* * *
It's halftime, and the score is 54-52, our lead! Although Bryson is usually the safety net, only coming in the game to extend our lead when necessary, he hasn't sat on the bench at all so far tonight, and he's already scored thirty-one points. We would definitely be murdering any other team right now, but Briggston is too good. They have two six-foot-six centers who look like they should be playing in the NBA rather than here at Stargate tonight, and two speedy guards who can't seem to miss a shot if their lives depended on it. And even though we have Bryson, he can't guard them all at the same time. On the offensive end, however, Bryson's giving them absolute Hell, and there's not much any of them can do about it. It's definitely been an invigorating first half.
But as captivating as the game is, I've actually been dividing my attention fairly evenly between three things:
1. Bryson and the game, obviously. My overwhelming urge to straight up ravage him from head to toe has only gotten more intense, after seeing him all sweaty out there and kicking some major ass against this number one team.
2. Becca and Brian. According to Brian's text, he had a "question" he wanted to ask Becca tonight. Ever since the start of the second quarter, the two of them have been all lovey-dovey and touchy-feely. They've been holding hands, whispering in each other's ears, giggling back and forth, elbowing each other, playfully pinching one another--basically all brand-new-relationship type stuff. So I'm thinking they're boyfriend and girlfriend now, but I'm dying to know for sure.
3. Becca and Summer. This is really starting to concern me. Somehow, in the midst of all the heavy flirting with Brian, Becca manages to notice every single time Summer talks to me or even looks at me. And as you would probably guess, it downright pisses her off. She'll look over here and stare Summer down with rage, putting me in a super awkward position. I don't want to betray Becca, but I can't ignore Summer and be rude to her when she talks to me; I don't have that in me. It's an extremely uncomfortable situation, and all I can really do is respond to Summer and hope Becca understands.
As Holly turns around and smiles at me, I'm now focusing on the task at hand: our halftime cheers.
"You ready?" Holly asks, her eyes wide with excitement.
"Yep," I lie, even more nervous than I was at the first two games. I'm a genius now, which has pretty much thrust me into the limelight at this school. If people weren't watching me before, they're surely watching me now.
Holly must have seen through my quick answer. "You know the cheers; you did them both perfectly at practice yesterday," she tells me.
Then Summer walks up, and I quickly glance at Becca, hoping maybe she's not paying attention this time so I can acknowledge Summer without feeling awful. But no such luck; she's watching carefully.
"You ready to go?" Summer asks me, all excited like Holly.
I take a deep breath. "Yeah, I think so."
"You're ready; you're gonna be fine," Holly smiles.
"Yeah, you did great in practice yesterday," Summer says, just as Alex walks up. And since Alex is probably number three on Becca's hit list behind Summer and Allison, I'm now far too nervous to look in Becca's direction at all.
Summer flashes a glance at Alex, then looks back at me and continues, "And as far as the pyramid we came up with last week while you were out, just stand behind me and Alex as a spotter. The three of us are gonna spot Jill."
"Spot Jill, got it." I nod nervously, hoping like crazy no one's going to come crashing down on me.
Once again, Holly reads my mind as she puts her hand on my shoulder and says, "But don't worry, she's not gonna fall."
I nod again, more relieved as Alex giggles and adds, "Yeah, we've done this a bunch of times."
"Okay, good," I sigh with relief. Apparently, that was funny because the three of them start to laugh, but I just giggle under my breath. All I can think about is Becca on the bleachers and how I must be looking like the biggest traitor in the world to her right now, talking and laughing and getting along with Summer and Alex.
Once we're all lined up and about to run out on the floor, I finally build up the courage to peek over at her. When I see her staring blankly across the gym, looking confused and maybe even a little sad, I instantly feel sick to my stomach. Somehow, I manage to shake it off and follow the squad to center court.
Luckily, the cheers go well. I didn't put anyone else in a walking cast, and I wasn't forced to make the crucial decision to either stand there and let Jill fall on me or get the heck out the way and just apologize afterwards while insisting that I "tried" to catch her. That would've sucked, big time. But she was really solid up there on that pyramid, so I'm feeling nice and relaxed right now.
