A Saint for Life

by Nicole Heck

  I lingered until almost everyone was on their way to other classes and made my way to the front of the classroom.

  “Mr. Michaels, at the beginning of the semester I usually give students one pass. I’m not sure I can give three.”

  “Please. I’ll get them to you by the next class, I promise,” I said. I’m not sure if it was because I had despair in my voice or because our basketball team would be in trouble if I didn’t have a good GPA, but he gave me a second chance.

  I took mental notes of everything I needed to get done tonight on my way to practice. I walked the longer route to kill some time.

  Walking past Ryan Hall, a particular window with a flag hanging on the wall inside stuck out to me. That room was my brother’s dorm room for a few short days. James was killed in a tragic accident his first week here. It was my decision to honor his memory and go to school here. I wanted to make my brother proud. I don’t think he would be too happy if he knew I was slacking off in my last semester.

  As I entered into the locker room, the silence of being early let me be alone with my thoughts. I took out my practice gear and sat down on the bench.

  Placing my muddy sneakers at the bottom of my locker, my mind drifted to my run in this morning with the girl with the red cup. Someone as stunningly angelic as her was hard to forget. I couldn't shake the feeling inside of me that's telling me that we ran into each other for a reason, that it was meant to happen. She made me want to feel again and to fill the void in my life that I even didn’t realize I had. Thinking about this mystery girl was the only thing that made me forget about how much I missed having an older brother.

  Who was she?

  {3}

  Zoe

  “So did I hear you correctly, or am I delusional? Christian Michaels ran straight into you. The Christian Michaels.”

  I nodded.

  “The one you've had a crush on since freshman year. And you didn't even say a word? Are you sick?” Emily stopped in front of the arena and felt my forehead. “This is just not normal.”

  “I froze, Em. I didn't know what to do.”

  “You had such a prime opportunity to talk to him, and you blew it just like that!”

  I sighed. “Well, it doesn't matter. He stopped talking to me once he looked me in the eye.”

  “Oh, stop.”

  “What was I going to say anyway? I would have stuttered. It would have been even more embarrassing.” I hastily said back to her.

  “You are you, if that makes any sense at all.”

  “That says a lot.”

  “It does! You are amazing!”

  “I would hardly say that.”

  “You've just had bad luck in the past.”

  “Really, really bad luck.” I sighed again.

  “Well, maybe this is fate. Maybe this is the moment I have been telling you will come for a while now! Maybe he’ll see you tonight!” Emily was all fired up about her theory, that the perfect guy for me was going to come into my life this year. Tonight we were working at the basketball game. We both worked for the athletic department for our work study.

  Emily tugged at my hand. “Come on, let’s go! We're going to be late!”

  “I'm just a little nervous. What if he recognizes me, the girl who spilled her coffee all over herself? I had been crying all morning, so I looked awful too!”

  “It was his fault though. Not the crying, but you know what I mean. You should talk to him after the game today,” she suggested.

  “And say what, exactly? I don't know, Emily. Can we just stop talking about it?”

  “Okay, okay.” Emily shook her head and continued to walk.

  “He’s seen me, but he’s never noticed me. He’s never looked twice. Remember I had a class with him a few semesters ago?”

  “Yeah, and every time you saw him you got the feeling that you needed to talk to him, remember?”

  “Whatever. It’s just a stupid crush.”

  “Can I just say one thing?” Emily stopped and turned around.

  “Go ahead,” I mumbled.

  “You have been in love with him since the day you walked onto this campus. If the opportunity strikes again, please promise me you won't bail.”

  “Why?” I asked. I always wondered why she invested so much time into my love life. We were very different people when it came to feelings and relationships.

  “I just want you to see what happens. You need a good guy in your life. It doesn't hurt to try. All you have to do is say hi. One step at a time. Better you than me, anyway. You know I don’t like this kind of stuff. Having to go on dates scares me.”

  “That's true, I guess. I don't know. I'll see.” At this point I was agreeing with her to get her to drop the subject.

  We walked into the arena and our boss called us over. As we were walking over toward her, Christian ran out onto the court. My stomach sank, and I hurried to where he wouldn't see me.

  “Our social media worker came down with the flu. Would you mind being a rock star and providing the updates on the Twitter page for the game today? Emily, I am going to have you working on the concourse.” My boss finished giving directions, and I looked over at Emily. This would be one of the first games we weren’t working side by side.

  “Yeah, that’s not a problem. I can do that. The computer is set up at the tables behind the hoop, right?” I asked my boss, but the words slowly drifted out of my mouth as I watched Christian warm up on the court. Each time he ran the ball down the court, he never missed a shot. Each basket was flawless. His incredible talent overpowered everyone else out on the court, so much that even the opposing team even stopped to watch.. They stood there with anger and frightened looks upon their faces. They knew what they were up against.

  “We had to change it up today because of a blown fuse. The computer’s set up at the scorer’s table. It’s right next to the Siena bench. The thing only took us a few hours to get it all straight. Thankfully I had everything else done.” Her words went in one ear and out the other. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the court.

