warrior ( RACHEL ELIZABETH DARE. )

xvi. OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY

WARRIOR!
( chapter sixteen )

LATER IN THE week, the Ares cabin starts up their daily pickup game of basketball. Seeing as sword training, the climbing wall, and pegasus riding are a bit bizarre activities for teenagers, the Ares cabin likes to play a game of basketball to ground themselves a bit. Being demigods is full of magic and worry, so they feel as though they should be able to feel normal at least once a day, thus basketball becoming a daily occurrence.

   All the other campers are aware of how insanely good the Ares cabin is at basketball, so they all take turns playing the force of a team. It takes a lot of effort to form an opposing team, and typically drachmas and chore trading are in order. However, there was somehow no trouble gaining a team today, seeing as Jason Grace was the one leading.

   Ingrid hasn't had many interactions with Jason so far. In fact, she hasn't had any. The only things she knows about him is from talk from other campers, or from Piper, seeing as the two of them are very close.

   However, it seems majority of the camp gets along with him, seeing as they're following his lead for this basketball game. Jason is flanked by Connor Stoll, Kayla Knowles, Miranda Gardiner, and Butch Walker. The group of campers all carried strengths that Ingrid hasn't yet encountered in a game, so she knew it would be a good one.

   The Ares cabin typically rotates their lineup, so today Ingrid was on the court with Sherman, Ellis, Mark, and Clarisse. The five of them haven't played all together in a few days, but Ingrid was sure that they'd come together quickly.

Will Solace, ever the problem solver, was delegated to be the referee that day. When he called for the start of the game, each team got into their positions. Ingrid was the point guard, Sherman was the shooting guard, Mark was the small forward, Clarissa was the power forward, and Ellis was the center. Seeing as they've been playing basketball for ages, they each knew their strengths, and Ingrid could attest to the fact that this was each player was in their strongest position.

   Jason's team, however, took a few minutes deciding where to be. Ultimately, Kayla took the role of point guard, Miranda was the shooting guard, Jason was the small forward, Butch was the power forward, and Connor was the center. Having played against most of these players, Ingrid knew that today would give her a challenge.

When the first whistle blew, Connor was the first to get the ball. She knew he would, seeing as he his lanky limbs allow for tipoff to be forever in his favor. Ingrid jogged down the court, analyzing where to be. With Connor being a center, she knew he would pass it to someone else so that he could hang back. Scanning the court, she saw Jason open and dashed as fast as she could over to him. As if on cue, the ball was bounced toward Jason, allowing Ingrid to intercept it in the process.

She started dribbling the ball down the opposite side of the court, and noticed that Jason wasn't following her like she thought he would, almost as if he was baffled that she did that. Ingrid brushed off the interaction, however, and turned her focus back to the game. She didn't want to overthink anything right now. This was her one time of day to let everything in her life go and just be normal.

   Ingrid finished out the play by passing to Sherman, who sunk in the first points of the game. She glanced at Jason, who caught her gaze. There wasn't much emotion on his face, but his eyes burned bright blue. She could feel a tense, electricity in that split second, and decided that after the game she'd talk to him.