by Rose, Ashley
“See you at school then,” she said, waiting for his nod of acknowledgement before leaving.
* * *
It was the first game of the season, and Carmondy was nervous as hell. They had just arrived at Ellensburg, the school they were competing against. They were in time to catch the start of the JV games, as planned. They entered the main gym where the boys’ JV was playing. The girls’ JV would be in the spare gym.
She hauled her duffel bag in and the varsity girls grouped together on the bleachers. The boys sat beside them in a group. Some boys and girls mingled but mostly, they stayed separate.
Beck looked focused. He watched the JV game for a moment before descending the bleachers to go sit on the bench beside the coach.
Beck watched the game intensely, shouting encouragement every now and then. Other times, he would point out small mistakes or gaps so the team could fix it. The JV coach didn’t seem to mind, as if it was natural for them to work together. Every now and then, the coach would pull someone out and Beck would talk to him one-on-one, no doubt pointing out the mistakes that he made so that he could go back in and fix them. That was what junior varsity was all about, getting better.
Beck also retrieved information from the bookkeepers, like the number of fouls, turnovers and shots. During a timeout, the coach pulled the team into a circle to line out the plan of attack before handing the floor over to Beck, who said some encouraging words and reminded them of the basics. He never berated anyone, never blamed anyone of a missed shot or a foul even if it was clearly their fault. He was very professional.
Carmondy turned to Kendall again. “He’s...coaching.”
“Yeah, sort of. He doesn’t actually call any of the shots but he helps them out, and the team relates to him better.”
“Why does he do it?”
Kendall shrugged. “He wants to be a basketball coach someday.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yep, elementary or junior high.”
“He wants to work with kids?”
Kendall nodded. “I know it seems weird but...we’ve talked, believe it or not, and yeah, it’s what he wants to do. Always has been...and frankly, he’s damn good at it.”
“Yeah, it seems like it.”
“He’s done the same thing for us, sort of. If he sees something wrong that he knows we can fix, he’ll pull us aside at half-time or something and let us know. He’s really helpful.”
Carmondy continued to watch him until half-time, when they had to go the locker room and begin to get ready for their own game.
As she started to get dressed, the nervousness really started to set in. This was her first game with these girls, her first game against a team this size.
Did she belong here?
Was she really good enough?
Oh shit, what if her asthma started acting up? She couldn’t just leave the game to grab her inhaler, could she?
She was starting. Starting. That was a big deal in a school this size.
But the coach thought she earned it, and the coach knew best, right?
If she didn’t do well in this game, he might take her off the starting line-up and that would be terrible.
“Carmondy?”
She looked up. Kendall had been trying to talk to her. ‘Yeah, what? Sorry.”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, just nervous.”
Kendall smiled reassuringly. “You’re gonna do fine.”
“Thanks.”
“Beck’s outside, says he wants to talk to you.”
“Oh.”
“Go ahead, we got plenty of time.”
Carmondy nodded and headed out of the unfamiliar locker room. Beck was standing a few feet away from the door.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“I wanted to make sure you had your inhaler.”
“I got it.”
“Bring it to the bench and put it on top of the med kit when you come out.”
“Okay.”
“I talked to your coach. He says if you need to come out for a puff, don’t wait until it gets so bad that you need to abandon the game. If you feel it coming on, signal to Kendall or Coach and they’ll get you a sub. Okay?”
She nodded.
“Don’t wait until it’s too late. I mean it. I won’t hesitate to walk onto the court in the middle of the game.”
She believed him. “I won’t let it get bad, if it even comes.”
He nodded. “You seem...distracted.”
“I’m not distracted. I’m nervous. I mean, am I good enough for this?”
Beck rolled his eyes. “Coach wouldn’t put you where you are now if you weren’t good enough.”
“I know...but I feel—”
“Don’t, you’re going to do fine. Just remember the stuff we went over.”
She frowned. “I wish we had practiced more together.”
He shook his head. “Well, there’s nothing you can do about it now so go and finish getting dressed. I’ll see you on the court.”
“Okay.” She felt the urge to give him a peck on the cheek but resisted it and turned back into the locker room.
After the pre-game pep talk from Coach, they all filed out onto the court and started their warm-up routine. She noticed Beck in the stands, beside Anderson. She couldn’t tell if he was watching or not. He had his headphones in and didn’t seem all that interested.
When the game finally started and they circled around the center where Torie was standing to tip, Carmondy’s nervousness went away. It simply vanished. Suddenly, it wasn’t about if she was going to do terrible or if she deserved to be here.It was about doing the best that she could and proving to herself, her teammates, the coach and the spectators that she deserved to be here.
The first half of the game was a little all over the place. They weren’t quite in their groove yet, but they got it together when it mattered. Their fast break was scoring most of their points. The other team just wasn’t as fast or in as good a shape. They just couldn’t keep up.
Carmondy couldn’t remember how many times she had sprinted down the court, passing everyone to receive a bullet of a pass from Kendall just as she was about to pass under the hoop. With her speed, she didn’t have a hard time getting high into the air to score easy layups.
