New Native Land (The Blossoming)

Chapter 37 (A Winner Through It All)

          I sat there for a moment and I held my shoulder for a second and then let it go. I saw the other girls celebrating and I saw my team looking grim. They all walked up to me and checked to see if I was okay, but I ignored them. I hated losing more than anything. I hated coming this far and just losing. I hated it. But I knew not to be a brat.

          I lined up with the rest of my team and we shook the other teams hands and shook their coach's hands. They went back to celebrating as well as their school and we went to the locker room.

          We sat down all looking sad and coach came in and said "Well ladies! You did a great job! I am proud of every single one of you! You went out there and you gave it your all and you should all be proud of what you did out there. The principal said to pay compliments to each and every single one of you. And let's give it up to our MVP Reagan! She did an amazing job even with a bum shoulder." She praised and everyone clapped for me and gave me small taps.     

          "Next year, we'll get better, and when we get here again, we'll beat those girls and you'll get your revenge Reagan." Coach told me and I smirked. "Let's hit the showers ladies and as promised I will take you to Rudy's! You guys may not have won, but you played like winners and there's no better feeling to a coach." She praised us and we breaked to get cleaned up.

          When I finished I put on my lotion and perfume and put on my warm-up. I took my duffle bag and Draya walked up to me "Don't be too sad. Coach is right, you and I will be back next year, and we'll win." And I smiled at her "You better be starting." I told her and she sighed "I might as well have been starting this game. I played longer than I ever have ever." And we both laughed.

          We walked out and saw our families waiting on us. My dad walked up to me and hugged me "Man, you got a mean arm there." My dad complimented me and I laughed, "You did really good kiddo." Trey said to me and Malcolm just smiled at me. I sighed, "I'm a loser aren't I?" And my dad frowned just a bit, "Aw, it's okay. You can't win everything. I'm sure if your shoulder was better you would've won." I smiled and nodded agreeing.

          "Reagan! Draya!" I heard a shout and it was Drew and the crew. "I'll see you guys later." I told my dad and he said, "Alright, see you at home champ." I nodded and went towards the crew. Drew picked me up and twirled me around, "You did amazing! You got the stuff man!" He praised me and I smiled. When Draya got there he picked her up too, "You were pretty nice out there too Dray!" He praised her as well and she smiled.

          "You did great." PB told us. "Great? They were straight amazing! You should've won, I wanted to kick that other girls butt on the other team, for real." Caz chimed and we laughed at him. "I wanted to too, but whatever, hopefully I see her next year." I said and Drew nodded, "Now that's the spirit Reagan!" Drew being the good sport he is. "Our team is going to Rudy's." Draya told them and they got excited. "Bet, I want some too. I'll tag along." Caz said.

          I laughed at him and then noticed I forgot my lucky towel in the locker room. "Oh, I forgot something. I'll see you guys at Rudy's." They all nodded and started walking out. I went to the locker room and I grabbed my towel quickly and I started walking out the gym when I felt someone pull me back in. I looked up and saw Ahm standing there looking oh so good.

          I smiled after looking confused and his eyes once again twinkled with admiration. "Hi." I quietly said to him and he nodded, "You can cry if you want to." He joked and I pretended to cry, he pulled me into him, holding me, and pretended to comfort me. "How's the shoulder?" I moved it around and winced a little, "Just need to ice it down." I answered and he nodded not fully convinced, but not to make a big deal out of it. I started laughing and he let me go. "How you feel?" He asked me and I felt like being really truthful, "I feel awful." I chuckled just a bit afterwards, trying to lighten my own mood.

          "I figured, it was a big game." I looked down disappointed. I exhaled sharply, "I feel like I let everyone down even though I gave it my all." He made a face, sort of like he felt bad because I was feeling bad, "Yup, it be like that sometimes. But you gave everything you had and left it on the court, you shouldn't be upset. You should be glad that you did everything you could to help your team." He lifted my face to look at him, "I'm proud of you personally. You worked really hard." He finished and I smiled a bit.

          "Thank you." I said to him and he nodded coolly. "I think your team might leave you though." He pointed to the bus waiting on me. I smiled. I jumped up, giving him a hug which surprised him at first but he hurried and hugged me back. "Thank you for everything." I said sweetly into his chest and he stroked the back of my head, "Anything for you baby." I squeezed him for a little bit longer, causing him to do the same and then I let him go. "See ya." I smiled at him again and I rushed to the bus.

~~~~~

          I was home resting my shoulder, it was aching pretty badly and my dad said we'd go to the doctor tomorrow to get it checked though I don't think something is wrong with it, it's just bruised. "Maybe you can go to college playing volleyball?" Trey suggested and I shook my head "No, she's going to be a doctor. She doesn't need any distractions." My dad said and I laughed. "I'm going to PV so I might play." My dad smiled, "Still going to PV huh?" I nodded.

          "Duh, she wanted to be like her brother." Malcolm said and my dad snorted out in laughter, "Or her father, who went there first." He corrected him. "Or her other brother who showed her what PV was all about." Trey finished and I made faces at all of them, "Y'all are all wack." They all looked offended. "I'm not wack. I'm very cool." Trey said with gusto, and I lifted an eyebrow at him, "If you have to convince me you're cool, you're not cool." I clapped back at him and he mugged me.

          "Y'all need girlfriends." I told them while getting up to head to my room. "If I get a girlfriend all my attention and money will go to her." Trey yelled at me while I climbed the stairs, "Just the attention, not the money." I said while making it to the top of the stairs, I heard them laughed.

          My phone rang the second I stepped into my room. I picked it up and I laid down on my bed with a huge sighed. "Yeah?" I asked and I heard a laugh, a sexy laugh "Hey." Chuck said and my eyes grew wide. "Chuck?" I asked. "Yeah, been awhile since I used this number." I didn't know what to say to him. "You did great today, I just wanted to let you know that. I know it's hard to lose a big game like that, but you did really well and it was actually pretty amazing to see. Also, I didn't know we wore the same number."

          I took in his words and I smiled lightly, "Thank you, and yeah, it was a coincidence though." Chuck chuckled, "Or destiny. Either way, I just wanted to hear your voice and I also wanted you to know, I'm sorry for not pay attention, but I'm not sorry for liking you. I'm going to fight harder for you now." My eyes sprung open again, "Chuck... I don't think-" I began to respond but he interrupted me, "We matched well together. I felt something, I want to continue that. So, it's only fair to give me a chance too right? I'll talk to you later." Chuck finished and he hung up.

          I stared at the wall, what was he trying to do? Why was he trying to do it? What is going to happen?