As the players geared up for the second half, Coach Williams called her team over. "Alright, this is another close one. You know what we gotta do. Play our game and don't let them test us. And Shan, don't be afraid to let the team make plays for you. Vixens on three! One-two-three..."
"Vixens!" the team shouted in unison before the five starters ventured onto the court to begin the third quarter.
Point after point was celebrated by Rose with sheer enthusiasm. The blonde boy was like a beacon of positive energy felt by everybody close to him—and by his girlfriend on the court. Jonatha, however, felt that energy and enthusiasm like a needle piercing his heart. Was Rielle right about me not doing a boyfriend's job? Jonatha questioned. Was what I felt for Nicole real or made up? Why am I torturing myself? Ten days ago, everything was different, and Nicole was just another girl. Ten days ago I would never have needed a new hairdo and a hair dye. Ten days ago—
"Why the long face?" Jonatha snapped out of the string of bad thoughts to see Jade looking at him. "Are you still brooding about Nicole?"
"Not just about her, or Rose. I was thinking about ten days ago," Jonatha said after a long sigh. "Everything was different and better."
"Cut it out, boy," Jade replied, seconds before Nic made another shot. "Oh my god, look at her go! GO VIXENS!" The cheerleaders shook their pom-poms with excitement.
"She is on fire," Jonatha grumbled.
"She's the MVP tonight," Jade replied in agreement. "Shan had her chance, but they went all-in on defending her. Nicole is on fire, and nobody is stopping her. Are you not excited with this game?"
"It's kinda meh. Ten days ago, she was on the debate team and her main argument was around feminism," said Jonatha, trying and struggling mightily to hide how he felt."
"By the way, I remember last week when you and Nicole were one of the school's power couples and you were ready to lose your virginity to Nicole if the Vixens went to the playoffs. I remember you telling me you wanted it to be a reward for her... I was doing the same thing with Ash, but..." Jade looked around. "That's water on the bridge. What matters is now."
"You said that when we were looking for music for our routine at regionals."
"You're saying all of this because of of your jealousy of Nicole and Rose," Jade explained, holding his best friend's hand to give him some support. "We need to do another intervention night, this time without Rielle or Sarrah. Just you, me, a big tub of ice cream and a bunch of movies. If you adapt, you'll be less stressed."
"Maybe after regionals," Jonatha sighed. "I feel I should care to do my best at the regionals. Maybe that is me starting to get used to this."
The Vixens weren't exactly coasting, but they were holding a more consistent lead of three to five points by the time the game turned to the fourth quarter. The clock had drained to six minutes left. Karyn Anderson was containing Bay Neal at the point when Neal charged forward, slamming Karyn to the ground with a hard hit to her head.
A silence quickly blanketed the electric gym as Karyn remained on the floor. The athletic trainers rushed to her aid, worried about a potential concussion. The cheerleaders, players, coaches and fans remained hushed. A referee stood overhead as the players from both teams kneeled on the court. After what seemed like an eternally long two minutes, Karyn got up with the aid of the trainers, to the applause of the entire gymnasium, and she was quickly escorted back to the locker room to be examined. Sym Black stepped in to take her place, but the Vixens, forced to go deeper into their bench, suffered for a moment. The Shadow Hill Lumberjanes went on a 7-0 run, aided by Black picking up two fouls in just over a minute, and took their first lead since early in the third quarter, 55-53, with 3:40 to go.
Coach Williams called timeout. "We gotta regroup! I know losing Karyn's a blow, but we're stronger than one player. That's what a team is! Don't let them chop us down. Keep the offense coming," she instructed her players. "All we need to do is execute better on defense. We can bounce back!" she encouraged.
"YOU GOT THIS, NIC!" Rose Flowers yelled from behind the bench.
Nicole looked up out of the huddle at her boyfriend. "They got this too, you know!" she yelled back, gesturing to her teammates. She turned back to the group. "It's all of us. Vixens. Plural." She put out her hand. "One, two, three..."
"VIXENS!" the whole team (and Nic) shouted. Jonatha looked again over at the bench, surprised to hear Nic's high, masculine voice amidst the players', and then back at the game. The defensive adjustments worked, as Valley Lake came out of the timeout and answered the Lumberjanes' scoring run with a three-pointer by Shan Jackson to retake a slim lead. Sam Gomez successfully stole the ball from Alex Monroe as Shadow Hill brought it back up the court, setting up Nic for a dunk on which she was fouled. The crowd cheered loudly at five points—potentially six—within less than 30 seconds. As Nic stepped to the free-throw line, she heard Rose yelling again.
"Go Nic!"
Nicole snapped a glance back at the bench and put a finger over her lips. She turned back to the referee, received the ball and took a shot, slightly missing to the right. As she ran back up the court to go on defense, she took another look at Rose. I can't have him going to my head, she thought to herself. It was, after all, still a one-possession game with the clock dipping under three minutes. The Vixens held on to that lead through to the final possession. Shadow Hill got the ball with 14 seconds left, trailing by one. The cheerleaders urged the crowd on in a vigorous chant of "De-fense! De-fense!" Mabellus Lawson brought the ball up the floor and surveyed her options. She first went to Bay Neal who was waiting in the corner, but Bay instead passed the ball to Alex Monroe in the paint. With two seconds left, she lofted it into the air. Nic, guarding her, saw Alex preparing to shoot and jumped up. Her hand hit the ball and sent it harmlessly over Alex's head, blocking the shot. Almost in unison with the final horn, the crowd roared. Valley Lake had held on for the win!
Nic looked back at the bench. At Carrol, Cassy and Britt, jumping up and down. At the excited fans. But mostly, she looked back at Rose, his long locks bobbing up and down.
This is my world now.