When the game starts back up, I'm even more relaxed when I notice that Becca seems to be back to normal. She occasionally glances at me and smiles while focusing on the game, just like Brian, Hailey, my parents, her parents, and Bryson's mom.
By the time we're in the fourth quarter with only five minutes to go, everyone in the building is on their feet. The energy and intensity from both sides is mind-blowing right now. Briggston is desperately trying to hang on to their number-one spot and their undefeated streak?but we're dead set on taking them down. As the war rages on and the decibel level goes through the roof, I find myself capable of looking at only two things: the court and the scoreboard. It's literally lead change after lead change. We're up by three, then they're up by two, then us by two, then them by three, and on and on.
Then our fans start booing loudly, wanting a foul called when one of the six-foot-six centers from Briggston knocks Trent to the ground and steals the ball. Since the squad and I are on the baseline under the basket, we all immediately back up to the wall as the Briggston center charges straight toward us, all alone.
Then, out of nowhere, Bryson sprints up beside him, slaps the ball from his hands, quickly stealing it back, then darts back down to the other end and drains a three-pointer, putting us back up by two points. The crowd erupts, throwing their hands up, stomping their feet on the bleachers, clapping, screaming, jumping around, and basically just acting like a bunch of crazy people. The atmosphere is absolutely electric, and it almost feels like the gym is shaking due to all the noise. People are standing all down the sideline, they're crowding the admission table by the gym entrance, they're all over in front of the bathroom doors and the concession stand, and anywhere else they can squeeze in since the bleachers are full. It's almost as if a bunch of strangers have wandered in from the street to see what all the commotion is about, and now they're drawn in.
While everyone continues to go nuts over Bryson's lightning fast three-pointer, Briggston wastes no time hurling the ball back down the court to one of their centers who aggressively dunks the ball over Brad, tying the score back up and quieting our fans down instantly.
The game goes on at this pace for another four minutes or so. As both teams walk back out on the floor from a time out, the score is now 89-88, Briggston's lead, with only 18 seconds left in the game. Luckily, though, it's our ball.
But since three guards are all over Bryson like ants on a dead bug--they clearly don't want the ball in Bryson's hands--Trent is forced to throw the ball in to Brad. And even though Brad quickly gets trapped on the sideline, he's somehow able to get the ball right back to Trent, who then throws it to Bryson. After blowing past everyone who attempted to stand in his way, Bryson barrels toward the goal, which is being guarded by both of Briggston's six-foot-six centers. When all three of them jump up at the same time, Bryson somehow manages to do a 180 in mid-air, completely faking them out, and then gently laying the ball in the basket behind his head.
The crowd explodes. I'm literally covering my ears as I jump up and down with nervous excitement, looking up at the scoreboard?90-89, Stargate.
Now with no timeouts left and only six seconds to go, Briggston throws the ball in and urgently pushes down the court. Right away, of course, the point guard bombs the ball straight to one of their centers.
Just as he turns around and hops up to dunk the ball for the win, Bryson leaps up behind him and forcefully slaps the ball from his hands, sending it flying into the wall right above Briggston's bench and causing them all to duck out of the way. And then the buzzer goes off?and we win!
The place blows up like never before. People are running out onto the court and jumping around and screaming, going absolutely nuts.
I look at Bryson just as he looks at me. He does a little fist-pump, then points at me with both hands and grins.
I smile back and give him two thumbs up, wishing I could go jump on him and show everyone he's my boyfriend.
After he runs back in the locker room with the team, I turn and glance at Summer. She's still hopping around and screaming with excitement like the rest of the cheerleaders.
Then I look at Becca, and she's pretty much doing the same thing. She's smiling and clapping excitedly, just like Brian and Hailey and our parents. And all I can think about is how this was a nice little escape from life's dramas.
24
Problems
I wake up the next morning feeling fantastic. I sit up in bed, wipe the sleep from my eyes, and then pinch myself a few times to make sure I'm actually awake. I mean, let's face it--I usually wake up scared or nervous about something. But this morning is different. Instead of wanting to crawl under my bed and avoid all human contact for the next twelve hours, I hop up and skip over to my window to open the curtains. When the sun shines through, I smile broadly like I'm in one of those corny movies about a girl who moves to the big city to find herself.
