Chapter 33
Riley
The next two weeks are a trainwreck. The press have been on campus every single day; the world can’t get enough of this story.
The creatures have been categorized as wolves with some sort of serious disease to make them rabid.
The shifter community hasn’t come out and said anything different.
Some of the players are being heralded as heroes from that night, some of the coaches as well.
Somehow, Reid and I and even Slate have been able to stay in the background.
Star and even Brene thanked me profusely and told me I should be the one giving interviews, but I’ve managed to downplay my actions.
Thankfully, in the terror of that night, most people don’t really remember all the nitty gritty details.
I haven’t even told my teammates that I went to the hospital.
They would be curious as to why I’m not still healing and why I have no scars.
People saw the ambulances come and go, but nobody was in the room to give testimony to what happened after everyone got out except other people that were injured.
They were too out of it to see what went down with Reid and me.
My dad was worried about what testing would come back from the hospital from other people that had injuries, but so far nothing weird has surfaced.
But he’s had his people really involved, trying to stay ahead of the investigation and the fallout from that night.
Reid and I have had so little time together since then.
He's been working with my brother and other members of the pack to keep this situation contained. We meet each morning for a run, and I tell him what I think about him staying awake at night; but he just smiles, ignores my comments and runs next to me. After our run every morning, we spend about thirty minutes on the court with me practicing my moves on him under the basket. Slowly but surely, I’ve been getting better.
Coach Parella hasn’t let the situation deter her in the least. She’s pushed us to our limits every single practice, but I can’t say I don’t appreciate it now that we’re staring down our first game.
Before I head into the locker room, I meet with Reese.
She’s one of our team trainers and also a fellow pack member.
“Hey, Riley. Come on in.” She shuts the door behind me.
“We’ll make this quick. Go ahead and sit on the table.
I do as she says and watch as she preps a needle.
I feel my breathing speed up, and she notices.
She looks up from what she’s doing. “You good?”
“I don’t like needles,” I offer.
She gives me a sympathetic smile. “It will be over in a flash.” I look away as she cleans my arm. “Okay, this will be over in three, two…it’s done.”
I look down at my arm. “You didn’t get to one.”
She smiles. “Tricks of the trade. That was easy, right? How do you feel?” I reach for my wolf, but there’s nothing there. “I know it’s a little disorientating at first, but you will get used to it.”
I nod. “Thanks, Reese.”
“You’re welcome, Riley. Good luck on your game.”
I make my way back to the locker room and get there just as Star does. “Are you ready for tonight?” she asks.
I nod. “I’m ready.” And I am. I’ve done all I could do to prepare for tonight, and I feel ready. “Who knows if we’ll even play.”
She scoffs. “You will for sure.”
I don’t argue with her, but we really don’t know.
Coach has changed players out so often during practice; it’s impossible to know what she’s thinking for starters.
But we’ll find out in a few minutes. The locker room is abuzz with excitement when we enter.
I see my jersey hanging from my locker, and I can’t help my shiver of excitement.
I’ve known since the first day I made the team that my number was fifty-two, and I’ve tried it on to make sure it fits.
But this will be the first time I’ve worn it to play.
It feels surreal when I’m dressed in my jersey and shorts with my black warmups over the top of my shorts.
I look around at my teammates and feel their excitement as well.
Star grins and gives me a thumbs-up. Brene walks past me, knocking her shoulder into mine. “You ready for tonight?”
I grin. “Of course. Are you?”
“Oh yeah.”
The room gets noisier and noisier as we get pumped up and ready to play our first game.
We’re ready. We’ve even gone so far as to practice running out, our warmup drills, and preparation for announcing the starting lineup.
“All right,” Brene calls out. “We’re getting ready to head out for warmups.
Everybody ready?” As captain, Brene will lead us for this part.
After a bit, we’ll come back in and meet with Coach before heading back out for the start of the game.
We leave the locker room and walk out into the hallway that will lead us to the gym.
I can hear the music thumping, and it matches the beating of my heart.
I can’t help my smile; this part never gets old.
I’ve run out for hundreds of games, but tonight will be my first time as a FMU Barricuda, and it feels really good.
Star lines up right behind me and puts her hands on my shoulder and squeezes.
“Ready?”
I grin. “Yes.”
“Let’s go!” Brene calls out and leads us out of the hallway.
There aren’t many people in the gym at this stage.
I know from going to other college games that it won’t start to fill up until it’s closer to the start of the game.
Of course, that’s for the guys’ games. The girls’ games won’t fill up at all, but I don’t let myself feel that negativity.
There will still be more fans than there ever were at one of my high school games.
Besides, I don’t play just for the fans.
I also play for my team and myself. We start our warmups.
I’m locked in and completely focused. After we finish our group warm-up, we each grab a ball and start shooting.
I begin right under the hoop and start my usual warmup, working my way the key.
Once I’ve sufficiently warmed up around the key, I start moving further out.
I end by moving around the three-point line.
I'm so locked in, I don’t notice the group on the first row.
