Monday, February 19, 2001

"I hate pep rallies," Stu said as he pulled his sweatshirt over his head, the cloth muffling his words. He sat down on the bench in locker room. "They suck."

"No, they don’t," Matt said, bouncing a ball in a sharp ‘V’ between his hands and the floor. "We get to show off and get people excited."

"That’s why they’re called pep rallies, right?" Justin asked. He pulled his baseball cap off and stuck it in the small locker.

"This school doesn’t need to feel the pep," Stu said. "Their pep is making me feel sick to my stomach. Do you even know how many people randomly wished me luck in the hall today?"

"They’re just trying to support us," Matt said. He pointed at the door of the locker room. "And you saw how many people are out there. They don’t have to be here and they are."

"We’re one game away from being regular season champions," Stu said. He pulled his jersey over his head. "We might be that team that makes good, instead of the one with the potential."

"So is Parker," Justin said, not looking at Stu.

Stu looked at him, arching an eyebrow.

"Parker’s one game away from being regular season champs, too," Justin said. "We’re tied for one right now."

"They’re going to want it," Stu said. "What happens if we have another game like we did last week?"

"We won’t," Kevin said, as he walked up to the three teens. "That was our bad game of the season. We’re entitled to one and we aren’t going to have another."

"We can’t afford to," Justin said. "Not if we’re hoping to make it anywhere in the post season. Cause after this it’s only one shot elimination, right? That’s how this works?"

"Yeah," Matt said. "Unless there’s a freak circumstance, this is the last game we can lose without ending our season."

"No pressure," Stu said, shaking his head. He looked towards the door of the locker room as there was a sudden roar from the students. "Oh no, none at all."

Tuesday, February 20, 2001

Justin rolled over on his bed, folding the pillow under his head. He looked out the window, staring at the gray sky. He sighed. He turned over again, only to roll back over a moment later. Finally, a few minutes later he threw back the blankets on the bed and stood up. He moved silently across the floor, the cold of the wooden boards seeping through the socks covering his feet.

He opened the door of his room and blinked, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness of the small hallway. He moved lightly towards Maggie’s door, stopping when one of the floorboards squeaked under his foot. He continued moving a few moments later, then turned the knob on Maggie’s door and stepped into the even darker room.

Maggie stirred underneath the blankets and sat up quickly.

"Who’s there?" she asked, her voice quivering slightly.

"Me," Justin said. "Randy." He closed the door and moved over to the bed, sitting down on the edge. "Sorry."

"It’s okay," Maggie said. She took a deep breath. "What’s up?"

"I--" Justin blushed. "I couldn’t sleep."

"Oh," Maggie said. She looked at the empty side of her bed. "Would it help if you stayed in here?"

"I was hoping," Justin said, the strained grin evident in his voice. He crawled over to the other side of the bed as Maggie changed the alarm clock.

"What’s the matter?" Maggie asked as she lay down on her side, facing Justin.

"Nothing," Justin said. "I just, well, I’m nervous. What if we lose tonight?"

"You aren’t going to lose," Maggie said. She ran the palm of her hand over Justin’s arm. "Mill Creek doesn’t lose."

"Yeah we do," Justin said. "We can lose quite magnificently."

"It was a fluke," Maggie said. "You guys pull through when it really matters."

"Do we?" Justin said. "We haven’t been playing *for* anything before, so how can you know that?"

"This is just another basketball game," Maggie said, sighing. "If you were playing Parker for the state championship or something, then I could understand you being nervous, but now?"

"I don’t want to let anyone down," Justin said quietly, his voice a mere whisper in the dark.

"You couldn’t," Maggie said. "Not when you’ve done so much for us already."

Justin was silent for a few moments. "I really wish I could believe that." He looked at the fluorescent numbers hovering in the darkness. "You should go back to sleep."

"Yeah," Maggie said. She ran her fingers over Justin’s cheek before she rolled over onto her other side and let Justin pull her to him.

Justin scrubbed his hand across his eyes as he stepped into the dining room. When he blinked, opening them fully, he saw Maggie grinning widely at him.

"What?" he asked, a smile unconsciously forming on his face.

Maggie merely pointed to an article in the paper spread out on the dining room table in front of her.

Justin walked over to where she was sitting and leaned heavily on the table, looking over her shoulder. His eyes immediately found the article she’d been pointing to.

