesome that you're Italian."

I can't help the laugh that escapes my throat. "You make it sound like it's a choice."

"Even if it was, I'd still think you're awesome," he says.

I frown, remembering I'm supposed to be mad at him. "Well, I think you might be the only one."

"Hey, Martin."

I look at him. "Hm?"

"I. . .um, haha. . ." he trails off, eyes on the water and hand on the back of his neck. "This is awkward. Um, I've got a secret."

I sigh and roll my eyes. "Get on with it, then."

He hesitates a moment. "You can't tell anyone. Absolutely no one. But I'm. . .not into girls.

I stare at him, taken aback. "You?"

He nods, then buries his face in his hands, leaning against the railing.

I start laughing. It's not really something I can stop, and it quickly becomes hysterical. I slide down the railing and bury my hand in my hair.

"Oh, my god."

He sits next to me. "I know. It was like that for me for a long while. Slowly I started to accept it."

My hands are shaking in a way I really don't like, and my face just won't stop smiling.

"Juniper. . .Oh my god."

I leave my hand in my hair, hoping it will hide my face well. "Me either."

He looks at me. "Either what?"

"I don't either."

He frowns, confused. Then he gasps and puts his hand to his mouth. "You don't either! Oh god."

"Jun!"

The new voice makes both of us jump.

Yena, point guard of Juniper's team, waves at us. "What're you doing over there?"

Juniper stands. "Just, uh, talking. To Martin."

Yena walks over and helps me to my feet. "Nice to officially meet you. Juniper talks---"

"About frogs a lot," says Ryan, the power forward of the team. "It's annoying."

Yena frowns. "Well, yeah, but he also---"

"Yena, I need help," Ryan says.

She raises her brows. "Get a therapist."

"Guys." Juniper taps his foot. "Quit. Meet Martin. Martin, my basketball team."

I shake all their hands, mentally taking in their physical strengths and weaknesses. Ryan is solidly built, but a little clumsy. Yena's agile and strong. Carson and Sarah, twins and small forward and shooting guard, are both agile, but not very strong.

"Nice to meet you," I mumble, stuffing my hand in my pocket. "I'm Martin."

"We know," Yena says. "Juniper only---"

Juniper sticks duct tape to her mouth. "Shut up."

She flips him off and peels the tape away.

Then she pulls him to the side and whispers to him.

Meanwhile, Carson and Sarah inspect my cast.

"Hmm," Sarah hums.

"It needs a signature," Carson says. "It's too blank."

"Agreed," says Sarah.

They each whip out a rainbow sharpie.

I laugh, a startling sound. "What're you going to do with. . .that?"

They sign my cast with their names, then step back and nod, pleased with their work. They high-five.

Then the entire team takes turns signing it.

Yena writes hers in cursive, then puts the word 'boobs' next to it.

Ryan writes his in chunky text.

Then Juniper holds the pen to me, as if to ask.

I nod and he signs his. It is by far the prettiest. It's written with rainbow (very fitting) and in pretty letters that have plants drawn on them.

"Thank you," I say to all of them.

Juniper rubs the back of his neck. "Anytime."

The others wave and leave.

"I'll catch up!" Juniper calls to them. Then turns to me. "Hey."

He hands me a letter, then runs off to catch his team.

I stare after them. Then stuff the letter in my pocket and go home.

I stare intensely at the letter on my desk. To open or not to open is the question.

Finally, after a good fifteen minutes, I cave.

I grab the letter and open it.

It reads as follows:

"Hey, Martin."

"I'm not great at this, so I'll make it as short and non-cringe as possible."

"I've wanted to befriend you for as long as I can remember."

"I know I have no right to assume you want me to be your friend, but I would really enjoy being your friend."

"With love and a ridiculous amount of overthinking, Juniper."

"P. S I'll list my number below, if you're interested."

I can't help the smile that attacks my lips. "That idiot."

Something in me wants so bad to accept his offer. And I can't refuse that feeling.

Right now, however, I just want to shower and go to sleep.

The shower is. . .challenging, to say the least. You wouldn't think washing your hair with one hand is that hard. It is. Absolutely.

I'm fairly certain my hair's still soapy when I get out and dry off. That's also very challenging.

Even getting dressed pisses me off.

Finally, I lay in my bed, the sheets messed up and my wet hair soaking the pillow.

I scroll my phone for a minute, then remember the letter. I message him before I can think twice.

Then I set my phone aside and curl into myself.

Sleep brings with it a variety of nightmares. From endless corn fields to dark rooms, to hands grabbing at me. I dream of it all, and wake gasping in a cold sweat.

There's a message notification on my screen when I open my phone. It's from Juniper.

[Hi. Glad you took my offer. I was really nervous lol]

Two hours ago.

[Juniper?] I text. [You awake?]

[What's up?]

I'm incredibly relieved and terrified when he replies so quickly.

What do I say?

Thankfully, Juniper saves me.

[Can't sleep?]

[Yeah.] I text back. [Can I. . .call you?]

He texts a thumbs-up emoji, so I call him.

R-r-ring. . .

"Hello?" Juniper says. "Are you there?"

"Mmm," I hum weakly.

He sighs. "So, what's wrong?"

I hesitate a moment. "You wouldn't believe me if I said nothing, would you?"

A chuckle. "No. I wouldn't."

I smile a little. "I didn't think so. I just. . .had some nightmares. I'm fine now though."

My voice wavers at the end, and I hate it.

"Martin." He pauses a moment. "Come over to my place. Stay the night."

I laugh, startled. "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because my parents---" I start.

"Won't know it 'til it's too late," Juniper says. "Just come find me. I'll take care of you."

I sigh. His sincerity is endearing. "Fine. Let me pack some clothes and I'll be over."

"No need. I'll lend you mine," Juniper says.

"'Kay," I say. "Be over in a minute. Send me your address."

Turns out Juniper lives pretty close to me. His house is a mere ten minutes down the street.

When I get there, he's waiting at the door.

"Come in, my good sir," he whispers, and sweeps his arm toward the inside of the house.

I smile and walk in. "You're so silly."

"You know it," he says with a wink.

He leads me straight to his bedroom. I stand awkwardly in the middle of the floor, unsure of what to do.

"You can lay in the bed, you know," he says, closing the door. "I don't mind."

I tip one side of my mouth down. "You sure? I don't want to impede."

He gently takes my unbroken arm by the elbow. "It's fine. I'm sure."

So, I kick my shoes off and climb into his bed. The sheets smell like him, and I both love and hate how much I like it.

He brushes my hair away from my ear. "I'll be right back."

I breathe in deeply, the hairs on the back of my neck rising as his warm breath sweeps over my cheek and ear. "Okay."

He leaves and suddenly, I'm cold. I throw his covers over me.

I wait a good minute, then the door clicks open and the tension in my body fades.

He lays next to me.

"Jun, is this okay?" I ask.

"Jun?" he says. "That's my nickname."

I blush a little. "Yeah, I know."

"Yes, it's okay," he whispers into my hair. "I. . .I love you."

He says the last part even softer than the first.

"Mmm," I hum, sleep creeping into my veins. "Wait. What?"

He wraps his arms around me. "I love you."

Suddenly, I'm awake.

"Like, in love in love?" I ask, confused and somewhat panicked.

He chuckles nervously. "Mmm, yup."

I grab his arm. "Kiss me."

Juniper looks up. "What?"

"Kiss me!"

He leans in. "You sure?"

My hand moves up his arm and to the back of his head. "Yeah."