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On the following Friday, Chad and Troy were back in their game uniforms with the rest of the Varsity team ready to face their first official opponents of the season, the Warriors from South Bend. The two best friends couldn't tell who was more nervous between the two as they met at the center of the court with Coach Bolton, a ref, and the opposing coach and captain. They had their standard talk and shook hands before they parted ways.
"We can so do this man, don't worry," stated Troy to Chad as they walked back to their side of the court. Luckily, they had home advantage for the first game of the season.
Chad forced a laugh. "You trying to convince me or yourself?"
Troy gave him a quick smile before he looked up into the stands and saw his favorite girl in the stands as she sat with Taylor, Kelsi, and Martha a few rows up. 'Gabriella is still supporting me, wow.'
"All right guys, let's get your heads in the game. I know it is just the first of the season but think of it as the first stone to lay down in the foundation of this season. Chad and Troy are going to be driving the plays out there as your co-captains so make sure to keep them in your line of vision. You are all strong players and I know you are going to give it your all today," spoke Coach Bolton.
"Now, for my favorite part, WHAT TEAM?" shouted Chad.
"WILDCATS!" screamed all the guys with grins on their faces.
The buzzer went off to signal the start of the game. Coach Bolton tapped Troy, Chad, Zeke, Jason, and Charles to start the game off. Not a minute later, Charles stole the ball from a South Bend player, passed it to Jason, who immediately got blocked, but Troy saved the ball by scooting behind as he took possession and shot the ball from there before he could get blocked himself. He didn't have more time than a few seconds to savor the moment of having the first two-pointer of the season as South Bend recovered and started to send the ball back down to their scoring area.
Gabriella was on the edge of her seat sitting in the bleachers as she watched her friends play basketball again in the East High gymnasium. For some reason, it just didn't compare playing basketball in the city league in the park to being here, knowing it all mattered. The city league was almost over, the guys had only the finals left to play in next week, and Gabriella was very proud that the guys had one of the best records there, especially as they were one of the youngest teams. Of course, this led her to think about the last game of the regular city league that happened on Tuesday at the park.
Taylor, Gabriella, Kelsi, Martha, and Audrina were all sitting in the stands as they watched intensely the progress of the guys' game they were playing. They were up against a team of firemen it looked like and it was an even match on both sides. Ryan and Audrina had the day off from rehearsals so Ryan was acting as a sub to rotate in and out.
Ryan caught the ball from a pass from Troy and made his shot from where he was, effectively tying up the game with five minutes left. He smiled up at Audrina quickly as she returned Ryan's smile but Ryan soon realized that little distraction cost the team as one of the opposing team members threw the ball within reach of Ryan to another player, who made a three pointer. Ryan looked over and saw Zeke who wanted back in, so he jogged over quickly and sat down as he watched Zeke immediately take over and make a three point shot of his own from an intercepted pass done by Charles. 'Guess I have to work on the concentration factor,' thought Ryan as he drank some water but never took his eyes off the game.
The game continued on, neither side letting up. When the Wildcats scored two points, so did the firemen and vice versa. At the last possible moment, Zeke blocked a shot of one of the firemen, Charles grabbed it and passed to Jason, who then passed it to Chad, who ran it down but got blocked, forcing him to have passed it off to Troy, who was clear. Knowing that the whole game counted on this shot, Troy took a deep but quick breath and made his shot, feeling his heart slow down as he heard a satisfying swish. Immediately, he was engulfed by his friends as they cheered for a few moments before they shook the hands of the opposing team members, who seemed to be in good spirits themselves despite the loss.
"Hey, you guys earned it. I think we're going to retrain and try to get you guys next year," one of the players said to Chad, who returned the smile he was given.
"Thanks man, that means a lot," replied Chad.
As soon as all the formalities were over, the girls came down onto the court and congratulated the guys on another wonderful game.
"Can you guys make it any more tighter? I was getting bored up there," teased Gabriella as she came to stand between Charles and Troy.
"Haha," returned Troy, who smiled down at her. He accepted the bottle of water she held for him as Charles took the other. Troy savored the cold liquid that was running down his throat, replenishing some of the water he lost through his sweat.
Charles finished his water first and went to get more from the fountain, leaving Troy and Gabriella alone, slightly separated from the others.
"Great game, Wildcat! Good to see you still have your basketball skills," commented Gabriella with a smile and a twinkle in her brown eyes. "Then again, you have been playing with the Redhawks and our friends here. By the way, it was very sweet of you to arrange that scrimmage with the Redhawks and the city league basketball team we had here this past weekend. It meant a lot to Chad, Zeke, and Jason especially. Very nicely done for an olive branch on your part."
