"welcome to the Interschool Basletball Semifinals!" Woodsy cheered, her voice echoing through the speakers. The students responded by cheering and clapping in excitement, knowing that this is the day most of them have been waiting for.
Delaney waited at the front of her line, silver pom poms in hand, waiting for her cue. "Give it up for the Hartley High Ibis!" more cheers erupted fom the bleachers, and the moment the mascot came out, so did they. waving to the students with wide smiles on their faces, the girls waved their pompoms in the air.
The bin chicken weaved through the row of girls, smacking a large bin with a stick, making weird noises. After their first cheer was done, the girls left the court to sit in the front row of bleachers.
"Just before we kick off, it's time to announce the winner of a little cleanup competition that we had here at Hartley High." Delaney immediately began searching the crowd of students to find Quinni, the most competitive girl at the school. it didn't take long for her to find her, as she screamed, "Cut to the chase!" Woodsy glared at the girl.
"so the winner of the Playstation gift voucher is.. Jenny Pilcher!" there was a scattered applause. "That bitch had servants running around the school collecting rubbish for her!" Delaney shouted, angered by the choice of winner, though Woodsy ignored her harsh selection of words.
"Okay, lets hear it for the teams!"
And with that, the Hartley high basketball team sprinted onto the court. Delaney and the cheer team stood up, ruffling their pompoms. Spider made a pitstop infront of them for a few moments, giving Delaney a wink before blowing her a kiss. her face flushed red in embarrassment after he ran away.
As the game unfolded before Laney's eyes, she couldn't help but think about how stupid the sport was. all she could see was a bunch of teenage boys chasing a ball back and forth like a dog chasing a tennis ball.
throughout the first half of the round, she could tell something wasn't right with Malakai. that his head wasn't in it. he was missing clear shots, fumbling the ball, and not paying attention to his surroundings. so, when the buzzer sounded throughout the basketball court, instead of going back out to cheer, Delaney followed Malakai to the locker room.
"Malakai!" she ran after him. why was he so fast? he didn't bother giving her even a glance, before pushing the door to the locker room open, slamming it shut behind him. "Malakai, seriously?" she huffed, pushing the door open, only to be met with the entire team of players, including the pudgy coach, staring right back at her. "no outsiders allowed, we're talking game play," the coach looked her up and down judgementally, shooing her out of the tension filled room.
so she waited until they finished talking 'game play.' all she wanted to do was check on Malakai, to make sure he was ok. she couldn't care less about their gameplay.
leaning against the brick wall, the cold of the cement sent shivers up her spine as she waited not so patiently. then finally, after what seemed an eternity, Malakai pushed the door open with an agrevated sigh. "what the fuck happened in there? i could here yelling," Delaney pushed her body off the wall, falling into step beside Malakai.
"i quit the team," he let out a shaky breath, avoiding eye contact at all costs. "this isn't about the team though, is it? all.. this," when Delaney said 'this,' she meant his shaky, panicky voice, his demeanour hasn't been the same. not since that night. the night he got assaulted by the police officer.
the two were walking through the basketball court now, all eyes on them as she followed him to the exit, concern laced on her features. "lets take a five minute break," Woodsy announced to the school as Delaney and Malakai exited the hall.
fresh air hit her face, getting rid of some of the concern. "i can't fucking do it anymore Laney."
he cracked.
sobs racked his body. Delaney couldn't do anything other than comfort the boy. she wrapped her arms around his neck as he cried into her shoulder. "it's ok, it's all gonna be okay," she whispered quietly, tears brimming her own eyes.
how tough it was, to see one of the strongest people she's ever meant completely break down. it must've been so hard for him to keep in all this stress. all this pain and anger for so long.
but she allowed him to let it all out, knowing that's what she would want if she was in his situation.
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HEY GUYS SORRY I HAVENT UPDATED IN A WHILE!!
