Wrong Pass
Summary: Basketball. One team will emerge victorious. One team will be the king of the game.
They were the defending champions. He was the captain.
This is our own rendition on how Serena and Darien first met.
Authors: silvermoon and swade
They were the defending champions. He was the captain.
The Tilson High Bus arrived at the coliseum hours before their game to avoid the raging crowd. Darien Shields was to first the step out of the bus. As a routine, he looked around his surrounding and marveled at the height of the building. He noticed a new flower had bloomed beside the tree near another team bus. It was the bus of Carro High, their opponent for today's game.
As if on cue, Seiya Higgins, captain of the Carro Green Tornadoes, stepped out of the bus. He gave Darien a smirk and rolled his eyes as if saying they had no chance of winning because he was now the captain.
The other fifteen players of the Red Phoenix stepped out of the bus one by one, just in time to witness Seiya smirking.
"He is so full of himself," Jed, one of the starting players of the Phoenix commented.
"Not to mention egotistical!" Ken added.
"What have you got to say about that?" Andrew asked Tilson's captain, Darien Shields as he draped an arm around his captain's shoulders.
"Uh." Darien, unsure of what to answer just said, "He's got something to be proud of? He's good."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what you say. But everybody in this bus says otherwise. Am I right, team?" Andrew exclaimed.
"Yeah!" came the answer of the players. "We have the best point guard, ever!" From that, they all burst out laughing for acting very childish.
"Settle down, everyone." Their middle-aged coach ordered, grinning at what his team transformed into. "Let's stop the yakking and proceed to our lockers."
They entered the hallway of the coliseum and after turning at a few corners, they reached the door with "Tilson Red Phoenix" sign posted on it.
The locker room was the same old spacious room they get practically every game they have. A big table was placed in the center of the room. A few benches, a drink machine and a water fountain were found beside the lockers. They all dropped in the benches and started planning their strategies on how to defeat the Carro Green Tornadoes.
The coliseum was already full of people an hour before the game would start. In the meantime, they played a game that required the audience's participation. Ten contestants were chosen: two were girls and the rest were guys. Whoever among them can shoot the most number of three-point shots in one minute will have a chance to play one-on-one with his or her favorite player.
Upon hearing this, the whole team of the Phoenix rushed to the court to watch. Who knows, one of them might be the one chosen.
There were six racks, each containing five balls. The first contestant positioned himself beside the rack on the right side. The timer started so he began shooting. His first shot was an air ball, the second was short and the third was in. This continued randomly in his play until the allotted time was over. Thirteen three pointers went inside the basket. The second contestant didn't do any better and so did the third but the fourth out did them all.
"What's your name, son?" the emcee asked the fourth contestant.
"Sammy," replied the contestant.
"Okay Sammy, it's your turn!"
Sammy had twenty-one balls that went in the basket. He received high fives from the other contestants except for the two girls. Apparently, those eight guy contestants were his friends.
The emcee asked for the names of the two remaining contestants. They were Alex and Serena. Alex looked like the youngest of all the competitors. She stepped forward but Serena whispered something in her ear. They chuckled.
She started her play. Out of thirty possible three pointers, she was only able to get nine balls to go in the basket.
Well, it really is hard to make a three pointer. Darien thought remembering the first time he tried to make a three.
The last contestant patted her shoulder and said, "That's okay."
There were chuckles from their back. They immediately spun around to face whoever dared to laugh at them. It was Sammy who was very confident of his victory. Serena glared at him and in return, he pretended to tremble and laughed with his gang.
Darien frowned at the sight and found himself watching the showdown more attentively than he was expecting. There was something in the next contestant that intrigued him like no other girl had.
The referee blew his whistle, signaling Serena to begin. She grabbed hold of one ball, jumped and threw the ball with it rolling through her fingers. There were also times when she bent her knees slightly without jumping.
Now that's what I call a player! Darien thought impressed on what he saw in that player that he didn't see in the others. He stood up to see a clearer view of her performance.
The one-minute had passed and she was able to shoot twenty-six three pointers in the basket. The crowd erupted in cheers when she was announced the winner. She made her way towards the younger girl as she gave the grunting fourth contestant a sweet smile that annoyed him so. Now, it was their time to laugh.
"Whoa!" the emcee said with that fake expression in his voice, "You showed a great play. For that, you get to choose who you want to play with."
