It All Started At Tryouts

Chapter 8 "Are those Poptarts"

Audrey's POV

"I'm so excited!" I heard Katelyn squeal.
"Really? How? It's only the first game of our season! Nothing to be screaming about." I said in my sarcastic tone, rolling my eyes. It's Friday now. The game is tonight and the bus leaves from Ocean Heights in one hour.
"Are you girls ready to go?" My mom asked with her glistening smile plastered across her face.
"Yep! All set!" I replied as I slung my bag over my shoulder and started skipping towards the door. I slipped my sneakers on and snatched my phone from the back of the couch. I heard Katelyn following behind me so I left the door open once I jumped out; I quickly ran and slid into the backseat of our truck Katelyn scooched in next to me and gave me a smile.

"Thanks for driving me, Josie; my mom would herself if she didn't have work." Katelyn chirped, causing me to look away from the large window and come back to reality.
"It's no problem, Darling! I'm glad to be the driver!" My mother replied, looking back at us in the mirror.
"Yeah, haha; the one time she has work!" She said jokingly with a smile on her beautiful face. 'No! Stop it, Audrey You're staring!' I yelled at myself, unable to pull my eyes away from my best friend. I closed them instead and shook my head softly as I turned to look back out my window.

"Goodbye girls! I'll pick you up tonight, ok? Text me when you get there, and when the game's over, and when you are almost back here!" My mom shouted as Katelyn and I boarded the bus that takes us to our opposing team's school, Mountain View High.
"Bye, Mom! Love you!" I responded, blowing her a quick kiss. Katelyn pulled me by my wrist into one of the leather seats around the middle of the bus. I slumped down next to her and watched as everyone else on the team boarded the bus.
"Audrey!" My head turned to the screech of a word that came from the front of the bus.
"Gaw, Riley! What's the problem?" I inquired.
"Nothing! Just excited to see you here! Why are you sitting with her?" She asked hesitantly, eyeing Katelyn strangely.
"She's my best friend, and she has no one else to sit with, Riley."
"Oh. Alright, of course! I thought I was your best friend." She grumbled the last part under her breath as she gave me a glare and sat down in the seat behind us. I felt my chest tighten and I kind of felt like saying something, but I held myself back.

I opened my gym bag and pulled out my breakfast, Poptarts, my favorite.
"Are those Poptarts?" I heard Katelyn ask next to me.
"No, it's macaroni and cheese." I answered sarcastically. She stuck her tongue out at me and I did so back. She looked down at the floor and pulled out her own pack of Poptarts.
"Damnit. I have chocolate fudge, what kind are those?" I inquired.
"Strawberry." She replied cheerfully, ready to stuff her face with the berry goodness.
"Trade? I only like the strawberry ones."
"Sure, I like all of them so..." She responded as we traded handfuls of food and began eating our breakfast.

The ride there was nothing special; other than Riley eyeing Katelyn and I like she was shooting lasers at our heads, nothing happened. Katelyn kinda started at the window in her own world. She didn't even notice me slowly falling asleep on her shoulder. I did, however, feel a warming on my left hand as I drifted off. Katelyn had put her hand on mine subtly as she kept looking out at the mountains and trees. I finally dozed off into a light sleep on her shoulder, turning my hand around to intertwine our fingers in between us.

~~~~~

It was halftime and the cheerleaders were flipping onto the court. I fell into my chair and grabbed my water bottle from underneath, taking a long sip of the icy water I looked over at Katelyn who was also gulping down her beverage from the purple water bottle.
"Oh my God. We couldn't have run more." I exclaimed out of breath.
"So true." She replied, "But hey, we're winning by four points."
"That's a plus." I said quite awkwardly as I gulped down a few more sips of my water. Katelyn turned the other way when Riley tapped her on the shoulder and began talking strangely. I stayed silent and watched the rest of the cheer dance until we could get back out there.

Once we were back on the court, the ball went into play. I was running for a shot when the other team's number 27 came up and tried to steal the ball. She tripped me and I instantly fell; trying to catch my balance, I stumbled into someone else and fell onto the floor with a thud. I looked around and seemed fine but then the pain of my fall hit me. Hard. My ankle felt numb for a second but at the same time felt like it had been cut off. I wanted to scream but bit my tongue, instead I raised my hand high and heard the referee's whistle before I clutched my ankle with all my strength. Katelyn noticed I was on the ground and ran to slide on the hard floor next to me.
"Holy sh...crap!" She yelled as everyone crowded around me, "Audrey, are you alright?"
"Oh yeah! Just peachy!" I answered, trying to put a smile on my face; however, I felt the tears begin to form and sting my eyes. I hated crying in front of all those people, but, to be honest, it hurt like hellfire.

Katelyn's POV

"Here, let's get you up," I told Audrey.
She nodded as I gently helped her up. I put my arm around her waist for support.
"Can you put any pressure on it?" I asked softly. She hesitantly put her right foot on the floor, but winced when she tried to stand on it.
"I-I think it's broken..." She croaked out. I looked into her eyes that held unshed tears and my heart broke into a million pieces.
"It'll be fine... hopefully," I told her.
The coach ran up to us, "What's wrong?"
"I think her ankle is broken or something. We need to get her to a hospital." I told the coach.
"Get her to my car! We'll take her to the hospital!" Our assistant coach shouted.
The crowd around us disperses as I help Audrey walk.
"Okay Katelyn, I think Mr. Baker can take it from here," Coach Howell said.
"Umm... if you don't mind, I would like to go with them," I said hesitantly.
"I don't think that would be a good idea. We can't afford to have two of our best players gone," She said in a serious tone.
"I... umm-"
"Aw come on coach, we're in the lead. I don't think it'll hurt not having us for the last quarter of the game," Audrey took over for me. "Plus, you have Riley and Paige. They're just as good as us."
Coach Howell finally sighed and waved her hand as if to tell to go on, "Fine."

I smiled at Audrey and she grinned back. As we were awkwardly limping/walking out of the gym, I caught Riley staring at us. She was eyeing us suspiciously. Audrey saw this too and just gave her a nervous grin. We finally made it to Coach Baker's truck. He helped Audrey get into his truck, and we began driving toward the nearest hospital. We were silent most of the ride until Coach Baker spoke up.
"What luck. First game of the season, and you've already injured yourself."
"Heh, yeah..." Audrey trailed off.
I glanced down at her ankle. It had started to swell a little.
"Maybe it won't be too bad," I said hopefully.
Audrey just grunted in return.

We finally arrive at hospital 45 minutes later. The doctors take Audrey to the back to get her ankle x-rayed while Coach Baker and I stayed in the waiting room.
"I should probably call Audrey's mother and explain what happened," He said as he stood up.
I just nodded and sank further down into my chair. My thoughts began to race, and my worries about Audrey were slowly starting to eat at me. What if it's worse than we thought? No, she'll be fine... hopefully.
Coach Baker finished speaking with Audrey's mom and sat down next to me. Minutes passed before the doctor came out with Audrey following, on crutches.
"Well good news is Audrey's ankle is not broken, but it is fractured. She'll be on crutches for about 3-5 weeks, and no type of sports for 5-6 weeks." The doctor informed us.
I stood there shocked, "Audrey can't play any basketball for six weeks?"
The doctor shook his head. Audrey looked down at the floor, obviously saddened by the fact she can't play. This was going to be very difficult.

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