It was a tight game, and Justin was right where he wanted to be: the free-throw line.
He set himself at the line as the ref said, "Two shots, gentlmen, hold your spots on the first," and handed Justin the ball.
Dribble, dribble, dribble. Spin. Look up at the basket. Shoot.
--swish--
Justin smiled as the home crowd went nuts and the ref handed him the ball again. He went through the same routine on the second shot and swished it again, which put his team, the Jaguars, up by 4 points. Lance and Chris, two of his teammates, gave him high fives, and Justin grinned as he backpeddled away from the line, heading up court to play some defense. His remaining teammates on the court, Nick and AJ, stayed in the backcourt to press as the Eagles ran some semblance of an inbound play.
"Nice shots, 'Lake," his coach yelled from the sideline, "Now play some defense, Jaguars!" Justin got into position to do just that. Howie, the Eagles' point guard, got the ball from Kevin under the basket, and he dribbled up court, beating the press that AJ and Nick tried to put on. When Howie got to half-court and raised his hand to signal a play to his teammates, however, Justin made a lightning quick move and stole the basketball from him. Seconds later, Justin had dunked the ball and the Jaguars were up by 6. Justin was having a great game.
JC watched him from the Eagles' bench with smouldering eyes. His fifth and final foul had been the one that sent Justin to the line that last time. He didn't want to lose this game, but there wasn't anything he could do about it from the bench. Justin had four fouls of his own, but he was still playing as if there were no possible way he could foul out. JC didn't know whether to admire Justin or want to kick his ass. From the confines of the bench, he knew it was some of each. He continued to watch Justin, unable to tear his eyes away as the boy ran up and down the court.
One minute left in the game.
The Eagles scored on the next play, and then they stole the ball off a bad inbound-pass and scored again, shaving the Jaguar lead down to 2. JC cheered from the bench as his teammates fought back and the seconds ticked away. On the Jaguars' next drive, with only 15 seconds remaining, Lance made a bad pass to AJ, and Joey, the Eagles shooting guard, stole the ball. Justin tried desperately to strip him off it, but he got most of Joey's arm instead. The ref whistled the play dead.
"Number 23, reaching in," the ref said as Justin headed for the bench. "That's your fifth, son."
Justin didn't reply, he just grabbed a towel and sat down. He ignored his coaches glare. JC tried not to smirk.
Joey went to shoot one-and-one. He made the first basket. And the second. JC and his teammates leapt off the bench. The game was tied.
Both Justin and JC could hardly watch as the last few seconds ticked off the clock. Just before the buzzer sounded, though, Lance made up for his bad pass earlier with a perfect shot from just behind the three-point arch.
--swish--
Game over. The Jaguars had won.
Justin and his teammates flooded the court along with most of the Jefferson High School student body. They had defeated their cross-town rivals once more. Chris and Justin lifted Lance up into their shoulders and celebrated while Howie and JC and Joey hung their heads and headed for the visitors' locker room. Before he disappeared inside, JC took one last look back at the court. Justin was all smiles, high-fiving his friends who weren't on the team but had come to the game. JC's eyes spit fire before he turned and headed into the locker room.
As Justin stepped out of the shower, Chris, who was already dressed and ready to go, caught his arm. "Hey, 'Lake, there's a party at Brian's tonight. Wanna come? Me n' Lance are going."
"Yeah, sure. I'll run it by Mom but I'm sure it's OK. You wanna drive or should I?"
"Actually, could we go separately? I need to run over to the store for my mom quick, so I'll just meet you there, K?"
Justin smiled. "K, but does that mean I should go in this?" He gestured to the towel around his waist.
Chris laughed. "You know everyone there would dig it, 'Lake. You oughtta show off that beautiful body of yours!"
"Thanks, but I think I'll head home and put on some real clothes. See you at Brian's?"
"Yeah."
"Later."
Justin headed for his locker, threw on clean boxers, his jeans, and his hooded Jaguar basketball sweatshirt. When he left the lockerroom, he was the last one out as always, and the parking lot was nearly deserted as headed out to his car. He only lived a few blocks away, but it was coolish in November, so he usually drove to the night games.
At home, Justin's mom met him at the door. "Hi, honey. Great game tonight. Sorry you fouled out, but Lance did a nice job filling in where you usually do. I talked to his mother after the game. She says hello."
"Thanks, Mom. Say, there's a party at Brian's tonight, mind if I go?"
"Go ahead, honey, just be careful and don't stay out too late."
"I won't, Mom, thanks," he said, kissing her cheek and he brushed past her, heading for his room to change.
Justin stood inside his walk-in closet for close to 10 minutes trying to decide what to wear. Party at Brian's means JC will be there. Unless he's pissed they lost tonight... That thought caused disappointment to flood through Justin, even though it was only speculation. Well, regardless, I'm going, and I'm going to look good.
He settled on what was comfortable -- jeans and a henley pullover that matched his eyes -- and was back in his car 15 minutes later, heading for Brian's, hoping to see JC.
He had seen the other boy look at him, over his shoulder,
just before disappearing into the Eagles' lockerroom. He had seen
the heat in those eyes. And he wanted to know what JC was thinking
about.