Eventually, the other team caught on and had at least one defender get back fast enough to guard her. It didn’t matter though. Either Kendall passed the ball to her sooner and she dribbled in or she passed it in later and Carmondy gave a short bounce pass to Alli, who was always at the opposite block just in the nick of time.
The only problem Carmondy was having was on defense. Sydney was on a bench because Coach was going with a fast line-up to take advantage of the other team’s slowness. That left the other team’s post for Carmondy to guard. The girl was taller than she was, and a little heavy-set. Carmondy wasn’t used to playing against a girl who just used brute strength against her.
She did her best and even got an offensive foul called on the other girl. She felt like every shot that the girl got in was her fault though. She just didn’t feel tall enough or strong enough to guard her.
Coach seemed to think she was doing okay though, because he didn’t pull her out.
When the buzzer rang for the half, Carmondy felt good about the game so far. She wasn’t too tired. Thanks to the coach’s ruthless conditioning regime, they were in much better shape than the other team.
The half-time talk was pretty simple. Coach told them to keep doing what they were doing, just don’t slack. They were up by about 15 points, which was a comfortable lead but he didn’t want them getting complacent.
The coach left the locker room with several minutes left and some of the girls left with him to warm up. Others stayed.
She didn’t want to sit in the locker room and let her muscles get cold but she didn’t want to go out onto the court either. She settled for pacing in the hallway just outside of the gym, which was mostly empty except for a few random stranger
s.
She pivoted to continue pacing and jerked back. “Shit!”
Beck had been right behind her.
“Jesus Christ, you’re going to give me a heart—” She cut herself off and stared at him. He was in his basketball jersey, navy blue. Sexy.
“What?” he asked.
She blinked and tried to stop staring. “N-nothing, just...your jersey...looks good.”
“Focus!” He snapped his finger in her face.
“Right! Sorry, go ahead.”
He rolled his eyes again. “Is Coach keeping you on that number 23?”
She nodded. “I think so. He didn’t say otherwise.”
“You need to man-up.”
“What?”
“Push her around a little. You’re letting her walk all over you.”
“She’s bigger than me!”
“Don’t give me that BS. Yeah, she’s bigger, but not stronger.”
“Yes, she—”
“No, Carmondy, listen to me. I’ve played ball against you. If you want to, you can muscle just about anyone around. You only think you can’t because she’s so much bigger than you. But you’ve got the muscle. I’ve seen them, touched them, and felt them in action, so just do what I say and put a little muscle against her. She won’t expect it. She’s used to being able to bounce everyone out of the way and I’m telling you, you’re stronger than that.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Come on. Just throw your muscles around. I’ve seen you do it in practice against other guys. Just pretend she’s a guy.”
“Yeah.” She nodded slowly, a smile growing on her face. “Yeah! I can do that. She does kind of look like a guy, doesn’t she?”
The corner of Beck’s mouth turned up. “Whatever you say. Just don’t be afraid to use a little muscle. If you get out of hand, the refs will call it and you’ll know where the boundaries are, okay?”
She nodded.
“Good. Now go on. I’ll see you after my game.”
“Did I mention how great you look?”
“Carmondy, focus. Forget about what I’m wearing. We aren’t going to get into this on game day, not until afterwards at least, got it?”
She nodded firmly. “Of course, yep. Got it.”
He gave her an unexpected sudden smile. “You’re doing great.” He pushed her back into the gym and she forgot all about his hot body and started focusing on the game.
Carmondy took Beck’s advice. She used her muscle on the girl and it worked. Number 23 had been surprised at first, but then she started to fight back. Carmondy held her own. Eventually the girl wore down, though it was partly because she was just as out of shape as the rest of her team.
At one point, Carmondy felt her asthma coming on and called for a substitute immediately. Coach sat her on the bench for about five minutes after she took the two puffs before sending her back in. She was fine for the rest of the game.
Car’s team ended up winning by almost 20 points and as soon as they cleared the floor, the boys jogged on to warm up.
Carmondy wanted to watch the boys but Kendall dragged her to the locker room to shower and change first, assuring her that they would be back before the game started.
Coach came in and gave them a short post-game talk before leaving the girls to celebrate the win.
Kendall punched her in the arm excitedly. “That was great, huh!”
Car smiled. “Yeah, it was a lot of fun.”
Alli agreed. “The way you gave that chick a taste of her own damn medicine, it was about damn time.”
“You can thank Beck for that. He chewed me out for letting her push me around.”
“He was right, you can take her. She was pissed.” Alli laughed.
Carmondy couldn’t help but smile wider. “I know, right!” She yanked on a clean pair of sweats and an old basketball T-shirt. “Hurry up, guys. I don’t wanna miss the start of the game.”
The boys were amazing. She’d never seen any high school team play with such chemistry. These boys had obviously been playing with each other for a long time. They all knew each other’s habits perfectly. There was never a missed pass, never a miscommunication.
