I made my way out of the house and hurried up, eager to reach the bus station in time for the next bus.

As I passed by the school's yard, my attention was suddenly captured by a familiar voice calling out to me.

"Hey, Dol, do you have some spare time? We could play a game of handball. What do you say?" the voice beckoned.

In an instant, all my previous thoughts and worries faded away. The doubts about my own mind, the ponderings about reality, and even my thoughts about Matt and the band became irrelevant and insignificant. There was only one thing that truly mattered at that moment: the warmth in that voice that had the power to weaken my knees. It was as if he was my ultimate weakness, my personal kryptonite. I could feel myself almost on the verge of falling to my knees.

"Joe?" I whispered, feeling completely lost.

Ever since I first arrived at this school, there had been one person who had captivated my admiration and secretly held my heart: Joe.

He was making his way towards the school's sports hall, hoping to find some fellow students in the schoolyard to play with. The sports teacher had his favorite students who were granted access to the key, and Joe was among them.

The schoolyard was open to students at all times, a policy that had been implemented by the previous principal and remained in place due to its popularity.

Typically, I despised ball games of any kind, but there was a peculiar memory lingering in my mind of actually enjoying playing them. Plus, it was Joe who was asking, so I would have agreed regardless.

I quickly dashed back home to retrieve my sports equipment, and upon my return, I found Joe already dressed in sportswear, warming up for the game.

In the schoolyard, there were a few guys who were planning to play football and were about to leave for the park. However, Joe wasn't discouraged by their departure. He proposed that we start playing just the two of us, with the hope that others would join us later.

Since Joe didn't have the key to the girls' locker room, I changed my clothes in the boy's room instead. I left my belongings on the bench and joined him inside the sports hall, where we continued to have a great time playing together.

Having the entire sports hall to ourselves was an amazing experience, and we had a blast. Not being a huge fan of ball games before, I discovered that I actually had some talent for it. While I may have lacked the strength to excel, my reflexes were on point, and Joe made sure to play gently, avoiding any roughness. The physical contact between us during the game added an extra thrill to the whole experience.

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The atmosphere between us slowly shifted, becoming something more than just a friendly game.

At some point, Joe excused himself to use the restroom, but I suspected he had actually gone to lock the main door to ensure our privacy. I didn't mind his actions; after all, I had always dreamed of being with him.

During one of our intense moments of pushing against each other, instead of pulling away, Joe stood his ground, and I did the same. In that charged moment, he gazed into my eyes, embraced me, and kissed me. I quickly reciprocated, and before we knew it, we found ourselves on one of the sponge mattresses in the hall, lost in each other's embrace.

To be honest, the following experience wasn't particularly extraordinary. While I was thrilled to have him in my arms, it did hurt some, and that was the extent of it. It lasted precisely eight minutes. I know it because there was a big clock on the opposite wall that I had all the time in front of my eyes.

Later, as we went into the locker room, he dressed up pretty fast.

“Uh, Dol, it's late; I should bring the car to a repair shop in ten minutes; I need to hurry up!”

I was feeling a bit tired and would gladly just relax with him together somewhere on a sofa or maybe in a cafeteria in front of a coffee cup? But yeah, you can't have it all.

“But it's a holiday?” - I pondered.

"Yeah, that's true, but they have a special arrangement for me at work," he replied. "Here's the key. When you're done, make sure to lock the main door and put the key in the geranium pot on the left. Got it?"

I shrugged, thinking to myself, boys and their cars!

“Sure!” I replied.

He grinned happily.

“Love you! See you tomorrow!”

And just like that, he was gone. I felt a slight pang of disappointment, but at the same time, I was elated to be with Joe. He was my lover and had said "love you" to me!

Lola had tried to discourage me from entertaining any hope of a relationship with Joe, but now, aren't I here with him? Although Lola is my friend, she may be torn between me and her loyalty to her sister, or maybe she believes that I have no chance of competing with Clara?

I sighed. It had momentarily distracted me from my quest for truth, but it was a feeling worth savoring. I took a deep breath and held onto the sports equipment tightly.

What a wonderful day it had been! My dream had unexpectedly come true!

Yet, despite the joy, I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in my stomach.