Playing the Court (Lauren/You/Camila)

Chapter 2

(Y/n) Pov

I sat in the library and read Julius Caesar that Ally gave me the other night. Lauren and Demi sat at a table with one of Demi's teammates across the room. Lauren was sketching something in her notepad while Demi just talked to her friend. I kept looking up at Lauren, but quickly adverted my eyes when she looked at me. I looked up again, but noticed Coach Smith walking into the library.

"Lovato!" He called as Demi went to stand up. "Not you, you." He pointed at me.

"You," He pointed at Demi, "read a book or something."

Coach Smith started to walk out the library and I quickly got up to follow him. Demi turned in her chair and glared at me the whole walk out the door. I followed behind Coach Smith all the way to the gym. We walked in and I saw a rack of basketballs on one side of the court, as if he were taking me to a tryout.

"It's nice isn't it?" He asked. "Most people like gyms loud, noisy. I like my gyms quiet, clean. It's almost like a church. Lots of praying is done here anyway. You played ball in grade school. Why'd you quit?"

"I didn't."

"Four girls on a playground isn't exactly playing basketball." He chuckled. "Look, I've got an opening in my lineup. Play for this team. It's the chance of a lifetime."

He took a ball off the rack and bounce passed it to me. I caught the ball and just looked at it.

"What do ya say?" He asked.

"I say the people that pray here waste their time. God doesn't watch sports." I said before dropping the ball and walking out the gym, letting it bounce until it lost momentum.

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Later that day, I was back at the black top. I wore a white t-shirt, black basketball shorts, and some white high tops. I was shooting some free throws as my friends were shooting around and talking to me about earlier.

"So he asks you to play on the team and you think that's nothing?" Ruby Rose, my basketball best friend, asked.

"It's nothing because I'm not playing." I shook my head, "not with those girls."

I shot again and watched it swish through the net.

"Look. I've been guarding you every night since we were about, what, 12 years old? And I've won how many games? Look. I don't know. It just seems like a waste to me."

"Well it doesn't to me. Don't y'all sometimes feel like we belong here?" I asked.

"No. We belong here." She made a circle motion to the three of them then pointed at me, "you have never belonged here."

"Thanks a lot, Ruby. Whatever. Just shoot for teams."

"No, look. You know you are one of my best friends, right? Nothing is going to change that. We aren't shooting for teams. We are your excuse, and I don't want to be a part of that." She said before shooting a quick pull up jumper. I was done for today. I was tired, so I made my way home. My mind never stopped thinking about the offer, and before I knew it, I was in front of my medium sized house. It was nothing much, but it wasn't too shabby.

I picked up a package that sat at the door for me with my name on it. I went up to my room and opened it. A nice black jersey set with yellow outline was inside. I unfolded the jersey top to see the number 22 and my last name written in yellow. On the front was the Sun's name in yellow and the number again. I was itching to try it on, to see if it fit perfectly. I took off my shirt and pulled on the perfect fitting jersey. I stared at myself in the mirror, turning every which way. I saw my mom's reflection through the mirror and quickly turned around.

"Um. I-Somebody left it at the door." I quickly explained. She took in a breath and looked like she was tearing up.

"Take it off." I nodded and she walked out my room and out the door, probably to the front porch.

"Fuck." I mumbled to myself as I ran my hands through my hair. I took off the jersey and carefully folded it again, and put it by the matching shorts. I grabbed a random t-shirt and walked downstairs and to the front porch, where my mom sat on the porch swing flipping through old pictures. I sat next to her and she started talking.

"Do you know who left it?"

"Coach Smith, probably." I sighed before continuing. "He asked me to play."

"Maybe you should."

"You sound like Ruby. You know the girls refused to play today. Saying they didn't want to be my excuse."

"How'd you feel about that?"

"Honestly, I was pissed." My mom didn't respond, but instead held up a photo of me.

"My very first leather basketball." I smiled at the memory.

"You're a good kid. Sometimes I feel like you're sitting out your life just because of me and I don't want that for you. My past is not your future." I nodded in response. I stood up and walked to my room, grabbing my basketball before heading to the park. I shot a couple hundred shots for the rest of the day to make sure I was practically guaranteed that I could be on the team.

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Demi's pov

"What do you know about Smith asking your daughter to play?" I asked my dad.

"Don't call her that."

"She's got our last name."

"We were young. It was right out of highschool. We made a mistake."

"I'm just saying. It's kinda screwed up. People talk about it." I commented.

"I want you to go to this kid and encourage her not to play."

"I'm not scared of her."

"You should be. We have worked way to hard to have someone come in disrupting the offense, taking away shots. Remember the picture here. The big picture and she's not in it." He walked away as I nodded. I called up one of my teammates to come over and to hurry.

She walked into the house before finding me in the kitchen.

"Where we going?"

"To the park."

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(Y/n) pov

It was pretty late at night and I was still at the park shooting around. I saw a car pull up and Demi and her friend get out. Demi walked over and took the ball from the net when I made it.

"Nice shot. Can you hit that against a double team, down by 2, a packed gym telling you that you suck? How about just two people telling you you suck?" Demi asked.

"What do you want?" I spat out.

"What do you want? I mean, other than my girlfriend and my spot in the lineup, huh?" She glared at me. "None of us want you one the team, I don't want you. The girls don't want you. And my girlfriend sure as hell doesn't want you."

I just glared at her as she talked. My jaw clenched along with my fists.

"Here's a deal. You and me. One on one. Name a time and place. If you win, I'll quit the team. If I win, you crawl back in the little hole and you remeber your place." She dropped the ball at my feet before walking back to the car and driving off with her friend.