Accepting the microphone, she announced, "I challenge Darien Shields." There was a smile in her cerulean blue eyes that fascinated him. She didn't exactly just want to play with him. She challenged him.
His teammates cheered for Darien in a teasing way and even pushed him for him to hurry, excited on what will happen.
He jogged towards the girl. She was about 5'11 in height with silvery blonde hair and she said the unexpected, "Is it all right for you if my cousin here," she called her cousin, contestant number nine, Alex. "Is the one to play with you? She really is a great fan of yours. You have no idea how much." She had her beautiful cerulean blue eyes fixed steadily at his midnight blue eyes, "Really?"
"Really."
"Okay. Sure, why not?" Darien answered, even though he really wanted to play with her, not her cousin. She flashed him a smile and thanked him.
"Hey, one more thing."
"What is it?"
"Don't take it easy for her. It won't do her any good." He nodded and she sat down, leaving her sister with him.
"Hey Alex."
"Hey," Alex greeted him back.
"Nice meeting you."
"Nice meeting you, too."
"Are you ready?" he asked with anticipation.
"Of course!"
"Let's go!" Darien didn't bother to take off his varsity t-shirt, thinking the game will be a piece of cake.
The referee passed the ball to Darien but Darien offered it to Alex instead. Refusing, she said, "My cousin challenged you. I took her place. So, you get the ball."
"I'm impressed with your good basketball etiquette."
He used his right arm to guard and his left to dribble. Alex's guard was tight, but this did not stop him to pass through. He advanced under the basket but she was quick and recovered immediately from his attack. Distracting the flow of the ball, she blocked his shot.
He let his guard down, ignoring the request of Serena. Alex made a swift turnaround and made the lay up, afterwards, gave him a 'that's-all-you-can- do' grin.
Ah! So this is what I get for giving her a chance! Sean asked himself. Fine.
It was now Darien's turn. He passed it to Alex, "Hold," and passed it back. He instantly made a pivot and ran to the hoop to make a lay up but failed. He immediately retrieved the ball and tried to carry out the same attack. She blocked the ball with ease and the rebound was his. She seems like she doesn't want the ball. She wanted to try him. 'Take it your way' . He slowly moved backwards to three-point area, "Say, kid. You're good."
"I know."
Sean jumped to take a shot, but she jumped a bit higher prepared slap the ball. Instead of worrying for that block, he smiled and allowed himself to fall back.
He just made a fade away and the ball went smoothly in the net.
"But not good enough," he commented.
The game was successful for Darien. He won.
Well, it wasn't that he was planning to lose.
In the end, Serena was rather disappointed at how the game turned out. She was expecting more than a seven to six for a five-minute game.
"Who trained her?" he asked Serena curiously although she just gave him a grin.
~~~
The time finally came for the game to start. It was exactly four o' clock in that Saturday afternoon and the crowd was cheering louder than ever.
The event was started with a prayer then the introductions. The Tornadoes were the first. The starting lineup were Seiya Higgins, Yaten Anderson, Taiki Blue, Diamond Sullivan and Rubeus McDermott. For the Phoenix, it was Darien Shields, Jed Evans, Ken Groover, Andrew Crawford and Zen Richards.
They all positioned themselves for the jump. Andrew, being the center positioned himself in the jump ball area with Dick. Jed was guarded by Yaten, Darien by Seiya, Diamond by Ken and Zen by Rubeus.
The ball was thrown and the championship game began.
Andrew, as always, jumped higher than the other player and their team had the ball. He slapped the ball at the direction of their captain. However, Seiya stole the ball and passed to Rubeus who ran inside. Rubeus found himself directly blocked by Darien. Leaving him no choice, he threw the ball back to Seiya but Jed comes for a steal.
Jed lead the ball until he reached the half court then bounce passed the ball to Darien in the free throw area. Darien tried to escape Rubeus and went for the lay up. Seiya jumped to block Darien's shot. Seiya knew what was going to happen. There was a glint in Darien's eyes that told him it was a fake and Rob was right. He passed the ball without looking at Zen and Zen scored for the three.
The ball was now with the tornadoes and they were on the run but Seiya slow things down. He passed to Diamond, who was confronted Jed with a steal. Taiki retrieved the loose ball and tried to shoot, but it went too high. All of a sudden, Seiya caught the ball and made an alley-op. The thunderous cheer from the Carro High crowd was deafening.
