Basketball court boundary line
The last class of the afternoon was a study session, and the classroom was stuffy and unbearable. Sunlight slanted in, casting long shadows on the desks, and tiny particles of dust floated in the air.
Lin Weixi finished the last math problem and breathed a sigh of relief. When she closed the exercise book, she heard the boys in the back row talking in low voices.
"Want to reserve a spot later? If you're late there won't be any room left."
"We have to, hurry up, as soon as the bell rings."
She subconsciously glanced at the empty seat next to her. Chen Wang's seat had been empty for more than ten minutes - as soon as the bell rang, he and several other boys rushed out of the classroom, holding basketballs.
A corner of my heart moved slightly.
The English teacher, seated at the podium, was grading homework, occasionally glancing up. There was still half an hour before the official end of the school day, but already a restless atmosphere was creeping in.
Lin Weixi took out the mechanical pencil she had used for a long time from her pencil case and unconsciously drew circles on the edge of the draft paper. One, two, three... The circles became more and more, overlapping each other.
She raised her head and looked out the window. From the side of the teaching building, she could faintly hear the sound of basketballs hitting the ground. The rhythmic sound of "bang, bang, bang" was like knocking on her heart.
To go or not to go?
When this thought came to her mind, she was shocked. In the past, she would just stay quietly in the classroom until the bell rang before packing up her schoolbag and leaving.
But today...
She looked down at the densely packed circles on the draft paper, then out the window. The golden light of the setting sun was just right, giving the row of tall sycamore trees in the distance a fuzzy edge.
Go ahead. Just take a look, she said to herself.
The school bell finally rang. As soon as the teacher announced the end of class, the students rushed out. However, Lin Weixi slowed down abnormally, carefully putting the books into her schoolbag one by one, zipping it up very slowly.
After most people in the classroom had left, she put on her backpack and walked in the opposite direction of the school gate.
The basketball court is on the easternmost side of the campus, across a long, tree-lined path. The closer you get, the clearer the sound of the basketball hitting the ground becomes, mingled with the shouts and laughter of the boys.
Her steps unconsciously became lighter.
There were already a few people standing around the field, some waiting to go home with friends, and some coming specifically to watch the game. Lin Weixi chose the most inconspicuous corner, near the edge of the wire fence, where the shade of an old locust tree just covered her.
She put her hands in the pockets of her school uniform jacket, her fingertips slightly sweaty.
Several halves of the court were in play, but she spotted Chen Wang the moment he saw him, wearing a red Rockets jersey with an open school jacket, dribbling the ball.
Unlike the classmate who occasionally dozed off in the classroom, he was a different person on the court. With focused eyes and agile movements, he dribbled past defenders with the ball, jumped, and shot.
The ball drew a beautiful arc and went into the net.
"Good shot!" There was a cheer on the court, and some teammates ran over to high-five him.
He smiled and wiped the sweat from his forehead, revealing his small dimple, which was particularly clear in the sunset.
Lin Weixi stood outside the wire mesh, looking at him through the mesh. The mesh divided his figure into many small pieces, which continued to combine and change as he ran. For a moment, he seemed to glance in her direction. Her heart tightened, and she hurriedly lowered her head, pretending to look at the fallen leaves on the ground.
When he looked up again, he had already returned to the game, and the previous glance seemed to be just an illusion.
She breathed a sigh of relief, yet also felt a sense of inexplicable loss.
Just like that, she stood quietly outside the boundary like a voyeur. Inside the field was his world of sweat, full of power and sound; outside the field was her corner, so quiet that she could hear her own heartbeat.
When he leaps for a rebound, the hem of his school uniform rises, revealing his lean, youthful waist. After sinking a three-pointer, he habitually shakes his sweat-soaked hair from his forehead. When he communicates with his teammates, his gestures are crisp and clear.
She greedily took in all these tiny movements.
The sun gradually set, and the sky turned a warm orange. A game was over, and they had won. Chen Wang and a few other boys chatted and laughed as they walked toward the sidelines. He picked up a bottle of mineral water and guzzled it. Drops of water slid down his jawline, past his rolling Adam's apple, and into the collar of his jersey.
Lin Weixi subconsciously shrank deeper into the shadows of the trees.
They started packing up, apparently getting ready to leave. She knew it was time for her to leave too. It would be so embarrassing if he found her here.
She took one last look at the young man glowing in the twilight, then turned around and slowly walked back the way she came.
The laughter behind me gradually faded away.
When she reached the end of the boulevard, she couldn't help but look back. The basketball court was empty, with only the lonely basket and the gradually dimming light of the sky.
The wind blew, the leaves rustled, bringing the faint sound of school bells and the faint scent of osmanthus in the distance.
She took her hands out of her pockets and found her palms were sweaty. Her heartbeat had finally calmed down a bit, but her chest felt like it was filled with something, soft and swollen.
By the time I returned to the classroom to retrieve my forgotten homework, the entire floor had fallen silent. The setting sun streamed through the windows, dividing the empty classroom into a patchwork of light and dark.
She walked to her seat and picked up the notebook from the desk, but her eyes involuntarily fell on the desk next to her.
Chen Wang's desk was a bit messy, with a few pens scattered about and a physics book tucked askew in the desk hole. She hesitated, then reached out her finger and very lightly and quickly touched the laces of his basketball shoes hanging on the side of the desk.
Then, as if he had done something bad, he quickly withdrew his hand, his cheeks burning.
She put on her backpack and walked out of the classroom. Her footsteps echoed in the corridor.
That afternoon, the setting sun behind the wire mesh of the basketball court, and the image of the young man leaping to shoot, were quietly imprinted in the autumn of my sixteenth year. It was so clear that it seemed like it could be preserved for a lifetime.
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