  “Okay, great. I will head over there in a minute.” I shrugged and noticed that Emily was smirking at me.

  “Awesome. I knew I could count on you!” she said while rushing off.

  “I was trying so hard not to LOL through that entire conversation.” Emily laughed.

  “Stop. This isn’t funny.”

  “Yes, it is. See? It’s meant to be. Now’s your time.”

  “Bye, Em.” I quietly laughed along with her. This would be my luck. My brain finally processed what she had asked me to do.

  My anxiety shot through the roof. Of all days, this was too coincidental. This means I would have to sit right next to the Siena bench. I would be front and center where Christian could see me.

  Maybe he won't remember me?

  Thoughts were running through my mind endlessly.

  He definitely won't remember me. Why would he? He never has before.

  I walked over to where she told me to go, trying my best to avoid eye contact with him. I moved my hair to the right side of my face to hide my eyes as I walked by. Luckily the game was about to start. The team lined up for the Star Spangled Banner.

  I glanced up from my computer and looked over at him only to notice that he was staring right at me. I put my head back down. Looking back up for a brief second, we held eye contact this time.

  Shit, no, look away; look away. I kept repeating to myself over and over in my head. He smiled at me. I looked down at the computer then up and to the right. When I gazed back in his direction, he was looking straight forward and not at me anymore.

  “What just happened?” I said under my breath and let out a sigh of relief. The clock ran down to the buzzer, and the crowd stood as the little girl who stood at center court started to sing the national anthem.

  I couldn't help but continue glancing at him while she sang, and I began noticing all of his attractive features in a new way. Good thing he was in the same direction
as the flag so it didn't look so obvious. With sandy blonde hair, from behind he reminded me of a young Lucas Scott from One Tree Hill. His upper body was very muscular. I could see his veins in his forearms as he stood with his back toward me, hands clasped behind him. Underneath the white and green uniform, I imagined the rest of his body was just as defined.

  I didn't even realize the national anthem had ended until I seemed to be the last one standing in the entire arena. I was in a zone admiring Christian from afar. I kept replaying the events that had occurred when he ran into me and just now when he clearly recognized me.

  He recognized me. For a moment a brief smile appeared on my face.

  {4}

  Christian

  Through the snowflakes falling from the gray sky, I found myself drifting off into a peaceful state of mind. Music played loudly in my ear, and I tried to shift my focus to the game tonight. The black pavement was now covered in a sheet of white. The snow had been accumulating for the last hour.

  As I laid my head on the window, we slowly approached the arena. I was watching the cars pass by when my eyes drifted toward two girls walking up the steps. I tried not to stare, but the girl in the back caught my attention. All of her hair was resting over her right shoulder, and she walked in a way which seemed familiar. A sudden moment of anxiousness ran through my body until she was no longer in my sights.

  Was it red cup girl? I didn’t know what else to call her. She comes to the games? She sure made a lasting imprint on me.

  *

  It was refreshing to see all of the support we had as a team as I stepped out into the arena. I looked around and bumps rose on my bare arms when I noticed that most of the fans were wearing shirts with my number on them. Each game the number of fans appeared to increase, which continued to give me more encouragement to play my absolute best.

  Running to the side of the court, I sat down and stretched with the team. Looking to my left, I continued to watch the seats in the arena fill up, and then I noticed her. The girl I saw in front of the arena—it was her.

  I couldn’t stop staring. What was she doing here? She worked for the athletic department? How haven’t I noticed her before?

  I continued to watch her make her way around the court until she found a seat right next to my coach. She said hello with a gentle smile to people who passed by. Her innocent face and radiant beauty hypnotized me. How was I supposed to play my best with her sitting right there?

  I tried to turn my mind off. I tried my best to avoid looking at her, but my eyes continued to drift in that direction. We began to line up for the U.S. National Anthem, and that’s when it happened. Our eyes locked, and everyone else in the arena disappeared. It was just the two of us in an empty arena. I was too mesmerized to look away. After she bent her head down for a few moments, I watched her slowly look back up. I smiled as our eyes met again hoping to get one in return.

  Nothing.

  Running back out onto the court after halftime, I looked up at the scoreboard and over to my coach. I played horribly during the first half. He actually asked me in the locker room if I knew how to play basketball. I was too distracted from glancing over at her, the way she looked intensely at what she was doing behind the computer and how she brushed her hair off to the right side of her face. I couldn't stop admiring everything about her. She, however, appeared to be trying her best to avoid looking at me.

  The clock ran down again. I had one last chance to make this right. I couldn't miss any more rebounds or have the ball stolen from me. I needed to wake up. I needed to stop watching her and start playing a game she couldn't help but watch. So I did. I started making shot after shot and had no fouls. I was on fire. The Monmouth players couldn't keep up. Heck, my team couldn't even keep up with me.

