Stay The Night (Chaelisa)

Chapter 33

Roseanne’s nervous. Over a basketball game.

It takes her a bit to realize, but all day leading up to game one, it’s all she can think about. Her day is filled to the brim with meetings, but she only pays half-attention to most of them. It takes nearly exploding a battery prototype in the lab to make her realize she should just work from home the rest of the afternoon.

Lucas’ texted her nonstop, article after article with pregame analytics that Roseanne only partly understands and old highlight hype videos from previous championship runs. V’s sent her about sixteen different photos of game-outfit choices with pleas for her to help him decide. She tells him to wear the black on black ensemble and to wash his hair and then stares at her own closet before spending the next half hour trying to pull a decent outfit together.

She should have gone shopping. She really should have gone shopping.

The realization prompts her to make a note in her calendar to buy a new outfit before the next game.

By the time she gets to her courtside seats – this time with Lucas and V – she feels like she’s buzzing with anticipation and nerves.

“Damn it’s good to be back,” V says, practically gushing as he looks around, saying hi to the security guard nearby and waving at other staff.

They take their seats just as the Lakehawks take the court for warmups and Roseanne’s handed her usual vodka soda.

Lisa winks at her shamelessly as she strides past towards a rack of balls, but Roseanne doesn’t look away this time. Instead, she crosses her legs, takes a sip of her drink and lets the casual way Lisa drives the basket for a warmup shot settle across her skin.

The atmosphere is electric, Lakehawks fans cheering and chanting. The Kingsburg Grenadiers look focused and determined in their black and yellow jerseys, a sharp contrast to the lighter look of the Lakehawks crowd, but she catches a few of them glancing towards the spot Jennie is practicing post moves on Jisoo with trepidation.

The anticipation is palpable. A thrum across her skin that quickens Roseanne’s breath.

The Lakehawks look loose and ready. They warm up as if it's any other game and Roseanne catches Lisa laughing more than once – jostling good naturedly with Karina and unnecessarily dunking during a layup drill.

“Everybody get up,” the loud voice of the usual Lakehawks MC booms out through the stadium. “It’s. The. Finals!”

The crowd is on their feet as the lights go out and an intro video begins. Lisa’s face appears on the massive jumbotron screen, lifting to stare at the camera. Then it’s a cut to Jennie holding a ball forward and then Jisoo dribbling between her legs and grinning. It’s a menacing display of the Lakehawks strengths – quick cuts of Somi bowling over an opponent during a drive into the paint, Lisa hitting a series of quick shots so far out from the three point line it shouldn’t be allowed and Karina ripping a ball viciously away from another player as they lay on the ground.

Roseanne watches it, a tad mesmerized, as the cheers from the fans grow in volume. It’s impossible to resist getting caught up in it. Lucas’ hooting and hollering from his position behind her and V is clapping along. Roseanne sips at her drink and just watches.

It ends with a boom of sound as ROAD TO THREEPEAT scripts over the screen and the stadium goes crazy.

The lights come back up and Roseanne looks back down at the court to where Lisa’s ripping off her warmup and huddling her team up. Lucas leans in close to her, his drink sloshing enough that it spatters on Roseanne and she tsks at him but it does nothing to the maniacal look in his eye. “I feel like I could run through a brick wall right now,” he tells her, looking like he means it.