The Green Tornadoes were down by eight. The score for the first half was thirty-one to thirty-nine. It wasn't long until the Tornadoes caught up with the score. In the latter part of the third quarter, the score was forty-five to forty eight. For the Phoenix, Jed Evans was fouled out and Chad Parker replaced him, in the fourth quarter.
Two minutes before the game ends, team Phoenix adapted a man-to-man defense. Darien guarded Yaten with the utmost intensity. Yaten can no longer take control of the ball, therefore he made an overhead pass to Diamond. However Chad stretched his right arm and ad successfully intercepted the pass. He passed the defense of Rubeus with a spin and led on with the dunk that he planned.
There were fifty-nine point eight seconds to go and the score was fifty- nine to sixty in favor of Tilson. Diamond threw an underhand pass for a fast break that reached to the other end of the court to Rubeus, Tornadoes' sure three pointer. Miraculously for the Phoenix, the ball bounced out. Sean, Dick and Alec jumped for the rebound. The ball reached Sean's hand. As Darien landed back on the floor, he found himself intently guarded by the Taiki and Yaten. From the corner of his eye, Darien saw Andrew wave his hand signaling that he was free. Using only his peripheral vision, he handed the ball over to Andrew, only to find out, it was the one beside Andrew whom he passed the ball to. Rob.
Rob brought the success to the Carro Green Tornadoes with his slam-dunk.
The crowd roared at the smashing success of the Tornadoes. After eighteen years, the Tornadoes triumphed and it was all because of Darien's fault. He dropped on his knees, as if he had lost all his energy. Some of his teammates patted him on the back and said, "Hey, man. It's all right." They all knew how hard he trained for this day and it was his last chance. Seiya even offered his hand but Darien refused to accept it.
How could this happen? He thought in agony. How could I have let this happen?
Coach Wilkins approached him, bent down and whispered, "It's okay son. It's okay."
The captain buried his head on is coach's shoulder and locked a one arm hug with his coach, almost in tears.
~~~
Darien was late for school the next day. He wore his trademark blue Nike shoes, jeans and a navy blue shirt over white long sleeves, emphasizing his midnight blue eyes. He arrived in school during lunchtime and everybody was worried about him.
As he passed the hallway, everyone stopped what he or she was doing. Watching him go by, they whispered among themselves. There were a couple of his classmates who patted him on the shoulder and said it was all right but he ignored them all.
Two of his closest friends spotted him and started a conversation with him like nothing happened, although he was different from the Darien they had known.
"What's up with you, Shields?" Malachite, his best buddy asked.
"Yeah. You seem so. off," added Mina.
"Nothing," he replied, placing his hand on the back of his head and smiled.
"Are you really sure?"
"Look, I appreciate your concern and everything, but there is nothing to worry about," he pasted a smile on his face to assure them that everything's fine. "Thank you, too."
"Anytime," Malachite said.
After the long wait, dismissal finally came. Near the school gate, Darien bumped into some friends who invited him to a game of pool, but he turned down the offer. He was about to leave but suddenly stopped and slowly turned around. The school was immediately deserted after the dismissal bell.
It was a peaceful Monday afternoon. He looked down at the ground and dragged himself to the gym. He felt the cold breeze touch his sweaty palms. He stopped in front of the gym's sliding door and stood there for a while, just staring at it. Finally, he opened the door. He let out a loud sigh at the scene before him: his dearest basketball court with all the balls scattered on the floor. He dropped the bag that was slung in his shoulders and picked up one of the balls.
Imagining that there was an opponent, he squatted and started dribbling; slowly at first then it became faster. Escaping the heavy guard of his challenger. He made a pivot and raced to the hoop, ready to make a lay up. But a figure blocked him. His eyes widened then he made a successful reversed lay up.
He landed on the floor, panting. It was not because of exhaustion but the memory that seemed alive on his mind. They lost all because of his mistake.
"I lied. I am not fine." Darien whispered while he shook his head.
He collapsed on his knees as tears flowed from his eyes. He was about to punch the floor until someone opened the gym doors, picked up one of the balls lying in the ground and shot a three pointer . "That's what I call a three pointer!" a familiar female voice said.