But strange as it may be, the reasons for my unusual joy on this gorgeous morning are pretty simple. First of all, last night I witnessed what was probably the greatest basketball game ever played at Stargate. We took out the number-one team by one point and remained undefeated. It was a nail-biter, to say the least, and Bryson led the way with an insane forty-four points. Definitely the most exciting sporting event I've ever attended.
Second, Becca and Brian announced their new relationship to Bryson and me while we were at McDonald's after the game. I was so excited for her, I could barely eat when she told me, even though I eventually came to my senses and inhaled my food like I was in a Big Mac eating contest. I even finished off Becca's fries since she was too excited to eat them.
And last but not least--in fact, this is without a doubt the main reason for my giddiness--Bryson and I made a little pit stop on the way home. He pulled into the grocery store parking lot so we could have a much needed, totally amazing, head-spinning make-out session. He squeezed me tightly in his lap, occasionally putting his hand on my thigh. We kissed passionately for what seemed like forever, then he broke away from my lips and began kissing me all over my neck, along my jawline, under my chin, and just below my ears. And when he started gently blowing in my ears and rubbing my inner thigh just above my knee, he had me shivering as if a lot more was taking place than that.
So obviously, I went to bed all tingly and with a smile on my face--and that's exactly how I woke up this morning.
I'm quite sure my parents were wondering what in the world was going on with me as I sat at the kitchen table, eating my pancakes and smiling like a big doofus. It's not like I was trying to get them to ask or anything--in fact, I was extremely relieved they didn't ask--but I just couldn't help myself. It's as if the smile was painted on and I had no control over it. It was kind of creepy, actually.
By the time I got to school, however, the smile was long gone. It was back to reality. A reality where problems existed. A reality that wasn't all roses and sunshine, and earth-shattering make-out sessions and exciting basketball games and things like that.
Becca had no intention of warming up to Summer; that was becoming painfully clear. She scolded Summer once again during the "Ask Dori" segment in first period and almost got herself sent to the office. I tried to get through to her after class by demanding that she leave Summer alone and at least try to give her a chance, and it appeared to have an effect at first.
But later when we were walking to the caf to go to lunch, Becca inched away from me until she was directly in Summer's path, who was minding her own business while changing out books at her locker. When Summer suddenly noticed Becca's approach, she quickly flattened herself against her locker, avoided eye contact, and patiently waited for us to pass.
Clearly, no progress had been made. And to be honest, it was starting to look like a lost cause. I almost wished Summer would just go back to being mean to me, which was much scarier, but far less complicated. But it didn't look like that was going to happen either. I had no idea how to handle the situation, and it completely consumed my thoughts for the rest of the day.
"Are you okay with that?" Summer asks, looking at me while re-doing her ponytail.
I turn to look at her. "Sorry, what?"
"I was asking if you wanted to continue to be a spotter for the pyramid. Because if you wanted to try another position--"
"No, I'm okay with being a spotter," I say with a nervous chuckle.
"Okay, that's what I figured," she laughs. "I just wanted to make sure."
When she walks away, I turn back to the caf entrance and continue staring down the hall, hoping Becca stays in the library until the end of practice.
"We can take a quick break before we start on the next cheer," Summer tells everyone.
Then Holly walks over to me. "What's wrong? The whole Becca/Summer thing?" Holly knows the situation well.
I nod at her then glance back down the hall. "I don't know what to do about it."
"There's not much you can do," Holly says. "You just have to wait for Becca to come around."
"Yeah?I don't see that happening, though. Becca's convinced she's putting on an act."
Holly glances over her shoulder at Summer. "Last week when you were out, she was definitely concerned about the accident, but she really seemed to change when she found out about your genius. And I guess maybe she had to, you know, because the whole school was fascinated."
"Right," I nod. "It may have been a forced change at first, but it seems genuine now. I mean, she's invited everyone to her party, not just her group of people."
Holly nods in agreement, then we both look at Summer. She's talking and laughing with two freshman cheerleaders?something she would've never done in the past.
Holly and I look back at each other and shrug.
"Just give Becca some time," she says, patting my shoulder as we walk back to the squad.