Page 92 of Out of Bounds

RYAN:IT IS

An image popped up in our messages and I had to squint to read it. It was a list of notifications. An arrow pointed at the top one.

KASSIE:thats so weird because it looks like ur stalking me

I could physically feel my mouth dry in real-time. Out of everything I could’ve done, I accidentally liked a post from two years ago. But how did she know it was me? Dumbfounded, I glanced back and forth between my phone and the projector.

God fucking dammit.

"Now, with our next game, they caught on to what we were doing too quickly," Coach Lawson thundered. "Right, Cross?"

"What?"

"We were too open about our plans. It’s how they were able to get so close in the third quarter."

"Uh…" I nodded. "Yeah."

"We don’t need anybody seeing our cards before we play them." Coach Lawson took off his Romans hat and thumped it to the desk. "Otherwise, we might as well abandon the Birchwood Conference."

You’re fucking telling me.

I typed up a quick message and deleted it. With a sigh, I knew I couldn’t slip out of this one, and the more I tried to dig myself out, the funnier it’d be to Kassie.

RYAN:HOW DID YOU KNOW IT WAS ME

The next image appeared on the phone and I swore under my breath. When I picked out a username and a profile picture, I didn’t think Kassie wouldseethem. The name, Ryan, with a bunch of fours, and the picture was me, sitting in my car.

Goddammit.

What the hell was I supposed to say? While the coaches put together a game plan on the board for the KYU game, I was putting together one of my own. Nothing worked. She could see right through me and I was stupid to think otherwise.

My phone pinged again.

Here it comes.

She was never going to let me live this down.

But the notification wasn’t another message from Kassie. It was an alert that I had a new follower. I frowned, double-clicking it. The account was Kassie’s.

I stared down at it.

Everyone in the room delved into a deep discussion about our next game’s offense strategy but it was hard to concentrate, especially when the next two messages came through.

KASSIE:there

KASSIE:isnt this easier ball dribbler?

I couldn’t bite back the grin. I shifted back in my seat, grinning hard. All the exhaustion was gone. If they wanted, I could’ve jogged a lap around the field, twice over.

Kassie followed me back. I didn’t have to hide scrolling through her accounts anymore.

RYAN:YEAH

RYAN:THIS IS BETTER

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Kassie

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