Escorted by two of her teammates, a humiliated Ash Miller retreated to the visitors' locker room.
"You punch like a boy and shoot like a boy", a Mare Todd girl yelled down from above.
"You lost to a boy? Gal, you are lame," another partisan added, rubbing salt in the wound.
Inside—and away from the fans—Ash sat down on the bench, having finally composed herself enough.
"Ash?" A voice broke her from looking down. It was Coach Williams. "I have to say... I've been coaching young women for quite some time now, and I don't think I've felt as humiliated and embarrassed by the actions of one person as I do with you tonight. I can only imagine what people will say when they see video circulating on Snapchat of one of our basketball players hitting one of our cheerleaders. You made yourself look bad, you made our team look bad, you made our school look bad."
Ash looked around. The other players and assistant coach were all staring at her.
"I'm suspending you for Senior Night, and I have to report this to the school office and your parents. Hopefully that helps you think long and hard about what you've done." Ash sighed, but before she could speak up, Coach Fin continued. "I know you have a temper. But you won't get far in life with a fuse that short."
"Additionally, for the rest of the season, I'm naming Nicole Forsyth the captain of this team." Ash looked at Nicole, who looked back. Even though I wished for people to acclimate, this girl is having a rough go of it, Nicole noticed.
Fin turned her attention to the entire team. "I know we came up just short tonight, but let's take what we learned here and bring it forward against Shadow Hill and at state. Sometimes, moments like this help us find where we truly need to improve. Now let's get out of here."
Jade and Jonatha were almost to the bus when a girl in a Mare Todd basketball T-shirt with bright blue dreadlocks approached.
"Hey boys," she called out. Turning her attention to Jade, she smiled. "Love the hustle."
"Why, thank you, but..." Jade realized that this was Hael Oxley, the best player on Mare Todd's team, the one that won the game.
Unfazed, Hael handed Jade a post-it note with her number scribbled on it. "Text me. I like pretty boys who aren't afraid."
Jade looked around and realized Jonatha had already gotten aboard. "Thanks," he hastily replied before dashing aboard the bus and sitting next to his friend.
"What was that?"
"It's hard to say no to a girl, but... A girl who respects boys might just win me over. That sure wasn't Ash."
"I know you were a bit jealous of me..."
"And I kind of am still..."
"...But hey, you get a fresh start again. And you won a girl's attention by being a bit of a janegirl."
"When does that happen? Jade being a janegirl? That's as rare as a girl cheerleading", Keesha joked.
Jade chuckled to himself. If only he knew...