Troy grinned at the memory. "Hey, we might have lost this weekend to them but we did pretty good against a college team. I think Charles and Ryan enjoyed themselves too."
"Probably, from what I have heard," agreed Gabriella.
"Good, I just wanted these guys to enjoy playing the game again and having a different set of opponents to deal with. I think when we mixed up the teams, it got even better," stated Troy. "Then again, I admit, I was on the winning team."
Gabriella laughed at his admission. "That's honesty for you. It's good to hear it."
Troy smiled slightly at this. "Hey, I'm working on it, just as I said I would. You've been a big help too, Gabriella. I don't think I would have gotten this far without you to motivate me."
"I haven't done anything though," replied a confused Gabriella.
"Maybe consciously, but by you willing to be my friend and to even tutor me when I didn't deserve your help, you made me realize that I needed to be the better person and the more mature adult to make things right from this summer. Without you there as a sort of goal for me, I probably would have lost sight of the prize by now," stated Troy.
Not knowing the answer, Gabriella dared to ask, "And that prize is?"
Troy grinned down at her. "You'll know when the time is right, I'm still working on getting it."
Gabriella snapped out of the memory as she heard a whistle that signaled the end of the first eight minutes of the game, meaning the first quarter was over. She guiltily looked over at Taylor, who was giving her a knowing look, which made Gabriella blush a bit more than she was already from the memory. She looked up at the scoreboard and noted that the Wildcats were dominating by at least twenty points, which was very good.
Wanting the attention off of her, Gabriella looked over at Audrina, who was sitting three seats down past Kelsi and Martha. "How's the musical rehearsals going?" she asked.
Audrina smiled. "As good as can be expected. We're getting down to the last few weeks and I'm sure you know already that Darbus is up in arms about everything but we should be ready. How's the tutoring center?"
"Great," replied Gabriella. "We keep having a steady stream of students, which is great but I know Mr. Thomas will love having you back as I think there are more interested students. Are you planning on trying out for the winter or spring musicale this year? From what I hear from Kelsi, you have quite the knack for picking up music quickly."
"I honestly don't know," said Audrina. "I want to get through this one first and then figure it out from there."
"You should think about it too, Gabriella," added Kelsi. "I know Darbus didn't cast you this time but maybe the next two. I have the perfect song picked out already and everything for you."
Gabriella studied her friend for a moment before giving her a small smile. "I'd love to but we'll just see how things go, okay? Right now, I am swamped with all the college essays and applications that I don't even know how I'll breathe these next few months, just as I'm sure you all are too."
"Except me the lowly junior," teased Audrina with a smile. "I do have SATs coming up though and that's enough for me."
"Speaking of essays, how are yours going, Taylor?" questioned Gabriella.
"Oh they're fine, most of them are done and I just need to proof. I have a few more applications to do though," answered Taylor. "You?"
"Done with the general statement but now I'm stuck with specific essay questions for specific schools. Who knew that applying for colleges would be like having two more classes on top of our normal ones," commented Gabriella.
Kelsi laughed. "I know! Even applying for music school requires so much writing! I was honestly surprised! What about you, Martha?"
Martha nodded her head in agreement with the group. "Dance schools and regular schools both are asking for the same things. The deadlines for most schools though is January first, right?"
"Right," confirmed Taylor. "There's still time for everything but with finals soon creeping after that…"
"Enough said," interrupted Kelsi, who felt the anxiety over college creep up again. "Let's just relax our minds and watch the game, shall we?"
The girls turned their attention back to the game that was back in progress and kept their attention there as the Wildcats continued to dominate their opponents, up until the end of the game when they won by a margin of forty plus points. After the traditional shaking of the hands, the guys immediately headed for the locker room with Coach Bolton right behind them.
Gabriella and Taylor stayed seated in the bleachers while Audrina left to join her other friends to chat and Kelsi went with Martha to the vending machines in the courtyard to get some bottles of water. Taylor looked at her best friend and became concerned as she saw that deep in thought look on her friend's face again.
"All right, might as well lay it on me," said Taylor. "What's going on in that little head of yours, Gabriella?"
"Just the usual," returned Gabriella. "College applications and essays, school, and Troy. The usual three, told you."
Taylor rolled her eyes at this. "Well the college stuff will be done with the exception of interviews at the middle of December, since I know you are sending those puppies off early, and the school thing, you've been doing pretty well at handling that. I guess what I'm curious about is the Troy thing."
"You always wonder about the Troy thing," replied Gabriella. "Nothing new to tell really. I'm just really enjoying the feeling of being near him again and feeling like I actually understand where he is coming from now and what he is thinking, like I've reacquainted myself with a long lost friend and the feeling is just so amazing."