"Parker, Mill Creek, State Ranked 4, 5," he read aloud. He turned to Maggie, eyes wide. "We’re ranked that high?"

Maggie nodded as she pointed to a paragraph of text near the end of the article. "They mention you."

Justin’s eyes skipped to the paragraph, his heartbeat speeding up slightly. He read the paragraph out loud. "The Mustangs (12-1, 15-2), led by seniors Joshua Perkins and Randy Smith, have skyrocketed above both expectations and last year’s record, ranking in the top ten for the first time in fifteen years. ‘What we have here,’ McGrath said, ‘is a team of men who have played the game together since they were five. All the pieces just fell into place." Justin stopped reading and looked up at Maggie.

"There’s more," she said. She pulled the paper in front of her so that she could read it. "Mill Creek and Parker will play each other tonight for the regular season title. With two teams so closely matched, with equal abilities, and each having won one of their previous two meetings, we can only say one thing: May the best team win."

She looked up, her face split by a smile. "Fifth, Randy. We’ve never been that high."

Justin swallowed.

"You only have to play Parker twice more, maybe only once, and you’ll be district champs."

"Yeah," Justin said, giving Maggie a weak smile. "Piece of cake."

"Why do I feel like this is the most important game we’ve played so far?" Justin asked. He rested his chin in his cupped palm and balanced his elbow on the study hall desk.

"It is," Kevin said. He turned the page in his calculus book. "We’ve never even had a chance at being district champions before."

"We’re going to be in the playoffs for the district championship, though," Justin said. "So why is this game feeling so different from any other game."

"You almost sound nervous," Kevin said, his lips and eyes forming a smirk.

"I’m petrified," Justin said. He shook his head. "I woke Maggie up at three a.m. because I couldn’t sleep."

"I’m sure she was thrilled about that," Kevin said. "Amanda wouldn’t appreciate it, but then again, we don’t live together."

"She was cool," Justin said. "At least I got to sleep. I just don’t understand why I’m freaking out over this game."

"I couldn’t tell you," Kevin said.

Coach paced the locker room in what had become a pre-game ritual. "I can see that some of you boys are nervous."

Justin swallowed.

"But this is just another game," Coach said. "We’re going on no. matter. what. This is the last time we’ll be able to say that for sure."

Justin nodded, seeing the other players around him nod also.

"Parker is going to be gunning for us," Coach said. "We beat them in their house so they see it as only fair retribution that they win here. Are we going to let them do that?"

"No." The players shook their heads.

"No," Coach said. "We aren’t. They’re going to want it, but who wants it more."

"We do," the Mill Creek players said, their voices getting louder.

"Damn right we do," Coach said. "We want it more."

"I’m so scared," Maggie said. Her arm was threaded through Emily’s. "Those guys are so mean looking."

"They look like they’re out for blood, don’t they," Emily said.

"Kevin looks so short compared to that other guy," Amanda said. "There’s no way that we’re going to get the tip off."

"We might," Emily said. "You know, if Kevin jumps really high, or something." She giggled nervously.

"All we need is the first basket," Maggie said. "Then according to superstition it’ll be anyone’s game."

"Yeah," Emily said.

The three girls held their breath as the ref tossed the ball into the air. It flew up slowly, hitting its peak and coming down quickly. Kevin and the Parker player jumped up. The Parker player batted the ball away from Kevin--straight into Matt’s hands.

"Now all we need is the first basket," Amanda yelled into Maggie’s ear as the stands were filled with screams.

Maggie held her breath as she watched her boyfriend move the ball down the court. She watched him toss the ball to Stu from half court, who tossed it to Matt, who tossed it down court to Brent.

Brent went up for the basket and the Mill Creek side dissolved into cheers as the ball tipped over the edge of the rim and through the net.

They were silent a mere ten seconds later as the Parker fans began jumping up and down excitedly.

The score was 2-2.

"This is going to be a close game," Emily said on one side of Maggie.

"Way too close," Amanda said on the other.

Justin stared into the eyes of Parker’s point guard as the teen bounced the ball with seamless ease down the court. The kerthwank of the leather-covered rubber hitting the court was loud in Justin’s ears. He saw the other point guard glance down at the ball, and Justin moved his hand, attempting to bat it away.

The Parker player was too fast for him. The ball was flying through the air before Justin finished batting his hand through the air. He turned around when he heard the ball bouncing behind him.

