Don't Let Me Fall

Chapter 1: Bitchasourous

Chapter 1: Bitchasourous

Sam's Point of View

"Love never fails. Character never quits. And with patience and persistence, dreams do come true." - Pete Maravich

In a small town everyone wants to be the same. They want to look the same, dress the same, no one wants to be different. In a place like Schuyler, sports are all we have, all we live for, all we do. I'm Sam Shoey, yes like a shoe. And like almost all of the people in Schuyler, I have a love for sports. A big fat, no denying, sickening love for them.

Every set, every workout, every game makes me one step closer to leaving home for good. Packing my bags and hitting the road.

Schuyler is the type of town that no one comes out alive. Once you're here, you're here for good. Don't get me wrong, it's home, and probably always will be no matter where I am. My dad grew up here, left for good, then somehow ended up calling it home once more.

"Mom, if you could do it over, would you move here?" I remember asking when I was too young to know better.

She thought about it for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing in thought.

"I don't know sweetie, I like it here, but it's not the place I always imagined myself living in. I used to want to live in a big city, and raise a family there. But your father loves it here, and where he goes, I go." She said.

I didn't say anything else, but I could sense sadness in her tone. I never brought the subject up again.

She grew up in New York City, and met my dad at Duke. They were married before their senior year was over. I sometimes think that she would be much happier back in New York, even though she says she's happy here with dad. She's a city girl, and doesn't belong in a town like Schuyler, just like I don't belong either.

When I was in first grade, my dad took me to my first Mizzou Basketball game. I still remember all the loud fans screaming at every made basket, the smell of popcorn floating through the air. I loved the small squeaks from shoes pivoting on the previously waxed floor. The cheerleaders were overflowing with pep. It was great. Even with the cheerleaders.

I knew from then on out, that I wanted to be great. I wanted to be one of those players out on the court. I wanted to be the best to pass through the halls of Schuyler County High. I wanted my name to be in the Schuyler athlete hall of fame. I knew I wanted to be the best.

I will out work, I will out play, I will out perform, I will out lift, I will out do. I will be the best.

But my life isn't as simple as putting a ball through a hoop. When I think about it, putting a ball through a hoop sounds pretty damn easy compared to my life.

My parents are in the middle of a divorce... a nasty one. My dad got caught cheating with a nurse at the hospital he works at, but then once the two separated, he found out that the nurse was pregnant with his child. Sound complicated enough? No, not quite. At the same time dad got caught cheating, mom found out she was pregnant. OK now its complicated enough. It isn't easy living with them, half the time I'm not even home. There is yelling all the time, its like they don't even care what I hear them say about each other. Usually they're yelling about how he could be so unfaithful, or about the nurse he got pregnant.

Usually I'm at my boyfriends house playing basketball. I don't really have anyone that can tell me what to do, or how to help because no one is anywhere near to having a similar situation. Sure Jaxon can listen, and give his opinions, but his parents are happily married with two kids, he has no clue what it's like.

Four months ago, my life seemed so normal, so easy. Now it seems as if it is never going to go back to its normal self. All I want is for the divorce to be final, for them to quit arguing, and come to an agreement, which I knew wasn't going to happen for a long time.

You see, my father is an orthopedic surgeon at the hospital, so we have money... which also means we have property, and a lot of it. Mom feels like she's entitled to some of it, while he feels that she did not earn it, so she shouldn't get any of it.

I can't wait to get away from here. I have my eyes set on Baylor, I was going to get a scholarship, and only visit on holidays, so I wouldn't have to deal my screwed up family, or my screwed up life. I had to get the scholarship, or else if my father had to pay for college, I would feel like I owed him something.

My father is the perfect image of a doctor. He is married to his work, he's never home, and when he is he is still working on paper work or trying to solve a medical mystery. The one thing that I loved about him was that when I am on the court, he was just a dad, not a doctor. His work was put away, and he was only focused on the game. Which was great to get some attention from him, even if it was just for a few hours.

~~~~~~

I had my shoes on, I was changed into a sports bra, and was in shorts, I was ready to start the season. This was my final year of high school basketball, and I could already tell that it was going to be a good one.This is the season that mattered the most. Scouts don't pay that close attention what your skill level was before, but what your skill level was currently at. Most of the players from last year had returned, except for a few seniors that had graduated. There were several new freshman, probably six. The team was bigger than years past. This year there were probably twenty five girls out, which would probably be weened down to twenty within the first day, maybe a few the second. When coach conditions you, he's not joking around. He places two trash cans at each end of the floor, and the first one to barf gets to take the trash out.

"Alright ladies, for those of you who don't know, I'm Coach Finch, and this is Coach Bear." he said pointing to his left to a fairly young, blond headed woman. The team had formed a circle around the two coaches.

"This is my twentieth year of coaching, and I still don't have a state title, and I hope that you guys will change that."

He gave the same speech every year, and still he had no title. But this was my year to make him proud.

"As you know, there are two seniors, and they will be your captains."

I looked across the circle at Jordan Dunlap, my all time rival. She had long brown hair, and had dark beady eyes. The hate all started back Freshman year, when we were competing for a spot on varsity, which I won, but she thought that she deserved it more. All we do is fight, its almost as bad as my parents. The fact of us working side by side as captains, made both of us mad. How are we supposed to lead a team when we could barely talk to each other without slapping one another?

I don't hate her because she has skill, and she has a lot of skill, but everything between us is a competition. At one point, even our grades had become a competition. I also hated her because she acts like a bitch. She has poor sportsmanship, and treats everyone like crap. She plays dirty. She trash talks opponents, and she doesn't play with the rest of the team. It is just her out on the court. She leads the team in technical fouls, and fouled out at least half of the games last season. Some people call her a bitchasourous... alright, I call her a bitchasourous.

"Alright," Coach started.

"On the baseline, ten suicides."

I started heading for the line when my arm was suddenly grabbed from behind. I immediately turned around and saw Jordan. I rolled my eyes, knowing that she probably had something stupid to say. Jordan started smiling, my fist immediately clenched into a ball.

"Hello Captain." she said with her stupid smirk on her face.

"Bitch." I muttered just loud enough so she heard me.