"Sh*t!" Jasmine said, panicked and scared.
"What?! What happened?!" Mia asked quickly, alarmed.
"Luxe is coming this way!" Jasmine almost froze.
"You just got us both killed, Jasmine!" Mia whispered sharply.
Luxe walked up to them with her two friends. Jasmine and Mia were a bit scared. Mia wasn't as scared as Jasmine because Mia was an extrovert and didn't usually fear people. But even she was feeling a bit nervous this time, knowing she wouldn't be able to say much here. Jasmine, on the other hand, was clearly uncomfortable—she was really shy and introverted, and being around new people made her even more anxious.
"Hey losers," Luxe said with a sharp tone, full of attitude and a little bit of anger. "Pretty intense match going on, huh?"
Mia tried to respond with some confidence. "Yeah, it's a good match… right, Jasmine?" she said, but her voice betrayed a bit of nervousness.
"Huh?" Jasmine, startled, replied softly, "Yeah… it's a good match."
"It really is a good game," Mia added again, a little more quietly.
After that, Jasmine and Mia both fell silent, staring at the court—though from the corner of their eyes, they couldn't help looking at Luxe. Their hearts were pounding.
There was a bit of an awkward silence.
"So… how many players are on the court right now?" Luxe broke it casually.
"Well, it's a match, so must be a lot," Mia responded hesitantly.
"Right, it's a game… of course there'd be that many players," Luxe repeated, still obviously keeping that attitude in her voice.
"Yeah… you're right," Mia muttered, trying to stay polite.
Jasmine was doing everything she could to avoid looking at Luxe or anyone around her. She was nervous—really nervous now.
"So what do you think, girls—how many players are on the court right now?" Luxe asked her own friends, ignoring Mia and Jasmine.
"There are 10 players, Luxe," both of her friends answered in sync.
"Ten, huh?" Luxe nodded, then turned to Jasmine.
"And how many do you see, Miss Glasses?" she asked Jasmine, in an insulting tone, mocking her glasses and shy demeanor.
"Jasmine!" Mia said sharply.
"What?" Luxe snapped.
"Her name is Jasmine. So call her that," Mia replied, visibly angry.
"Ohhh, so she has a name? I thought she was just Miss Glasses," Luxe said, laughing and clearly teasing Jasmine.
"You—" Mia was about to snap,
But Jasmine gently grabbed her hand. "Let it go," she whispered.
Luxe and her two friends laughed louder seeing that.
"Well, she might be your Jasmine, but to us, she's gonna stay Miss Glasses forever!" Luxe tossed back, smirking.
"Luxe, that's enough! This is getting out of line now," Mia said furiously.
"Out of line?" Luxe laughed. "We haven't even started yet."
"And the way she's been staring at Jack this whole time—God, I swear the only reason I haven't slapped her yet is because I don't wanna waste the energy," Luxe said, mocking Jasmine openly now, and looking right at her.
Hearing that, Mia had enough. Even though Jasmine had been glancing at Jack, Mia wasn't going to let anyone talk to her friend like that.
"Listen, we don't care about anyone like that, got it? We're just here enjoying the game. That captain of the other team? He's our friend," Mia stepped forward, raising her voice.
"We came here to support him!"
"Ohhh, so you're friends with Team B's captain," Luxe said with a mocking smile.
"The same team that's getting crushed right now?"
She laughed, and her two friends joined in.
For Jasmine, it felt like a nice day had suddenly turned into one of the worst ones. Her eyes started to well up. The insults… they hit deep.
"The match isn't over yet, Luxe—don't start celebrating so soon!" Mia shot back.
"Have you seen the score, losers?" Luxe said sharply.
Half time was just one minute away.
The score: Team J - 65, Team N - 25
Team J was leading by 40 points.
Seeing the numbers, Mia didn't know what to say.
"Don't get so cocky, Luxe. It's just a game and anything can change—remember that," Mia said, still standing her ground.
"Oh? You really still think you guys are gonna win? Have you looked at Jack?" Luxe said, throwing a glare.
"And Miss Glasses, before your glasses wander over to my boyfriend again, take a good long look in the mirror. Those dreams you're having—wake up from them," Luxe said with a cruel laugh, turning around to walk away.
"I'm letting this go for now, but next time—watch yourself," she added.
"Let's go, girls. Later, losers."
She walked away smugly with her friends.
Mia let out a breath. "Glad she left. Thought we were about to get into a full fight," she said, sitting back down and turning toward Jasmine.
Jasmine's eyes were full of tears. Luxe's words had cut deeper than anyone realized—deep enough to really hurt.
Mia noticed it, and her tone instantly softened. "Jasmine… you're crying? Why?"
Jasmine tried to hold it together but couldn't.
"Today I realized who I really am. And what dreams I shouldn't be having," she whispered, voice cracking.
"So her words got to you?" Mia frowned. She stood up, fully ready to go after Luxe.
"I'm gonna go talk to her—"
"No—what would you even say to her?" Jasmine grabbed her hand and stopped her.
"That I'm sitting here crying? So she can laugh even more?"
"And she's right, Mia. I'm not beautiful… not someone Jack would ever like," Jasmine whispered through tears.
Mia was about to say more, but just then the halftime whistle blew.
Both teams began heading toward their benches. But instead of sitting down, Niko caught sight of Jasmine from the court.
He noticed she was crying—and without a second thought, he started running toward her.