Falling (Bits and Pieces, Book 1)

by Shirley Miranda

  34. WHAT A NIGHT

  The concert the next night went just as great. The auditorium was warm, like a giant hug. The doors were kept closed, so the cool air outside never entered. Since the only people moving around were those of us in the choir, the temperature was bearable and comfortable for the choir and the audience.

  The crew went to the guys’ basketball game, which started at the same time as the concert. It was a home game. Patrick was still wary of letting me walk by myself, if he could help it. Since I would be walking between the gym and the auditorium at night, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared myself. I knew Becca was still pissed and I was just waiting for her to pounce on me again. When the concert was done, I called Kraig. He was going to walk me to the gym, so I could watch the rest of the game with the crew. He arrived out of breath because he ran over to the auditorium.

  Kraig caught me up on the game while we hurried in the cool night air to the gym. It had been a close game, with a bunch of ties and lead changes, but currently we were losing. When Kraig left, we were down by ten points with 5:38 left in the game. Patrick, Bobby, and Jason were in the game, along with Sean and Will. We had the ball and just called time out when Kraig and I got to the gym. The gym was hot and stuffy. I could feel the tension and sweat hanging in the gym. I looked up at the scoreboard to see that there was 2:31 left. Holy crap, we’re down by eight. What the hell? The guys huddled at the sidelines, listening to the play that the coach was calling. Kraig and I rushed to sit with the crew up in the stands. Tony handed me the team’s roster. It listed everyone on our team, their jersey numbers and positions, as well as our opponents. I quickly reviewed it to see who was on the court for the Franklin High Bulldogs. A whistle indicated that the timeout was over and it was time to resume the game.

  Patrick in-bounded the ball to Will. Will passed the ball to Bobby, who was at the top of the key. Bobby backed into the basket and took a hook-shot. It bounced off the front rim. Sean and Bobby crashed the boards, along with three Bulldog players. Sean grabbed the rebound and passed it to Patrick, who was just in front of the three point line. Patrick took a step back behind the line and shot the ball. Swish. Patrick nailed the three-pointer. We erupted in celebration as the guys ran down the court to play defense. We were down by five points with 2:19 left.

  I loved watching close games, they were always the most exciting. It was always the most nerve wracking when it was my team that was involved in the close game. I’d get so nervous. As I saw the ball go up at the other basket, I closed my eyes hoping it didn’t go in. I heard the crowd around me cheer. I opened my eyes and saw the score didn’t change. Jason brought the ball back up the court and was calling a play. The guys were passing the ball and setting screens, trying to get a good shot at the basket. Patrick had the ball and took a shot. He missed. Bobby got the rebound and shot the ball. It hit off the backboard and into the hoop. I jumped up, my arms raised above my head, and cheered. We were down by three points with 1:34 left in the game.

  The Bulldogs in-bounded the ball underneath their hoop. It was clear that they were trying to burn the clock. I hated when the opposing team did that. Of course, when it was my team, I didn’t mind. They kept passing the ball, so that everyone had touched it multiple times. They had used up 28 seconds of their 35 second shot clock before setting up for a play. With one second left on the shot clock, the Bulldogs took shot from the top of the key. I held my breath as I watched the ball bounced off the back of the rim. Will caught the long rebound. There was 58 seconds left in the game and we were still down by three points.

  Jason ran the ball up the court. Sean and Bobby sprinted over to our basket. Jason quickly passed the ball to Sean who was positioned underneath the hoop. Sean shot and scored. They only used up six seconds on the clock. We were only now down by one with 52 seconds left. Good. There was still plenty of time in the game. My heart pounded and I nervously wrung my hands. There was nothing I could do but cheer the guys on.

  When the Bulldogs in-bounded the ball, they worked to burn off more time on the clock. Patrick and the guys stepped up their defense. The Bulldogs possession lasted twenty seconds and resulted in a basket by their point guard. There was 32 seconds left and we were down by three points again.

  Jason brought the ball down the court quickly. Patrick ran by Bobby, who set a screen against Patrick’s defender. Patrick ran to the three-point line and caught the pass from Jason. Patrick set himself up as if he was going to shoot. His defender jumped up with a hand up in the air and attempted to block his shot. Patrick stepped to the side and drove the ball to the hoop. He had a wide-open lay-up. We all stood in anticipation for the basket. Instead, the Bulldog center aggressively fouled Patrick, knocking him to the ground and he missed the basket. He laid on his back and pounded the floor with his fists. The referee called the foul and Patrick got two free-throws. I got worried as I waited for him to get up. I hope he wasn’t hurt. Why wasn’t Patrick getting up? Maybe he was just frustrated. I didn’t blame him. Jason stood at Patrick’s feet and held his hand out to him. Patrick grabbed it and hopped back up on his feet. There was 17 seconds left and Patrick was on the free-throw line.

