Disclaimer: This disclaimer is pointless. I think we all understand now that I DO NOT own X-Men, nor will I EVER!
The next week was more boring than ever. Training sessions continued, school became worse. The same routine repeated day after day: Get up, training session, school, training session, bed. It wasn't that the students at the Xavier Institute hated it; it was just that they wished that something exciting would happen.
Kitty sighed and stretched out her arms as they walked back to the institute after school.
"Man, school is, like, such a bore," she complained.
Everyone nodded his or her agreement. The school day had definitely left them all feeling sleepy and bored.
Jean sighed. "So, Ali. Are you going to come out for the basketball team?" she asked, brushing a strand of bright red hair out of her face.
Ali shrugged. "Maybe," she replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Because we need a really good point guard."
"What if I don't play point?"
Jean shrugged. "You can learn," she replied.
"Well if that's the case, then why don't you learn to play point?"
"I play post."
"So?"
"It's not the same as a point guard."
Ali frowned. "You'd still be good at it. Someone else can replace you as post."
Jean shook her head. "The only backup never shows up for practice. C'mon, Ali. Please, play point guard for the team," Jean begged.
Ali groaned. "Why do I always get suckered into doing what others want?" she muttered.
Rogue heard. "It's because you're too soft," she provided.
Ali whacked Rogue upside the head. "Thanks for the info," she growled.
Rogue grinned evilly. "Any time," she replied.
Ali rolled her eyes.
"Vhy do you two alvays fight?" Kurt asked, his holographic eyes trying to decipher their behavior.
Rogue and Ali both grinned. "I dunno," Rogue replied with a shrug, her face smug.
Ali nodded. "I guess it's because we can actually put up with each other," Ali added.
"Vhatever," Kurt replied, shaking his head. There was no way that he would be able to figure those two out. No way at all. Girls, he thought. They're too complicated.
***
The next day, Ali went to basketball practice with Jean after school. Over her shoulder, she carried a red Adidas bag, which held her shorts and a t-shirt that she could change into.
"Coach! Hey, Coach!" Jean called across the gym.
A tall woman turned around. Her brown eyes stared at Jean from underneath a red Nike hat.
"What is it, Jean?" she called. Then she groaned, a dark hand coming up to touch her brown forehead. "Don't tell me that you've got to skip practice because of something you have to do for Xavier."
Jean shook her head, a slight blush of embarrassment to her cheeks. "No, Coach, it's nothing like that," she replied.
The woman nodded. "Well what is it?" she asked, her brown eyes as sharp and defined as her smooth cheekbones.
"I've found someone who's willing to play point guard," Jean explained excitedly.
The coach raised her eyebrows, which quickly disappeared past the rim of her hat. "Oh really?" she asked.
Jean nodded, a smile on her face.
The woman turned to Ali. "What's your name, girl?" she asked, her eyes surveying the teenager.
"Allison Broderick. You can call me Ali," she replied, extending her hand to shake the coaches.
The coach nodded slightly and smiled. She shook Ali's hand, her face now covered with a grin. "The name's Coach Ryan. I want you to go hurry and suit up. And girl, if you can play basketball as well as you can run, we'll be one of the best teams this year," the coach said.
Ali's cheeks flushed with the praise.
Jean took Ali to the locker rooms, where the two changed into their practice clothes. They hustled out onto the court, grabbing a basketball as they exited the changing rooms to shoot around with. Jean asked Ali to demonstrate her free throw shooting, lay-ups, ten-foot, and fifteen-foot jumpers.
Jean nodded her approval after she had seen Ali make around three-fourths of her shots. "You're pretty good," she commented, walking up to Ali.
Ali smiled. "I better be. I was on the team back at my old high school," she replied with a grin.
Jean's smile widened. Suddenly, Coach Ryan blew the whistle and called for everyone to gather around her. "We've got a new point guard today. We'll run the plays, work on our ball handling, run a new offense, and if we have enough time, we'll run out eleven-man drill," she said. "Oh, and one more thing: don't go easy on the newbie."
