Chapter 238: Twenty-two

Tuesday, January 24th, Afternoon

With her last appointment of the morning leaving, Ashlyn closed her office door and locked it. She took her seat behind her desk and dug out her lunch. As she snacked on her sandwich, she fiddled with her laptop to find today's video. After finding the video, she dug out and set up her earbuds.

Once set up, she turned on the video and kept eating her sandwich. The studio of Tree Hill High School came clear after the opening credits. Ashlyn smiled as Trey Terthero appeared on the screen.

"Hello, I'm Trey Terthero, and this is Be Heard: A Championship Defined. Today's profile is probably the most anticipated one of the series. She's the third of the A's and the other senior co-captain. Starting every game that season at either shooting guard or small forward, she was also the leading scorer on the team. This athlete, while highly recruited, had a rough time getting to where she was going. So, let's find out about her journey, today on twenty-two," Trey said.

The screen changed to black and white footage of a basketball game. Ashlyn watched as Faith missed the buzzer-beater in her freshman year semi-finals game. After the ball missed the hoop, the camera panned to the bench and showed Angela crying.

"It was that moment; it started for her, the moment she felt she failed. It started her journey that season," a male voice said.

The screen changed. "Vandoo," The woman in European Sports livery said.

"Angela," Ashlyn said, from her recent past.

"Angela," Karen "Kay" Scott said, from her Chicago Apartment.

"Angela," Cara said, from her office.

"The Boss," Ashton said, from her Doctor's Office.

"The Captain," Devyn said from her living room.

The screen changed to the coach's office with Coach Sinclair behind the desk. "One of the most talented players I've ever coached," she said.

The Next person on-screen appeared in the bleachers in the field house. Coach Lucas Scott looked up at the camera. "It's not fair; she's my sister. What can I say? Well, what I do know is the team jelled around her," he said.

Angela appeared on screen in her hotel room. "It was my last ride, my last chance to win it all. I put everything I could into the season, and in the end, it worked out," she said, and shrugged, "My name is Angela Scott, at one time I was the co-captain, starting shooting guard and later starting small forward, and once I was number twenty-two," she said.

The screen changed to another basketball clip of a practice. It showed Angela and Ashlyn working on drills against each other. After a few drills, they walked off the court to get water. As the footage ended, the image of Coach Scott sitting on the bleachers replaced the old footage.

"It's hard for me to talk about her, as she's my baby sister. I've known her since she was born, and I also think she's one of the most talented and hardest-working players I've coached," Coach Scott said.

The scene changed to Coach Sinclair sitting in the Coach's Office. "There's something to be said about being local here or teaching in the middle schools. You get to know the players that are coming up and working with Coach Scott; of course, I heard about Angela, but Ashlyn was the one we were excited about," she said.

Next up was black and white footage of the basketball team playing. It showed Angela and Ashlyn playing, and Angela was doing everything wrong.

Ashlyn was watching herself, remembering that game. The video ended and changed to Ashlyn sitting at her desk, the same desk she's sitting at now.

"It was tough for Angela. She was slow to adjust to the high school game. Come to think about it, Angela always adjusted slowly. It was all mental, but she sorted herself out," Ashlyn said.

Ashton next appeared on camera. "There is one thing people didn't know about Angela. She talked trash, a lot," Ashton said.

Devyn appeared on the screen next. "God, could she get into someone's head. There were games where she would have these whole conversations during the game," Devyn said.

The woman in European Sports livery looked at the camera. "There was this one-time Angela went against this one hotshot up and coming player. By the end of the game, I could've sworn she had that player in tears," she said.

Kay was on the screen next, sitting in her Chicago apartment. "At the end of the season, I got to start with Angela, and well, she was a great example and mentor. Boy, she could talk trash, though; it was just an amazing time," she said.

The screen returned to Angela in her hotel room. "You asked about my junior year semi-finals loss. Well, what happened was I had a bad game. I got into foul trouble early and eventually fouled out. I had to sit and watch Faith take that shot, the shot I should've taken that shot, not Faith. As for the crying, it was because I failed the team," Angela said.

The next scene returned to the footage of Faith's failed buzzer-beater. The camera jumped to the bench and Angela crying; next, the screen showed Coach Scott standing up, his shoulders slumped as he turned away, shaking his head.

The image on the screen changed to Coach Scott sitting on the bleachers of the field house. "It's a mark of a player is how they bounce back from failure. For Angela, she had half of a year to bounce back. Over that half-year, something changed in her, and she also discovered hardcore," he said.

The image changed to Ashton. "My god, running around town that summer, all I remember was hear these same three or four Hatebreed albums," she said and laughed.

Devyn was next on the screen. "Those loud guitars and screams were all we heard at our pick-up games that summer," she said.

Computer Ashlyn looked at real Ashlyn. "I will be heard; that seemed to be her favorite song," she said.

The woman in European sports livery was on the screen next. "I will be heard, This is now, and Live for This, god, how many times I've heard those songs," she said.

It flipped back to computer Ashlyn, "Devyn came up with the idea of using those songs as our huddle calls. They became, Live for This, This is Now, and finally the one Faith would use the most Be heard," she said.

The screen changed to the famed Kay Buzzer Beater in the championship game. It showed Angela on the court tripled teamed, and the ball coming to Kay from Ashton. Cara and Kelly set a screen for her. Kay takes the shot, which sinks to win the game.

"Her legacy was she set the standard for every star we had. No matter how different they were or what position they played," Coach Sinclair said.

"Legacy, she made all-star both her junior and senior year, Tournament MVP, State Championship, and MacDonald's All-American, I don't think we would have to worry about her legacy," Coach Scott said.

The screen changed to Brett sitting on the bleachers in the field house. "Auntie Tall, she was a constant in my life. On the basketball court, she was one of my first role models," Brett said.

Angela looked at the screen in her hotel room. She took a sip from a glass. "Thoughts, I've could have been a better teammate, also could have adapted better when I was younger. As for the game, it's been my life; it got me my college degree and been my career since college. I've gone on to win on every level I've played, with two NCAA championships, two European Championships, and three WNBA titles," she said.

The screen changed to show a picture of Angela and Ashlyn sitting on the bench with Kay, Cara, and an auburn-haired girl sitting on the floor in front of them. It next changed to Angela standing next to the state championship trophy. The next image on the screen switched back to Angela.

Angela smirked and nodded. Finally, she looked into the camera. "Be heard," she said and nodded again. The screen stayed on her and then eventually faded to black.

Trey was in the studio. "There is a story that originally there was going to be only one captain that year. It was just Ashlyn, but the team refused to play unless Angela was made co-captain," Trey said, "Tomorrow on Be Heard: A Championship Defined, we returned to the wonder freshmen, and the most accomplished of them. So, please, tune in tomorrow for three," he finished.

Ashlyn finished the video, and closed the computer down, and just shrugged. After that, Ashlyn sighed and turned around to a framed picture. It was a picture of Ashlyn, James, Huck, and Angela the summer after they graduated high school. Ashlyn nodded and felt a tear welled up in her eye.