"Dude, why aren't you hanging out with us anymore? You always seem to be somewhere else when we ask you," my best friend Jason says as he shoots the ball into the basket, but it bounces off of the edge of the rim.

I catch the ball and make a shot attempt and it swishes in. "Because I'm trying to focus on my studies?" I answer as grab the ball again and shoot it.

He stops shooting and stands there with the basketball under his arm. "Grades? Come on, Will. Those aren't as important as trying to win another CIF title. If this is going to affect on winning another title, then you shouldn't be focusing on your studies."

His remark causes me to shoot the ball at a wrong trajectory and it hits the backboard instead of going into the basket. "You know how my parents are. I barely got passed last year and they were almost barking at me. And this year, it's junior year: the most important year of our high school life, and when prestigious colleges see that I can win CIF titles and get excellent grades, then they'll automatically want me." I chase after the ball.

Jason snorts. "If you can win 3 CIF titles, then that's already a sign that they want you. Colleges already know that you're outstanding if you win that many." He's right. I am just making up excuses at this point. "And plus, how are you focusing on your studies? By studying a butt-ton at home?"

"No. I found a tutor at school," I say flatly as I shoot the ball again, but it misses again.

Jason notices that I missed three shot attempts and his eyebrows are furrowed. "Hold up. Stop shooting."

I catch the ball and face him. "What?"

His blue eyes are filled with confusion. "With who?"

"It's none of your business on who my tutor is." I go back to shooting the ball but continue to miss the basket. A feeling of irritation starts to build up inside of me.

"It is my business to know if you're missing five shots in a row, Will. You never do that unless if it's something important or it's bothering you," he presses.

I then grab the ball and pound it onto the floorboards beneath us. "Ashley. That's who," I finally reply as I chuck the basketball to the opposite side of the basket. It hits the backboard but not the basket and it slowly rolls back to me.

"Her?"

"Yeah, and what about it?"

"Ashley never talks to you and you barely know her, dude. Angela's a tutor. Why didn't you go with her?" Angela. A friend of Jason's and a girl that can't stop hitting on me.

"No. Do you know what happens if I go with Angela? Instead of her helping me, she's going to start thinking that it's a date and I'm not in the mood for that."

"Yeah, but Angela's smart."

"And Ashley's one of the top students in our grade. Why not take the opportunity?" The basketball finally rolls back to me and I pick it up. "And Ash is pretty cool if you really get to know her."

"She's like a ghost. Nobody even notices her," Jason points out as he walks toward me.

I start dribbling the ball. "Your point?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Why are you being so defensive? I was just asking some questions. That's all."

I stop dribbling it and I glare at him. "Because I'm sick and tired of all of you trying to make assumptions about something you don't even know. Yeah, nobody notices her. So what? Maybe she likes it that way. And she probably has a good reason why. It's because she doesn't want all that drama that you and I have to deal with. This is the reason why I have to go ask Ash for tutoring because I am fed up with all this drama and I need to catch up on my work!"

I realize that I am panting as I am at a loss for air. Jason's eyes widen as I am done arguing. "Look, Will. I'm just trying to look out for you. Sometimes the quietest people have the loudest secrets and you may never know what's coming. I mean, she came into this school not too long ago. You barely know her."

And again, he's right. "But I can see when someone has bad intentions and when they don't. I've experienced it, dude," I finally respond.

He turns silent for a couple of more seconds. "I just don't want you to go down the wrong path again. Like last time."

I gulp as I process what he is saying. "I'm just going to Ashley for help. That's all. Nothing else."

"You may never know. Human hearts can change whenever you don't want to and it sucks." Just like what Bethany Lisburn did to me a year ago. It still gives me nightmares to this day. How could I be so naive into thinking that she loved me? We were only sophomores back then and when I first came to Grandview High.

My heart wretches for a second. I gave her everything I had, even my heart. But all she saw in me was the fact that my family was rich and that I was nothing more than just her bank account. Jason was the first to point it out to me and before I knew it, Bethany was cheating on me with some other guy that I didn't even know existed.

Later, she took all my money and left me to rot in my own tears. Thankfully, my family ended up understanding what the situation was but still scolded me for being too naive. But from then on out, I have closed my heart to every girl out there that tried to hit on or flirt with me. The costs just outweigh the benefits now.

"I know," I answer as I start shooting the ball. "It does suck."