Coincidence at best

Game Day

Today is game day, and we NEEDED to beat the Riverview Ravens if we wanted to make it to state. But first let me clarify, My name is Hailey, and I play basketball,(as a post) for the Claremont Cougars. And today's game is one of the most important games I will ever play, not only because I wanted to make it to state, but because we as of this moment hold the record as the only undefeated team of the season. For our small school, this is a first. Our school is so small that we actually only have one team, no varsity, JV, or c-team, just a single team. Right now I am sitting on my fourth block class (last of the day) daydreaming about how I hope the game will go, which translates into us beating the Raven's butts. As I was daydreaming I was snapped back into reality when Mrs.Beckner asked me of I could explain the Pythagorean theorem to the class, lucky for me I actually did my homework the night before, unlike the majority of my classmates, but alas, in the middle of my beautiful explanation of the Theorem, the bell rang, signaling the end of class and the school day.
    "Hey Hailey, good luck at the game tonight!!"
My friend Kayla patted me on the back as I packed my bag.
    "Thanks Kayla!! Are you gonna be there?
I saw a slight frown appear on her face,
    "Sorry bro I can't, I have to babysit tonight."
     "It's no problem, have fun trying to deal with your brother, that will probably be harder than the game!!"
She then turned and headed out the door, I snickered under my breath imagining having to babysit  her brother for an entire night, he was an absolute nightmare!
I stood up and slung my backpack over my shoulder, as I was heading out the door I saw my friend Mark was walking by, I ran to catch up with him down the hallway, my backpack banging against my back.
    "Mark! Could you slow the hell down?!"
He stopped and turned towards the direction of my voice, And smiled.
    "Hailey! Excited for the game tonight?"
    "Hell ya!!" I flashed him a huge grin.
   "Well I'm gonna be there so you'd better impress me."
I punched him in the shoulder,
   "When have I ever let you down?!"
We then noticed a number of grumpy kids waiting behind us, we hadn't realized we were blocking the hallway.
    "Can you guys take this somewhere else, I have important things to do!"
I looked for the source of the voice, I wasn't surprised to find it belonged to the Queen Bee herself, Lisa Monet. She was a bleach blonde,anorexic popular  who wore so much makeup that it looked like she got hit in the face with a jar of peanut butter. If you didn't worship her, well let's say high school could really suck ass for you. Me being one of those people just gave her a smirk and sarcastically replied,
    "Oh I'm sorry Lisa, are we cutting into your after school hoe time or something?"
She walked up and got right in my face.
    "Watch yourself Hailey, or you might end up like Benson!"
To elaborate Carla Benson was another girl who didn't kiss Lisa's ass like everyone else, so Lisa made sure that all of her brainless followers made school hell for Carla. Carla ended up transferring schools last January. Before she moved Carla had been one of my close friends. Now I was angry.
    "You know what Lisa! Your just  another asshat who thinks they can get through life by being Popular!! But the reality is you'll probably just end up working in a Whorehouse!!"
At this point our noses were a mere millimeter from touching, I swear I could almost hear her growling, instead of continuing the argument in the hallway, she just turned on her heel and left, her boyfriend of the week hot on her heels, asking if "his baby" was okay. It honestly made me want to throw up.
   "Hailey, just turn around and leave."
Mark had grabbed my arm and started pulling me in the opposite direction that Lisa had gone. He knew I was notorious for my sucker punch.
   "Why haven't they done something by now?!? She doesn't deserve to stay in our school!"
    "I know but you need to just leave it."
I look into his pleading eyes and sighed in defeat.
   "Ok let's go"
We headed towards our lockers, we decided to go out to eat after the game.
    "Gio's okay?"
    "Ya sounds good!"
As I got to my locker I noticed that there was a paper taped to it. It read,
    "Watch your back skank."
Like I had no idea who it was from. I ripped the not off my locker and shoved it in my bag. I grabbed my social studies binder out of my locker then slammed it shut. I cursed her under my breath for a good five minutes. Then I had a mental argument with myself.
   "You should of just popped her one, she deserved it!"
   "And then what? Get a detention, then I wouldn't be able to play tonight!"
    "Ya, ya, whatever, but imagine the look on her face if you'd done it!!"
    "NO"
I the realized I had said that last part out loud, the girl who had a locker next to mine gave me a weird look, I mumbled a "sorry" then trudged toward the side entrance where my mom was probably parked by now.
As I jumped Into the car, I said a quick hey to my mom, she was one of those moms that if you didn't talk to her right away she would think you were angry or upset. And I definitely didn't want to talk about today's events. We made some small talk on the way home, mostly about the game and what's for supper. We only lived a few miles the school, so the ride didn't have time to get awkward.
When we got home I went directly to my room, not wanting to bump into my stepfather. Let's just say he is a douchebag and leave it at that for now. As I stepped into my room the reality of tonight's game hit me, and I got some serious butterfly's in the pit of my stomach. I laid down on my bed and just concentrated on digesting the butterfly's. Haha...not really, I resumed my seething about the run in with Lisa. Got I hated her. Before long my mother called me down for supper, this is when things get interesting. You see, my stepfather has a firm belief that the man of the house must lay down the rules and keep his women and children in check. This meant a lot of yelling when the family gathered. As I headed down the hall to the dining room, I remembered to be extra polite so he didn't take my phone again, worst week of my life.
As I seated myself at the pristine table, I took notice of how everything was in its place, not a napkin out of alignment. My brother Aiden (7) was seated across from me, my mother to my left, and my stepfather to Aidens right. My stepfather (Ray) glanced in my direction.
     "When is your game tonight?
Taken aback by the fact he actually spoke to me I quietly answered.
    "Seven, I have to be there by six fifteen though."
    "Ok"
I stared down at my plate, we were having pork chops, mashed potatoes, and peas. I slowly started eating, making sure to clean my plate, Ray was a stickler for eating all of your food. I took my plate and set it in the sink, then I headed to my room to put on or pack my basketball gear. Jersey, check. Shorts, check, sports bra and socks, yuparoo. And my shoes were in my bag, I was set to go. And no need to worry about hair, I have a pixie cut, so no problems. I walked back and slipped on my lucky tennis shoes and headed out the door. My mom was already in the car and ready to go. God I'm nervous again...
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