***
Ali collapsed onto her bed after practice. Rogue didn't look up from her algebra homework. "You okay?" she called after she realized that Ali hadn't spoken.
Ali didn't answer.
Rogue looked up then. "You exhausted? Injured? In need of a threat to kill you just so you'll speak?" she asked, becoming annoyed that Ali wasn't talking.
Ali looked over at Rogue and grinned. "Nah, I think I'll pass on all that. I'm fine," she replied, her face lit up.
Rogue rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at Ali. "You can be so annoying," Rogue muttered.
Ali sat up on her bed, completely ignoring Rogue's comment. "Guess what?" she asked, brimming over with excitement.
Rogue glanced up. "You've decided to help me kill the damn Cajun," she replied stoically.
"Not exactly."
"Then what is it?"
Ali's grin widened. "I'm playing starting point guard on the basketball team!" she cried, falling backwards on her bed.
Rogue, though not excited by the news, tried her best to sounds excited for her friend. She smiled a bit and said, "That's great, Al. When's you're first game?"
"Next Friday," Ali replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Because Ah'm gonna come watch ya," Rogue replied. She hated basketball games, but she was willing to go through a little torture for her friend. As long as Bayville won the game, things might not be that bad.
***
Ali, Jean, and the rest of the basketball team practiced harder over the next two weeks than they had in their entire lives. Jean and Ali were exhausted and sore after practice, and barely survived the training sessions following. They barely had time for basketball practice, training sessions, and homework each night. How the two survived each night, they didn't know. They only cared about getting enough rest each night. The other mutants tried to accommodate them as much as possible. Kurt brought home Gutbombs each night for the two, while Kitty made some of her muffins (no one touched them). Scott gave Jean a neck-rub each night to help relax her and try to get her to get to sleep sooner, as she usually had trouble falling asleep. Rogue helped Ali complete her homework faster each night, sometimes even supplying the answers. Bobby, thinking that this would help, iced the entire girls bathroom. His excuse to Logan: ice would help get rid of the pain. He earned two weeks of Logan Sessions and had to chip the ice off of the bathroom walls and everywhere else by hand.
Ali was, for once, not sore after practice on Thursday. They had had only an hour-long practice because Coach Ryan wanted them to rest up before Friday's game. She decided to walk around town a bit to clear her mind and relax. Her homework, of course, remained unfinished on her bed at the institute, but she didn't care. She could hurry and copy Rogue's when she got back, or do it in homeroom the next morning.
The night air was crisp and refreshing, replacing some of the lost energy in her body. She sighed and continued to walk down the street, heading to nowhere in particular. She turned a corner and bumped into someone, being knocked to the ground in the process.
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I wasn't looking where I was going."
"It's ok, Ali," replied a male's voice as the person extended a hand to help her up.
Ali looked up and was surprised to see John standing above her. "John!" she cried, feeling an embarrassed blush rise to her cheeks. "I'm sorry."
John grinned upon seeing her blush. "Don't worry about it, sheila," he replied, helping her to her feet. "So what are you doing out at this time?" he asked.
Ali shrugged. "Just walking around to think," she replied.
"There's gotta be a reason for walking around and thinking, sheila," he said.
Ali nodded, knowing that he was right. Might as well tell him, she thought. "I have a basketball game tomorrow, and I wanted to take a walk to relax and think," explained.
John's eyes lit up. "You play on the basketball team?" he asked.
Ali nodded, smiling. "Yeah. I play for Bayville High," she replied.
John grinned. "Alright," he said, a grin.
"What are you smiling about?" Ali asked, wanting to laugh and smile at the same time.
John turned to her. "Oh, I was just thinking that I might come to the game," he replied.
Ali's eyes widened. "Why?" she asked.
John shrugged. "Can't I just want to see a friend play a sport they like?" he asked. "You do like to play basketball, don't you?" he asked.
Ali smiled and nodded. "Of course. I wouldn't be playing if I didn't like it," she replied.
John grinned. "Alright then. I'll see you at your game tomorrow then," he said.
