Don't Let Me Fall

Chapter 20: And More Disappointment...

                                                             Chapter 20

"Why expect anything? If you don’t expect anything, you don’t get disappointed.”  ― Patricia McCormick

Dear Sam,

                  The coaching and recruiting staff at Baylor University have had the pleasure of watching you play, but are sad to inform you that you have not made it into our basketball program. You are a very talented point guard, but we already have recruited other point guards out of Texas.

                   You have met the requirements of the academic level, and Baylor would be very pleased to have you aboard the Bear community as a student, but we cannot offer you an athletic scholarship.

                  We found that you share the ball, and can shoot the three exceptionally well. But we also realized that you are only five foot, which is eight inches above the average Women's College Basketball player. You are speedy, and have a low rate of turnovers, but your height is a major issue that we feel will keep you from excelling at the Division I level. We think you would get more playing time at the Division II or possibly even Division III level.

                                                                                     Baylor University Head Coach,

                                                                                                                     Kim Mulkey

I re-read the letter in my hands at least three more times, still in disbelief. I didn't want to get out of my car, or even move. I wiped the tears from my cheeks.

This couldn't be happening, it just couldn't. Everything I'd worked so hard for was crumbling down. I hadn't even thought about going to another school because Baylor was the only one I actually wanted to play for.

I threw my head back against my seat. This just wasn't my day. I was already ten minutes late to school, and I'm sure that Ms. Cooper wouldn't give me a free pass just for being  to busy crying in my car.

I slowly unbuckled my seat belt, then tucked the note into my back pocket. I wiped the tears out of my eyes again, but they wouldn't stop falling. I  opened my door, then began to jog towards the school. My head felt a lot better now, but I felt as if I could puke. I was almost positive it had nothing to do with my concussion either.

When I reached the door I contemplated even  going in.

"Miss Shoey, get to class." Mr. Windy said to me.

"Yes sir." I answered.

I passed him, but I could feel his stare on my back. Hopefully my red eyes and tear stained cheeks weren't noticeable, but they probably were considering I was crying harder than I was before. I slowly trudged to class, one foot infront of the other.

"You're late, do you have a pass?" Ms. Cooper asked first thing when I came through the door.

I could feel the eyes of everyone in the classroom on me. They were focusing on my red eyes, and I knew it. The note in my pocket felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

I had made up my mind that I wasn't going to tell anyone. I could tell Jaxon, but the way he's been acting the past week he wouldn't even care. If I told anyone, word would get around that I had failed at getting into Baylor. Word would get around that I'm not as great as everyone says I am.