Lolita 𐐪𐑂 Dick Grayson

t h i r t y 𐐪𐑂 s e v e n

I wiped the sweat collecting on my nose with the hem of my jersey and took another sip of water from my water bottle. Half-time had been called a minute ago and the cheerleaders had taken over the court, preforming a known routine of theirs.

"Hopefully this will help" Dick told me, placing a large bandaid on my knee to cover up the red exposed skin that I had scraped. My eyes narrowed feeling the bandaid sting my wound. He had just placed another bandaid on my other knee which now had an ice pack laying on top of it. I've never ever felt so pampered in basketball before.

"Thanks" I muttered while taking another swing of my water bottle. Coach and Dick tried to sit me out seeing I had exhausted myself out before we were even half way through the game. But where's the fun in sitting out?

Just as the cheer music came to a close, the ref blew his whistle again to regroup the players for the last two quarters of the game. Sophie and I remained in the court but three new girls were switched in.

I made my way to the center of the court and looked at the audience for a split second to see Tim was now standing in the front middle of the bleachers taking photos of the game. Tim and Sophie were both very committed students of the yearbook club meaning they would carry these big cameras around school with them to capture anything they saw.

I waved at him and then saw a small flash go off. I probably look horrendous right now, there is no way I'm letting him put that in the yearbook.

"Let's go Knights!" I heard him cheer, his voice sounded like it was miles away due to the loud audience behind him.

We resumed our game which had become repetitive. So far neither teams had made a score since my last shot. We were all playing too carefully which meant none of us were getting much done.

Then a miracle caused the ball to land in my hands for a split second before I went to try and pass it to one of our forwards. I couldn't even get the ball to aim for my teammate as a girl from the other team dug her arm into my personal space, clawing at the basketball in my possession. I groaned lightly and tried pushing her away but before things got too hastily we both looked up at the sound of a whistle.

"Foul," Called the ref, pointing at the girl and I practically embracing and then at the monitor table. The girl quickly dropped her hands and let me have the ball as the ref walked up to me.

"Free throw" He told me, guiding me to the opponents basket where he made the girls all line up on parallel to each other on either side of me. I dribbled the ball and moved to the center where I was in front of the backboard. I felt my body grow warm and although free throws were never a problem to me, I suddenly felt like I couldn't hold the ball right.

As I went to twirl the ball around in my hand, a loud commotion outside the gym made me turn my head towards the entrance doors that were closed. Others around me also turned their attentions to the door but it was dismissed when the ref told me I could continue with my free throw.

The gym suddenly got quiet as everyone knew not to distract the free thrower from her shot.

I dribbled the ball and heard only the sound it made when coming in contact with the floor. I gripped onto the ball and crouched, bending my elbows for my throw. I exhaled, keeping my eye on the square painted on the backboard.

I locked eyes with my target and bent my knees up, my fingers curved lifting the ball up.

And then a small scream caused me to jolt my wrist higher than anticipated. I watched as the ball hit the board inches away from the square. Missed. God dammit. A chorus of shouts followed, now loud and clear. I watched the ball fall and roll away from us before I turned around to see the double doors of the gym being thrown open.