Without A Doubt

Chapter 26.

Focus. Breathe. I'm okay.

There's less than 4 seconds on the clock. I have two free throws and we are down by one. The score is 49-50.

I'm standing at the free throw line waiting for everyone to get set up. My team as well as the opposing team are around me but I don't notice them. If anything, I sort of forget that they're there. I looked into the crowd only once to see Liv and Emma in the stands. There's a lot of pressure on me right now. Even though I should be nervous, should be shaking, I'm not. I'm completely calm. My breathing is under control and my heart beat is steady. The ref stands under the basket and bounces the ball to me. I take the ball in my hands and take another breath. I line up my toes with the free throw line and looked up at the basket. The ball in my hands feels sticky and somewhat cool. I bounce the ball four times and then throw it with a backwards spin so it comes back to me. I bring the ball up to my chest and looked up at the rim. I shoot the ball and as I feel it leaving my fingertips I can feel that it's a good shot. The ball goes in with a little swish, and I feel the whole gym let out a breath of relief. But as soon as the tension had left it came back as the ref bounced the ball to me again. I did the same process again. As soon as the ball left my fingertips I felt like it was moving through the air in slow motion. I felt like it just kept going higher and higher and would never come down, but it did. It came down right into the hoop. 51-50. The other team scrambled to get the jump on us, and they did. They already had 2 girls running back and they were already at the other free throw line. I saw the girl inbounding the ball getting ready to chuck the ball to one of her girls. I ran in front of her and jumped up with all my volleyball skills to get up as high as I could. The ball hit my hands with a loud slap and a second later the buzzard went off.

The next thing I heard was everyone screaming their heads off. My team ran up to me and collapsed around me. They were all trying to hug me and pat me on the back. All 9 of them were closing in on me. It was so loud. There're too many people in the gym. There's not enough room. They're suffocating me. I pushed my way through my team then through the crowd that was now on the gym floor. I ran into the locker room sat down on the bench and hunched over trying to catch my breath. A second or two later Emma ran in with Liv a few steps behind her.

"Mayson you did...." Emma trailed off. I was still trying to get enough air in my lungs to breathe normally.

"Hey are you okay?" Emma asked. Liv on the other hand walked in front of me and squatted down to look up at me. She gave me a knowing look and then a small smile. I gave her a little nod letting her know I was okay. I then stood up and looked at Emma. She just gave me a confused look but nonetheless smiled and said

"You did amazing. The last two free throws, and then the block! It was all just amazing." She was flailing her arms around and laughing. After she finished telling me all my stats and my mistakes and the things I right her phone started to ring. She answered and walked a few feet away. When she did Liv turned to me and said

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Everyone just sort of collapsed on me and I didn't expect it. Freaked me out a bit but I'm good." Liv just smiled.

"Well that's what happens when you win the game by yourself." I just sort of smiled. Liv came over and kissed me on the cheek. Once Emma was done with her call she came back and said

"Hey Jason's already asking where I am, he wants to go out to eat. I'd invite you guys but I know how y'all are about being in public." Emma teased. The boys had played before us today because Fornix, the team we played, their bus broke down so we had to post pone our game and play last.