Darien couldn't believe his ears. He jerked his head around to see if he was correct. Serena was standing near the door with a ball turning in her index finger.
"Hey, What's up?" She asked with a smile.
"Nothing," he replied wiping off the tears in his eyes.
"Really? Why are you crying then?"
He made no reply.
"You want a game?" she offered then he accepted it.
She passed him the ball and he passed it back.
"You never learn do you?" confusion marred his handsome face and Serena was left to explain everything. "How many times do I have to tell you? I challenged you. Therefore, you get the ball," then she smiled.
"Okay, if you insist," he agreed. Serena passed back the ball.
He dribbled the ball and pushed forward and jumped for the shot, she jumped with him to block.
Haha, he laughed silently. She fell for it.
.then made a fade away.
"I guess I am not the only one with the learning problem here," he said.
"You love doing that don't you?" she asked. Shrugging, he smiled.
"Wait."
"What?" her expression turned from playful to serious.
"Tell you what," her expression matching his serious one. "To lose is okay."
"Why did you have to bring up the topic?" he asked. Of all the things that he wanted to hear.this was not definitely it.
"Nobody leaves the court without anybody losing. It just so happens that your team wasn't the tougher team," she continued.
"But I worked hard for it!" his eyes were full of reason.
"But it wasn't good enough was it?" she explained, as he tried to avoid her. "You don't get it. You don't experience losing that much, so you don't know the first thing about it."
"Ha! Humor me," he said, letting out a laugh.
"In any game, winning is not everything. Sometimes, you learn more about yourself when you lose, you become stronger. You learn to stand up when you fall."
Silence.
"You know, my mentor always told me. I never was a good loser," Darien said, looking straight at her eyes. "Sorry." From that, they continued their game with Darien having a new hope.
~~~
Authors Note: So what do you think? Love it? Hate it? please review! Originally this is a one-shot fic but if you guys want more then you know what to do.Review!!! Swade and I happen to be gluttons when it comes to reviews!!! Hehe! Anywayz.email swade at swade_14@yahoo.con and moi, silvermoon at tensai_da_orig@yahoo.com if you guys wanna suggest anything, flame us, criticize us.whatever you want.just fire away! -silvermoon
Summary: Basketball. One team will emerge victorious. One team will be the king of the game.
They were the defending champions. He was the captain.
This is our own rendition on how Serena and Darien first met.
Authors: silvermoon and swade
They were the defending champions. He was the captain.
The Tilson High Bus arrived at the coliseum hours before their game to avoid the raging crowd. Darien Shields was to first the step out of the bus. As a routine, he looked around his surrounding and marveled at the height of the building. He noticed a new flower had bloomed beside the tree near another team bus. It was the bus of Carro High, their opponent for today's game.
As if on cue, Seiya Higgins, captain of the Carro Green Tornadoes, stepped out of the bus. He gave Darien a smirk and rolled his eyes as if saying they had no chance of winning because he was now the captain.
The other fifteen players of the Red Phoenix stepped out of the bus one by one, just in time to witness Seiya smirking.
"He is so full of himself," Jed, one of the starting players of the Phoenix commented.
"Not to mention egotistical!" Ken added.
"What have you got to say about that?" Andrew asked Tilson's captain, Darien Shields as he draped an arm around his captain's shoulders.
"Uh." Darien, unsure of what to answer just said, "He's got something to be proud of? He's good."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's what you say. But everybody in this bus says otherwise. Am I right, team?" Andrew exclaimed.
"Yeah!" came the answer of the players. "We have the best point guard, ever!" From that, they all burst out laughing for acting very childish.
"Settle down, everyone." Their middle-aged coach ordered, grinning at what his team transformed into. "Let's stop the yakking and proceed to our lockers."
They entered the hallway of the coliseum and after turning at a few corners, they reached the door with "Tilson Red Phoenix" sign posted on it.
The locker room was the same old spacious room they get practically every game they have. A big table was placed in the center of the room. A few benches, a drink machine and a water fountain were found beside the lockers. They all dropped in the benches and started planning their strategies on how to defeat the Carro Green Tornadoes.
The coliseum was already full of people an hour before the game would start. In the meantime, they played a game that required the audience's participation. Ten contestants were chosen: two were girls and the rest were guys. Whoever among them can shoot the most number of three-point shots in one minute will have a chance to play one-on-one with his or her favorite player.
