Last Game

The beginning

Illuminating spotlights, crowds cheering with despair, while others' merely clung to hope with tearful eyes and hands clasped together in desperate prayer — yet another shot missed by the team's ace player, as the whistle blew signifying the end of the second quarter and the signboard read of the home team's loss, 20 points behind, breaking the pirates' winning streak of never ending a quarter with a loss and yet, tonight in their final game, they were losing.

As the players dispersed to their locker rooms for a break, the team was giving anything but a break to their captain, one with freckle kissed skin and jersey numbered two adorning his muscular torso.

"What the hell was that, Ace-ya?" a taller male exclaimed, pushing the other boy against one of the lockers; his jersey read Trafalgar and his skin had been tanned, kissed so fervently by the sun.

Pushing the arm of his co-captain aside, Ace stood tall — he may be losing this match but he wasn't about to lose his pride. "What the hell was what?" his voice enraged, snapped back in retaliation but the other male was unfazed, his rage being more of the silent type, unlike the freckled boy who seemed prepared to bust a locker down.

"Your playing — you wanna tell me what's going on with you? Or you wanna get your head in the game?" his question had been composed, his golden hues threatening while the rest of the team merely watched from the sidelines, none of them carrying enough guts in them to disrupt their captains' feud.

"Nothing's going on — We'll bounce back in the next quarter, we still have half the match" he lied through his teeth, the reluctance in his first three words, to him, seeming louder than the sound of the crowds outside, but a lot of his teammates remained clueless, easily falling for his feigned attempt at composure.

"You have to talk to Rosa-ya" Trafalgar spoke and Ace allowed himself for a mere moment to get caught by the waves crashing against him by the mere word that had been her name, however it had been just a moment before his expression frowned, his figure tensed and knuckles turned white as fists clenched.

"There's nothing to talk about" was what he said but a threat in his words was unmissable — that should another word be spoken of the strawberry blonde cheerleader who had been no other than the cause of his distress as well guessed by his best friend, there would be serious reciprocations to be dealt with.

"That's not what the cheerleaders and everyone else seems to think" the other argued but truth be told, he didn't need anyone else's confirmation to know exactly what had been distressing their ace player, anyone paying attention would be blind not to see the impact those two had on each other.

"What did Val tell you?" he asked, more annoyed at his girl's best friend than he had ever been and that had been saying something considering how the two often clashed.

However a shrug was the mere response, and saving Trafalgar from responding, a younger boy would speak, interjecting his own opinion on the discussion. "I think Ace is lying" his voice had been carrying laughter despite the gravity of his own voiced words — he was young and foolish with messy raven hair topping his head, but he had also been the only one naive enough to involve himself in such a discussion. Luffy, Ace's little brother, carried on his statement further, much to his older brother's dislike. "Cam said Ace is the reason Rosa is so sad lately, also why she hasn't be cheering so well — she said Rosa might quit cheerleading"

Silver hues widened at that comment, earlier anger and distress shifting to evident concern and worry, an urge to run back outside to court and question the truth of the claim his little brother had made, if any. The energy, the cheer, the hope and optimism within cheerleading, it had been so her that it came as no shock to him why she absolutely loved the activity, perhaps, almost as much as he adored hearing her voice calling for him, cheering him on everyday on the court.

He loved basketball with all his being but it seemed he could no longer recall playing the game without having her there to cheer him on.

She was his inspiration, but he was her demise, that much he believed, and that same belief was the one he clung to when he shattered her heart to pieces.

"Tell her you love her" the words were blunt as Trafalgar directed him, encouraged what he deemed inevitable to occur at one point or another, but hoped for the sake of the team would be before they lost this match and the championship along with it.

"Yeah, Ace!" Luffy chirped agreeing. "Tell Rosa you love her"

"I don't — I don't love her" he insisted and it is in the way he says the word, her — that tells them otherwise but there was a finality in his argument causing both males to drop their argument and surrender.