Hoops and Dreams

[16] Team Spirit

At that thought, I glance at Darnell who sits a few spaces away from me. He takes a few swigs of water from a bottle as one of the other substitutes, the tall, wiry Sam, gestures wildly as he explains something.

I shake my head. It must be a really low point for me if I find the mere act of a boy hydrating this interesting.

Sam catches my eye, "Hazel, right?"

"Right," I say.

"Settle a bet for me?" He pauses allowing me time to nod. "1000 ant-sized bears versus 1 bear-sized ant? Who'd win?"

"What?" I say, very confused.

"1000 ant-sized bears," he says slower, pinching his thumb and index finger together. "Versus 1 ant the size of a bear."

"The ant," I say immediately. It just makes sense that way.

Darnell frowns as Sam claps him on the back, victorious. "See, what did I tell you?"

He looks at me, "That makes zero sense. Bears are natural predators and even at a fraction of their size they'd take the ants any day of the week."

"Yes. But the ant could just squish the tiny bears. Like a red wedding themed picnic," I reply.

"Exactly. Someone who gets it." Sam grins. "Two against three, Washington."

Darnell shakes his head and mutters clowns before taking another slow sip of his water.

"Now you owe me a date with your sister."

"Sure, if you can get through Joshua first."

At that, we all turn to look up, where Joshua and Xavier stand discussing strategy with coach. They make a formidable duo. The type of guys who'd mess you all the way up for looking at their girlfriends the wrong way. Sam would need to bump up another weight class if he wanted to stand a chance against either one of them.

"1 ant-sized Joshua versus 1000 bear-sized Sams." Darnell muses.

"It wouldn't be a fair fight." I laugh.

He smiles, "We'd have to wheel him out on a stretcher afterwards."

"Very funny guys. But one day I will win the heart of the fair Aaliyah." He faces Darnell with a stern look. "But for now your firstborn child will have to do."

I wrinkle my nose, "Very Rumpelstiltskin of you."

When Coach Carter blows the whistle, the collective groan we all let out doesn't stop us from heading onto court.

"Okay. Our last practice before the game on Friday," He says when we're done dragging ourselves across the floor. "How's everybody feeling?"

"Like shit." Somebody, I can't pinpoint who says from behind me.

I smirk a little as boisterous laughter erupts in approval of the comment.

Coach raises an eyebrow but doesn't respond to it. "Good to know Ethan. It's our first away game, so be prepared to play on unfriendly ground. I want you to ignore whatever's going on in those stands and focus on the court. I know social media is a big distraction right now but the only way you can prove anyone wrong is by playing well."

He must be referring to Marco's tweet. It had blown up that much.

He continues, "You played really well last week even though we were down one man and I expect nothing less this week."

The man he's referring to is Xavier, whose nose is still in its cast and won't be playing officially for another two weeks. But to his credit, he's taking it a lot better than anyone else would.