His Distraction

D i s t r a c t i o n

Edited

We cannot lose this game. It's almost time for the playoffs and so far, my team's undefeated. It'll be tragic if we lose this one, because there are only two more games before we enter the tournament.

Right now, the score is 38-42.. and we're not the ones winning. The team's not working well together today because there was a fight in the locker room right before the game. Apparently my best friend, Gale, found out his girl has been cheating on him with our teammate, Kendrick because Kendrick told him. And almost the whole team knew about it, not including me of course.

I'm the basketball team captain and Gale is co-captain, but today he's not doing his job, which is helping to lead the team to victory. Instead he's brooding and snapping at everybody.

"Gale," I say as I sit in the chair next to him. We both got taken out of the game for a brief break from playing so we can go out with more energy and hopefully take the lead soon. "You need to get your head in the game and out of the outside world right now. I know you're pissed, but you deal with those feelings after the game not on the court. You got me?"

Gale lets out a sigh and rubs his hands over his face so hard I almost worry. "I know. I get it. It's just harder than you think, James."

"I get that but to be a great player you cannot let anything affect your game. I don't care if you stubbed your toe, your pet died, or your house just caught on fire. You deal with those things once the game is over."

"That's easy for you to say," I hear Gale grumble. Then louder he says, "I'll try my best. Thanks, captain."

I know what him calling me "captain" means. It means he feels like I'm not being his friend and am putting my role first. I don't let it affect me, because isn't that what captains are supposed to do? You can't go easy on someone just because they're your friend.

We're called back into the game, one minute left until halftime. I set a personal goal to make sure we at least end the half tied with the other team. "Head in the game," I call to Gale as the refs allow us to join the game.

The next thirty seconds of the game go great. I steal the ball from the other team once and make a layup before anyone can catch up to me. Another teammate, Bryan, then blocks a layup and keeps the other team from scoring. With fifteen seconds left, I'm fouled on when I go to shoot a 3-pointer, meaning I get three free throws.

Keeping my celebration small, I go to the free throw line. I rarely miss free throws because they're what I practice most. I know free throws can make or break a game; like now, making these can get us the lead. If I were to miss them, though, then that's three points wasted.

I do my usual routine. Dribble twice, take a deep breath, point feet straight at the board, lightly squat, then shoot. It goes in. One down, two more to go. Repeating my routine I sink another one. One more and we have the lead. I dribble twice, take a deep breath, point my feet straight at the board, but this is when I make a rookie mistake. I let my eyes lower below the board to glance at the audience behind it. I'm not sure why I do it, because everybody knows in order to avoid distractions, you do not take your eyes off the backboard. But it's too late now, my eyes fell onto the people watching me. Usually this wouldn't affect me, I would just restart my routine and proceed to sink it in. This time, though, I'm distracted.

I look behind the backboard and my eyes lock with someone. What drew my eyes to them? I couldn't tell you. Just a random person sitting in the stands, waiting for me to shoot my shot. My eyes connect with hers, and for some reason I feel unsteady. She's smiling brightly, maybe because her team just tied with the opposing team, seeing as she's wearing a hoodie with my school's logo.