Books, Boys, and Basketball: Junior Year

TRUST

Being on the opposite end of Drew's wrath is social suicide for Nicole. Soon after Drew argues with her, not only does Kim stop being her friend, but the invitations to parties for her stop and Nicole becomes somewhat of a social pariah.

If that isn't bad enough, Kim's friends bully her both at school and on social media. She's bitten off more than she can chew, and if she hadn't turned on me, I might feel bad for her.

Might...

I mean, even now as she sits in the bleachers watching the game that I've been banned from playing in, she tries her best to appear unaffected by the change in her social life. But anyone who knows her knows better.

"Sidney!" Coach calls my name.

Yanking my attention away from Nicole, I turn to coach Treggle, who motions for me to join her by the score-keepers table. We're down by twelve, the fourth quarter is about to start, and if we don't win this, we'll drop from our third seed position to fourth. It's a chance coach isn't willing to take, so she subs me in.

YES!

My teammates perk up when they see me run onto the court, and I can already feel the difference in them. They're more determined now, and it takes two minutes of us playing some great defense and offense to cut their lead down to six.

Coach and Drew are shouting at me from the sidelines, but I can't hear a word they're saying over the roar of the crowd and the thoughts in my head.

Being back in the game fills me with a level of adrenaline I can't even put into words, and I become this unstoppable force out on the court. Nothing matters in these minutes that tick downward except for the ball in my hand and the three's I keep putting up. When I'm not putting up threes I'm assisting with behind the back passes to my teammates, setting pics, and driving to the hole every chance I get.

The game quickly turns into a blowout with us up by twelve points. And I'm determined not to let them score a single basket. I'm all over my man, who is their best shooter, and anytime someone passes the ball I steal it. Driving it down the court to make a layup.

They're afraid to even give her the ball now, and as the seconds tick down to nothing, the horn blares signaling the end of the game.

I'm dripping with sweat, but it does nothing to stop Drew from hugging me and telling me how much of an amazing quarter I had. Even the coach and players from the other team give me my props.

It feels really good to be back...

The team heads to the locker room where coach Treggle sings my praises then warns me never to miss another practice. That's when she informs me that several colleges have already inquired about me and if I play my cards right, I could earn a full scholarship to any college I want.

I'm so excited that I want to go home and tell my parents, but I can't. So, I settle for just telling Drew and my friends.

But before I can make it back to the gym where Drew and Quincy should be warming up for their game, I'm approached by sports reporters asking me a ton of questions, with the most popular one being why I was benched those first few quarters.

"I missed a couple of practices and an important game, so the coach took me out of the game, which is understandable. I did my crime and had to do the time," I smile, deciding to tell the truth.

The press eats it up, and I leave them hanging on my words as I escape back to the gym to watch Drew's game. To my dismay, Kim and her friends are sitting with my friends, which means I'll have to sit with them too.