  At the buzzer, the adrenaline continued to rush through my body. I ran to my other teammates and pumped my fists in the air toward the crowd. Another win. Just as I was about to head into the locker room, a reporter came over to interview me.

  “Wow, what a change of pace for you from the first half to the second! Can you elaborate to us on what happened?”

  Taking a deep breath and wiping the sweat from my forehead, I looked over toward the girl and back at the reporter. Hands on my hips, I quickly had to think of a response.

  “Well, we all have these days. My head just wasn’t in the game during the first half. New semester, new classes, you know how that goes. But I owe a lot of my success to—” I tried to grab someone to help me escape from the interview, but the reporter continued, and no one was left. There was no way to get out of this now.

  “Congratulations, by the way, on scoring your career high of fifty-three points! How do you do it? How do you make such a big mental switch?”

  “You know, I’m going to tell you the same thing I told my kids at camp this summer. You have to want to win, and that has to be the only thing you want. If you for a second place your mind on something other than the game or playing your best, you’ll lose it. Your time on the court is to be the best, play the best, work as a team, and bring that team to a win. You have the rest of the day to think about other things.”

  “Thanks for talking with us, Christian, and congratulations again!” The reporter closed when he noticed that my coach was waving me down to bring me into the locker room. Why couldn’t he have waved me down sooner?

  Once the last person entered the locker room, Coach Higgins started off with the same sentence after a win,

  “Good job, guys. Another W is in the books. However…”

  He continued to rip us apart for the mistakes we made, mostly my mistakes. He only mentioned once that I hit my career high. He was more focused on putting attention on how I needed to play more aggressively. Tomorrow morning we would hear all of this over again as we watched the game on film. I couldn’t wait to watch how badly I played the first half.

  The entire time he was ranting, all I could think about was getting back out into the arena and finding her.

  As more time passed, I grew even more impatient. My legs were bouncing, my hands were clenched, and my eyes were glued on the door. I couldn't listen to him anymore, but I couldn't leave either.

  I started to plan how I would make my escape as soon as he finished lecturing us. When he let us go, I did the exact opposite. My eyes remained glued to the door and my hands were now dripping with sweat. I was frozen. What would I even say to her?

  “Still in shock about breaking the record? I would be too!” I heard the voice but chose to ignore it. Right now, I wasn’t interested in carrying on a conversation with anyone except for one person.

  Looking up at the clock, I noticed the time. Jumping up out of my seat and rushing toward the door, I didn’t realize how much time I had spent debating if I should go talk to her or not. Now I may not even have a chance.

  I didn't see her anywhere. The only people that were left in the arena were the cleaning crew and a few other workers. Disappointment filled me. The nerves disappeared since I had no reason to be nervous anymore. It wasn't until I turned around to head back toward the locker room that I noticed them.

  Two girls were walking up the stairs toward the exit. I didn't even realize what I was doing until I had already yelled to get their attention.

  “Excuse me,” my voice carried throughout the empty arena. The girls stopped and turned around on instinct. Pointing to themselves, they wanted to confirm that I was indeed trying to get their attention. They seemed to be pretty shocked when I started running up the stairs toward them. I met the giggling girls halfway.

  “Hi. Sorry if you were leaving, but I have a question. This may seem weird, so…well, I guess I’ll just ask.” Both of them continued to stare at me with surprised and confused looks on their faces. “Do either of you know what the girl's name was, the one who was sitting right next to the bench?” I pointed in the direction in which she was sitting earlier. “She was wearing a yellow sweater, long brown—”

  Before I could finish,
one of the girls interrupted me.

  “Yes! I know her. Why do you ask?” She was inquisitive, and based on the tone of her voice, I could tell she not only knew her, but she was close to her.

  “I have a question I need to ask her but never got a chance to tonight. Do you have her number by any chance? We have a class together, and it’s about homework,” I lied. I didn’t want to seem like a creep.

  The other girl didn't hesitate. “Ah, a class together. I see. Her name is Zoe, and here’s her number,” she said enthusiastically while reaching for her phone. It was obvious she knew I was lying.

  “Thanks!” After entering her number in my phone, I almost tripped trying to back away down the stairs.

  About to click onto a new message, I froze again. Just do it, I told myself. Just do it. I was so nervous, but why?

  The pit in my stomach only grew deeper as soon as I pressed “send.”

  Who was this girl, and why was she doing this to me? Why did she make me feel this way?

  {5}

  Zoe

  At the sound of the buzzer, I quickly picked up my things so I could make my escape. Although the game wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated it would be, Christian caught me staring at him. My fast and abrupt exit allowed for me to leave the area without any confrontation from him.

  Walking quickly up the stairs, I found my way to the concourse. As I weaved in and out of the crowd of fans leaving, all of their voices filled my head. I watched as the little girl next to me tugged at her father's hand and asked him if she was going to be able to get Christian Michaels’ autograph. The teenage boys who passed me talked about how they wish they had skill like him. I was running, but I couldn't escape.