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“Captain card?” Hilton asked.
“Yup. We want to win. We’re almost there, guys. Come on. We can celebrate after we win the whole thing.”
“Fine. Thirty minutes, and we call it a night,” Jameson replied.
Shay left the team, along with her roommate, Michaels, in the room. She would take full advantage of the quiet while Michaels was still out. Sometimes, playing a team sport and traveling with that team meant that Shay didn’t get a single moment alone. She decided to lie down, put in her headphones, and message her girlfriend about their win, which she’d yet to do, but her mind wandered to Layne, who was very much a team player on the court and off the court, too, in her own way, but when it came to hanging out with everyone, she’d really never made an effort. Many of the players over the years had commented that Layne must think she was better than the rest of them or that she didn’t care enough about the team or them winning games.
Shay felt awful because she’d never made an effort, either. Everyone else on the team, even the freshmen once they settled in, was pretty outgoing and had no problem speaking up, sharing, or otherwise being part of the group. Layne had never really fit in. Shay had been a captain for two years, and she’d never once reached out to try to pull Layne more into the fold, making her feel more welcome and maybe getting her to share. She’d been too caught up in winning, breaking records, and, well, her relationship that had once felt like it could be the relationship of her life but now felt like it might just be her first relationship and that it would end soon.
Shay: Hey. Just wanted to let you know we won and say goodnight. Hope things are good there.
She sent the text without any emojis, any thought to ask for a goodnight call, and without the three words she used to text Eliza all the time.
CHAPTER 4
“Layne?”
Layne hurried over to her coach, who stood near half-court while the rest of the team ran their drills.
“Yes, Coach?”
“You’re going to start tonight.”
“I am?”
“I’m going to be careful with Martin and try to rest her as much as we can. Her ankle isn’t a hundred percent. If I had to guess, it’s more around seventy. You’ll start tonight instead, and we’ll see how that goes.”
“Okay.”
“Layne, the way you played the other night is exactly how I’ve always known you could play. I’m not sure what came over you, but I want that again tonight. Do you understand? If we lose this, we go home. And I’ve got eight seniors on this team… That means it’ll be the last game for most, if not all of them. So, if we go out, let’s at least go out with a bang.” She winked at Layne. “Go. Run the play.”
Their practice was more of a warm-up since they would play later that night, but Layne never practiced with the first team, so there was a bit of confusion when she walked over to the group and Martin was told to switch to defense while Shay ran the offense.
“I’m out, aren’t I?” Martin asked Layne, who was surprised to hear the question directed at her.
“Martin?” Coach yelled. “Ledger, take over.”
“Yup. I’m out,” Martin said and made her way over to Coach.
???
Layne had only ever started two games prior to this one, and both of those were during her sophomore year when there had been another injury and their season was pretty much already over. This was the third time she heard her name called by the announcer as she slapped hands with the non-starters before running onto the court and high-fiving the other four players. It was a strange feeling because Dunbar was a small school, with a very small auditorium that was probably only the size of a big high school’s gym. This place was massive, though, and while it was made for a pro team and they hardly had enough fans to fill the first sections, it still felt like such a big moment for her and for her team.
The other team won the tip-off, and within seconds, Dunbar was down by two. Shay dribbled it up the court and passed to Hilton, but the ball was tipped, and the other team scored a quick layup. This wasn’t exactly how they were supposed to begin…
By the beginning of the second quarter, they were down by thirteen points, and Layne was on the bench while Martin got a few minutes.
“Layne!” Coach yelled when Martin couldn’t keep up with the player she was guarding, and the team was now down by fifteen.
Layne jumped up and hurried over to her coach.
“I want you to take the ball up from now on.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Tell Shay when you get out there.” The woman patted Layne on the shoulder and gave her a push.
Shay was their point guard and was responsible for running the plays and the team. Layne hadn’t ever done the job in a game. She’d run point for the second team at practices sometimes, so she felt like she could do it; she just didn’t want to. Shay was having a bad game so far, though. She hadn’t yet scored, was responsible for a few turnovers, and hadn’t been playing like herself tonight.
