45 minutes later, Symone and her sister had finished warming up. Nicole lost their game by four points, but both felt confident about what the game they were going to play.
“Hey guys, I’ve gotta go fix my hair and stuff. I’ll be back in a few.” Symone ran off to the bathrooms across the park, dribbling the ball in front of her.
Nicole walked to the sidelines, and sat down next to Krysti. She grabbed her water bottle and chugged some of the cool liquid. Then she turned the bottle upside down over her head and cooled her dark hair off. With her hair over her eyes, she heard a basketball bouncing on the asphalt. Thinking her sister had returned, she called out, “That was quick!”
“Huh?” a strange male voice replied.
Nicole looked up, surprised to see a curly-haired blonde wearing light blue Nike shorts and a white T-shirt.
“Oh, you’re Justin, right? I thought you were Sy…uh, somebody else. I’m Nicole, the other half of the 2-on-2 team. My sister was the one who wrote you the letter.”
“So, where is she? I’m really interested to meet her.” Justin replied.
“She went to the bathroom, but she should be back in a few minutes. Where is the rest of your team?” Nicole wondered, looking around.
“They went to go pick up some water at the gas station down the street, but they should be here in a few minutes.” He noticed the blonde sitting next to Nicole, and immediately recognized her. “Hey, you’re Krysti, right?” Justin asked, not realizing that she was wearing headphones. Her eyes were also closed, in an attempt to get some sun. Nicole proceeded to shove her leg to get her attention, and she looked up at Justin.
“Hey, Mystery Boy! No, wait Jim…or is it Justin? I’m so confused!” she said twirling her blonde sarcastically.
“Uh, yeah, all of the above.” Justin said. “Is Symone here yet?”
Krysti bit her lower lip to keep from laughing and gave Nicole a humorous look. Nicole, also trying to stop her laughter, almost spit her water out all over Justin’s brand new sneakers.
“She’s in the bathroom, doing her hair or something. She should be back in a while. Why don’t you go practice or something.” Krysti suggested.
Justin, not connecting the situation entirely, nodded his head, and continued to dribble the ball.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Nicole leaned over to Krysti and whispered, “That boy is SUCH a blonde!”
Krysti started laughing and then, realizing it was an insult, shoved Nicole and screamed “HEY!”
Justin bounced the ball a couple times before taking his shot. It hit its mark with a swish of the net. No matter how nervous or upset he might be, when it came to basketball, there was nothing that could rattle Justin. He took a few deep breaths before shooting again. After he got the ball back, he checked his watch. 1:59pm. Symone and that girl would both are here any minute. He felt his heart rate speed up as he heard a basketball slamming against the pavement behind him. She was here, and Justin turned around to meet his fate.
Symone dribbled as she jogged down the sidewalk. Running before games always helped get her energy up and her nerves down. Today’s game was no normal game. Symone wondered what Justin’s reaction would be. Shock, surprise, hurt, anger? What if he didn’t want to go out that night? She had lied to him after all. Symone was suddenly aware of the basketball court and Justin in front of her. He had his back turned towards her, so Symone studied him. She watched him bounce the ball and make a perfect shot. She slowly walked onto the court, bouncing the ball. She saw his muscles tense, he heard her. Symone didn’t think he could turn around any slower.
Justin saw Symone standing in front of him, slowing bouncing the ball. At first, a wide smiled plastered his face. She really had come. Then, as it sank in, he realized Symone was wearing basketball gear, like she was ready to play some major hoops.
“You’re the girl?” He asked, still not quite believing it. Symone game him a half smile.
“Uh, surprise?” Symone said, looking down. She saw the hurt and betrayal in his eyes, and felt extremely bad.
“Well, now I know what your important plans were.” He said, also avoiding her eyes.
JC and Lance walked up to the pair, each carrying a few bottles of water. Lance noticed the tension between the two, and spoke quickly.
“Hey Bounce, sorry it took us so long, but we had to sign a few autographs and stuff. “ Lance held his hand out to the pretty brunette that stood facing Justin. “You must be the girl that has Justin all worked up. He has barely talked of anything but this game for the last few days.”
She took his hand in hers and shook it gently. “Uh, yeah, I’m Symone, nice to meet you.”
“Oh! Wow! Nice to talk to you again Symone. I guess that would also make you the only OTHER thing Justin has talked about in the last few days!” Justin’s face turned red as he glared at Lance.
JC looked between his two bleach-blonde friends. If looks could kill, they would soon be bidding farewell to James Lance Bass. “PooFoo, I think maybe you should go sit down now. This is a basketball court, you might get hurt.” Lance laughed good-naturedly, and walked toward Krysti and Nicole on the sidelines.
