Blake hadn't been exaggerating when she had said they had the best seats in the entire arena. Weiss was surprised to find herself one seat away from the home team's bench with Blake and Ruby on either side, the trio's feet literally on the court about five feet away from the sideline.
Blake had told her the seats were part of the deal Yang had made with BU when she signed to spend her college years playing for the school: 2 comp seats right next to the bench to every home game. Ruby had spent every game Yang had ever played right next to her sister, and Yang wasn't about to let that change anytime soon. So, the older girl had made Beacon move the game clock over a few feet and add two seats to the team's bench for Ruby and their father, or whomever Ruby decided to invite when their dad couldn't make it. Once the school year had started and the sisters had found out that they were put in a three person dorm with Blake, Yang had the team extend it to three seats so that Blake always had a place with them, too.
Weiss assumed that Yang must be a pretty good player to be able make demands like that, and once the game started and she saw Ruby's older sister in action, her assumption was quickly confirmed.
"Since you're sitting next to Ruby, you're in charge of the popcorn," Blake also told Weiss just before tip-off.
When Weiss looked at her in confusion, Blake explained, "When Ruby gets excited, she tends to jump up and forget about anything that she may be holding. After she spilled three bags of popcorn, two drinks, and hit the other team's coach with a hotdog Yang's first season, we were put on a three strike rule. They were pretty mad about the whole hotdog incident… Anyways, now, after the third spill of anything, we lose our seats and have to move back into the normal rows for the rest of the season."
Blake continued, "We're already at two strikes for this season, so any time it looks like she's going to stand up, grab whatever she's holding. And if we're losing or it's a close game in the last quarter, just don't let her hold anything at all."
"Ruby threw a hotdog at a coach?" Weiss asked in disbelief.
"She swears it was an accident," Blake responded. "Yang scored with an and 1 and Ruby stood up to cheer and the hotdog just went flying…"
"That dolt." Weiss sighed. "I'll be sure to watch her."
"It's about to start!" Ruby yelled excitedly, completely oblivious to Weiss and Blake. "Let's go Yang!"
"Grab the popcorn. Now."
Weiss snatched the popcorn from Ruby's grasp just as two players, a tall brunette in light blue and a still tall but shorter blonde, walked up to circle in the very center of the court.
Ruby jumped up and threw her hands in the air as the ref put his whistle to his lips. "Go Beacon!"
Weiss saw why Blake had been so insistent on her grabbing the popcorn as the ref blew his whistle and the game began.
The ref threw the ball into the air between the two girls and both jumped as high as they could, stretching for the ball. The shorter blonde made up for her height with a huge vertical jump and reached the ball first, tipping the ball behind her to one of her teammates. As the players settled into the game, Weiss looked around to try and discern which of Beacon's players was Ruby's sister.
She had picked out two promising ones, a short (at least for a basketball player) brunette with short hair and another taller girl with long light brown hair and lighter colored eyes.
When she finally asked Blake which one of the two was Ruby's sister, Blake laughed and instead pointed at the flashy blonde who always seemed to have the ball, "That's Yang."
Weiss did a double take as she took in the blonde's size and aggressiveness on the court. There was no way the small girl sitting next to her could be related to the blonde brute on the court who had already shoved two people to the ground attempting what Ruby had called a layup.
"Is Ruby adopted?" Weiss blurted out in disbelief. "I mean, uhh… they don't look much alike?" Weiss miserable continued in an attempt to save herself from the unthoughtful statement.
Blake just continued laughing at Weiss' apparent discomfort. "No, but they are only half-sisters," the raven-haired girl finally said, putting Weiss out of her misery. "I'm sure Ruby will explain if you ask her after the game."
As the game progressed, Weiss did her best to keep up with what was going on. All she really knew about basketball was that it was ten tall people trying to score baskets. She occasionally asked Blake to explain some of the more technical aspects of the game, like why the whistle was blown at what seemed like random times to Weiss, as well as why sometimes both teams would pause and line up around the basket to let someone take two shots. Blake had called that free throws.
But the blue eyed girl had mostly found herself getting engrossed in the flow of the game as the two teams ran back and forth with incredible athleticism.
By half time, Beacon was winning by only four points, and the second half promised to be even more exciting than the first. As the waited for half time to end, Ruby was finally paying attention to something other than the basketball game and was doing her best to get Weiss to try the popcorn sitting in her lap.
"But Weiss, it's so good! All buttery and crunchy and delicious!"
"Ruby, this popcorn has been sitting out for the last hour, and who knows how long they had it sitting there before you bought it."
"But Weiss, that's the beauty of popcorn – it's always good!"
"Do you have any idea how bad that stuff probably is for you?"
"Nope! But I haven't died yet! Please Weiss?" Ruby pleaded, unleashing her secret weapon.
Weiss' resolve shattered as she saw Ruby's begging silver eyes.
"I'll take two," was all Weiss said as she held out her hand.
Ruby immediately brightened as she handed Weiss two of the fluffiest, buttery-est pieces of popcorn she could find. "You're gonna love it!"
Weiss delicately placed the two pieces of popcorn on her tongue in response. As the buttery flavor spread across her taste buds, Weiss' eyes widened. She had never tasted anything like it, the buttery unhealthiness tasted absolutely amazing. Much better than the kale salad she had eaten for lunch. "It's not bad," was all Weiss said as she reached her hand into the bag to grab a few more pieces.
"I knew you'd love it! I'll go grab another bag." Before Blake or Weiss could say anything, the girl was gone.
Weiss just turned to Blake and asked, "How does she eat so much?"
"Wait to you see her when there are cookies or strawberries involved. The girl is a black hole."
Ruby made it back just in time for the second half with a fresh, warm bag of popcorn for her and Weiss to share. As the game started, Weiss absentmindedly grabbed a handful of the warm salty food. Who knew popcorn could be so addicting?