Upon hearing this, the whole team of the Phoenix rushed to the court to watch. Who knows, one of them might be the one chosen.
There were six racks, each containing five balls. The first contestant positioned himself beside the rack on the right side. The timer started so he began shooting. His first shot was an air ball, the second was short and the third was in. This continued randomly in his play until the allotted time was over. Thirteen three pointers went inside the basket. The second contestant didn't do any better and so did the third but the fourth out did them all.
"What's your name, son?" the emcee asked the fourth contestant.
"Sammy," replied the contestant.
"Okay Sammy, it's your turn!"
Sammy had twenty-one balls that went in the basket. He received high fives from the other contestants except for the two girls. Apparently, those eight guy contestants were his friends.
The emcee asked for the names of the two remaining contestants. They were Alex and Serena. Alex looked like the youngest of all the competitors. She stepped forward but Serena whispered something in her ear. They chuckled.
She started her play. Out of thirty possible three pointers, she was only able to get nine balls to go in the basket.
Well, it really is hard to make a three pointer. Darien thought remembering the first time he tried to make a three.
The last contestant patted her shoulder and said, "That's okay."
There were chuckles from their back. They immediately spun around to face whoever dared to laugh at them. It was Sammy who was very confident of his victory. Serena glared at him and in return, he pretended to tremble and laughed with his gang.
Darien frowned at the sight and found himself watching the showdown more attentively than he was expecting. There was something in the next contestant that intrigued him like no other girl had.
The referee blew his whistle, signaling Serena to begin. She grabbed hold of one ball, jumped and threw the ball with it rolling through her fingers. There were also times when she bent her knees slightly without jumping.
Now that's what I call a player! Darien thought impressed on what he saw in that player that he didn't see in the others. He stood up to see a clearer view of her performance.
The one-minute had passed and she was able to shoot twenty-six three pointers in the basket. The crowd erupted in cheers when she was announced the winner. She made her way towards the younger girl as she gave the grunting fourth contestant a sweet smile that annoyed him so. Now, it was their time to laugh.
"Whoa!" the emcee said with that fake expression in his voice, "You showed a great play. For that, you get to choose who you want to play with."
Accepting the microphone, she announced, "I challenge Darien Shields." There was a smile in her cerulean blue eyes that fascinated him. She didn't exactly just want to play with him. She challenged him.
His teammates cheered for Darien in a teasing way and even pushed him for him to hurry, excited on what will happen.
He jogged towards the girl. She was about 5'11 in height with silvery blonde hair and she said the unexpected, "Is it all right for you if my cousin here," she called her cousin, contestant number nine, Alex. "Is the one to play with you? She really is a great fan of yours. You have no idea how much." She had her beautiful cerulean blue eyes fixed steadily at his midnight blue eyes, "Really?"
"Really."
"Okay. Sure, why not?" Darien answered, even though he really wanted to play with her, not her cousin. She flashed him a smile and thanked him.
"Hey, one more thing."
"What is it?"
"Don't take it easy for her. It won't do her any good." He nodded and she sat down, leaving her sister with him.
"Hey Alex."
"Hey," Alex greeted him back.
"Nice meeting you."
"Nice meeting you, too."
"Are you ready?" he asked with anticipation.
"Of course!"
"Let's go!" Darien didn't bother to take off his varsity t-shirt, thinking the game will be a piece of cake.
The referee passed the ball to Darien but Darien offered it to Alex instead. Refusing, she said, "My cousin challenged you. I took her place. So, you get the ball."
"I'm impressed with your good basketball etiquette."
He used his right arm to guard and his left to dribble. Alex's guard was tight, but this did not stop him to pass through. He advanced under the basket but she was quick and recovered immediately from his attack. Distracting the flow of the ball, she blocked his shot.
He let his guard down, ignoring the request of Serena. Alex made a swift turnaround and made the lay up, afterwards, gave him a 'that's-all-you-can- do' grin.
Ah! So this is what I get for giving her a chance! Sean asked himself. Fine.
It was now Darien's turn. He passed it to Alex, "Hold," and passed it back. He instantly made a pivot and ran to the hoop to make a lay up but failed. He immediately retrieved the ball and tried to carry out the same attack. She blocked the ball with ease and the rebound was his. She seems like she doesn't want the ball. She wanted to try him. 'Take it your way' . He slowly moved backwards to three-point area, "Say, kid. You're good."
