"High school was going pretty good. Katie, Y/n, and I had our new wigs and no one even knew I had cancer. The best part of our day was lunch. It had two of my favorite things: food and gossip. Okay, gossip."
"I heard Courtney Stillman is in a Target commercial," Reagan said as we all went down the lunch line.
"I heard Lorraine and Tanya are fighting again," Hannah said.
"We're not talking about your great-aunts, Hannah," I said, patting the girls shoulder.
"It's still juicy."
"Tell me later," Katie whispered to her, Hannah giving a thumbs up in response.
"I heard that a girl in our grade has cancer," Toby, a boy we had classes with, told us.
"Nobody likes a gossip, Toby," Katie said, trying not to let it slip that the person was Alexa. We grabbed our trays and walked to an empty table.
"You guys, who told?" Alexa asked.
We all responded with 'I didn't tell' except Hannah, instead she said, "I told."
"Hannah! Who did you tell?"
"Lady Gaga. But it was just in a dream," We all let out a sigh of relief at that. "We also ate apples dipped in chocolate and I flew on her back."
"Sounds like a fun dream," I hummed.
"Oh, ok, so people know, but they don't know it's you," Katie told Alexa.
"Everyone will figure it out when I don't try out for basketball this week," Alexa responded.
"Who is part of this Alexa Mendoza fan club and where do I sign up?" I asked.
"Yeah, seriously, who are these people following your every move?"
"People do, Katie. They just do."
"Oh!" I roll my eyes at the sound of Gwenny's voice. "Hey, Alexa. Look at you, sitting down. That will be great practice for warming the bench this year."
"Oh, it's you, Gwenny! Well, that explains the smell. I thought a rat died in the vent," Alexa told her.
"Go ahead and laugh. You'll be crying Friday when I beat you out for point guard."
"Ha! Jokes on you, Gwenny. She can't try out this year," Hannah told Gwenny, not knowing she was making it worse.
"Hannah!"
"Why not?"
"Because I'm joining an after-school club."
"The Losers Club?" Gwenny asked.
"I see the resemblance with you and Pennywise," I said, referencing IT. "Especially the smile."
Gwenny just sarcastically smiled at me.
"That's not even a thing," Katie told Gwenny. "And... and if it were, it would be made of you."
Gwenny just laughed before she walked away.
"No?" Katie asked us, noticing the blank stares we were giving her.
"Oh, great. My smothers not home," Alexa said as we walked into the Mendoza's house.
"Hey, that's mean," Katie told her.
"Yeah, ok, Lori's always there for you with a blanket, a hug, a sandwhich ... " I trailed off when I heard what I was saying. "Ok, your smother."
"Mm-hm. Yeah, it's gotten worse since school started," Alexa said, handing Katie and I drinks. "She comes home from work early just to stare at me." As if on cue, we heard a car door close outside.
"Is that her?" Katie asked.
"Oh, man! Here come the hugs," Alexa whined when she looked out the side door window and saw her mom's car.
Lori smiled when she walked in the door and just stood there staring at Alexa.
"Can we just get to the hugs?"
"Hi, sweetheart. How was school?" Lori asked, wrapping her daughter in a big hug.
"Horrible. I can't be on the basketball team."
"Oh, honey."
"And I have to spend the whole season watching Gwenny Thompson play."
"That evil little ferret!"
We all looked at Lori surprised. Not the outburst we would've expected from her.
"Mom!" Alexa smiled.
"Sorry. Your illness has made me a little extra protective," She admitted. "I shouldn't have said that."
"Oh, please continue," I smiled, resting my elbows on the counter.
"I have good news," Lori told Alexa, changing the subject.
"Ooh! What is it? What is it?" Katie asked, more excited than Alexa.
"Ah, hold on. I've been burned by this before."
"So, you know I've been coming home from work a little early every day."
"Oh, I'm aware."
"Mm. I won't be doing that anymore. Ms. Ember and I put our heads together and we figured out a way I could work from home."
"This home?" Alexa asked.
"Yeah," Lori smiled.
"So you'll be here?"
"All the time. I'm gonna call your father, but when I get back we're gonna sit down, and I want to hear everything from today. Every little detail."
Alexa let out a stifled laugh as Lori walked away.
"I can't believe this!" Alexa said, her fake smile fading almost immediately after Lori was out of sight. "We're taking the long way home from school."
