Illuminate

Chapter 8- Eva

The rest of the week went by quickly. My math test felt good, I didn't have to hesitate too much on any of the problems, I had practiced all of them hard. I wasn't getting it back until Monday though. Blake and I were hanging out tonight and because we had a tutoring session on Tuesday, my math teacher wasn't making us have another session, which was good for me. 

I was at the gym, our game started at 4:30, and we had home court advantage, my favorite. It was my dad's night to watch me, my parents switched off on who they watched because the girls and guys varsity always played at the same time, just different locations. I didn't really like that because it meant I never got to see my big brothers play anymore, but I was still happy to play varsity as a freshman. We were going to start warming up in about a minute and I threw on my warmup long sleeve to prepare.

"Alright girls, huddle up," my coach called. We all jogged over to her and huddled around each other.

"It's a good team today, but I know you girls have the potential to win it," our coach said. "I'm proud of all of you, it's all you today." I took a deep breath. "Alright, call it," she ordered with a smirk, backing out of the circle. The seniors always led our chant.

"We are blue devils, mighty mighty devils, live our legacy, HA," the seniors screeched.

"Blue devils, blue devils, hooah, hooah!" we all jumped in. We raced out onto the court, pumped up for the game. We started on our drills, working mostly on our three-pointers. I came up in line and Zoey passed me the rebound. I shot, and immediately after realized I hadn't flicked my wrist enough. The basketball hit the rim but didn't go in the hoop of course. I grunted and started to run to get the rebound.

"Come on, Eva. Flick your wrist more!" a voice said from behind.

"I know, I know," I started to say, turning around and there he was. Owen. "Oh my God!" I exclaimed and raced into his arms without hesitation. 

"I missed you so much, Eva Girl," he said, holding me tight. It had been around four months since I had seen him last.

"I missed you too, what are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I haven't been to any of your games yet, thought it was time for me to be here," he smiled, releasing me from the hug. My dad walked up next to Owen.

"Did he surprise you?" he asked me.

"Um, of course," I replied. I turned around and noticed my whole team watching me.

"Alright, good luck, Eva Girl. I can't wait to see you shine," Owen told me with a smile. 

"Thanks, O," I replied. He patted my shoulder and I ran back out to the court and got back into the drill that was running. 

"That was really sweet of Owen to come all the way from California, just for a basketball game," Zoey said to me.

"It was really sweet," I agreed with a smile and went back to the drills. As much as Owen separated himself from us when he was at school, he always came around. I wondered if Austin or Colton knew yet. I knew Austin would be especially excited, they had always been really close, just like Colton and I. The buzzer sounded, ending warm-ups, and all of the starters got on the bench as the other players made a tunnel for us. We squeezed each other's hands, waiting for the announcer to start calling of our names. He finished the last starter from the opposing team and I really started to get in my game mode. 

"And now, your Blue Devils!" the announcer yelled and the audience cheered.

"Up first, number one, 5 foot 8 senior, Brecklyn Meyers!" the announcer screeched and we all yelled for her as she raced through the tunnel onto the court.