William

XXXIII.

~Game Day~

WILL

Today was our away game against Saint Anthony's. I was excited and nervous at the same time. I was excited because I just loved to play basketball, but I was nervous because Saint Anthony's got the best basketball team in the state. I wanted to play for them, but my mom couldn't afford their tuition, so I got stuck with Liberty.

So excited for the game, I arrived at Liberty early. The game didn't start until 8 and the bus leaves to go to Saint Anthony's at 7. It was only 5 pm. I wanted to go over some of the plays and shoot around.

When I walked in the gym, I saw Aiden and Brayden. Brayden was shooting around, while Aiden was on the bleachers doing homework.

"Sup, Aiden what y'all doing here so early?" I asked as I walked up to the bleachers.

"Brayden wanted to come practice before the game, but didn't want to go alone, so here I am." Aiden said with a fake smile.

"Well, I'm here now if you wanted to go."

"No, I can watch y'all practice. I'm not doing anything, plus, I was going to ask the coach if I can ride the bus with y'all."

"He always says yes, so don't worry." I shrugged.

I tied up my sneakers and walked onto the court with Brayden. I grabbed another basketball and started light dribbling and shooting drills.

"Now, you know you're never here early. Are you scared?" I asked Brayden.

"No, I ain't fucking scared. What I need to be scared for?" He scrunched up his face.

"One, because Saint Anthony's ain't no damn joke and two, you know Andre might get more play time than you."

"Yeah, right. You know I'm the best shooter on the team. Why would coach play him more?" He asked, getting slightly aggravated.

"The last couple of practices, you haven't been making your shots. Plus, you've been forgetting important plays. He hasn't." I shrugged.

"Whatever, bro coach needs me." He said, shooting the basketball and missing.

"Your ass just missed, so you better keep practicing. And how does coach need you when you and Andre play the same position? Face it, dawg you're replaceable." I practiced my layups.

"Your ass is replaceable too!" He shouted.

"Not really, I'm the only good point guard on the team. You and Andre are both shooting guards, hence replaceable."

"Whatever, once coach sees me making all my shots, he's not even going to think about putting Andre in the game." He said with a cheesy smile.

"We'll see about that." I replied as I kept practicing some drills.

We practiced until it was about 6:15 and decided that we should relax until we leave for the game. So, we sat with Aiden and talked about some of the plays we were going over, until some of our other teammates showed up.

7 o'clock hit and the entire team was here, packing up their things to get on the bus. As the game became closer to starting, I felt even more nervous. I wished Kani could be here. She helps me calm my nerves before the game. Hopefully, once the bus ride was over, I could try to relax.

We arrived at Saint Anthony's and my nerves were still through the roof. We all got off the bus and entered the visitor's locker room. We all got dressed in our uniforms, coach gave a speech, said a prayer, and we all ran on the court.

Brayden and I usually always started together, but today coach started me with Andre. Brayden was pissed and ran back to the locker room. He'll get over it. I was just ready to get this game over with.