Ali nodded, knowing that there would be no point in trying to convince him not to.
John grinned. "Well, I've gotta go," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow, and if I don't get to see you before the game, good luck, sheila."
Ali grinned and blushed slightly for some reason. "All right, I'll see you tomorrow."
John waved goodbye and left down an alleyway.
Ali decided that since it was near seven and she was hungry, it would be a good idea to head back to the institute to eat and finish her homework.
Dinner was unusually quick that night. No one knew why, but for some reason, everyone wanted to get away from the dinner table as fast as possible. Bobby bolted down his dinner, and Logan, being suspicious of the icy teen, followed him when he left the room.
***
The next day didn't seem to go fast enough. Classes dragged on, lulling all the students into boredom. When the bell finally rang, the students bolted from the classrooms and the school, while the basketball players headed to the locker rooms to change into their red and gold uniforms. Coach Ryan ordered them all to the buses when she made sure that all the players were present and ready to go.
The other high school was a bit older than Bayville High, but still very modern. The gym was the same size as the one at Bayville, but it didn't have any windows, which the other one did. The Bayville players didn't exactly like it, but decided not to comment on it. Coach Ryan was on her final nerve. This was one of the toughest teams in the league, and she didn't think that they stood much of a chance against them. The Broncos, as was their mascot, had a great defense and an even better offense. In Coach Ryan's mind, they wouldn't come out of this game alive, or with some of the dignity that they had walked in with.
Rogue, Kitty, Kurt, and the rest of the students at the Xavier Institute sat in a section of the bleachers. When Kitty spotted the Bayville players run onto the court, she began waving a huge sign that said: Go Jean!! Go Ali!! Win for us!! . The fact that Kitty started screaming her support for the two girls didn't help. Rogue immediately ripped the poster from Kitty's hands and passed it up to Logan, who put it under his feet.
"Start screaming like that again and I'll touch ya with mah hand, got it?" Rogue warned.
"Geez, you don't, like, have to threaten me, you know?" Kitty pouted.
Rogue rolled her eyes and turned to the game.
**
Ali wiped some sweat from her brow as she dribbled down the court, looking ahead to all the open players. She could probably make a head pass to Jean, but the chances that the defense might intercept were too great. A pass to number three on the right wing turned out to be the best option. Ali looked one way and passed the ball to the forward, running straight to the hoop to get the rebound.
Jean got the ball and put it back up, scoring two points for Bayville. The crowd cheered crazily, excited that she had made another basket for them.
The ball went up and down the court several more times before the final minutes of the game. Ali dribbled down once again towards her team's hoop. Jean was open for some strange reason. Ali got it: the other team was faking so that she would pass to Jean so that the Broncos could intercept it. No other person was open, so Ali took the open shot: a three pointer that only with the Lord's help could she make. She threw the ball up and watched it soar through the air towards the orange rim. It teetered on the edge for a moment before falling down towards the ground.
The seconds began to wind down. Bayville became more and more desperate to hike up the lead they already had over the Broncos. Number three, Michelle, scored two ten-foot jumpers and swooshed a free throw soon afterwards.
Ten seconds left on the clock. Ali had to dribble down and hurry and make a shot to prevent them from going into overtime. She dribbled down once again, looking for an opening. None were found.
Suddenly, the posts ran up and set two screens for her, leaving a clear, open lane for her. She took the opportunity and dribbled down, taking a jump shot and scoring the final basket for the team.
The final buzzer suddenly sounded, and the Broncos walked away, defeated. Meanwhile, the Bayville players crowded around her, jumping onto her and hugging her uncontrollably. "We won, we won!" the girls screamed.
Ali grinned and hugged her friends back. The team walked off the court that night feeling better than they had in their entire life. They had won in a game against the toughest team in the league, something they had never accomplished before.
Outside, the Brotherhood glared at them, knowing that the Bayville players felt like they were worth more than them; possibly even better than them. But they weren't. The X-Men would know that soon enough.
***
please R&R!!
~Jojo~