One of my balls hits the rim and flies off.
I run over to the sidelines to grab it. Somebody gets to it before I do, somebody tall.
Reid smiles at me. “Hey.”
“You ready?”
I nod. I glance down at his chest and realize for the first time what he’s wearing. My jaw drops. “Are you kidding me? You’re wearing my jersey. I didn’t even know they made those.”
He nods behind me, and I turn around and see so many jerseys with 52 on them.
Quint jumps up and turns around, pointing to my last name and number on his back.
Tessa and Evie both wave at me from their spots in between Zane and Slate.
My mom blows me a kiss, and my dad gives me a quick wave.
I also see Reid’s parents as well; his mom waves at me and gives me a thumbs up.
I swallow and will myself not to cry at the show of support.
“You’d better get back out there, Number Fifty-Two,” Reid says, handing me the ball. “You’ve got this.”
I shake my head ruefully. “Thanks. I don’t even know if I’ll play.”
“You’ll play.”
I grin up at him and run back out onto the court, letting his confidence fuel me.
Our time on the court winds down, and we head back to the locker room.
Coach Parella is waiting for us, and we sit on the benches in front of her.
“Ladies, you are ready for this game. You’ve worked hard.
Tonight is the payoff for that hard work.
Now, the only thing that’s left is to talk starters and positions.
Most coaches have that set long before the first game, but I am not most coaches.
I gave you time to prove yourselves, and now I know where each of you will play.
So, let’s go.” A stillness settles over us as we wait.
“Sasha, center on defense and power forward right side. Angeline, right shooting guard and right forward on defense. Brene ball handler and right guard on defense. Star, left shooting guard and left guard on defense.” I can barely contain my excitement that Star’s starting.
I don’t look over at her, even though I want to.
I’m so excited for her, I almost miss the next name.
“And last, Riley, left forward on defense and offense.” Elation flows through me, and I feel my adrenaline spike.
I don’t dare look at Angeline or Jaida. Star took Jaida’s starting spot, and I know that’s going to be a problem.
But it’s one we’ll have to deal with at some other time, not right now.
Right now, we have a game to play. Technically, I’m not taking anyone’s position because last year’s left forward was a senior that graduated.
She goes on to explain which plays we’ll be running.
The minutes tick by, and then it’s time to head out. “Let’s go.”
We stand up and follow Coach over to the door.
Star walks next to me, and we give each other a quick, subtle high five.
I’m pretty sure her grin is as wide as my own.
Two freshman starting; that’s a pretty big deal.
But I don’t let myself get carried away.
We have a game to focus on. We line up in the hallway and wait for our cue to run out.
The music is thumping, and the lights are flashing.
We wait for our cue and then run out. We head over to the bench, and the starters take off their warm-ups.
The announcer announces the starters for the other team, and then it’s our turn.
I’m the last one to be announced, and I run out and gather with my teammates.
It’s impossible not to hear the loud whistles and cheering coming from the front row.
“Huddle up,” Brene shouts over the noise, and the rest of our team joins us.
We lock arms in our huddle and start jumping, moving back and forth. “We’re ready for this.”
“Work together,” Sasha calls out next.
“Hands in. Team on three,” Brene yells. “One, two, three.”
“Team.”
We head to center court, and I take just a moment to soak all this in—my first college game.
And then I push it all aside and focus. Sasha lines up for the jump ball.
I end up close to Angeline. “Have a good game, Angeline,” I tell her, putting my hand out.
She ignores it, and I drop my hand. I refuse to let it bother me; she’s going to have to figure it out.
The court is no place for emotion and drama.
I face the center of the court and prepare for what happens next.
Sasha outjumps their player and tips the ball to Brene, and just like that, the game’s begun.
I run to my position under the hoop and lock in, pushing every other distraction aside.
I watch Brene bring it up the court. Star cuts cross the middle, and Angeline moves over to take her spot.
Sasha moves up to the free throw line, and Brene hits her with a pass.
Sasha passes it back out to Angeline who sends it right back to Sasha.
Sasha turns and shoots and scores. I let the ball drop and run back to the other end for defense.
Their point guard dribbles down, and they pass the ball around several times before their shooting guard dribbles in.
Sasha’s there, but the girl makes it anyway.
I grab the ball and jump out of bounds and pass it in to Brene, and we head down to our end.
We go back and forth. Both teams are pretty evenly matched, and we keep a close game.
I get a few looks at the basket but don’t take many shots, which Coach yells at me for during the break between the first and second quarter.
“Blackwood, we only win games with shots made. Put some points on the board, or you’ll be sitting on the bench. ”
I take her words seriously. The next time we’re under our hoop, Sasha passes it to me. I don’t stop to think. I spin and shoot, knocking the ball off the glass and into the hoop. “Finally,” Star says with a grin when I run past her.
I just shake my head and move to my spot under the hoop. I get two rebounds, a few assists, and two more points before we head in at halftime. Coach Parella points out the things we did wrong and what she wants changed.