Love and Basketball (LaMelo Ball Story)

~14~

"So... Is he gonna leave... or is he gonna stand there looking at me like an idiot?" I ask Nat.

"What do you mean, I fucked you up? From where I'm sitting, it seems like you're already fucked up enough." Ethan says.

"Aye, don't talk about my girl like that." Melo says, getting in Ethan's face.

"All you're getting is my sloppy seconds. Have fun with her, bro. I sure did." Ethan says. Melo punches Ethan, and Ethan punches back. They start fighting, and it looked like Melo was winning so I left it alone and let the two fight. 

When I felt like Ethan got beat enough, I pulled Melo off of him and hugged him to calm him down.

"Huh. Typical Naiara. Couldn't handle me herself so she had her little guard bitch do the work for her." Ethan says, still laying on the ground.

"Oh trust me, I can beat your ass if I wanted to. And trust me, I do." I say, stepping towards him, but Melo holds me back.

"I still don't understand what I did to you."

"You don't hit your girlfriend, asshole! I was in the hospital for a week cause you broke my ribs!" I yell. "Then you cheated on me, and somehow everyone knew but me. You had me looking so stupid!"

"No, that was all you." He shrugs.

"You should leave." Nat tells him, and he shakes his head before. I look up at Melo and smile at him.

"Thanks for sticking up for me, baby." I say.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks to you." I give him a quick kiss. "Let's not worry bout him, though, we have a championship coming up soon."

"Yeah, that I led us to."

"Nah, not really." 

"Stop playing, bae. You know I'm the MVP."

Championship Day~ Fourth Quarter

The score was extra close, 101-98, and we were losing. Spirits were pretty high considering we were only down by three, but we had a minute left, and it was the other team's possession. More than likely, the other team was gonna run down the clock, and since we're only in high school, there's no shot clock. With any luck, we could go into OT.

"What're we bout to do, Coach?" Iris asks as the other team calls timeout.

"We need to isolate our three point shooters so we can get a shot as overtime. That means we have to execute a few pick and rolls in order to get LaMelo or Naiara open." Coach says. I nod, and give Melo a look. He knew exactly what I was thinking. 

Melo and I made up a play for isolation. Melo would run down the baseline and cut through the paint to the top of the key, where someone passes him the ball. Meanwhile I would make my way to the corner. A pick would be set before I got to the corner, and I should be open to shoot the three. Or Melo, depending on who's cutting to the baseline.

We get back on the court and execute the play when we get the ball, but the defense was tight. I see Melo cut to the other corner and I set a pick, leaving Melo wide open. The ball is passed to him and he shoots it, making it into the basket right as the buzzer sounds, meaning we made it into overtime.

"You just saved our asses." I say to Melo as we get ready for overtime.

"Told you I'm the MVP." He says. I roll my eyes and get in position for the second jump ball. 

Overtime goes pretty well, but it was still a pretty close game, 115-113. With only 23 seconds left, the other team scores, making the game tied. Coach uses our last timeout and comes up with a final play.