"Like through the field?" I asked.
"Like through Florida."
"Hey, Mom," Katie said as she came down stairs. I was sitting at the kitchen counter, scrolling through my phone but looked over when I heard her voice.
"Hey," Mom said, quickly closing her laptop.
"What are you doing?" I asked her, getting up form my seat.
"Homework."
"That you're ashamed of?" Katie asked this time.
"Ok, don't laugh," She told us. "It's a dating site."
"Ha!" We both let out before going back to our serious faces. "Go on."
"It's creepy when you two are in sync," Mom said before sighing. "My friend Melissa met a great guy on here, and they have a free three day trial. It's kind of stupid, I know, but --"
"Is that your yearbook picture?" I asked, looking at her profile.
"Very funny. That was taken five years ago..." She said before trailing off. "or so.
"Swimmer?" Katie read.
"I have never drowned."
"Psychologist?"
"I'm taking classes. Everybody fudges a little bit on these things."
"No kids?" I asked her, continuing to read her profile.
"Better get back to my homework."
"That lady's pretty. Who is it?" Jack asked, coming downstairs and looking over Mom's shoulder.
"That's Mommy," Mom told him.
"What happened?"
"I heard Haley told Stacy, she heard it from Ashley that Whitney's mom found out from Jackie's mom that Britney is the one with cancer," A girl told her friend as they walked by mine and Katie's lockers.
"I'm Britney," The friend, Britney, said.
"Oh. Yeah. Well, I'm happy it's not you."
"Alexa is so sick," A girl, who was coming out of the gym, said.
"Oh, no! You know?" Katie asked, worried.
"Yeah. Alexa's got mad skills," Another girl said.
"Yeah, don't get in my way when I'm taking the rock to the ..." Alexa said, trailing off when she spotted us. She was coming from playing basketball in the gym. "Katie, Y/n! Hi!"
"You were playing basketball," I asked, slightly disappointed in her.
"I was gonna go straight home. But I heard the shoes squeaking and the net swishing, and a part of my brain just said 'We're doing this!". And now that same part is saying I need to sit down."
"See, this is why the doctor said you can't play sports right now," Katie told her.
"I can't do sports, can't do clubs, can't do anything fun. How do you guys live this way?" Alexa asked. I looked at her offended.
"Oh, we have fun keeping our insane friend in line,' I explained to her, sitting down on the stairs with her.
"Looking good in there, Mendoza," Coach said, walking out of the gym. "I think we've found our starter."
"Really?" Alexa gasped.
"No, I just like to get kids hopes up and then knock em down. Yes, really. I'll see you at tryouts."
"Tell her," Katie whispered to Alexa as Coach started walking off.
"I can't be on the team."
"What? Why not?"
"My work with troubled kids. They depend on me, Coach," Alexa lied. "Mickey, Becky, little JoJo. That goofy smile, it just melts your heart."
"Wow. So I get screwed? Great," Coach said. "At least we have Gwenny Thompson."
"Gwenny? Wait! Uh... you should check out my friend, Hoops!" Alexa said, pointing her thumb at me. My eyes widened.
"Hoops?" I asked.
"Hoops?" Coach asked.
"Yeah! She a little gangly and a bit of a daydreamer but an amazing natural talent."
"Well, come to tryouts, Hoops."
"Hoops?" I asked Alexa when Coach walked off. "What the heck?"
"I always thought her nickname should be 'The Blizzard'," Katie spoke up. I just shook my head at her.
"I'm sorry. It just came out," Alexa shrugged. (That's what she said)
"Forget it," I told her with a sigh.
"Y/n," She grabbed my arm. "I just wanna be on the team so bad. And if you get on the team, it will be like I'm on the team."
"Except I'll be on the team."
"Well, we share everything, right? Okay, when you're sad, I'm sad. When you're happy, I'm happy. When you're playing basketball, I'm playing basketball."
"Oh!" Gwenny's preppy voice sounded from behind Alexa. "Alexa, what are you doing at the gym? Are you going to be the equipment girl. Because I like my towels extra fluffy."
"Okay, I'm not ... you can't... I won't --" For once, Alexa had nothing.
"Ooh, burn!"
"She's here with me, okay?" I told Gwenny, stepping in front of Alexa. "I'm going out for the team. And my name is Hoops."