"I know."
Sean jumped to take a shot, but she jumped a bit higher prepared slap the ball. Instead of worrying for that block, he smiled and allowed himself to fall back.
He just made a fade away and the ball went smoothly in the net.
"But not good enough," he commented.
The game was successful for Darien. He won.
Well, it wasn't that he was planning to lose.
In the end, Serena was rather disappointed at how the game turned out. She was expecting more than a seven to six for a five-minute game.
"Who trained her?" he asked Serena curiously although she just gave him a grin.
~~~
The time finally came for the game to start. It was exactly four o' clock in that Saturday afternoon and the crowd was cheering louder than ever.
The event was started with a prayer then the introductions. The Tornadoes were the first. The starting lineup were Seiya Higgins, Yaten Anderson, Taiki Blue, Diamond Sullivan and Rubeus McDermott. For the Phoenix, it was Darien Shields, Jed Evans, Ken Groover, Andrew Crawford and Zen Richards.
They all positioned themselves for the jump. Andrew, being the center positioned himself in the jump ball area with Dick. Jed was guarded by Yaten, Darien by Seiya, Diamond by Ken and Zen by Rubeus.
The ball was thrown and the championship game began.
Andrew, as always, jumped higher than the other player and their team had the ball. He slapped the ball at the direction of their captain. However, Seiya stole the ball and passed to Rubeus who ran inside. Rubeus found himself directly blocked by Darien. Leaving him no choice, he threw the ball back to Seiya but Jed comes for a steal.
Jed lead the ball until he reached the half court then bounce passed the ball to Darien in the free throw area. Darien tried to escape Rubeus and went for the lay up. Seiya jumped to block Darien's shot. Seiya knew what was going to happen. There was a glint in Darien's eyes that told him it was a fake and Rob was right. He passed the ball without looking at Zen and Zen scored for the three.
The ball was now with the tornadoes and they were on the run but Seiya slow things down. He passed to Diamond, who was confronted Jed with a steal. Taiki retrieved the loose ball and tried to shoot, but it went too high. All of a sudden, Seiya caught the ball and made an alley-op. The thunderous cheer from the Carro High crowd was deafening.
The Green Tornadoes were down by eight. The score for the first half was thirty-one to thirty-nine. It wasn't long until the Tornadoes caught up with the score. In the latter part of the third quarter, the score was forty-five to forty eight. For the Phoenix, Jed Evans was fouled out and Chad Parker replaced him, in the fourth quarter.
Two minutes before the game ends, team Phoenix adapted a man-to-man defense. Darien guarded Yaten with the utmost intensity. Yaten can no longer take control of the ball, therefore he made an overhead pass to Diamond. However Chad stretched his right arm and ad successfully intercepted the pass. He passed the defense of Rubeus with a spin and led on with the dunk that he planned.
There were fifty-nine point eight seconds to go and the score was fifty- nine to sixty in favor of Tilson. Diamond threw an underhand pass for a fast break that reached to the other end of the court to Rubeus, Tornadoes' sure three pointer. Miraculously for the Phoenix, the ball bounced out. Sean, Dick and Alec jumped for the rebound. The ball reached Sean's hand. As Darien landed back on the floor, he found himself intently guarded by the Taiki and Yaten. From the corner of his eye, Darien saw Andrew wave his hand signaling that he was free. Using only his peripheral vision, he handed the ball over to Andrew, only to find out, it was the one beside Andrew whom he passed the ball to. Rob.
Rob brought the success to the Carro Green Tornadoes with his slam-dunk.
The crowd roared at the smashing success of the Tornadoes. After eighteen years, the Tornadoes triumphed and it was all because of Darien's fault. He dropped on his knees, as if he had lost all his energy. Some of his teammates patted him on the back and said, "Hey, man. It's all right." They all knew how hard he trained for this day and it was his last chance. Seiya even offered his hand but Darien refused to accept it.
How could this happen? He thought in agony. How could I have let this happen?
Coach Wilkins approached him, bent down and whispered, "It's okay son. It's okay."
The captain buried his head on is coach's shoulder and locked a one arm hug with his coach, almost in tears.
