Marcus wasn't quite sure why, but the next day he found himself arriving early to school (an amazing feat in itself). After he stuck his backpack in his own locker, he decided to head over to the area where he thought Li's locker would be. Freshmen were usually relegated to the second story of the west wing of the school for their locker assignments, where most of the classes they would take (Biology, Geometry, etc.) were held. This was pretty much the furthest possible point from Marcus's locker, and took him a good ten minutes to walk, even with the halls mostly empty.
As he got closer, Marcus kept his eyes open for the spiky black shock of hair atop a head sticking a good foot and a half above the others. He figured Li would be easy enough to spot, but after walking up and down the hallway for several minutes, with nervous freshmen looking up at the super-tall senior in their midst, he couldn't find him. Maybe I should check the library, he thought to himself.
He stopped in the middle of the hallway. Wait a minute, he thought. Why did I just think that Li would be in the library? For that matter, why would I assume that he would get to school early in the first place. Marcus started to feel guilty, realizing that he’d assumed that since Li was Asian, he’d automatically be a model student who was always studying (well, at least when he wasn't playing basketball). It was a dumb assumption to make, he realized, and he began to turn around, ready to get out of there and back where he belonged. As he did so, though, he smacked right into Li, who had just walked up behind him.
“Oof,” Li grunted as he was knocked backward. He may have been an inch or two taller than Marcus, but the older boy still outweighed him by a good thirty or forty pounds of muscle, and being caught off-guard, he nearly fell to the ground, able to catch his footing at just the last moment.
Marcus’s eyes went wide in panic and embarrassment. “Oh, geez, Li, I'm sorry!” He reached out, placing his hand on Li’s shoulder. “Are you okay, man?” he asked, hoping that his concern sounded genuine.
The corners of Li’s mouth turned upwards in a half-smile. “Yeah,” he said, nodding. He gently rubbed his arm at the spot where Marcus had run into him, doing his best to act like nothing had happened.
“Good,” Marcus said, sighing in relief. “But I'm glad I, uh, ran into you, so to speak. Heheh.” He smacked himself in the head. What's the matter with me, he thought. Usually he didn't have a problem being cool and suave, but something about this new seven foot tall Asian kid seemed to throw him off balance. He wasn't sure if it was intimidation, or curiosity, or... infatuation? No, that can't be it, he tried to assure himself.
“Oh?” Li responded neutrally, looking at Marcus straight in the eye.
“Uh, yeah,” Marcus mumbled. “I mean, after I got home from tryouts yesterday, I was thinking. If you’ve only been playing basketball for a few months, then there are probably some things I can show you that might help you improve your game. You know, if you’re interested.”
Li gave him a hesitating look, and Marcus immediately began to regret asking him. “Well...” the freshman said, thinking it over.
“Never mind,” Marcus said, starting to turn around. “I guess it's a dumb idea, right? I mean, we’re probably going to be competing for the same starting spot. You probably think I want to sabotage you or something."
Feeling his cheeks begin to blush, Marcus was caught off-guard when he heard Li start to laugh. Whirling back around, he saw a huge grin spread across Li's face, one bigger than he would have ever expected from the normally stoic boy.
"No, no, Marcus!" Li said, shaking his head and still smiling. "I think it's a great idea! I just didn't want to come off too eager, I guess." He took his hand and ran it through his hair, still grinning, and for a moment Marcus thought he saw those olive cheeks turn slightly red.
"O-okay then," Marcus stammered. "When should we start? What would be good for you?"
Li shrugged. "If today after school works for you, that'll be fine with me."
"Really? That soon?" Marcus was taken slightly aback, but Li simply nodded. "All right. Today it is." He finally grinned back, and began to feel a lot better about bringing this up. "I guess I won't see you until then, right? I mean, not that I'd mind seeing you before then, but we're not in any classes together, and our lunch is scheduled at different times, and my locker is all the way--" Marcus stopped himself mid-sentence, realizing he was starting to babble.
"Right. See you then, Marcus." Li smiled and then headed down the hallway.
"See ya, Li."
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