Nightshift

Chapter 6

"Miky? Miky do you hear me?" my arms are firmly placed on his shoulder. "We're going to make this okay."

He doesn't look convinced this time.

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The game is loud. The crowd raves. I sit anxiously wondering whether Michael had been in his right mind for agreeing to play tonight. Lately, everything has gotten me anxious, but as of now, I wonder how I still have it together.

I even consider calling his mom, god forbid.

The point screen displays a bunch of fanatic basketball fans wearing their favorite team's logos. There's a man wearing a falcon shaped hat, and next to him, his counterpart, in a hat shaped as a tree log with a woodpecker dangling off its edge. There are already red balloons and a series of woodpecker styled floating items being surfed through the crowd, and this excites the crowd even more. The Jumbatron aims at a group of dancing elderly people, and then a row of young children no older than twelve in red face paint, chanting the words ' Go Woodpeckers'.

I spot Mel come in with Rance, Tiffany, Peyton, and Kaia and wave. Once again, we have some of the best seats in the arena. This time however wasn't just luck, but it was about knowing the right people. Front seats didn't come easy, and our school tries far too hard to make a substantial profit out of them.

Tiffany places herself in the seat next to me, dusting off some popcorn from the seat, a look of disappreciation on her face. "Ugh," She complains, "I hate games." She rolls over another seat for Rance, who rubs his hands together enthusiastically, a large smile spread across his face. Mel props herself beside me to my right, folding over herself and clasping her face in deep focus on the court,where the players were now warming up. They would be starting any minute now. The cheerleaders move to the middle of the court, and prepare for their usual Woodpecker chant as the volume of the crowd goes up more than a few notches.

"There's that cute guy." Mel elbows me, waiting as I turn to see the male sex god she worships. He looks extra cute today, sporting his team's white and gold sports shirt and soccer shorts, along with his studded shoes. A part of me feels like it's floating.

Then I turn to Miky, my real reason for being here. He seems to be in a physically fit state, but little does everyone know his vulnerability right now, and just the idea of that scares me.

This was a horrible idea Michael.

But nobody understands that.

For the most part, the game had been going well for the hour or so that we had been catching up on Falconside's score. People just don't want to admit that playing Falconside is not the best way to guarantee future sponsorships for LurberWood High.

A Player from the Falconside team shoots the ball into the basket and scores. The whistle blows for half time, and the score reads 10-35. Yes, it was definitely not the best of decisions playing them.

Michael on the other hand had surprisingly maintained a great deal of stamina throughout the game, but the exhaustion of the long game seemed to now be catching on. He looks instead, shaky even. A group of people pass infront of me, blocking my view of the court and its drained players. The worried me resolves to exist once more, and I stand up to find Miky. I push through the crowds of people and towards his direction, to the benches where he would most probably be seated for a drink of water.

As I land off the bleachers, I briefly catch sight of an unusually handsome Ryland. No doubt, he is the centre of attention for most girls watching, and probably a major contributor of their choice to be here, besides the fact that this was the hottest game of the year and had received plenty of local advertisement and attention from sources as popular as radio stations. Ryland was apparently scheduled for an interview with S-Heart radio right after the game. He was, in short, something of a local celebrity now.