~~~
Darien was late for school the next day. He wore his trademark blue Nike shoes, jeans and a navy blue shirt over white long sleeves, emphasizing his midnight blue eyes. He arrived in school during lunchtime and everybody was worried about him.
As he passed the hallway, everyone stopped what he or she was doing. Watching him go by, they whispered among themselves. There were a couple of his classmates who patted him on the shoulder and said it was all right but he ignored them all.
Two of his closest friends spotted him and started a conversation with him like nothing happened, although he was different from the Darien they had known.
"What's up with you, Shields?" Malachite, his best buddy asked.
"Yeah. You seem so. off," added Mina.
"Nothing," he replied, placing his hand on the back of his head and smiled.
"Are you really sure?"
"Look, I appreciate your concern and everything, but there is nothing to worry about," he pasted a smile on his face to assure them that everything's fine. "Thank you, too."
"Anytime," Malachite said.
After the long wait, dismissal finally came. Near the school gate, Darien bumped into some friends who invited him to a game of pool, but he turned down the offer. He was about to leave but suddenly stopped and slowly turned around. The school was immediately deserted after the dismissal bell.
It was a peaceful Monday afternoon. He looked down at the ground and dragged himself to the gym. He felt the cold breeze touch his sweaty palms. He stopped in front of the gym's sliding door and stood there for a while, just staring at it. Finally, he opened the door. He let out a loud sigh at the scene before him: his dearest basketball court with all the balls scattered on the floor. He dropped the bag that was slung in his shoulders and picked up one of the balls.
Imagining that there was an opponent, he squatted and started dribbling; slowly at first then it became faster. Escaping the heavy guard of his challenger. He made a pivot and raced to the hoop, ready to make a lay up. But a figure blocked him. His eyes widened then he made a successful reversed lay up.
He landed on the floor, panting. It was not because of exhaustion but the memory that seemed alive on his mind. They lost all because of his mistake.
"I lied. I am not fine." Darien whispered while he shook his head.
He collapsed on his knees as tears flowed from his eyes. He was about to punch the floor until someone opened the gym doors, picked up one of the balls lying in the ground and shot a three pointer . "That's what I call a three pointer!" a familiar female voice said.
Darien couldn't believe his ears. He jerked his head around to see if he was correct. Serena was standing near the door with a ball turning in her index finger.
"Hey, What's up?" She asked with a smile.
"Nothing," he replied wiping off the tears in his eyes.
"Really? Why are you crying then?"
He made no reply.
"You want a game?" she offered then he accepted it.
She passed him the ball and he passed it back.
"You never learn do you?" confusion marred his handsome face and Serena was left to explain everything. "How many times do I have to tell you? I challenged you. Therefore, you get the ball," then she smiled.
"Okay, if you insist," he agreed. Serena passed back the ball.
He dribbled the ball and pushed forward and jumped for the shot, she jumped with him to block.
Haha, he laughed silently. She fell for it.
.then made a fade away.
"I guess I am not the only one with the learning problem here," he said.
"You love doing that don't you?" she asked. Shrugging, he smiled.
"Wait."
"What?" her expression turned from playful to serious.
"Tell you what," her expression matching his serious one. "To lose is okay."
"Why did you have to bring up the topic?" he asked. Of all the things that he wanted to hear.this was not definitely it.
"Nobody leaves the court without anybody losing. It just so happens that your team wasn't the tougher team," she continued.
"But I worked hard for it!" his eyes were full of reason.
"But it wasn't good enough was it?" she explained, as he tried to avoid her. "You don't get it. You don't experience losing that much, so you don't know the first thing about it."
"Ha! Humor me," he said, letting out a laugh.
"In any game, winning is not everything. Sometimes, you learn more about yourself when you lose, you become stronger. You learn to stand up when you fall."
Silence.
"You know, my mentor always told me. I never was a good loser," Darien said, looking straight at her eyes. "Sorry." From that, they continued their game with Darien having a new hope.
~~~
Authors Note: So what do you think? Love it? Hate it? please review! Originally this is a one-shot fic but if you guys want more then you know what to do.Review!!! Swade and I happen to be gluttons when it comes to reviews!!! Hehe! Anywayz.email swade at swade_14@yahoo.con and moi, silvermoon at tensai_da_orig@yahoo.com if you guys wanna suggest anything, flame us, criticize us.whatever you want.just fire away! -silvermoon