Chapter 230: Nineteen

Monday, January 23rd, Early Afternoon

Ashlyn Pierce-Scott made sure her kids were all settled in with their online classes. She slipped off into a small office in Jamlyn and took a seat behind the desk. Pulling out her tablet, she brought up today's episode of Be Heard: A Championship Defined. Ashlyn was visibly shaking, and little beads of sweat were appearing on her forehead. After three or four deep breaths, she pressed play.

The music started, and so did the standard clips. Ashlyn studied them, trying to distract her troubled mind. The now-familiar images gave her comfort because this was the episode she feared to watch the most. Finally, the key refrain hit, and she knew the episode would start.

I

Will

Be

I Will Be Heard.

Trey was behind the desk at the studio in his suit. He looked into the camera and started to talk. "Hello, I'm Trey Terthero, and this is Be Heard: A Championship Defined. Tonight on Nineteen, we meet the second of the three A's, the team's seniors. Tonight's lady was the co-captain, and many would say the second fiddle. Sadly, her season would end just before the playoffs lying on the key of the opponent's side of the court. Let us explore this story today on nineteen," Tray said.

Angela appeared on the screen from her hotel room, "My friend Ash," she said.

Kay was next on-screen, from her Chicago apartment. "She-Bear," she said.

Ashton was in her doctor's office, "A good friend," she said.

Monica standing at the River Court, shook her head. "A scary she-bear," she said.

Coach Sinclair sitting in the Coach's Office, is next. "A good scorer in the low post and a key player for this run," she said.

Coach Scott in the field house bleachers, "I watched her grow up, mature as a woman, and grow as a player. She was one of the players I built that team around, but her knee let her down; she could've been a powerhouse. The final time on this very court against Masonboro," he said.

Ashlyn was looking at herself; again, she's in her guidance office with her behind the desk. The computer version of herself took a deep breath and let it out. "It was one last run with my two best friends. One last shot at the state title, for all three of us. I was out there every night, every game; I tried to leave it on the court. That night, I was having my best game of the season, when my knee gave out. I fell to the court knowing my season ended," she paused, took another deep breath and trembled, "I'm Coach Ashlyn Pierce-Scott, an assistant coach and guidance counselor at Tree Hill High School. Back in the day, I went by Ashlyn Pierce, I was co-captain and starting small forward for the Tree Hill Ravens. I was also number nineteen."

The screen changed to clips of Ashlyn playing. The year, Ashlyn noted was clear to her by the knee brace she wore. Ashlyn smiled at some plays she remembered, where they went after Angela. Angela dumped the ball off to Ashlyn for the basket. Finally, the screen melted into two tween girls wearing the same basketball uniforms.

"The fateful day that started the march to this championship started when I took my sister to her first rec league basketball practice. That day she met another girl and was soon as thick as thieves. Her friend circle grew by one, and I think I got another sister," Coach Scott said.

"Coming up through the junior high school, you could tell the three of them had chemistry. They were inseparable, especially Ashlyn and Angela. Those two were the opposite side of the same coin. One was outgoing and fiery, the other quiet and speculative. Back then, we all thought Ashlyn was the better talent. Angela needed to come out of her shell. In gym during the basketball games, we couldn't have them on the same team; they'd just dominated," Coach Sinclair said.

"Ashlyn was one that could assert herself, sometimes with comical results. She had a tendency to babble when she got nervous, which would lead to oversharing. My favorite story was she was looking for something and throwing clothes everywhere. Angela's sister-in-law came in to see what's going on. There were clothes everywhere, and hanging from a blade of the ceiling fan was a pair of her thong panties," Ashton said.

"Off the court, we supported each other, and on the court, we complemented each other. Over the years, we became other's support systems. There's a reason I became her daughter's godmother, and her daughter had my name as her middle name, and she's my daughter's godmother and has Ashlyn's name as her middle name," Angela said.

Cara sighed, "She was a hard act to follow on the court when I moved up to start, it was hard to fit in. Ashlyn had such a connection with the other players, I just didn't fit," she said.

Coach Scott was now standing on the court in the key. He looked around the rafters and finally looked at the camera. "We were on a roll when that game came up. We needed the momentum going into the playoffs. Ashlyn had strung a strong string of games together, even limiting her minutes. It was a home game, and Ashlyn always played well against Masonboro. She was having one hell of a game; Ashlyn was working on at least a double-double. It's a simple, fast break, running coast to coast; she went up for a perfect lay-up. Pushing off on her bad leg, Ashlyn sailed through the air. The sound echoed in every corner of this gym. Her bad knee basically blew apart, for two points, seventeen on the game, I lost my second-leading scorer, co-captain, and honoree little sister, for two points we didn't need. This spot, this is where she landed," he said and pointed to the parquet floor.

Ashlyn looked at herself again. "I lost my ACL, MCL, and tore my meniscus. I needed to have complete reconstructive surgery. I wanted to be on the sideline cheering them on until the end," she said.

"Having Ashlyn on the sideline was a great boost for the rest of the season. Also, she would give the other girls pointers on the opponents," Ashton said.

"Having Ashlyn on the bench was great. I was like having another coach on the bench," Coach Sinclair said.

"Because of her work on the bench and her talent as a teacher. That's why I brought her on as an assistant coach," Coach Scott said.

The video showed the aftermath of Kay's shot. The bench ran out to the players on the court. As Angela untangled herself from the mob around Kay, a girl on crutches hobbled over to Angela, and they hugged.

"The road ended, and she was with us but not where she should have been. The whole journey that started from juniors ended, but not with her on the train," Angela said.

"It was a great night, but bittersweet, it was the last game Ashlyn, Angela, and played together. When coach called only Angela and me to go out on the court," she said and shook her head," Only Angela and I were on the court. All three of us needed to be out there. We needed to finish the journey together," Ashton said.

Ashlyn looked at herself again. "I don't know what to say, you get to a point you've always talked about happens, and you're not really a part of it, you feel, well, detached from it," she said.

The screen changed, and Ashlyn gasped. Sitting in the bleachers wearing Tree Hill High School warmups was a ginger-haired young woman. It's Ashlyn's oldest daughter Brett.

"My Mom and I, well, we appear to have our differences. That's normal; we're both strong-willed and have tempers. That doesn't change that she's a great coach and role model. She's one of the reasons I wanted to play basketball," Brett said.

Ashlyn dabbed her eyes as she teared up and paused the video. She never expected Brett to appear in the video. It was Brett's second appearance for the series. But what Brett said was completely unexpected.

Ashlyn returned to the second half of the video. Ashlyn, in the present, looked at her past self. In the past, Ashlyn looked like she was about to cry. Ashlyn, in the present, knew that she was about to cry.

"Be heard," Ashlyn said.

The screen changed to show the final play of the championship season and the celebration. The video dissolved to a still picture of the Tree Hill Bench with Angela and Ashlyn sitting on the bench. Ashlyn had her leg in a cast. On the floor in front of them were Kay, Cara, and an auburn-haired girl. The screen dissolved again, showing a picture of Ashlyn on her crutches with the championship trophy.

The screen returned to the studio and Trey. "Ashlyn was the number two player but was often more described as the one b player. One person described her as the Moses of the team; she got to see the promised land but didn't get to enjoy it. It's a weak analogy, at best. Tomorrow we finished off the seniors with the last of the A's and one of the most anticipated players' profiles. For those who have been following the series and the team, they know who it is. Please join us tomorrow for twenty-two," Trey said.

Ashlyn closed the tablet down and dried her teary eyes.