  Patrick is a great free-throw shooter. He practiced almost every day. No matter how good the player was on the free-throw line, I still got anxious. Nothing is guaranteed. I was so nervous for him and the team. I held my breath as he bounced the ball before shooting. The first shot rattled around the hoop before falling in. Patrick took a deep breath, dribbled the ball three times, before taking his second free-throw. This time, nothing but net. We were down by one point with 17 seconds left.

  All the guys but Jason ran back on defense. He tried to steal the ball as the Bulldogs brought the ball up the court. Once the ball was past half court, Will and Jason quickly double teamed the Bulldog point-guard. The point-guard tried to get rid of the ball by passing it, but Patrick intercepted the ball at the top of the key. The crew and I jumped to our feet and cheered. Patrick, Jason, and Will had a fast break and only the Bulldogs point-guard could attempt defense. The Bulldog sole defender cut in front of Patrick near the free-throw line. Patrick dished the ball to Will. Will laid up the ball for an easy two-points. The crew and the crowd erupted. I high-fived Kraig and hugged Cassie and Emily. We were up by one point with only six seconds left.

  The Bulldogs called time-out. The home crowd got so loud, it had to be difficult for the Bulldogs to hear anything. The game resumed with the Bulldogs center in-bounding the ball under the baseline. Will and Jason were standing between the Bulldog guards and the ball. Patrick was guarding at half-court. Bobby and Sean were covering the Bulldog power forward at the free-throw line. I sat down. I bit the inside of my cheek and bounced my knee. I just couldn’t sit still. The whole crowd collectively held their breath and screamed at the same time. Will and Jason prevented the easy pass in-bounds causing the small forward to move toward the ball at the half-court line. Their center passed the ball to him. Patrick followed the small forward and now defended him near the half-court line. The small forward tried to get past Patrick, but Patrick forced him toward the sideline. Patrick played tight defense on him and knocked the ball out of his hands. Will grabbed the loose ball and tossed it up in the air with two seconds left. The ball flew up into the air and the rest of the clock ran out. We won the game by one point.

  The entire home crowd jumped to their feet. The noise was deafening. The crew and I cheered in celebration. Our team huddled together and jumped up and down in unison. It’s a great feeling when your team wins. It was even better because my best friend was on the team and I could just imagine how he was feeling. My face hurt from grinning ear to ear. Cassie and Emily ran down from the bleachers to the court to Jason and Bobby, respectively. I got caught up in the excitement of the win and rushed down to congratulate Patrick, Jason and Bobby. The momentum carried me down to the last row of the bleachers, where I lost my balance.

  Kraig grabbed my wrist to prevent me from taking a
header into the floor. Unfortunately, I was hanging at a weird angle unable to get my feet underneath me. From where Kraig stood, he didn’t have the pivot point to help me any further than stopping me from falling. Patrick hopped up onto the row where I awkwardly hung and gave me a big sweaty bear hug. Kraig let go of my hand and my feet flailed underneath me before becoming stable.

  “I’m glad to see that you could drop by.” Patrick teased.

  “Isn’t that what you wanted me to do?” I distinctly remember him saying to. That’s why he had me call Kraig when I was done with the concert.

  “Well, yeah, but not literally. But I should have figured you would.” He turned to Kraig. “Thanks.”

  “Yeah, thanks again for walking me from the concert.” With the excitement of the game, I couldn’t remember if I thanked him.

  “I couldn’t call what we did walking.” Kraig laughed.

  “True. True. More like semi-sprinting.” From the moment Kraig picked me up at the auditorium, we rushed to get to the gym. My heart was pounding ever since. No wonder I felt so tired all of a sudden. I may not have been playing in the game, but I felt that I sweated on the court with them. I squirmed in Patrick’s grasp. He was all hot and sweaty from the game. “Okay, you can let go now. You’re all sticky.”

  “And here I thought we were friends and you liked me no matter what.” He feigned being hurt and let go of me.

  “We are. And I do. But that doesn’t mean I want to get my good clothes all stinky and full of your gym sweat.” I playfully pushed him away.

  He grabbed my arm, pulled me into another bear hug and laughed. “Well, they’re already messed up now. Don’t forget…” He looked at Bobby and Jason, who had their arms wrapped around their girlfriends. “We won!” The guys cheered.

  “How could I? Congratulations! It was awesome!” I hugged him back. He was right, my clothes were already all gross now. It really wasn’t my clothes that was the issue, it was his hot sweaty basketball self against my skin. Ick. Then again, the gym was already hot and muggy and you could feel the sweat of all the Tigers and Bulldogs in the air, not to mention all the hot air that people were expelling from their lungs as they shouted.

