Blood, Sweat, and Tears (Camren)

Chapter 27

Lauren's POV

Lauren sat on the bleachers, waiting for the game to start. Blackout was going against the Green Monsters in the second round of the play-offs. The Black team had already emerged victorious the first round, and if she were being completely honest, they were probably going to do it again.

She liked the Green team. Or most of them anyway, but she knew they didn't stand a real chance. Blackout was too good, and the only real team in her opinion that could come close to beating them was the Red Hots. They were such a special and strong team, she knew that no one could do it if they couldn't. While she waited for tip off, she thought back to when she put the teams together.

Blackout was the first and easiest team she created. Not only were all five girls familiar with each other because they played together for four years, they evenly matched up in skill and basketball IQ. And then there was the UConn coach who had badgered her during the week of team assembly to ensure that his girls would not be separated for any circumstance. She figured it would be best to leave them alone.

And then there was the formation of the Red Hots. She hated to say she was petty, but she was, and usually she put all of her favorite players together on one team to see how they would work together. Usually, they did from sheer ability alone. But since she knew about the famed "UConn Connection", she wanted to build a team that could take them down, and so the Red Hots were born. She only picked the Red because she thought it would be a cool match up against black since there was no white team.

Dinah Jane Hansen was all-around the best power forward she had screened, and immediately she wanted her for her anti-Blackout team. It just so happened that she came bundled with one of the best point guards she had as well, and so she decided to keep Camila Cabello and Dinah together since they played on the same team all through college as well.

Normani K. Hamilton was another she noticed right from the start. Her statistics weren't as intriguing as the other two, but she came highly recommended from at least four coaches. She had actually been submitted as an applicant twice by two different school teams. She knew she must've had some kind of rare quality that made her such a stand out, so she threw her in there too. And then with her incredible field goal percentage and impressive number of foul-outs, Barbara "BB" Palvin easily filled the number three spot.

The center was the trickiest to place for her. She wanted someone aggressive to face off against Blackout's center, but at the same time, she wanted something different. And then she came across Taylor Swift's file. As a center, it was strange for her to have a low rate of points in the paint, but then Lauren dug a little deeper and realized that almost all of her points came from free throws. And then when Lauren saw her play it was obvious, she was insanely tall and limber, so any kind of bump sent her askew and looked like a foul. It was like a secret weapon and became the last addition to the team she created to take down Blackout.

"AND THEIR LAST MEMBER, POINT GUARD TOOOOOOORIIII KELLY!!!" Everyone around her stood up and cheered for the blonde point guard who was giving high fives to all of her teammates and her coach. Lauren clapped once and then rested her hands in her lap. It was no surprise that she didn't care for Tori Kelly. In fact, she wanted them to be crushed in hopes that Tori might cry about it.

Her ill feelings toward the younger girl were misguided and more than bitter, but she really couldn't help herself. All through camp Tori had been sweet and helpful and a genuinely nice person. Which only made Lauren angry with herself whenever she would pray for Tori to trip and fall on her face. But again, it was her jealous nature to hate the girl who currently had her lover's attention. Well, ex-lover.