"Ball, ball, ball," Matt said loudly, spitting the word at the player he was guarding. "Ball, ball, ball." Justin saw that Matt was leaning into the other player’s space. When the other player, number 27, picked up the ball, Justin knew a mistake had been made. He stuck himself on the other point guard, moving with the other teen to prevent the ball coming back up to the top of the key.

Justin could see number 27 looking around the court frantically. He was pivoting on the ball of his right foot, moving back and forth, the sweat dripping down his forehead. Justin glanced at the scoreboard for a second, and saw that the shot clock was running out. It was at three seconds.

"Two," Justin muttered. "One."

The buzzer sounded and the Mill Creek side cheered.

Stu took the ball out of bounds and passed it to Justin. Ten players ran down the court, moving together, trying to call plays and formations and regain control of the game.

Justin slowed the ball down and took his time.

Justin bounced the ball three times and shifted his weight, making sure that the toes of his shoes were behind the painted line. He bounced the ball again, picked it up, and flicked his wrist, pushing the orange sphere through the air towards the basket.

It fell directly through the basket, barely flipping the strings of the net.

Justin hardly heard the screams of the Mill Creek fans as the referee tossed the ball back to him. He bounced it to the floor again, regaining a feel for the textured leather. He picked it up again, focused his eyes on that spot on the backboard and pushed the ball through the air again. It hit the rim on the left side, rolling around once, before tipping away from the basket and falling to the floor with a resounding noise.

"Fuck," Justin muttered as he ran down the court, already on the defensive.

Maggie stared at the scoreboard as the cheerleaders did a dance routine in the middle of the basketball court.

"Isn’t it illegal for a game to be this close?" she asked. "Isn’t there supposed to be a clear winner and loser?"

Emily nodded. "This is a little nerve wracking. They aren’t supposed to be tied at 25."

"Randy’s going to go back into his funk if they lose," Maggie said sadly. "I know he will and I’m not going to be able to stand that."

"Why does he get in those funks?" Emily asked. "He used to be happy."

"He says he’s going to have to go home soon," Maggie said as she sat back down on the bleachers. Her eyes were shinier than they had been a moment before. "That’s what he and Stu fought about. He doesn’t want to go home and Stu thinks he should."

"Home?" Emily asked. "Where’s that? Isn’t his home here now?"

"I don’t know," Maggie said. "All I know is that he’s going to be going somewhere that’s not Mill Creek."

Cleveland, OH

"I’m tired, guys," Lance said. He hugged a pillow to his head, and stared at the other three men sitting around the green room.

"We all are," Joey said. "We always get tired. It’s what always happens on tour. Just be happy that we aren’t flying to LA for the Grammy’s tonight."

"No," Lance said. "I’m tired. I’m tired of feeling like I’m part of an incomplete group. I’m just. I’m tired."

"We won’t be incomplete that much longer," JC said. "Just for, what, two weeks?"

"If he comes back," Chris said. "Don’t you think we should have heard something recently? Something that says, ‘hey, guys, I’ll be there in two weeks.’"

"He’s just getting his last moments of freedom," JC said. "That’s all."

"I wish I could believe that," Chris said.

Justin turned around as the ball flew past him down the court. He saw one of the Parker players under the basket grab the ball and jump upward in the air. He had just started to curse when he saw Brent block the shot. He saw Brent take the ball down with him and bend over, holding it close to his stomach to keep prying Parker hands from grabbing at it.

"Brent," Justin said when the last of the Parker players had made it past half court. "Here."

He looked at the scoreboard as he dribbled the ball down the court.

Home: 35
Visitor: 38

Justin eyed the layout of players in front of him and saw the opening he’d been looking for all night. He took off running through the open stretch of court and released the ball in typical lay-up fashion just before one of the Parker player’s bodies slammed into his.

He landed on the ground heavily.

"Oh my god," Maggie said. She clutched Emily’s arm as she watched her boyfriend try to stand up. She could see him flinch as he put weight on his right wrist, trying to boost himself up. "Oh my god."

"He’s okay," Emily said.

Maggie saw people in the stands turning around to look at her.

"See," Emily said. "He’s getting up."

"He’s hurt," Maggie said. "See the look on his face. He hurt his wrist."

"No," Emily said. "See, he’s flexing it."

Maggie watched as Coach headed out on to the floor.

"Coach’ll probably pull Randy out for a minute, ice the wrist, and let him go back in," Emily said.

