16 views
Her Own Hero (Chapter 8)
*Author's note
Hello, I'm back from my hiatus! School was getting pretty tough, so I didn't have time for writing. I'll try to update this story more often now. Thanks for your patience! 👁👄👁✌
Mel smacked the ball from the air and into the open hands of Rayah. She ran to the other side of the court, faster than the speed of light, and shot a three. The bleachers roared in applause. "Keep it up ladies", screamed coach, trying to beat the loudness of the crowd. The team was on defense now, Mel's favorite. A girl from the other team, number 7, dribbled up to the defense, faked a pass and shot a three, scoring in the process. "Whoo!", suddenly yelled the voice of the other team's Coach, a short woman with grey hair and piercing blue eyes. This was not going to be as easy as Mel thought.
It was half time, but to everyone in the team, it felt like they'd played two full games already. "How the hell have we been tied the whole game!", said Amy, panting for air. "I don't know, but you have to keep it up, try to do better this next half", replied coach. The whole team stood together, chatting about the game, Mel on the other hand, stood all the way across of them. "Why did I even decide to join basketball", Mel thought to herself as she took a big gulp from her water bottle. Even after scoring two lay ups and a free throw, she felt empty, lonely. Thoughts like, "I'm not good enough, everyone on the team has already scored more than me", and, "I'm gonna mess this up and everyoneis gonna hate me", filled her head. She felt empty, not even her parents were able to make it, why did she even bother coming.
She began to cry, not cry cry, but soft cry, a cry that no one else but herself could see. Why couldn't she just be like the other girls on the team, pretty, popular, confident. A tear ran down her cheek, why did she always have to be the "other one" in the team. "You ok", interrupted Bella. "Yeah, just really tired", she smiled weakly. God she hated Bella so much, she didn't know why, she just did, even though she was the only person who had willingly talked to her. "Ok ladies, starting five, get in there", Coach Andy demanded. Mel wiped her sweat and tear from her face and ran into the court.
They started in defense, man-on-man. Mel was on number 14, a tall, blonde girl, she looked almost identical to her. Number 7 started off with the ball, she tried to pass it to 14, but the ball got caught by Mel. She ripped the ball and passed it swiftly to Amy. She ran to the other side of the court and scored a lay up. The half went by way too slowly, Mel looked at the score board 34-35, they were losing by one point. Then, coach declared, "Time!"
"Ok here's the plan", Coach Andy took out his dry erase board. "We star at defense so, Lauren and Laura, you'll be on the blocks. Rayah, Bella, you'll be on the sides of the free-throw line and Mel, you have the most important job of all", Mel's heart dropped, of course she did. "You'll be on the free-throw line of the other side of the court. The girls will try to steal the ball from the other team, they'll chuck it to you, and you'll make a lay-up". Ten seconds, that's all they had to win this, just ten seconds. "Goooooo bears", they all screamed and then it was time to win.
They all got to their positions, their hearts pounding. Mel stood on the other side of the court, ready for the ball. TWEET! The whistle was blown. Mel watched as number 11 tried to shoot a three pointer from almost half court, but got blocked by Lauren. She dribbled to half court and threw it all the way to Mel. 5, she caught it. 4, she turned. 3, she ran to the basket. 2, swung the ball. 1, she shot the ball, she was going to make it, they were going to win, but then, she didn't.
© Azul Morales
Hello, I'm back from my hiatus! School was getting pretty tough, so I didn't have time for writing. I'll try to update this story more often now. Thanks for your patience! 👁👄👁✌
Mel smacked the ball from the air and into the open hands of Rayah. She ran to the other side of the court, faster than the speed of light, and shot a three. The bleachers roared in applause. "Keep it up ladies", screamed coach, trying to beat the loudness of the crowd. The team was on defense now, Mel's favorite. A girl from the other team, number 7, dribbled up to the defense, faked a pass and shot a three, scoring in the process. "Whoo!", suddenly yelled the voice of the other team's Coach, a short woman with grey hair and piercing blue eyes. This was not going to be as easy as Mel thought.
It was half time, but to everyone in the team, it felt like they'd played two full games already. "How the hell have we been tied the whole game!", said Amy, panting for air. "I don't know, but you have to keep it up, try to do better this next half", replied coach. The whole team stood together, chatting about the game, Mel on the other hand, stood all the way across of them. "Why did I even decide to join basketball", Mel thought to herself as she took a big gulp from her water bottle. Even after scoring two lay ups and a free throw, she felt empty, lonely. Thoughts like, "I'm not good enough, everyone on the team has already scored more than me", and, "I'm gonna mess this up and everyoneis gonna hate me", filled her head. She felt empty, not even her parents were able to make it, why did she even bother coming.
She began to cry, not cry cry, but soft cry, a cry that no one else but herself could see. Why couldn't she just be like the other girls on the team, pretty, popular, confident. A tear ran down her cheek, why did she always have to be the "other one" in the team. "You ok", interrupted Bella. "Yeah, just really tired", she smiled weakly. God she hated Bella so much, she didn't know why, she just did, even though she was the only person who had willingly talked to her. "Ok ladies, starting five, get in there", Coach Andy demanded. Mel wiped her sweat and tear from her face and ran into the court.
They started in defense, man-on-man. Mel was on number 14, a tall, blonde girl, she looked almost identical to her. Number 7 started off with the ball, she tried to pass it to 14, but the ball got caught by Mel. She ripped the ball and passed it swiftly to Amy. She ran to the other side of the court and scored a lay up. The half went by way too slowly, Mel looked at the score board 34-35, they were losing by one point. Then, coach declared, "Time!"
"Ok here's the plan", Coach Andy took out his dry erase board. "We star at defense so, Lauren and Laura, you'll be on the blocks. Rayah, Bella, you'll be on the sides of the free-throw line and Mel, you have the most important job of all", Mel's heart dropped, of course she did. "You'll be on the free-throw line of the other side of the court. The girls will try to steal the ball from the other team, they'll chuck it to you, and you'll make a lay-up". Ten seconds, that's all they had to win this, just ten seconds. "Goooooo bears", they all screamed and then it was time to win.
They all got to their positions, their hearts pounding. Mel stood on the other side of the court, ready for the ball. TWEET! The whistle was blown. Mel watched as number 11 tried to shoot a three pointer from almost half court, but got blocked by Lauren. She dribbled to half court and threw it all the way to Mel. 5, she caught it. 4, she turned. 3, she ran to the basket. 2, swung the ball. 1, she shot the ball, she was going to make it, they were going to win, but then, she didn't.
© Azul Morales
Related Stories