"Hoops!" Gwenny laughed. "OMG. This is going to be fun."
"Yeah? Yeah, fun in your face!" Katie called out.
"How's it going?" I asked Mom as I walked into the kitchen to see her on the dating website.
"Mm. Terrible," She said, put the cap on the peanut butter jar in her hands before putting it away. "I wasted two hours on that stupid dating site and I have a psychology paper due I haven't figured out a theme for."
"Are you bald in high school?" I asked her.
"No."
"Talk to me then."
"What's this about?" Mom asked, gesturing towards my workout clothes.
"Ok. Alright, don't laugh. Playing basketball."
"Ha! Go on."
"I'm trying out for the team," I told her.
"Honey, I know I told you you could do anything you put your mind to, but that's really just a saying," Mom said.
"I'm doing it for Alexa, ok? Her doctor won't let her play, so she's coaching me to do it for her."
"Hey, we learned about this in school. She is compensating for her inability to preform critical identity functions by living vicariously through a surrogate. Poor Alexa," Mom sighed before her head popped back up. "Oh, I think I have my psych paper!"
I gave her a look.
"I-I'm gonna change your names."
"All right, take it to the hoop, Cooper!" Alexa said, passing me the ball. I tossed it back to her and jogged over to the hoop. "Very good, Y/n. What did you forget?"
"T-the ball?" I stammered.
"Look at you! Ok, last time you didn't even know the answer to that question."
"I'm getting better," I smiled.
"Ok. So, I'm gonna take it to the hole. Where are you supposed to be?" Alexa asked.
"Fronting you."
"Right, good. All right."
Alexa started dribbling the ball towards the hoop while I stood frozen with my arms out.
"So why aren't you fronting me?"
"I don't know what that means," I told her honestly.
"You get in front of me, ok?" She told me. "Between me and the basket."
"Then shouldn't it be called 'betweening'?
Alexa just gave me a look before dribbling the ball and said, "Closer. Closer."
"Oh, maybe I can't do this," I sighed.
"Yes, you can."
"Alexa's right," Lucas said, stepping off the porch. I didn't even notice he was out there.
"Really?"
"Yeah, you can do this. You're a quick learner. You've got the height."
"Yeah. I'm almost taller than you," I told him, patting his head before he pushed my hand away.
"You just need a better coach," He said, directing his eyes from me to Alexa.
"I'm doing just fine, Lucas. She just needs to concentrate. Right, Y/n?" Alexa said. I was distracted still trying to mess up Lucas' hair just to piss him off but he kept swatting my arm away. "Y/n? The Blizzard?"
"Don't call me that," I told her.
"You know what? Maybe you need a better coach. Lucas is a great coach," Alexa said. She knew how much I liked trying to piss Lucas off so she knew trying to pair him with me would be a hilarious disaster.
"Some people say I can be a great coach, some say I have great hair. I say both can be true," Lucas shrugged.
"Who say's that?" I asked him.
"People, Y/n. People."
"How would you like Lucas to coach you?"
"Eh," I shrugged.
"I can give you some pointers sometime," Lucas told me, agreeing to be my coach.
"Cool. Well, tomorrow is the only day I don't have really hot dates, so tomorrow would be best," I told him.
"I'll text you," He said before turning to go back inside.
"Hey, Alexa," I greeted as I walked over to the Mendoza's house the next night. "Where's Lucas?"
"He's inside," She told me before he walked out the door. "Now he's outside." She patted my shoulder before walking away.
"Ok, Y/n. Let's see what you got," Lucas said. "Take a shot from ... there."
I took the basketball and stood where he pointed.
"Am I holding it right?" I asked, genuinely confused.
"No. You have to hold your left hand under..." He trailed off, sighing, when I looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Here, I'll show you." Lucas walked over and stood behind me, adjusting my arms. "All right. Now, when you launch the ball, push with your right hand and follow through. Let her rip."
I accidentally threw the ball too far and it went over the neighbors fence. We heard some crashes before it was thrown back over the fence.
"Ok. You know what? Maybe defense is more your thing," Lucas told me. "I'm gonna try to score. You try to guard me. Come in on me. Get closer." I got maybe an inch closer. "Come on, Y/n. You've really got to get up on me." I shuffled closer to him and held me arms out like bird wings. I couldn't help but cringe at the awkward proximity.
