Love The Game

Chapter 22

Not only did Sara and Kris have in for me but apparently so did Braddock, which meant by the end of this the whole team would hate me too. Braddock started off by sitting us all down on the bleachers. Kris was on the top row and Sara was in the middle and I was on the bottom. After we were all situated he started in on his speech about good sportsmanship and the consequences of our action. In class earlier Braddock had called me out of my health class to talk to me. He said that I was lucky I wasn't getting suspended or kicked off the team for my "little stunt" at the game last Friday.

The speech ended the one sentence that made me want to die. It was 'Get on the line.' I felt the entire team look at me with hate. I untied my shoes and retied them just so that Kris and Sara get to the court first and I could blend in with rest of the team after them. I kept my head down as I walked under towards the basket. Braddock said we were running horses. Which meant we run to the volleyball line then back, then half court then back, and to the other volleyball line, then to the other side of the court. And to make matters worse the horses were timed. We had to do one horse in twenty seconds. Coach made us do about twenty maybe more. Everyone was dying, myself included, but running this much took my mind off of everything going on. Plus I did cross country and track so this wasn't all that bad. Don't get me wrong it was terrible but it was even worse for everyone else. Since I was the fastest one on the team I was ahead of everyone. A couple of other people had tried to keep up with me for the first eight or so but quickly fizzled out. When the bell rang Braddock finally let us stop. Our class was over, now we had two hours of actual practice.

Braddock only gave us a ten minute break. We all headed towards the water cooler. I heard a couple 'thanks a lot's' from some of the jv player. I just gave them a dirty look and they shut up real quick. I just grabbed my cup of water and walked to my stuff and sat down.

"How's your lip?" I looked up to see Kara standing over me.

"Wonderful." I said sarcastically. I looked past her and saw Sara kind of looking at us. I wondered if she was jealous.

"Hey I don't need the attitude." Kara said jokingly as she sat down next to me.

"Sorry, everything just sucks." I said touching the cut on my lip with my index finger.

"Yeah, but if it makes you feel any better you totally kicked that chicks ass." At this I smiled and looked around to make sure kris wasn't around. She wasn't. She was still at the cooler getting some water.

"Yeah that actually makes me feel a lot better." I laughed. Before the conversation continues Braddock blew the whistle and told us to line up. Braddock split us into teams and had us scrimmage. Sara was on my team. Kris was on the other. Braddock gave me the ball and I started towards the defense, Kris was guarding me. She had this really scary look on her face. I saw an opening and decided to take it. I went in to drive right past kris and the next thing I know I'm face down on the court. She fucking tripped me. My right knee hit the floor first and it hurt like a bitch. I got up and put a little weight on it, then almost fell. I looked at Kris and just glared at her. She gave me the same look. Next thing I know theres a hand on my shoulder. I looked behind me to see Kara.

"You alright?" She kinda whispered to me.

"Yeah I'm fine." I said still scowling at Kris. I looked over to see Sara watching kara.

"Good now show her she cant do shit like that." She said as she got back to her spot under the basket.

I couldn't do anything to kris, nor did I want too. I was already on thin ice as it was. Kris had jerked me around and played with me for too long now. I walked over to the sideline where the sophomore was waiting to throw the ball in. She threw it to me and I started dribbling down the court. Kris was waiting for me, still scowling. I took it nice and easy before I kicked it in. I started to go right and she followed. I quickly threw it between my legs and turned left and Kris followed a bit with me but not quick enough. I did a spin move back to the right and this had Kris on the floor. I ran in for a lay up. The entire team plus the the Jv team went 'ooooohhhhhh'. I caught the ball as it came out of the basket. I looked at Kris who was still on the floor. With the ball in my left hand I walked towards Kris, who was getting up, and I offered her my hand. She just looked at me and stood up. She took the ball from my hand and started to set up on the other side of the court. I just followed her, still hurting from my knee. It was red and was starting to swell a little bit.

For the rest of practice we scrimmaged and at the very end Braddock told us to get on the line again. Then he said

"If anything like that every happens again you will all be running until next year." Then he called us back to him and broke us out. I walked over to the pile that was our stuff. I looked the at the ground the whole time. When I reached my stuff I picked up my backpack and hauled it out the door. I was almost out the school doors when I heard someone say

"Avery wait!" I turned around to see Sara.

"Is your knee okay?" She asked looking down at it.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Are you okay?" I asked. I really did miss Sara. It had only been a day or two but we ere always texting or talking.

"I'm okay. But I wanted to ask you something." I knew what it was about. She had been eyeing us all practice.

"Me and Kara aren't anything." I said quickly. Before she could say anything else I dropped my back pack and pushed her up against the wall and stared into her eyes. I knew I wanted Sara. I was in love with Kris but I didn't want to ever lose Sara. It was such a complex feeling. Any time I wasn't with her everything felt so complicated. Like one of those impossible puzzle boxes. I stared into her honey brown eyes and we stayed like that, her back against the wall me in front of her with my arms on either side of her body. I could hear some of the girls walking towards us but I stayed put. Sara turned her head to look. It as just a couple of sophomores. As Sara turned back towards me I put my lips on hers and flicked off the sophomores who made barely audible noises. Sara was hesitant to kiss me back. Whether it was because of the sophomores or because I was kissing her. Either way she soon started to kiss me back. It wasn't forceful and it wasn't hot or sexy like usual. It was soft and sweet and it made everything seem like it would be okay.

When I pulled back I heard Kris with Kara and Kristina coming down the hall. Without thinking I grabbed Saras hand and my backpack, that was still on the floor, and hauled it to my car. I opened the door for Sara and she got in. I went around and got in the car and drove off. Everything was a mess, but at least I had Sara back.