ooOoo
There are scenes of unprotected sex in this story, but it is between two consenting adults in a committed relationship. A condom is always advised when having sex with your partner :)
A special shoutout to my best friends turned beta readers: June, Jacques, Jesse and Neapolle. If there are mistakes on the grammar blame it on them :D
Comments are highly appreciated. Enjoy reading guys ^^ - red
ooOoo
"LAST SIXTY SECONDS! Fifty-five, fifty-three in favor of the Lions."
I was barely able to hear the announcer's voice over the roar of the crowd around the basketball court. The enemy's supporters were yelling at their team to defend, they were leading after all, but there's still a minute left, and the ball was in our possession.
So much could happen in such a little time.
Jeremy, our point guard, looked at me for a split second, then dribbled the ball back to our side of the court towards our forward Miggy, who was positioned near the free-throw area. Three of the enemy team's players were around Miggy, making sure he wouldn't be able to take a successful shot. Meanwhile I was running towards the outer edges of the shooting area, the enemy team not paying attention to what I was doing. Jeremy feigned throwing the ball to Miggy, then at a split second passed it to me. Without giving the enemy the time to react, I aimed at the basket, praying for this shot to get in. I threw.
The ball made a perfect
thunk
as it entered right in the middle of the hoop. Our crowd cheered.
"THREE POINTS FROM NUMBER 15. Fifty-six, fifty-five in favor of the Falcons. Last 20 seconds!"
I looked at the direction of the cheering crowd, searching for somebody in particular. It didn't take long to find him. Our school's dominant color was yellow, but he texted me before the game that he would be wearing a neon orange shirt, just like the color of my shoes. He sat there, waving his little flags, his smile even brighter than the shirt he was wearing. He looked at me with such pride that I couldn't help but feel elated for having made the winning shot, when all of a sudden his expression turned into that of panic. I looked at the direction he was facing. The crowd was deafeningly silent.
Mike from the Lions had snatched the ball from our team's hands, then sprinted all the way to their side of the court. He stopped right inside the two-point field goal area, then shot the ball. The whole time I was on the other end of the court, chasing him would have been pointless. I could only offer a silent prayer to all gods that were listening to make the shot miss.
The basketball made its descent, still aimed towards the ring.
Don'tshootdon'tshootdon'tshoot,
I chanted in my head over and over again.
The gods didn't listen.
"HE SHOOTS! Fifty-seven for the Lions. LAST EIGHT SECONDS."
My team made a desperate rebound, but I knew it was pointless. The ball couldn't make it in time.
"FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE!"
The buzzer blared, amplifying the uproar of the crowd. All of a sudden the court was full of people and I felt the adrenaline from the game leave me. All I wanted was to go home, but we had to shake the hands of the winners first. Our coach would kill us if we didn't. Mike approached me first, his face clearly goading. Mike was the point guard of the Lions, their captain and star player, and everyone in the university knew of our rivalry. Clearly this was a victory in his part and knowing him he wouldn't hesitate to rub it in my face.
"Well played bro," he said. "It's too bad your team couldn't block that last shot of mine," he added with a sneer, offering his hand. If nobody else was around I could've caught his hand in a vice grip and broke his arm, but many people were looking at us, wanting to know how I would respond to being defeated by my rival.
Seeing as I had no choice but to do the sportsmanlike action, I took his hand and congratulated him, but my smile could not reach my eyes no matter how hard I tried. The rest of the team followed, and the same bland congratulations was all that I could give. I was frustrated, and there was only one person I wanted to see.
I approached the bench where my bag was, scanning the crowd for him. Thinking that he was waiting for me outside, I took my bag and started for the exit. I was almost out of the gym when someone from behind grabbed my arm. I looked back and saw MIggy.
"Chris, coach wants to talk to the team," he said. I slump my shoulders, I planned on going away as soon as possible so that I may not be there when Coach talks to us. Miggy saw the expression in my face and tugged my arm.
"Come on, you're the Captain, you have to be there," Miggy insisted.
I sighed, then followed him to where the rest of the team was. I checked my phone to see if I received a text message from anyone, but there were none. I was starting to get irritated,
where was he?
I looked around and was only interrupted from my search by Coach asking us to sit down.
At twenty-six years old Coach was older than us by only six years, but he had been the star of our college's basketball team during his time, bringing our college to four consecutive championships during his four years in undergraduate. He had a very expressive face, not making it hard to determine what he felt with our performance. Right now he was clearly disappointed.
"Twenty seconds," he said softly, "you were already celebrating your victory when there were still twenty seconds to the game. Mike was practically walking underneath your noses while you were all busy cheering, all the while forgetting that there was still a game going on!"
Despite the increasing volume of his voice, I wasn't able to listen much to the rest of what the coach said. I was angry at myself, for being distracted and allowing the enemy free reign of the ball. My frustration was eating me up from inside, like a monster slowly making its way out. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, hoping it would help. Coach noticed me.
"Chris, is everything alright there?" he asked, his face concerned. The rest of the team looked at me in sympathy.