It was senior year and Sylvia Taylor, Wes Hamilton, Lana Thomas, Chris Shaefer, Greg Straton, Denise Brown, and Wes’ brother Dwayne, who was a year younger, were as thick as thieves. They all did everything together. It was no wonder a couple of them dated and others had the biggest crushes on the other.

Lana and Greg had been dating since freshman year. They were homecoming king and queen junior and senior year. Everyone expected them to get married, if not right after high school, then on after while they were in college. Lana played third base in softball and guard on the basketball team. Greg was on his way to college on a full football scholarship to Duke University as their new quarterback. The NFL looked to be in his future.

Chris and Denise dated for a few months during junior year but decided that they were better as friends than they were a couple. Dwayne however, had the biggest crush on Denise, but never approached her eraser he figured she would think the same way about him that she did Chris. So, he kept his feelings to himself and stayed her friend.

Sylvia played shooting guard in basketball and second base in softball. She loved sports, even football. When it came to schoolwork, she was a B student, but she could have been an A student if she were more focused. She loved hanging out with her friends, especially at the beach. That was her favorite pass time and sometimes she would go sit at the beach by herself just to think.

Sylvia dated Jay from sophomore year up until mid summer between junior and senior year. He was a year older and had left for college right after he graduated. They decided it was best to breakup and if it was meant to be, then they would find their way back to each other. What Sylvia was realizing, was that it was the best decision she had made for herself. She was more focused about her future now. She was studying more, looking at colleges and being more decisive on what she wanted to get her degree in and what her career goals were. Wes was a star athlete as well. He also played shooting guard for the men’s basketball team, ran track, and played running back on the football team. He had his life all planned out and was not going to be distracted. He got a full basketball scholarship to the University of Miami. He spent most of his free time practicing but would hang out with the gang some too. He had his eyes set on the NBA.

The only other thing that he was passionate about and had his eyes set on was Sylvia. Ever since his best friend, Chris had started dating her best friend Lana freshman year, she was the only woman for him. Sure, he went out on a couple of dates, but pretty much stayed in his shell. He was really quiet and shy. But that was only one reason he hadn’t asked her out. She had been dating Jay when he realized how much he liked her. Jay never fit into their group and Wes didn’t like him for numerous reasons. One of those being he knew that Jay had cheated on her, even though she seemed to be clueless. Another reason he never approached her was because he never thought she’d like him back.

Sylvia had really started to see things and people differently, people that she had never really seen before after her and Jay broke up. One of those people was Wes. She thought his shyness was cute, but when the gang was all together, he would open up and come out of his shell. He was the jokester of the group, always making jokes and having everyone laughing. She admired his determination and practice ethics and knew he would make it into the NBA.

She had a conversation with Lana about halfway through their senior year about Wes and how she admired his skills on the court and thought he was hilarious. Lana immediately caught something in her friends voice.

 “You like him!” Lana said with a quirky laugh. “Lana, what on earth are you talking about? We are all good friends,” Sylvia replied sounding dumbfounded.

Lana jabs her in her side and said, “You know exactly what I meant. Make a move! I think you guys would make a cute couple.” “Couple? Who’s talking about being a couple? I am talking about his skills on the court. Okay, yes, I will admit that he is hot, but we’re too good of friends to cross that line,” Sylvia replied.

“That’s bull, Syl, and you know it,” Lana told her shaking her head.

“Well, he probably doesn’t think of me like that. Some things are just better left alone,” Sylvia said in a low tone.

“Okay, whatever you say. I won’t push the issue,” Lana said.

But from that conversation on, Sylvia couldn’t stop herself from dreaming about Wes, and she couldn’t keep her eyes off of him when they were all together.

Wes couldn’t help but notice the way Sylvia looked at him lately. Did something change or was it just his imagination?”