She waited for Mattie’s screen and then broke free. She caught Jordyn’s textbook bounce pass and with the ball in her hands, Lexi was ready to claim victory. As time was running out, Lexi did her patented crossover dribble and pulled up for a jump shot. A defender charged, but it was too late. The shot was gone.
As the ball floated through the air, the final horn sounded, and everyone held their collective breaths as it swished through the net. Lexi and her teammates jumped and cheered as they savored victory. And when Lexi turned around, she saw the face of her defender—Jill.
The two exchange long, unforgiving stares. Jill’s eyes squinted and her lip curled like a junkyard dog showing its teeth. “You think this is over? It’s not, Lexi. You have won nothing,” Jill promised.
Lexi smiled back at the angry blond girl. She turned and looked at the scoreboard. It read: Lexi 1, Jill 0, with zero seconds on the clock. Her smile widened.
That night, Lexi had the best night of sleep in a week. When her head touched the pillow, she was certain her dreams would be of the normal variety, but they were not. Instead, Lexi had dreamed that she was playing basketball.
Although she could not make out the faces of the crowd, she knew they were on the edge of their seats. She could hear cheering, but also something else. She thought she heard sound of crickets. Lexi awoke with a smile. There were no sweats, no sense of panic. She was fully rested and ready for the championship game. Goodbye, Jill, she thought as she hurriedly hopped out of her bed.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Back From the Future
“Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called sons of God.”
-Matthew 5:9
The crowd was raucous. They wanted the game to start. The Lady Ravens had not been in the championship in six years. From the locker room, Lexi and the others sat and watched Coach pace the floor. He looked at his watch and then the door and then his cell phone.
“Where could she be?”
“Maybe, she’s not coming,” Lexi offered with a devilish grin.
“Why would she not come?” Coach asked. He looked at his plays. “I’ve got these great plays. She better come.”
“No kidding, she better come. She owes me a suede jacket,” Elle barked from behind the other girls.
“Here, have mine,” Mattie said, tossing her suede jacket to Elle. “Suede is too hard to keep clean. Besides, I don’t want to be friends with someone who doesn’t show up for the big game.”
Elle stared at the jacket. She only wanted it if everyone wanted one, but she didn’t want a used suede jacket. Elle tossed it back at Mattie. “I don’t want your stupid used jacket. And I don’t want to be friends with someone who doesn’t deliver on their promises, like giving me a suede jacket.”
“Take the jacket,” Mattie yelled as she threw the jacket back at Elle.
“Keep your dirty jacket. I want my own,” Elle screamed back.
“Girls, give me the jacket,” Coach yelled. “What are we going to do?” He ran his hands through his hair.
Lexi stood up. “Coach, we made it this far. We are in the championship game and we did it with the team we’ve got. We did it without Jill. I bet we can make it one more game. What do you say?”
Elle hopped up. “Lexi is right. Who needs dumb ol’ Jill anyway? Lexi is here and as long as we got our lucky jack rabbit, we can beat anyone. We don’t need Jill. Did Tom Brady need Jill to win the Tour de France? No. Did the Lakers need Jill to win the World Series? Absolutely not. And we don’t need her either. If she can’t be here on time, I say we buy her a clock just as soon as she gives me my suede jacket and we do this without her. We have Lexi and that’s enough.” Elle nodded at Lexi. Lexi gave her a hug. It was good to have her best friend back.
Lexi stood in the center of the locker room and extended her hand. “Who are we?”
The other girls jumped and yelled so loudly they could have been heard from outer space. “The Lady Ravens.”
“Who are we?”
“The Lady Ravens!”
Coach Mahan clapped his hands and wiped a tear from his eye. “Elle, words can’t explain that speech. Girls, we can do this. Let’s get out there and win.”
“Yeah,” the Lady Ravens yelled as they charged out of the locker room and on to certain victory.
The Raven Archives
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The Doppelganger & Death by Chocolate
Special thanks to my editor, Kalyn M.,
my graphic designer, Kristen V.,
my loving wife, Stephanie,
my amazing children: Chandler, Koy, Luke, & Jude.
Thank you all so very much!
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