"With a long lost friend or a long lost love?" challenged Taylor with a knowing look in her eyes. "You can't disguise this feeling from me, Gabriella, I know you too well. You may fool everyone else, even Troy, but I know you still care for him. I can see it in your eyes when you look at him."
Gabriella blushed at this idea. "Maybe so, but there's nothing that can be really done about it. I don't really want to risk our friendship and everything we have achieved so far to take a chance at a relationship that may or may not work. I mean, we are probably going to be heading off in different directions in another seven to nine months depending."
"True," conceded Taylor, "but that doesn't mean you need to give up on your heart's dream, Gab. Look at me and my lunkhead basketball man. I know college may take us in our own directions but I want to spend every moment I can with him, even if I'm scolding him half the time."
The two laugh at this and silently end the conversation with an understanding that Gabriella would put more thought into what was already in her mind. Soon, the guys came out and were making it clear they were starving.
"Aww, you mean all that running and jumping actually worked up an appetite?" kidded Taylor. "I'm amazed!"
Chad stuck his tongue out at his girlfriend for that comment. "Common sense to the average brainiac but that's beside the point. We were talking in the locker room and were thinking that the group of us could head over to the diner down the street. Some big juicy hamburgers sound really good right now."
"Actually, that sounds like a great idea," stated Martha.
"Good, now that I see there are no objections, let's pile on into those cars and get going," urged Jason as he wrapped his arm around Kelsi's waist and led the group outside to the parking lot.
Once at the diner, they grabbed the largest booth with a side booth next to it that they could find and piled in. Chad, Taylor, Troy, Gabriella, Jason, Kelsi, and Zeke grabbed the larger booth with Ryan, Audrina, Martha, and Charles in the booth right next to them. They placed their orders as soon as the waitress appeared and started talking amongst themselves, the boys still riding high on their first win of the season.
After the mozzarella sticks and potato skins arrived with their refills of their drinks, the guys were still replaying the game over and over, which had slowly started to annoy the girls. Audrina rolled her eyes at Charles and Ryan, who wouldn't let up on how they could have been better at the game, laughing inwardly at this other side of Ryan, the jock side. At the other table, Kelsi, Gabriella, and Taylor exchanged looks as they listened to the diehard basketball players as they rehashed the game in great detail and talked about what they could improve and what worked well, all while they stuffed their face.
"Do you think they could possibly choke on all that food while they talk that fast?" wondered Taylor, which caused Gabriella and Kelsi to laugh.
"Biologically, you would think so right?" commented Gabriella. "I mean, they call us chatterboxes but man, right now, they are totally in the zone and are even talking over the booth to involve Ryan and Charles, much to Martha and Audrina's annoyance."
"Then again, usually Jason never talks this much unless he's talking b-ball with the guys," added Kelsi. "In some strange way, it's kind of cute."
The three started laughing together, which effectively made the guys stop for some reason. Troy took in the image of Gabriella as she sat next to him smiling and laughing and grinned himself. "So what's making you three so endlessly happy?"
Gabriella attempted to catch her breath while the other girls did the same. "Just that," she started.
"You guys are just hypocrites," finished Taylor.
At the guys' puzzled expressions, Taylor started to laugh harder along with Gabriella.
"What they mean to say is that you guys talk all the time about us girls being chatterboxes and talking endlessly. Well, if you look at yourselves now, you are the chatterboxes!" explained Kelsi with a grin.
"We are not!" defended Zeke. "We're just rehashing the game so we get better."
"And have managed to consume all the appetizers without even noticing," pointed out Gabriella, gratified that they saw she was right when they looked at the empty center plates.
Troy looked a bit sheepish. "Okay, maybe we are when it comes to sports."
"At least we aren't dissecting what each other are wearing or who is dating who!" defended Chad. "I mean, sports are so much more dignified."
Taylor slapped Chad on the back of the head. "Not even!"
Chad rubbed the back of his head. "Even!"
The gang laughed at the couple who never ceased to amuse them all. Having heard the complaints of the girls loud and clear, the guys turned the conversation towards something they could all talk about.
Gabriella smiled over at Troy, who was involved in a conversation with Jason about something, and just admired his profile. 'Oh my, I'm turning into that little teeny bopper crusher again,' she thought to herself as she caught herself staring. Before she could divert her attention though, Troy turned his head and caught her with her sweet smile and grinned back at her.
"Enjoying the view?" he teased, which made Gabriella blush more.
"Maybe," she flirted back before she giggled as he tickled her side a little with his fingers for a brief moment.
Troy laughed with her and kissed the side of her head before he turned his attention back to Jason as he had said something to Troy. Taylor had observed the scene from slightly across the round table and shook her head. 'That girl is flirting with fire but he seems to be liking it. Maybe their time is coming soon,' thought Taylor with a smile.