Young Writers Society

A/n: we've come a long way, haven't we? Chapter 20 already! It went by in a flash. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

She's fast. Too fast.

Sweating and exhausted, Dwayne finds that he is relieved for the half-time break. How did the first half end so quickly?

He had to stay in front of Thea, which was exhausting. She was a lot faster than Dwayne had expected.

Fortunately, she was just like her brother, Alex, who also loved doing fakes, and Dwayne had lots of practice against Alex's random and instinctive movements. The difference between the two siblings was that Thea was almost a perfectionist when it came to fakes. She wouldn't accept getting around someone still partly in front of her after faking, causing her to feint left and right over and over. Alex, on the other hand, would often fake once or twice, and simply brush past the defender with ease. Dwayne understood why Thea needed a perfect fake, however, because she was too small, so her skill was the only way she could get around opponents.

Alex had more strength and size, so his skill literally multiplies with it.

Even so . . . she's still fast. Too fast.

He feels a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, Dwayne sees Alex standing there with a smile.

"Do you know what it's like, now?" asks Alex. He innocently stares at Dwayne.

"What do you mean?"

"Feeling like you're fighting five people by yourself?" asks Alex, "Because I can see it."

Dwayne realizes that he is feeling this way. I'm too good for this team, aren't I?

"You might not have noticed it, but you're being slightly more possessive with the ball than usual," Alex comments. Dwayne thinks ruefully, In other words, I'm being a ball hog.

"You'll often refuse to pass, even as you know your ball handling cannot match Chris'," Alex says, "And you find yourself pushing the team away as you push the ball forward mindlessly."

"Y-you're making no sense!" Dwayne sniffs, "That sounds like something you would do!"

"Exactly. That's why I didn't play in this game," Alex turns around and begins walking away, "So you can feel what it's like to be the King of the Court. Because the King is always alone."

Dwayne growls, "I'm not the King. I'm the slave that has to hold up everything! There's a difference!"

At that, Alex glances back, "Is there really?"

Dwayne, after the conversation with Alex, is in a terrible mood. He irritably stomps back on the court.

"Hey Dwayne-o, you feeling good?" asks Hunter. Brady and Josh are there as well. The three of them stare at Dwayne like they're at a funeral.

"I think that nickname itself is going to ruin my day," Dwayne replies.

"Yep, he's fine," Brady shrugs, "Come on, let's play!"

The game begins again. This time, Bella and Thea are playing even more fierce than before. It reminds Dwayne of the terrifying Copeland brothers. Except, unlike the time against Saint Helena, Alex isn't playing.

Thea starts with the ball. She quickly navigates around Josh and Hunter, but Brady manages to slow her down.

Chris completely gets in front of her, stopping her completely, but then she gets around him too. At that moment, while, she is moving around Chris, Dwayne shoots forward and reaches for the ball.

His hand touches the basketball, and suddenly, Dwayne has complete control over the game.

He pulls the ball closer as he glances at Thea's surprised expression. Now he has three options. He can charge through the girls' team with brute force, he can give a quick pass to Chris, who might have a better chance, or he can slow down and find a better pass.

"So you can feel what it's like to be the King of the Court. Because the King is always alone."

I'm not alone. I'm just above all the rest! thinks Dwayne angrily. Going with option one, Dwayne dribbles at full speed towards the hoop. His ball-handling isn't as good as Chris, so he has to keep his body between the opponent and the ball or it'll be stolen. Surprisingly, he manages to get around a few people at get near the hoop.

Dwayne begins starting the lay-up. His right foot gives a light touch on the ground, propelling him forward. He holds the ball close to his chest. Dwayne's left foot slams onto the ground immediately afterward and he shoots into the air.

Now that I'm in the air, no one can stop me!

And as he brings his hand up to drop the ball into the basket, he realizes the ball isn't even there at all.

It was stolen.

Dwayne lands back on the ground and notices the person who stole it from him. It was Bella.

"Come on! Attack!" shouts Bella, and the girls team advances forward. Bella passes to Thea and the latter takes a lay-up, but misses. Bella takes the rebound, and Dwayne, who's still trying to get back on defense can't do anything about it. The ball is passed out to one of the girls' guards and she shoots, scoring.

Although the boys are powerful with the counterattack, the girls fight like there's no tomorrow. For every shot the boys make, the girls attempt three. And even though the girls miss most of them, they slowly begin to catch up.

"Dwayne!" Chris hisses at the end of the third quarter, "Get your stupid head into the game! Pass for once!"

Dwayne frowns, "Fine. But then we'll have to try the thing."

"What?" groans Chris, "I hate doing that."

"But it's effective," grins Dwayne. He knows Chris can't argue with that.

When the game begins again, Dwayne passes to Chris, so Chris acts as the point guard. Since Chris is extremely tall, any sane player would assume he's the center. Dwayne sneaks, very obviously in fact, over to the left side, opposite to the side Chris is on. The defenders, confused at this occurrence, shuffle towards Dwayne slightly, subconsciously thinking that Dwayne is a guard. But he isn't. The guard here . . . is Chris.

Chris somehow gets through the defenders. Dwayne isn't even sure if that's the right word. "Noodling" seems more like it. Chris weaves around defenders artistically, and shoots the ball up. It's obvious that it won't make it, so everyone starts getting ready to take the rebound.

Dwayne loves the rebound more than anything in the world. It's actually something anyone can do. If Dwayne can get in front of even a huge, tall person, he can get the rebound easily. Bella, the girls' main rebounder, instinctively gets in front of Chris. Dwayne, who is left open, easily gets the rebound and shoots it back up, scoring.

"We're not finished yet!" shouts Bella, "Destroy them!"

The girls cheer. The sheer energy of the girls team seems to blast Dwayne backward. Even if the boys' team wins, Dwayne knows that the girls are still a better team.

And just like he predicted, even though the game ends with the boys winning, Dwayne doesn't feel satisfied. The game was terrible. How can it feel this way? We won!

The two teams shake hands and the girls eventually leave the gym. The silence that follows is deafening. No one is satisfied. The boys start picking up their bags and taking huge gulps of water.

"It's not even noon yet," comments Chris, "I guess getting up that early was pretty time saving."

The eight of them exit the gym. They fist-bump each other, and finally start turning around to leave, each one of them in a state of melancholy.

"A-are we . . . going to be ready for the game tomorrow?" Colin asks. Everyone looks at him ruefully, but before anyone can speak up, Alex does.

"We sure will. And no one's going to doubt that we're the ones who will rule the court."