By the time there was only three minutes left in the game, the second bag of popcorn was gone, and Beacon was down by six points. According Blake, Yang had four out of the five allotted fouls per game and she was leading the team with 22 points and a lot of assists, whatever those were. Yang was Beacon's main ball handler, Blake had used the phrase point guard, and she needed to make it the rest of the game without fouling if she didn't want to be stuck sitting the bench helplessly for the rest of the game.
Beacon's team scored to close the lead by two, but WVU returned the score on their next possession, returning their lead to six. Beacon managed to score again as Yang returned the ball down the court and passed it off to one of Beacon's centers under the basket, who went up for an uncontested two.
After the score, Beacon's team moved into a full court defensive press instead of waiting on the other end of the court for West Vale to return the ball. Yang stood patiently just off to the side of the WVU player waiting for the ball. As soon as the ball was passed, Yang pounced. In a flash of yellow and red, Yang grabbed the ball from the WVU player as she began to dribble and went straight to the basket for a clean layup, earning BU two points.
With the two scores in a row, Beacon had cut the lead down to a mere two points, and the entire stadium, including Weiss, was standing up cheering.
The three girls were less than five feet away from the sideline and center court, and it felt like they were in the action themselves. Weiss could feel the energy and the adrenaline from players around her, and her own excitement fed off of it.
Weiss wasn't a basketball fan, but at this point she was cheering as almost as loudly as Ruby, if less often. The electricity from both the players and fans around them had even the stoic Blake yelling at the top of her lungs. It was a good thing the popcorn bag was now laying empty at their feet, because not one of the trio was in a state to pay attention to what was in their hands.
With a minute and a half left, WVU had the ball and was beating Beacon by two points. West Vale's point guard brought the ball down the court, dodging the now expected attack from Yang. After a series of quick passes, the ball ended up in the hands of one of the taller girls underneath the basket. The girl in the light blue uniform went up to take a shot just as one of Beacon's players jumped forward with her hands up and managed to block the shot.
Another BU player recovered the ball, and with 40 seconds to go in the game, the players quickly made their way to the other side of the court. Weiss' head was buzzing with so much adrenaline that everything seemed to be fuzzy, and after the quick succession of plays, she was now yelling just as enthusiastically as Ruby.
The entire stadium seemed to be holding their breath, waiting to see if Beacon's offensive could break through West Vale's determined defense. Everyone knew the game was riding on this possession, and both teams were fighting hard.
With five seconds left on the shot clock, Yang was getting desperate. The only thing worse than losing was losing without even attempting a shot. So Yang did what Yang does best. She charged to the basket with all the grace and ferocity of a charging bear, eyes flashing as she dared someone to get in her way.
West Vale's team closed in on the basket, ready to stop her at all costs.
Just as Yang picked up the ball for her signature layup, a brave WVU girl planted her feet and stood in her path, ready to take the charge.
Yang knew if she rammed into the girl who had her feet planted, it would count as a foul against BU. Even if she managed to make the shot, if Yang fouled the other girl, the shot wouldn't count.
Luckily, she had expected this, and instead of continuing her momentum forward, Yang twisted sideways and passed the ball out to her waiting, and now open, teammate on the outside of the 3-point line. As the ball left Yang's hands, she threw herself to the ground, barely avoiding West Vale's player.
Yang had drawn all of WVU's players into the paint under the basket, leaving her team's best 3-point shooter wide open. The girl set herself up and took the shot. Time slowed as the ball arced through the air, floating towards the basket.
With a barely audible 'swoosh', the ball neatly fell through the net, and Beacon gained three points. The arena erupted with cheers. Now Beacon was up by one, and all they had to do was hold off West Vale's offense for 11 seconds.
It was the longest 11 seconds of Weiss' life. But no matter what efforts WVU made, Beacon managed to keep them away from scoring position without fouling. With under a second left, West Vale's point guard made one last desperate chuck of the ball towards the basket from well behind the 3-point line.
The game ended with a loud buzz and a soft bounce as the ball harmless hit the floor several feet to the left of the basket. Weiss let out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding.
"We won Weiss, we won!" Ruby was yelling as she jumped up and down with excitement, "WVU was ranked #2 in the country and we w—" As Ruby stepped towards Weiss, she slipped on the forgotten popcorn bag and fell over.
Weiss' body reacted before her brain did, and she let out a clear, melodious laugh.
For the first time in as long as Weiss could remember, she didn't have some part of her mind telling her to hold control herself, to not show just how much she was enjoying herself because it was unprofessional. Weiss laughed the kind of laugh that makes it hard to breath and makes your stomach sore the next day without holding back.
Blake laughed too and eventually both girl's reached down to help the younger girl—who was still excitedly yelling, "We won!"—up from the floor. As Ruby sprang up, she gave one last yell for good measure and wrapped both Blake and Weiss in a hug.
Weiss' brain, still fuzzy from the adrenaline of the game, once again didn't have time to think before her body reacted. She returned the hug of both Ruby and Blake without even hesitating even though caring human touch was almost as foreign to her as laughter.
"Now let's go find Yang!" Ruby yelled as she released the two and turned towards the court.
And that's the second piece of Chapter 6! I've labeled them 6a and 6b now since technically they were all meant to part of the same chapter. Some parts are still a bit rough, but I'm definitely glad I took the extra time to work on it a bit longer instead of forcing it up with the previous chapter. Next up, we finally get to meet Yang! I actually planned this next chapter to be part of chapter 6 as well, which is why it ends kinda suddenly, but 6b ended up being longer than I thought so it'll probably end up as its own chapter….not that it really matters..
Anyways, thanks to everyone for the follows, reviews, and encouragement!
-Lynn
