"Congratulations to the Warriors' MVP, and the girl who will one day lead the Universal Megaball League to greater heights than ever before: Alicia Robbins!"
"Hear, hear!" a chorus of teenagers replied, raising their glasses on high.
"Speech!" someone shouted.
"Speech! Speech! Speech!" repeated the chorus.
Alicia stood up and addressed the table. "Okay, okay, settle down. Ladies and gentlemen--and I use that term very loosely--I couldn't have done it without all of you, and everyone who's not here too. Chris, the best blocker on the team; Allie and Lori, who have dished out more assists than I can count; and Suzy and Gina, the twin walls. I thank the rest of the team too, and the coaches, our friends, and our parents. This season has been for all of us. If we beat the Springfield Panthers next week, we'll do something our school's team hasn't done in ten years: win the division and go to the regional playoffs. Let's go for 10-1!"
Alicia sighed and flopped down on her bed, exhausted from the day's events. She wished her games weren't on Wednesdays, but of course football was still played on Fridays, like it had been for centuries. Damn these fall sports, she muttered to herself as she lifted her head to look at the clock. It was nearly ten, and she was completely wiped out. She sighed and was about to rest her head back on the pillow when the rude sound of the phone jolted her from her near-sleep.
She snatched the receiver off her nightstand and growled. "Gwen, it's a Wednesday night. You'd better be dying."
"Shit. I'm sorry, Licia. I forgot. I'm about to pull an all-nighter here though. What were the pages we needed to read for Astronomy?"
She thought for a moment. "113 through 147. Now get on your studying, and don't bother me again."
Gwen laughed timidly. "Goodnight, Licia. Dream of good things."
Alicia grinned and hung up, then flipped off the ringer disgustedly. I need sleep, and desperately.
"I'm still tired," Alicia sighed at lunch with Gwen that Saturday. "I don't know how I manage to make it through an entire season, and I'm even less sure about the playoffs."
"I admire you, Licia. I could never handle the countless hours of practice and competition."
"It's my nature. If I'm sitting still, I'm bored."
"You going out with Brian tonight?"
"Yeah, if the guy calls me. He's been MIA since the game on Wednesday."
"What if he doesn't call you?"
"Then I'll call him and bitch at him. Would you expect anything less?"
"From you? Not at all."
"Hey, Brian," Alicia said into the phone, "were you planning on calling me, or what?"
Brian cleared his throat. "Well, Alicia, it's like this..."
Alicia got an angry look on her face. "Are you about to break up with me?"
"Well, look, it's not you, it's me. I just need to find myself."
"Find yourself? Are you going to do that with some freshman whore?"
"Alicia, it's just not going to work out between us. Surely you know that in your heart. Look, I've got to go. Bye."
"That son of a BITCH!" she growled as she slammed the phone down. "Oh, I am going to kill him! That little--" Suddenly she felt lightheaded, and sank to her knees. "My God," she choked out, "he's gone. I can't believe that he'd just leave after all this time--"
Alicia's mom cautiously stepped into the room. "Alicia, what's wrong?" she asked tenderly.
"Brian broke up with me," she breathed. "I think I know why."
"Oh, honey. Why did he break up with you?"
Alicia slowly rose and stared off into space. "Well, we've been going out for quite a while, and he asked me to sleep with him. Well, I politely declined, and I guess he took it personally."
"You did the right thing."
"I know. I liked him a lot, though, and he has to go and do something like this to me." She sighed. "I know I won't stop loving him anytime soon, but what he did really burns me up."
"Do you need anything, dear?"
She shook her head. "Just some time alone."
Alicia's mother nodded and closed the door.
"I can't get him out of my head," Alicia said Wednesday.
"Relax, Licia," Chris said. "Forget about him. He's a jerk. Let's focus, chica."
"This is it. This is our game."
Alicia put the ball in play, and was immediately hit from the side. The ball was stripped from her hands, and she sat down hard on the ground as the opposing player ran to the corner goal and scored.
Alicia sat there, stunned. What the hell just happened? She rose slowly, with a blank look on her face.
"Hey, you alive?" Lori asked her.
"Yeah," she replied distantly.
"Mind if I take center?"
"Go ahead," she mumbled. "I feel weird."
The Warriors' first half didn't improve much after that. With Alicia still bothered by thoughts of Brian, their offense suffered severely. Her playing time was diminished, and when she was in, she continued to make mistakes. New Valaria trailed at halftime, 33-19.
Chris smacked Alicia on the back of the head as she passed her in the locker room. "Wake up, girl!" she shouted. When this was met with nothing but a blank stare into space, Chris hissed into her ear. "Listen, this is it. We lose this and there's nothing left but bitter disappointment. We've come much too far to let it slip away over an asshole like that." Alicia simply hung her head, and Chris stormed away to her locker.
Gina walked up to Alicia. "Hey, some college guy gave me his number. You want it?"
"Nah," she sighed.
"Come on, you can make a fresh start."
"Thanks, but I feel like crawling into a hole and dying instead."
Gina sighed and walked away.
Early in the third quarter, Lori started play and tossed to Alicia, who was being loosely guarded by the opposing line's worst player. Alicia ran toward the corner goal, but was corraled from behind and had the ball stripped away from her. The ball bounced toward the center of the field, but the defender held on to Alicia, dragging her out of bounds and slamming her into the turf.
Alicia leapt up, hopping mad, and looked at the backs of the officials. "Where's the PENALTY?" she screamed as she heard New Valaria fans echoing her displeasure with loud booing. The officials hadn't seen the roughing.
Alicia growled and rejoined the action in time to see a pass headed to a player near her. She leapt up and intercepted the ball cleanly, then raced along the sideline. She passed by the sideline goal, raced for the corner, and slammed the ball into the cylinder for a four-point goal.
The Panthers lined up on offense, with Lori opposing the center. Alicia nudged her aside, giving her a look that seemed like it cut right through her.
When the opposing center picked up the ball, Alicia steamrolled towards her and ripped the ball free from her hands, knocking her over in the process. Alicia raced to the corner goal and dunked the ball into the cylinder again.
That was all they needed. Sparked by Alicia, the Warriors took the lead a few minutes later, and never looked back. They cruised to an easy fifteen-point victory.
"Hey, Gina," Alicia said. "Have you still got the number of that guy?"
Gina grinned and plucked the slip of paper from the inside of her sock. "Fresh start?"
"I'm ready now," Alicia said, taking the number. "I'm ready."