Random Short Stories

Rec Center Rivalry

I feel a little "eh" about this one. Hopefully you'll enjoy anyway :)

******

Willis takes a step back and rolls his shoulder. His eyes narrow in on the basketball hoop, and he takes a deep breath.

He raises the basketball, aligning his arms to get the perfect shot.

Another breath.

He tunes out all the other noises in the city recreation center gym. The dribbling, the cheers of triumph, the shouts of anger, all of it. All that matters is making this shot.

With baited breath, he shoots.

Within moments, the brown ball swishes through the net.

He grins and fist-pumps the air. The hours and hours he has spent practicing are finally paying off. At this rate, he's definitely going to be getting his spot on the school team back.

The only reason he lost it at all was because one of his friends convinced him to join in going skiing at the local resort. One bad run, and the next thing Willis knew, he was in the hospital with a badly sprained ankle.

His ankle prevented him from practicing for over six weeks. Those were the longest six weeks of Willis's life. All he's ever known is being on the court, dribbling a ball. So being without that was torture for him. Then, even when he was allowed to practice, it was limited, and he had to stop frequently to rest. That part seemed even worse than not playing at all.

Willis doesn't blame the coach for kicking him off the team. He was so angry at himself that he almost did it for him.

Now, after four months, he's finally back up to skill. Coach has no reason to hold this from him any longer.

As Willis goes over to get his ball, he finds that someone grabbed it before him.

He meets the eyes of a young woman, maybe a year younger than him. To his dismay, she's about two inches taller than him.

"I saw you shoot," she says, handing the ball back to him.

He balances the ball on his hip, supporting it with one hand as he watches her.

When he doesn't respond, she rolls her eyes. "What's your name?"

After another moment of debate, he answers, "Willis."

"Well, Willis, how about some one-on-one?"

He wants to scoff, teenage ego making him doubt that anyone could beat him. However, it's been months since he's played against anyone at all, his practices have been made up entirely of running small drills and shooting from various places.

And as he looks over her figure again, he's reminded of her height, as well as her long arms.

As he studies her face, a flash of familiarity hits him.

"Ashlyn Graves."

She smirks. "You know me."

He chuckles, "Obviously. You are all that colleges are talking about. You have the highest free throw percentage in the country. Then there's your 3 pointers which is another thing entirely."

Ashlyn beams at his high praise, and he suddenly wants to take it back.

"It's a shame you go to Pine."

Her lips drops slightly, but she's still smiling. "Quite the talk coming from a Timber wolf."

"At least Timber wolves aren't on the bottom of the food chain. Unlike a Beaver."