Jonatha wasn't very talkative on the bus ride to the other side of town to play Mare Todd High. He had too much to process. The sudden gulf between him and Jade. The revelations from Maddie. It felt like five years had gone by in his life, not a week, and his heightened emotional sensitivity amplified the highs and lows of this experience. No wonder girls dismiss us boys as emotional here...
Across the aisle, Jade pondered everything. It made him angry. Ash abandoning him at the restaurant turned her from a white knight to a negligent traitor who let her fair maiden boy fall into the hands of who knows who. And while Cait was cute, the night he had to spend at her place was a near miss. If only I had a girl like Nicole instead of a hothead...
Jonatha wasn't sure quite why Mare Todd High was in the same region as Valley Lake, because the two schools were only similar in size. Valley Lake was diverse, multicultural and rather affluent. Mare Todd was an aging high school from the sixties with an overwhelmingly African-American student body and only pockets of athletic success. One of those, however, was the basketball team, which enjoyed far more student interest than the perennial bottom-feeders that were the Mare Todd Mares football team.
The result was an exciting game between equal teams on Mare Todd's senior night. The Mares and their fans were amped up to take on the Vixens, though neither team could get much in the way of separation through the first half. Valley Lake had a slim 32-30 lead at halftime, but Mare Todd was determined to not let the game get away. It made for frenetic cheering and a good cheer-off between Mare Todd's squad and Valley Lake.
With a minute and a half to go in the fourth quarter, the score was tied at 53. Valley Lake got the ball out of a timeout, and Erin Lindell proceeded to bury a three from the corner. One of the Mare Todd seniors, Hael Oxley, helped the team answer with a two-point shot. There were 22 seconds left. To get the ball back, Mare Todd immediately fouled Ash Miller, prompting two free throws from the line. The packed gymnasium reverberated with shouting from the home fans as Miller stepped to the line. The first free throw went in.
That makes it a little harder for them, Jonatha thought to himself, reassured by the successful free throw.
Miller's second shot, however, hit the rim and was secured by another Mare Todd player, Khyl Ferry. Mare Todd would need to score two to tie, three to win. The Vixens set up their defense. As time ticked down, Khyl looked for a pass. She looked in the corner to see the bright blue dreadlocks of Hael Oxley. She was open. She threw the pass around Shan Jackson. With two seconds left, Oxley made the game's final shot from beyond the arc. The entire gym watched with bated breath as the shot proceeded toward the basket, the final buzzer sounding with the ball in the air.
It smoothly fell in. The crowd erupted. Mare Todd had come out victorious, 58-57. Hael, Khyl and the rest of the Mares jumped around on the court in the wake of a hotly contested win.
For Ash and the others, the scene was different. Meg Williams looked around in disbelief. Did this really happen? Other cheerleaders wearily looked on at the scene.
Suddenly, Jonatha heard loud footsteps on the wooden floor. He looked up to see Ash Miller, her face red with anger and ready to burst.
And she was making a beeline for Jade.