"No," Maggie said. "Randy’s shaking his head. Why is he shaking his head?"

"He’s staying in," Emily said. "See, you can see his lips move. He’s staying in."

"Oh god," Maggie said. "Oh god."

Justin flexed his wrist and grimaced. He stared at Coach.

"I’m fine," he said. "I just twisted it a little."

"We need you in good health, Randy," Coach said. "I’m not going to let you hurt yourself more by letting you play with an injured wrist."

"Coach," Justin said. He ran the fingers on his uninjured hand through his damp curls. "I know my limit, okay? I know when I can keep going and when I can’t. Can you trust me on this one?"

"We’re going to need you more next week," Coach said. "We have a game after this."

Justin looked up at the scoreboard. "We’ve only got a minute and a half left," he said. "Let me play it. I need to be in here. We need to win."

Coach stared at Justin. "If I see you favoring that wrist, I’m pulling you out."

"Deal," Justin said. He turned back to the court and the key where the players were lined up waiting for the free throws. The Mill Creek fans yelled in excitement as he moved behind the line.

Justin mentally winced as he caught the ball, and bounced it a few times, flexing his wrist and adjusting to the small spears of pain that shot through the muscles. He lifted the ball off of the ground and let it fly through the air. It fell directly through the center of the hoop.

"Go, Randy!" Justin heard three females scream from the stands. He recognized one of the voices as Maggie’s. He smiled and made his second free throw.

There were 37 seconds on the clock when Justin started taking the ball down the court. He worked slowly, letting his teammates set up the predetermined formation. He swallowed and swallowed again. He saw Josh pull away from his defender down at the far end of the court. The ball was in the air almost before his brain had okayed the decision. Josh caught the ball and attempted to set up the shot, before he pulled it back down and made a drive for the basket.

The screams on Mill Creek’s side were loud, but restrained as the net flipped audibly. In a quick glance at the stands he saw several people turning between them and the scoreboard. They, the Mill Creek Mustangs, were leading by one.

He saw the seconds on the clock ticking down.

Twelve.

He made a half hearted attempt to block the ball as the Parker player passed it in bounds. He moved with his player down the court, trying to force him to pick it up.

Ten. Nine. Eight.

He made his player retreat to the half court line.

Seven.

His player picked the ball up and stared around at the other players.

Six.

Either Mill Creek had won, or they hadn’t.

Five. Four.

One of the post players came up top with Brent trailing behind.

Three

Justin tried to block his player from passing to the post man, but the ball flew though the air anyway.

Two.

The post man took two steps toward the basket. Bouncing the ball with his long strides.

One.

He picked up the ball and let it fly through the air as the buzzer rang.

The gym was silent. The ball landed at the back of the basket and rolled around the rim once.

Twice.

Three times.

Halfway through the fourth round it fell off of the rim and dropped to the floor, bouncing flatly.

Less than a second later, the entire town of Mill Creek rushed the court. Two seconds after that Justin found a pair of lips pressed to his and he almost forgot the pain that suddenly flared through his wrist.

Justin smiled as he stared at the new pendant hanging on his wall indicating that they, Mill Creek High School, were regular season champions.

He stared at the empty message window on his computer screen. He winced as he moved the fingers on his injured hand.

 
Hey, guys…

Um, so, I know you all told me to be back on the fourth, but. How about the fifth. I can guarantee I’ll be back then. Okay?

J

He didn’t press the send button, instead grabbing his journal and balancing it on his knee. He uncapped the pen with his teeth and started writing quickly.

We won. By one point. But we won. We’re regular season champions. Two more games and we’ll be district champions. We’re so going to take it all.

Well, I guess we’re so going to be district champs. Cause I have to go back before the West finals. Is it okay to ask the guys for a one day extension? I mean, they want me back, right? And the fifth is only 24 hours later than the fourth. How much difference could that actually make? If I was here for the Western Conference Championships then we could win that too. And that would mean so much more than just District Championships to everyone here. It’s not State, but what are the chances of us actually winning State anyway? I mean, really. We’re ranked five. That other team, they’re number one.

So, I should send the request to the guys, right? Asking for one more day?

Right.

Justin set the journal down and looked at the computer screen one more time. Slowly he moved his finger over the finger pad and clicked on send.

"Right," he said.

His good hand wrapped around his hurt wrist and massaged the bones and muscles as he stared at the empty computer screen.