  The guys were famished, who could blame them, considering how hard they played. Tonight, Patrick, Bobby and Jason were the stars in the crew, so they got to choose the location. They picked Beach Burgers then headed to the locker room. The rest of us waited for them in the parking lot.

  I was glad that I carpooled with Patrick today. He had offered to drive since we both had stuff at school at night and wouldn’t be home until late. Since my mom didn’t seem to really have a problem with Patrick last night, I figured I’d save the environment and carpool. She never gave an inkling that she disapproved of him as a friend, so until she said otherwise, I was going to try not to worry about it.

  The guys met us in the parking lot next to their cars. They were still riding high from their win, strutting their way to us. I couldn’t help but laugh at them as they over exaggerated their strut. Patrick walked right up to me with his arms at his sides and his palms up.

  “Am I acceptable now?” He coyly asked.

  “That’s debatable. But you certainly smell better.” I retorted. The crew laughed. Cassie and Emily nodded in agreement. “Oh, and I have something of yours.”

  “Yeah? What?” He was confused.

  “Your stinky germs. Take them back!” I rubbed my face and shoulder into his shirt.

  “Hey! You’re ruining my good clothes.” Since it was a game day, he was wearing the required a shirt and tie.

  I rolled my eyes at him and pushed him away. “Shut up!”

  “Come back here. You know, I’m just joking.” Patrick pulled me back to him. He hung his arm around my shoulders.

  I stuck my tongue out at him. “Yeah.”

  “Let’s go guys, I’m ready to celebrate and I’m starving.” Bobby interjected.

  “Me too. Come on, Cassie.” Jason led Cassie to his car, which was just on the other side of Patrick’s.

  We piled into the cars and headed to Beach Burgers.

  “Sorry, I didn’t see the whole game.”

  “Nah, don’t worry about it. I know you would have been there if you could. How’d the concert go?”

  “Really good. There were more people there tonight than last night, which surprised me because you guys were playing.”

  “Well, rumor is that the concert was cool and you didn’t want to miss it.” I loved seeing him smile and seeing him so happy.

  “Yeah, right.” Sarcasm dripped from my tongue. I highly doubted that. It was just choir.

  “No. Seriously. I heard kids from almost every class talking about it.” He sounded sincere. He wouldn’t lie to me. There wasn’t any real reason for him to exaggerate. “Besides, the choir is playing a limited engagement. There are plenty of games left in my season.”

  “Well, that’s true.” If I could blush, I would have been. “So, Kraig told me that the rest of the game was pretty crazy too.”

  “It was.” Patrick told me his version of the highlight and lowlights of the game as he drove. One thing I admired about him, aside from him always being a great friend to me, was how his face lit up the same way whether he talked about basketball or science. To him, there was no choosing between the two, they coexisted as his passions. “Bobby got into foul trouble and coach sat him out the first 4 minutes of the fourth quarter. That hurt. That’s a big reason why we were behind when you got there.”

  “You noticed when I got there?” How could he? He seemed really focused on the game.

  “Well...” He shifted in his seat. “During the middle of a time out, I heard your voice…in the crowd yell, ‘Holy crap, we’re down by eight. What the hell?’”

  “I said that out loud? Oops. Sorry. I can’t believe you heard that in the middle of the game.” I covered my face with my hand.

  He laughed. “I told you I’m good. I know all. I’m on fire tonight!”

  “And so modest too.” I teased.

  “Of course.” He grinned.

  We arrived at Beach Burgers before everyone else did. We hurried in and got a table for the crew. It didn’t take long for everyone to arrive. We toasted the guys’ victory with a round of root beer floats. The entire restaurant had to have heard our glasses bang together and our loud cheers. The guys recapped the game, taking turns in commentating. Their post game interviews with each other kept us in hysterics. I had such a hard time catching my breath and tears streamed down my face because I was laughing so hard.

  There was one more thing to celebrate. We had one more day before Winter Break. Dylan, a pretty popular guy who was on the football team, was having his annual Christmas party this Saturday afternoon. One great thing about living in Southern California, you can have a pool party and Christmas party all in one. Emily reminded everyone about the party, not that anyone would forget. Now that the basketball game over and there was one concert left, there wasn’t much else on everyone’s mind.

  I was really looking forward to vacation. I loved school, but breaks were nice. They gave me a chance to catch up on stuff. The past week had been so busy that I hadn’t gotten much rest. I was staying up late doing homework and studying for tests. I was falling behind on my science fair project, so that was something I really wanted to finish over break. I had to find a piece to audition with for the upcoming school musical and rehearse it. There were those scholarship essays that I had been putting off that were due in the next couple weeks. I wanted to have fun and hang out with my friends. We were making plans to do stuff like maybe go to Disneyland. Oh, of course, there’s a little thing called sleep that I’d like to get too. I was already exhausted just thinking about winter break. One more day, one more concert and it would be winter break. The party would mark the official start!