Lucas grabbed my arm and pushed me back a bit to stand in the correct spot but the back of my heel caught on a crack in the pavement and I tripped backwards. I thought I was about to crack my skull on the pavement, when Lucas's arm wrapped around my waist, catching me.
"You okay?" He asked, breaking me out of my daze of just staring at him.
"Yeah," I breathed. "Yeah. I-I'm fine." He slowly helped me stand up properly. He pulled his arm away from my waist when I was standing straight again. I was almost upset at the lack of contact but just shook it off.
"Maybe we should stop for today," Lucas finally spoke up. I nodded, heat rising to my cheeks.
"Good D, Hoops," Coach told me. We were at a practice type thing at the school. I was finally putting what I learned with Lucas to the test. "Terrible nickname. All right. Tryouts are tomorrow. I want you to check the roster for your starting times. Good luck, guys. And remember, if you don't make it, the tennis team takes everybody."
"Hey, did you hear the coach?" I asked as Alexa and Katie walked over to me.
"Yeah, you're doing great," Alexa said.
"We got a compliment!"
"You got a compliment."
"Remember, we're doing this together."
"Yeah, right, right."
"Alexa!" Gwenny exclaimed, walking up to us. "I thought you had your Quitters Club meeting?"
"No, it was the Gwenny Thompson Smells meeting," Alexa told her. "We all agreed and quickly adjourned."
"All that free time not playing basketball and that's the best you can do? I'm happy you finally agreed you can never beat me."
"I can beat you anytime, anywhere."
"Alexa, no," Katie said, pushing Alexa back.
"Let's do it. Right here, right now, one on one."
"She can't," I told Gwenny.
"Why not?" Gwenny asked.
"Just tell her."
"Tell me what? That you're a little baby chicken?"
"You don't know anything, Gwenny," Katie groaned when Alexa ran off. "Baby chickens peep!"
"Oh. Hey, Hoops," Alexa said when I walked up to her lying in a chair shooting basketballs that night.
"Coach."
"You were good out there today. I'm really excited for you," Alexa said but the somber expression told another story.
"You know what? Who cares what Gwenny Thompson thinks?" I told her.
"It's not that. Watching you play didn't do what I hoped it would. It made me miss being out there more than ever. I just have to accept that there are things I'm gonna miss out on."
"I'm sorry. But I still want to do this for you. No matter what happens, we can't lose sight of the most important thing."
"Friendship," Alexa smiled.
"Taking Gwenny Thompson down," I corrected.
"So, how exactly do you plan on taking Gwenny down?"
"Uh, duh! With my mad skills."
Alexa passed me the ball in her hands.
"Cooper has the ball! Three seconds left! This is for the championship! Skyhook!"
I once again launched the ball too far.
"The charcoal lighter!" We heard a man shout before we saw a small burst of fire.
"We should probably go in now," Alexa told me.
In school we passed a group of girls still trying to guess who had cancer. I just shrugged at Alexa and Katie and continued on our way until Lucas walked up to us.
"Oh. Hey, guys. Tryouts today, right?" He asked me. "Listen, Y/n, these are my lucky wristbands. I don't know if you --" Katie snatched them from his hands before I could even reach my hand out.
"Thank you!" Katie said. "She'll use them!"
"I probably should have washed them first."
"No, they're ... they're fine."
"Well, good luck," He told me before walking off. Katie held the wristbands up to her nose, sniffing them. I quickly snatched them out of her hands.
"What is wrong with you?" I asked her.
At tryouts that day, I was trying to block Gwenny when she pushed me to the ground.
"Hey, no fair!" I said.
"Hoops can handle it," Lucas told Alexa, who stood up angrily.
"Stay in the game, Cooper," Coach told me.
"Y/n didn't end up making the team that day."
I successfully blocked the ball and it went straight back, hitting Gwenny in the face. But as I landed back on the ground, my wig had flown off.
"But she definitely made an impression."
"It's Y/n! Y/n is the one with cancer!" A girl shouted from the bleachers.
not proof read cause it's midnight and my hands hurt from typing but heres another edited chapter. i tried to stay true to the original chapter but adjusted the basketball scene between the reader and lucas. i want to portray their relationship as something a bit more real rather than the 'no real build up and then kiss' i have now.