“Trying to touch you,” I’d responded.
Then she would giggle.
We’d spent two hours talking and staring at each other. In the end, we’d kissed the screen. That was sort of weird, but I didn’t care.
The team had filed out a minute ago while I took a breath and laced up my basketball shoes. My stomach was flipping like a well-practiced gymnast performing her floor routine. The scrimmage game was turning out to be more than practice. The stands were packed. Electricity was in the air, and I felt like I was about to play my first game ever. In part, I was. It would be my first game at the academy. It would also be one where I had to do more than my very best.
Coach Green had invited his good friend Richard Patrick, a scout from Boston College, to the game. He’d sprung that news on the team an hour ago. Between my excitement to see Quinn and now the scout, I was ready to lose my lunch, literally.
Boston College wasn’t my first choice, but it was a Division I school. Plus, it was in the NCAA and the ACC conferences, which meant that if I did play for BC, I would go up against Liam at NC State. It would be weird since Liam and I were practically best buds, but it would be fun and cool just the same.
Once my shoes were tied, I opened and closed my fists, trying to keep my hands from shaking. The scout wasn’t just in the stands to watch me. Our point guard, Wade, was a great player and graduating with me. He too was interested in a full ride to a Division I school.
I closed my eyes and said a quick prayer, when the door to the locker room squeaked open.
“Maxwell, are you in here?” Coach Green asked before he emerged from behind a bank of lockers. “How come you’re not out on the court?” He was dressed in a blue suit and maroon shirt. His suit jacket had the Greenridge Academy’s gold insignia stitched on the upper left breast. “Is there a problem?”
I pushed to my feet, tossed my bag in my locker, and closed it. “Not really. Just taking a moment to quiet my nerves.”
“Get out there and warm up,” he ordered. “That’s the best way to shake things off.”
“Yes, sir.” I headed for the door.
“Maiken, play just like you have been in practice. And remember, this is just a scrimmage.”
Scrimmage or not, the game was still the game. I still wanted to win. I still wanted to be perfect whether the scout was in the stands or not.
Coach and I walked out, not saying a word until just before we reached the doorway into the gym. Then he swung out his arm and looked me right in the eye. His dark gaze was resolute. “Get in your zone. Tune everything out but the game. Focus on shooting, rebounds, and passing, exactly like we’ve been practicing for weeks.”
I got the feeling he was trying to calm himself down rather than me. Nevertheless, the buzz of the crowd only enhanced the swirling tornado in my stomach. “I hear Lennox Prep plays dirty. Is that true?” Wade had mentioned that to me earlier.
“They’re aggressive,” he said. “They have a good defense, as I pointed out in our meeting earlier. We’ll be using a man-to-man defense to start the game. They did lose two of their best players last year, so we’ll see. But what you need to do is play your game.”
I nodded then jogged out and joined my teammates at the other end of the gym, hoping I made him proud.
An hour and twenty minutes later, I was soaked with sweat as the clock ticked down to thirty seconds left in the game. So far, I’d played my game. I’d made Coach proud. Greenridge was in sync. We played like a well-oiled machine, but so did Lennox Prep.
We were down by one point with possession of the ball when Coach Green called a time-out.
The ref blew his whistle.
We huddled around Coach as he started to draw the last play on his clipboard. Up until now, I hadn’t had much time to find Quinn in the stands, or the scout for that matter. However, I didn’t know what Richard Patrick looked like.
Ian, our power forward, who had been at basketball camp, nudged me. “Hey, there’s Noah. Remember the dude at camp?”
Noah? He had called right before I’d moved up to Greenridge that day I was with Quinn at the farm.
I glanced out at the stands across from us. Up until that point, I hadn’t dared look at the crowd, mainly to keep my focus on the game. “Where?” I’d returned Noah’s call that day, but he hadn’t answered, and since then, we hadn’t connected.
“Third row up. Left side at the end. He’s sitting with a pretty girl.”
My gaze shifted in that direction until Coach Green said my name. “Wade, pass to Maiken. Maxwell, we just need a two-pointer to win the game. But use the clock. Understood?”
All of us nodded.
Once we were in position, waiting on the red, I tossed a quick look over my shoulder and froze.
Quinn and Noah were sitting together, bumping shoulders, and laughing. I must’ve missed a memo somewhere. I’d never told Quinn about Noah. He knew I had a girlfriend, but I hadn’t mentioned her name. He hadn’t told me much about him, so I hadn’t shared much of my history except that I lived in Ashford, had gone to Kensington, and had a girl.
The whistle blew, but I couldn’t turn my head.
Wade ran up to me and shouted in my ear. “Dude! Play!”
Fuck.
I shook my head, kicked my legs into gear, and headed down the court.
Coach Green was yelling at the top of his lungs with my name dropping from his angry lips.
I checked the score. We were still down by one. Ian had the ball and passed it to Wade, who, in turn, passed it back to Ian.
I lit a fire under my ass and positioned myself at the side of the key.
“You only need two points,” Coach had said.
My pulse soared off the charts. I was so getting my ass reamed.
Wade lined up at the top as I waited for him to look at me. But he didn’t. He bounced the ball once and, as if in slow motion, shot the ball.
I held my breath as the ball soared through the air, the seconds ticking by. When the ball hit the backboard, I was sure it wasn’t going in. But just as the buzzer went off, the ball fell through the net.
Air punched from my lungs.
The crowd shouted and clapped, and the noise level was off the charts. I swore the building shook. If this was just a scrimmage, I couldn’t imagine how the fans would react when we won during the season.
But maybe I wouldn’t be there after today to see it. I hung my head as I jogged up to my teammates. “I’m so sorry.”
“What happened?” Wade asked, throwing his arms around me.
“I’ll tell you later.” Right now we had to exchange pleasantries with the other team, and then I had to apologize to Coach.
My stomach was one big knot, because I knew he was going to spit fire over how I’d messed up. Goodbye to any potential I had with Boston College.
As I shook the hand of my last opponent, I stole a look at Quinn. She was studying me hard, and I couldn’t quite figure out her expression. It was a cross between confusion and worry.
She smiled tentatively at me, and I returned her gesture. I didn’t believe she would dump me for Noah. However, my mind was working overtime, wondering how they knew each other.
They probably just met while sitting in the stands. What I couldn’t figure out was why Noah was even at one of my games. Maybe he was enrolling in Greenridge, or he already had, and I just didn’t know about it.