Disclaimer: I don't own 7th Heaven or any of its characters. I only own my OC's and my ideas.
Chapter 36
Tough Games Part 1
Adam's POV.
It felt strange not having Savannah around. Even though it was like this last summer, it just felt different for some reason. We had promised Savannah that we would try and watch every game that was televised, which were a lot. I spent a lot of my time at friends or hanging out with Corey and Ali.
When my parents worked, we were in charge of watching Alexandra. We took turns feeding her, changing her diaper, all that stuff. For me, it was all new, when she came home. Since I was the youngest until she was born, and that was for 8 years.
As I walked in from jumping out on the trampoline, the phone rang. "Kinkirk residence, Adam speaking."
"Adam, it's Savannah," replied my sister on the other end.
"Oh, hey Savannah. What you up to?"
"Not much," Savannah replied. "Just got back from some shopping." I laughed. "What's so funny?"
"Why did I even ask? 11 girls in Barcelona, what else are they going to do in their free time. Saw your game earlier. Great job."
"Thanks. Is Ali around?"
"Hold on a second." I took the cordless outside. "Ali, Savannah wants to talk to you." Ali got off the trampoline and took the phone from me.
Ali's POV.
"Hey, Savannah," I replied.
"Hey, Ali."
"How's Barcelona?"
"Great," Savannah replied. "The weather has been excellent."
"So have you gotten me a gift?"
"Yes," Savannah replied. "I just got it today. You're going to love it."
"What is it?"
"I'm not telling you. It's a surprise. Well, I've got to go. We're going out to dinner."
Savannah's POV.
I hung up the phone and headed for the hotel lobby. We took the team vehicle and drove into town. We found a small diner, and we got two tables for six each. The meal was wonderful.
We went to bed early, because we had an early practice the next day, and then a game tomorrow night.
The following morning, coach worked us hard. Russia, as we had seen the previous day, was a talented team. It wasn't going to be easy. "From what I'm told," said coach. "Most of these girls have been playing together their entire basketball lives. This goes to say, that they know each other enough to know what the other will do." We worked on some plays and then hit the showers.
Later that day, we headed to the arena. We changed into our warm-ups and found some seats in the crowd. As we sat down, we saw the end of the game between Canada and Brazil, in which Brazil became the first team to be eliminated. It was a win or go home game for both of them. We had beat Brazil and Canada had lost to Germany.
Eventually, we made our way to the court to warm-up. It was easy to tell that Russia had a serious height advantage. Based on those who had started yesterday, we would be dealing with a team that had four of its five starters listed at above 6'. When I say that, I mean not six foot, the shortest of those four is 6'2''. Their sub-six footer stood at 5'10''.
"All too familiar," I said to myself, as I recalled the state championship my freshman year. Russia easily won the tip-off, their center had about three inches on our center. They took the ball up the court and the center made a hook shot. I took the ball up court and called the play. The ball was stolen on the pass. The ball had barely even left my hands, when their point guard stole the ball and drove it all the way to the hoop. Coach called a timeout. "This is real bad," he said.
"Obviously," I said. Coach gave me a strange look before continuing.
"We need to out smart these girls. Yeah, they are tall and quick, but were quicker. Savannah," he said looking at me. "I need you to run 'The Play.'" I nodded, understanding what he meant. The other girls did not, but they would know soon enough. The horn sounded and we went back onto the court. I got the ball and took it upcourt. I looked at coach and he nodded.
"HP," I shouted. The Russian girls seemed confused by this, and I capitalized. I drove to the hoop. Their 6'6'' center was there waiting. I made my way to shoot, but at the last second passed it to Susan, who hit the open three.
"X," shouted coach. X was our full-court press. I stole the inbounds pass and put the shot. I was fouled, and the shot went in. I made the freethrow, to make the score 6-4 in our favor. By the end of the first quarter the score was 15-10 in our favor. Apparently, Russia hadn't figured out HP. Most of the time our press defensive worked, but occasionally, they would just pass the ball over our heads, literally.
The second quarter didn't see much change. We kept up the pressure, and ran HP, every single possession. At the end of the first half, it was 30-24, us. I had ten points, having played all 16 minutes of the game so far. "Great first half," said coach, once we were in the locker room. "Keep it up. Until I say so, let's keep running the same two plays. It seems to be working." Coach was right. It was working and worked the remainder of the game. We won 62-56. We celebrated and shook hands with our oponnents. The loss did not eliminate Russia, but it was a dagger in their side. We returned back to the hotel.
As we walked passed the front desk, the clerk said, "I have a message for Savannah Kinkirk." I received the message, which was to call home. Apparently, Ali had something important to tell me. I went to the pay phone and dialed my home number.
"Kinkirk residence, Ali speaking," came a reply on the other end.
"Ali, it's Savannah. What do you want?"
"There is no easy wa to say this, so I'll just say it." She said something really fast.
"What did you say? I didn't catch that." The next seven words to come out of her mouth would stay with me forever.
"Mom and dad are getting a divorce."
A/N. Please R&R. Hope you are enjoying. Cliffhanger. If you are curious on why, read the next A/N.
Preview: Author's Notes, explaining the ending to this chapter