The game was a shut-out. They won by almost 30 points.
Beck played amazingly well. He got rebound after rebound and made a good amount of the team’s shots. He was always the first one down the court and always knew what play to call.
After the game, she wanted to congratulate him, talk to him, anything, but they went straight to the locker room and the girls were ushered onto the bus to wait for them.
* * *
When the bus got back on the road, Carmondy attempted to partake in her teammates’ girl talk, but she kept glancing back at Beck. The girls had dragged her into the gossip and she had yet to find a way to excuse herself politely.
Beck sat in the back seat alone, listening to his music.
She finally just stood up and made her way to the back of the bus, stepping over bags and climbing over people lying across the aisle.
She slid into the seat beside Beck, but he didn’t notice her. He was staring out the window and from this angle, the line of his jaw seemed even more prominent. His eyes were softer this way, when he wasn’t actually looking at anything, less piercing.
“Beck?” Her fingertips brushed his leg and he looked over.
“Hey.” He tugged his earphones out.
She smiled and glanced around. No one nearby was listening. Everyone was sleeping, talking, or listening to their own music. “We’re still about an hour out. You said we were going to talk about that favor, right?”
He sighed and dropped his iPod into his bag. The all too familiar lines of stress seemed to crease his face and he looked older within seconds. “Yeah.”
She frowned. “I’m sorry. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, I just thought—”
“No.” He sat back up. “So here’s the deal.” He stretched an arm out over the top of the seat behind her head. “My idiot parents are throwing this big multi-corporation function. It’s pretty much just a high-class, rich snobby thing. Suits, cocktail dresses, the whole thing.”
“Okay, that sounds incredibly boring and not somewhere I would ever want to be.”
“I know. All they talk about is business, and money, and whose kid is gonna go to the best school. It’s fucking torture listening to all those guys pretend they are above the rest of the society.”
“So, what’s that got to do with me?”
“I have to go. I have to bring a date.”
“You want me to go with you?”
“I need someone who has money.” He ran a hand through his hair. “You have to understand. This is the one thing that keeps my dad off my back about everything. As long as I make a good impression with his clients and colleagues, he leaves me alone. The reason I need you is because, like I said, I need someone who has money, some connections. Your dad’s a business owner, so it’s perfect.”
“Okay, and this is the big favor?”
“It’s four hours long. The assholes are going to accept you but...they’re going to be rude as hell since you’re not filthy rich. I need someone who will agree not to talk back to them. I have to make a good impression. If they think I have a girlfriend, it’ll be—”
“Wait, girlfriend?”
“Well, I can’t show up with a girl and tell everyone that you’re my fuck-buddy, now can I?”
“No, I guess not. So, I pretend to be your girlfriend and deal with a bunch of snobs. Doesn’t sound so bad.”
“We have to sell it though. My dad has to believe it.”
She scrunched up her face. “Okay, I can probably do that.” But it definitely didn’t sound fun, staying on her best behavior while rich snobs insulted her.
“Like I said, you get a favor, you name it.” His voice sounded strained. “I would really appreciate it.”
“Are you not telling me something?”
He glanced around. “My dad hos
ts one of these once a year. I have to go because image is everything to him, which means that I have to pretend it’s everything to me too, at least in front of his clients. This is the only thing that keeps my dad paying the bill for my sister.”
Carmondy blinked. She didn’t understand. “What?”
Beck’s mood turned dark. “The place she stays at is...well, you’ve seen it. It’s top of the line, expensive. My dad can afford it, but it’s the only advantage he has over me. He needs me to look good. I need him to keep Lily in a good facility.”
“But...doesn’t he care about her? She’s his daughter.”
“No, she isn’t. My mother cheated on him. He knew from the beginning, but didn’t want it to get out, so he raised her as his daughter.”
“But still...”
He shook his head. “My dad’s an asshole, simple as that. There is a less expensive facility across the state. He would do it just to keep me in line.”
“God, Beck, that’s terrible. I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “So that’s why I need someone who can pull this off. It’s going to suck, but I don’t want to owe you anything. So, what do you want?”
Carmondy had thought about this for a while, but she’d known what she’d wanted since the first time he mentioned it. “It’s a really big favor.”
“Good. So is mine, we’ll be even.”
“Okay, well.” She fidgeted in the seat. “I know we haven’t really talked about this yet, but you visit your sister, Lily, every Sunday, right?”
A look of suspicion covered his face. “Yes.”
She turned in the seat to face him and curled her legs under her. “I’d like to go with you.”
“We already went down that road once.”
“I know. But I mean...I’d like to meet her.”
“What?” Beck hissed, his eyes narrowing.
“I’m sure that with her condition you’ll have to clear it with her doctor. Of course, if he says it’ll be detrimental to her then I won’t push it. But...I’ve been thinking about it and I have some theories.”
“No, we’re not discussing this,” he snapped. “That’s out of the question.”
“I understand why you are against this, but if her doctor clears it then—”
“Why would he clear it? She has a schedule. You should know that.”