Loneliness // Thomas Sangster //

6: "Leave Me Alone!"

BECKY'S P.O.V.
The week eventually ended and we were about to have our very first basketball game against NYU, Coach Carter loaded up the minibus with us all, Jacob and Sammy sat in front of Lydia and I and Scottie and some dude called Tyrone sat behind us. Each of us were in our basketball attire as we were driven to the courts, "It's gonna be awesome because a lot of the guys aren't gonna know there's girls on our team." I heard Sammy say with a smirk. That remark made me feel smug and worried all at once, that was until Scottie squeezed my shoulder reassuringly, I smiled back at him before glancing around.

The bus soon stopped outside the court where we'd be playing, we all climbed out and Sammy hugged both Lydia and I, "Don't be getting yourselves hurt out there." He whispered as we walked in. We both nodded and went to the locker room where we did various warmups for the first half an hour whilst parents and people who wanted to watch found their way to the stands. I soon felt a pair of arms wrap around me, I glanced down and immediately recognised the rainbow tattoo on his wrist; Scottie. "You nervous, babe?" He asked. "Kinda. I mean, Lydia and I are girls, the NYU team is all boys which means this could go one of two ways... Either they'll go easy on us because of our gender or they'll target us the most thinking that we're easy targets." I sighed. He turned me to face him and hugged me tight whilst rubbing circles on my back, I immediately became relaxed as the coach came round and told us it was time. I sighed and took a deep breath before jogging out onto the well lit court with my team, I immediately saw our parents in the crowd with Dylan & his family, Thomas & his family and Lydia's parents. They had proud smiles on their faces as we ran onto the court, however the next faces I saw were the boys of NYU who stared at Lydia and I in confusion. We simply smirked at them as the game kicked off.

It was all soon over, we had won but little did anyone know is that I had got injured in the game but tried my best not to let it affect my play, everyone was heading back to the locker room whereas I limped out of the door and straight into the night. My ankle was bust as one of the NYU players had literally gone for me when I was shooting the ball, I'd already thrown it by the time he got to me but that didn't stop him knocking me down. I was shocked when it was Aidan that helped me to my feet again and checked if I was okay.

Once outside I grabbed my hair bobble roughly and yanked it out of my hair so that if fell naturally down my back, I quickly ripped my vest that I was wearing underneath the kit and wet the peice I'd torn, in the water fountain outside before wrapping it around my busted ankle, I was hoping the coldness of the water would numb it. Afterwards, I pulled my socks over the bandage so it wouldn't be visible and I wrapped my scrunchie around my wrist before sitting on the side of the water fountain to try and ease the pain on my ankle. I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out as the pain only got worse, something tells me that I'd done a lot more than simply bruising it.

It wasn't long until the team were walking out, Aidan approached me, "You okay Hanover? You got pushed down pretty bad back there." He said. I wasn't sure if this was him really caring or if it was an act... Either way, it was pretty convincing. "Yeah, I'm good." I mumbled as I stood up. "Ahhh!" I screamed in pain as a tear slid down my cheek and I collapsed back onto the fountain ledge. The pain was too much, there was no way I could put pressure on that ankle. "Woah, woah, woah, what's happening over here?" Coach Carter said as he came rushing over. "I'm not sure." Aidan shrugged. "I think that guy must've hurt her when he barged into her and she fell." He added. Coach Carter knelt in front of me and held my foot gently, he then began pulling my sock down, by now my ankle was black, the bruise was larger than expected and my tears were falling worse and worse. The coach soon lifted me into the air bridal style and carefully sat me down on the minibus, "Lydia, can you sit with Scottie and Tyrone? Hanover is gonna need this seat for her foot." He said. Lydia nodded and moved to sit beside Tyrone as Scottie leant on the back of my seat and saw my ankle, "Jesus, was that from that large guy that barged into you after you scored that three pointer?" He asked in shock. I slowly nodded as I bit back the pain, Sammy turned to me in his seat and watched my face, out of everybody I knew, he could read me the best.