Love, Winter (an AJR Fanfiction story)

52. Ava

~•7:25 P.M.•~

   The game starts in five minutes.

   It seems so weird that my family keeps on smiling so much. They look happy. Too happy.

"Good luck!" Mom calls out to me from the bleachers. Then she checks her phone and whispers something to Uncle Ryan.

   What are they talking about?

~•1 Hour Later•~

   The game isn't looking too good. Both teams have the same amount of points, but our team members get distracted. Pamela keeps on giving me dirty looks and whispering stuff to Nina. She probably thinks I'm a crazy person.

   Fast forward, one of the players from the other team trips me, and I'm just laying there, embarrassed, crying.

   Then I hear someone chanting my name. It's Mom.

"Ava! Ava! Ava!" She shouts over and over again. Soon Uncle Ryan and Adam say it too. And Auntie Mac and Sammy and Winter. Soon, families that I don't even know say my name. It makes me feel... special.

   Then the referee walks up to me. He holds up the basketball for me to take.

"You get one shot," He says, "It's a free throw."

   I nod. With shaky hands, I take the ball. I walk up to the free throw line. As I shoot, I close my eyes, waiting for the part where the referee announces that our team lost.

   But when I open my eyes, Mom runs up to me and gives me a huge hug. Everyone does, actually. Even my teammates (besides Nina and Pamela, of course).

   What I'll never forget, though, is when I saw not Mom; not Uncle Ryan; not Winter; not Uncle Adam; not Auntie Mac; not Sammy... but Dad. I actually saw Dad. He was running to give me a hug too. I remember sprinting to him, with tears made it so hard to see...

   ...But he was there.

"Suprise!" He says, his voice shaking, letting me know he was going to cry, "I missed you so much."

"I-I-I m-miss y-you t-t-t-too." I sniffle.

   I'll never forget that day. Ever.