Weiss
Signal was down by 9 points after Ruby had taken the shot from the 3 point line and scored. The crowd roared with excitement; they weren't expecting Signal's shortest player to be capable of making a shot from that far.
Ruby grinned back to the bench and shot a wink at me before turning to defend. My heart skipped, and I blushed. The surging rush I felt inside my chest wouldn't calm down.
"Something the matter, Weiss?" The crowd buzzing loudly must have tickled Blake's curiosity. She had finally taken her eyes off her phone to look back at the court, then to me. "You're looking a bit red. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" I replied, flustered. "The sun is just a little warm."
"There's no shade around hereā¦" Blake surveyed around. "Do you need some water?" She began going through her backpack, but I stopped her midway.
"I'll be okay, Blake. Thank you."
Signal intercepted a pass from Beacon and scored, bringing them 7 points closer to a tie. Beacon still had the upper hand, but Signal was determined to catch up. Their aura had changed, especially Ruby's, and they were riding on the momentum.
The intensifying pressure they poured into defending drastically increased. Yang became aggressively close to Coco every time she went up for the shot, Sun improved his ability to secure rebounds against Cardin, and Ruby caught up to Velvet.
Sprinting back and forth across the court, the gap between the team's points reduced.
Right from the center of the half-court line, Sun squared up to the basket and took the shot. People laughed and called it early for a desperate shot, but he managed to hit the rim. The ball bounced almost ninety degrees in the air, spinning.
Yang foresaw it coming and outbeat both Cardin and Coco for the rebound. With the ball in her possession, she immediately powered up to the basket and brought the team to a tie.
A cacophony of shouts coming from spectators intensified. They were hoping their roaring cheers would boost Beacon team's spirits and lead them to victory.
"Come on, Ruby!" I found myself getting swayed by the same current as I shouted from the bench. Blake had to plug her ears because I was the last person on her list who would cheer.
I thought the bellowing cries coming from the crowd had blocked out my voice. I didn't think my cheers would reach Ruby. But she heard me.
She flashed a confident smile. Her twinkling eyes said keep watching me as she dribbled towards the defender.
Ruby pumped a fake step in front of Velvet and took a jump shot while jumping backwards, away from the basket. The ball hit the backboard and banked into the net, pulling Signal 2 points ahead of Beacon.
"Did that girl just do a fade-away?!" One boy from the crowd cried out in shock.
"Velvet." Coco, glistened in sweat, was bent over panting. "You can still run right?"
Velvet, also almost as exhausted as her teammate, furrowed her brows. "Yeah, why?"
"When you see it, run."
Velvet had never looked so puzzled in her life, but she just nodded anyways. When it was Beacon's turn to take the offense, their shot fell short. Their exhaustion was clearly showing through their gameplay as they had been missing the last few shots. While they peddled back to defend, Ruby handled the ball and took another jump shot.
Coco flew out of nowhere and sent the ball packing in the opposite direction. It was a clean block, and Velvet took off at the sight.
She chased after the basketball with her astounding speed. Once she dribbled it right up, she tossed the ball into the hoop with little grace and scored her first basket, bringing Beacon back to a tie.
"Good job, Rabbit." Cardin held out a hand up in which Velvet happily tried to high-five, but she missed when he had deliberately pulled away. He snickered, and Velvet was not entertained.
"How does it feel to score your first basket?" Coco grinned, holding a hand up for Velvet to slap, unlike Cardin.
"Fantastic!"
"She would have scored more if you hadn't ball hogged," Cardin snarked.
"At least I made most of my shots. Look at you, Mr. Air-ball."
"That was one time!"
Annoyed with their unseeming banter, the referee blew his whistle to resume the game. There was a minute left on the time clock before the match ended. Both teams had yet to break the tie.
Sun brought the ball up the court this time around as Ruby positioned herself on one of the wing sides. Velvet had taken the role of guarding against Sun, putting Ruby in a difficult position with Cardin.
Ruby's presence was too much of a threat that Beacon could not afford to lose any more baskets. Sun tried to cross over against Velvet, but Beacon's rookie wouldn't let him pass. She may be a beginner, but her speed was unmatchable. She had learned from her mistakes and her footwork had improved overtime after getting pitted against Ruby. She adapted, and she wasn't going to let Sun through.
"Forty five seconds Sun!" Yang hollered after risking a short glance to the clock.
A screen had been set up for Sun but failed to provide any openings. Velvet pulled her own weight and went for a steal. She successfully snatched the ball right out of Sun's hand the second he let his guard down.
Ruby gave chase, and Velvet turned over the ball. Velvet may have excelled in speed, but she wasn't an expert in ball control.
As the clock ticked closer to zero, Ruby chucked the basketball across the court for a desperate pass to Yang at the other end. However, it was quickly intercepted by Cardin. He aggressively charged across the court with the ball in his possession as the crowd counted down from the five second mark.
"Five!"
Sun blocked his path, forcing Ruby to pair up with Velvet.
"Four!"
Cardin drove to the far corner of the court.
"Three!"
Sun kept up with him.
"Two!"
It was impossible for Cardin to drive into the basket and too late to make a pass.
"One!"
Cardin took the shot, jumping backwards for a fade-away. The ball spun in the air, killing the crowd with its suspense. It was the final shot that could break the game and everyone had been howling it to go in. The ball made its descent and landed perfectly in the sharp corner between the rim and the backboard.
The cheers died. The players stilled. A quick, silent wind passed by. The ball was stuck...