Symone looked at Justin, and said, “We might as well get the game on, don’t you think?” She motioned for her sister to join them on the court. Nicole put her water bottle down next to Krysti, who was too busy starting a conversation with Lance to notice her departure.
“Guys, this is my sister Nicole. Nicole, this is Justin and JC.” Nicole flashed a genuine smile at the two men.
“Nice to meet you JC. Justin, good talking to you again. Are you guys ready?”
JC, smiling at the petite girl that look almost nothing like her sister, but was nonetheless gorgeous said, “Sure thing.” Justin threw the ball he was using toward the side of the court. Symone and Nicole huddled up and Justin and JC did the same.
“Nic, you take JC, OK?” Symone said, referring to defensive strategy.
“Really? Ya mean it? OK, later girl!” Nicole walked over to the guys huddle, tapped the tall dark haired man on the arm and whispered something in his ear. JC laughed, and followed Nicole off the court. When she realized that they weren't coming back, Symone walked over to Justin.
“Looks like it’s just you and me Timberlake. Let’s go, we are playing to 15, by ones!” She started to dribble the ball around him, and easily made a shot. She checked him the ball from the arch, and charged him again. He not only didn’t take the charge he let her pass. She was so surprised she missed the shot. It was his ball, and he took a shot from the three-point line. The ball swished. He took the ball out again, and made another shot. On his third attempt, Symone defended and stole the ball. She put it up, and went back out to the top of the key. Justin’s defense, quite frankly, sucked. She made 4 more shots in quick succession, and he didn’t do anything to stop them. She looked at him quizzically.
“It’s a lot easier to stop me from winning if you get closer, Timberlake!” Symone called. He stood a full 10 feet away, and watched her dribble the muscles in her stomach working in and out. He nodded acknowledgment, and moved a few steps closer. ‘This is really getting on my nerves!’ Symone thought. She took another shot, and it easily went in. With that, she was up 7-2.
“Half-time!” Nicole called as the ball went through the hoop.
Symone stalked off toward her sister and best friend. She grabbed her water and sat down, drenching her body and then taking the last few drops in her mouth. She glared at Justin, and stood up, pulling Nicole and Krysti with her.
“This is not going to be a fair game if he is gonna treat me like a girl!” Symone said, aggravated. She went through this almost every time she played a new guy. She thought Justin would be different.
“I guess we will just have to bust out Plan B. Piss him off, and he’ll play right. Make him jealous.” Symone nodded at her sister. Plan B was something else she had gotten used to doing, and she was glad she had the experience. She stalked over to Justin, Lance and JC, and gave the tall blonde a shove.
“What the hell!” Justin cried as he hit the pavement.
“I should be asking you the same thing Timberlake. I thought you were a big hotshot b-ball player. You look just like every other pansy out there. Get your damn act together!” She said scowling at him.
“Shut the hell up Symone! You lied to me and got me here, and now you want me to defend against you! I thought we were friends! I thought we were going out tonight! I thought….”
“Oh, that’s it! You have a little crush on me, and that’s why you are afraid to touch me? Afraid your little friend will make an appearance through those pretty boy shorts?” Justin blushed as red as any of them had ever seen him. “Well, get over it, OK? I don’t like you, and I never did! In fact, I did all this Just to get to your friend over here.” Symone said pointing to Lance.
“Huh?” Lance said, looking at Justin, who was pushing himself off the floor and then at Symone. The girl was gazing at him intently, with a ‘please-play-along’ look on her face. Before he knew what was happening, she brought her face to his and very softly kissed his lips. It ended as soon as it had begun, and she apologetically glanced at Lance before turning back to Justin.
“See? So, now you have nothing to worry about. So lets go, right now, me and you, one-on one, to 10, all points from before are gone, and we both play right!”
Justin was seething, with anger, jealously, and contempt. He was gonna beat this little slut, and then he would walk out of her life forever. He grabbed his ball, and walked out to the court.
“I’m really sorry about that Lance.” She whispered. “I had to do something so he would play.” Symone had tears welling up in her eyes, and she quickly blinked them back. She had never been that mean to a guy before, but then again, she had never felt this way about a guy she had played. Lance placed his hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it. You really like him, huh?” Symone looked up into his concerned green eyes.
“I don’t think that matters anymore. Looks like he hates me now.” She smiled briefly, and walked up to Justin. He checked her the ball, and the real game began. They both wanted to win, and they were both going to play. A lot was at stake for both, and only one could win. And only time would tell who that would be…
::chapter 8::
::chapter 10::
::she got game::
::home::
::email:: ::she_got_game33@hotmail.com::
