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“Can you tell me something?”
“Sure.”
“Tonight, you didn’t get me the ball. Why?”
“We’re back to that?” Layne asked.
“Not because I’m a ball hog. I just want to understand what went through your mind.”
“You’d already missed six threes and had only made one. You’d just missed a seventh right before that. I saw the other side of the court had space and knew we only needed a two in order to take the lead. I thought we could hold them defensively.”
Shay nodded and said, “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah, okay. Makes sense to me. I just needed to understand the thought process, and I’m good,” Shay replied. “So, I’m going to my room now.” She hooked her thumb down the hallway.
“Okay. Well, me too,” Layne replied. “Have a good night, Shay.”
“You too.”
CHAPTER 5
“Hey, you know about that flu thing?” Martin asked Shay when they were on the way out of the locker room.
“Flu thing?” she asked, not really paying attention to Martin because she was about to warm up for the game and needed to focus on that instead.
“The Coronavirus. That’s what they’re calling it. I think it’s like bird flu or swine flu or something.”
“Oh, yeah. I know about that, I guess. Why?”
“I don’t know. My mom said people are freaking out about it like it’s something more than the flu. My dad told me not to worry about it, but it’s kind of, like, blowing up on the news and stuff, so I’m trying not to be worried about it.”
“Martin, we’re about to play in the conference championship game for the first time. Maybe we should focus on that.”
“Yeah, I know. It’s just weird… My sister’s in med school, you know? She said I should take it seriously. But my brother said it’s not a big deal, like my parents.”
“Well, we’re not going to catch the flu during the game tonight, so maybe we just play and worry about that later,” Shay replied.
“Sure. I guess.”
They ran out of the tunnel and began their drills. As if Shay needed something else to worry about. Her girlfriend of over a year had just broken up with her. They’d argued over text messages, and after the game, Shay had finally called her. With her roommate in the room with her, though, she’d had to go out to the hallway to fight with Eliza. That hadn’t been ideal, but it had been better than having a teammate lying on the other bed next to Shay while she’d argued with her girlfriend about their entire relationship. She’d thought she’d have some privacy out there, but she’d watched Martin leave the ice machine room, assuming she was the only one in there, and walk the other way. Then, Layne had walked out, and Shay knew she’d been caught. Layne had overheard her fight and breakup with Eliza, and that was embarrassing. More embarrassing, though, was how she’d played that night and how she’d struggled in their practice the day before.
Shay had been in love with Eliza once. She’d told her as much about three months into their relationship. Eliza had said it back. They’d talked about moving in together wherever Shay got drafted; or, if she didn’t and couldn’t get on a team, Shay could stay here for a year, and they could move in together someplace locally until she figured out what she wanted to do. When Eliza had started talking more and more about not wanting to move away, though, Shay knew they’d have things to discuss after basketball season. Eliza, apparently, hadn’t wanted to wait.
Shay was embarrassed because a broken heart shouldn’t have gotten in the way of how she played. When she’d nearly let her entire team down, she wasn’t just embarrassed; she was angry with herself on top of that. She’d also been taking it out on her teammates, which made her hate herself even more because she was the captain, and that was unacceptable.
She ran the drills and tried to keep her mind on the upcoming game. This was it. If they won, they’d get an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. If they lost, they might not. It would be up to the selection committee, and they’d have to sit in their team room on campus and wait to see if their name was called. With a loss, though, it likely wouldn’t be, so she wanted to avoid that possibility and, at the same time, win the championship for the first time in Dunbar’s history.
“Hey,” Layne said and handed her the ball for Shay to take a shot within their shoot-around.
“Hey,” she said back, wondering where that was coming from. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, all good,” Layne replied. “I… actually wanted to check on you. I didn’t get a chance to do so during practice, and you went to your room right after and were busy with Jameson and Hilton during meals. I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“Why did you want to check on me?” she asked and took a shot that she missed.
“Um…”
