Page 43 of Kicking It with the Point Guard

Okay… that doesn’t sound so bad.

“We’ve randomly selected seats from the student section to participate.” She smirks again, and I contemplate leaving right now.

But I stop myself. Cameron asked me to come, and Oscar said that Cameron would be happy I came.

What could Allyson do to me with so many people watching?

I look up at Oscar. He’s frowning. He glances at me, and he smiles, but it’s uneasy.

This must not be normal. I look at the time clock. There’s less than ten minutes until halftime is over.

Allyson reads off several seat numbers, and students cheer as their friends are called. I shrink down. Don’t call me. Please don’t call me.

She pauses. “I think we need one more.”

I cross my fingers, squeezing my eyes shut and praying for a miracle.

My seat is called. I knew it was coming, but a girl can be hopeful, can’t she?

Oscar grabs my wrist as I stand. “You don’t have to go down there.”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, a spotlight lands on us. He withdraws his hand but doesn’t stop looking at me.

“Just go home, Violet. I’ll explain what happened to Cam. He’ll understand.”

“No.” I shake my head. “I said I’d come, and I can’t go now. Besides, she didn’t know I was coming… She couldn’t have prepared anything this fast.” I look around me at the crowd, who is staring back expectantly. “And she wouldn’t do anything in front of this many people.”

I don’t know if I’m trying to convince Oscar or myself, but I don’t feel more confident as I make my way to the court.

Violet

The handful of us who were called gather at half-court.

The cheerleaders pass out blindfolds, and the person whose seat was called first stands there, preparing to play, while the rest of us are ushered off the court so we don’t get in the way.

One of the cheerleaders I usually see in Allyson’s clique places a basketball wearing glasses and a red and white beanie randomly on the court. Lindsay spins the contestant about ten times before letting them loose.

The first two people take about two minutes to find Balldo. The next girl finds it in one, and the crowd cheers as she removes her blindfold.

The time clock is running down. Halftime only has a couple of minutes left.

There’s only one person left in front of me, and the cheerleader next to us tells him to put his blindfold on.

“You put yours on too,” she snarks. “We’re running out of time.”

“I don’t think the five seconds it will take to put my blindfold on will matter that much in the grand scheme of things,” I say drily, and the guy in front of me snorts.

“Just do it. Allyson’s orders.”

Ah. There it is.

I’ll just do as she says. The other contestants have been comical to watch, but it’s been an innocent and fun game so far. The crowd has loved it. As far as I can tell, the only thing I have to worry about is embarrassment at fumbling around on my hands and knees for a couple of minutes.

I wait on the sideline, blindfolded and taking my cues from the sounds of the crowd. Finally, I hear the cheer and know he’s found his Balldo. I’m next, and even though I keep telling myself that it’ll be fine, I’m still nervous.

Instead of leading me out to the middle of the court like everyone else, the cheerleader beside me moves me backwards. I was almost out of view of most of the crowd, anyway, and I know now that no one can see me.

“I’m fixing your blindfold,” she says. “It was about to fall off.”

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