A Game of Basketball Pt. 2

The next day in class, Nicole wouldn’t even look at me. Worst of all, rumors spread through school like a wildfire.

I overheard several conversations about her after English class. They called her a tranny, shemale and a slew of other transphobic slurs.

At lunch, my teammates wouldn’t shut up about her. Especially Finn…

“We’re seriously not going to let that faggot on our team, are we?” He looks around the table as if we all agree with him.

“I don’t see anything wrong with it, besides… You saw her play! She went toe to toe with Dave…” Donny says. “Besides, who doesn’t want a girl with a little something extra!”

Donny is literally the only one in the entire school who could get away with saying whatever the hell comes through his mind…

“Are you a fag?” Finn asks.

“Nah… I like boobs too much… Besides, it’s not gay if I rail a girl with a dick,” he adds.

“There’s no point in asking Donny, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing he wouldn’t try once,” Jason adds.

“You got me there.” He smiles widely.

“Dude, you are fucked up in the head!” Jeremy says. “I’m not going near that dude… I mean come on, dressing up as a girl? Really?”

“What!? It’s just sex… Besides, you can’t knock up a tranny…” Donny says.

“He’s got a point…” Jason adds. “I mean, they don’t have a pussy… Obviously, that’s why I’d never have sex with one… Too addicted to the vagina.”

“Hahaha, amen to that!” Finn goes to high five Jason. “I only fuck sloots!”

After a few minutes of holding his hand in the air, Finn finally takes it back, looking around to see if anyone saw that.

“I only fuck sluts, too!” Josh says, holding his fist up to pound it with Finn.

“Shut up, Josh…” Finn mumbles as he looks away.

Josh quickly pulls his hand back, looking embarrassed.

“So what the fuck are we going to do about this tranny trying to get on our team!?” Finn asks.

“Yeah, captain!?” Jeremy agrees, reflecting the question my way…

“Who cares! Why are we even talking about this?” I slam my fist against the table.

“Oh come on, you’re only pissed because you tried to fuck her before you found out she’s got a dick!” Finn shouts loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear.

And of course, of all the people to pass our table at that moment in time, it had to be Nicole…

The look of humiliation on her face made my stomach sink to the depths of my intestines.

“Speak of the devil! There’s the tranny, right now!” Finn shouts loud enough for her to hear.

“Dude! Shut the fuck up!” I shout at him.

“Ooooh, someone’s mad… Maybe you’ve already been boning…” All I want to do right now is break Finn’s teeth in. “Tell me, Dave… Are you the pitcher or the catcher?”

“Fuck you! I’m not a homo! There’s nothing going on between us, so shut fuck up! Or I’ll knock your teeth out!” Standing up, I’m ready to jump across the table at him.

“Bring it, Marshall!” Finn says, standing up as well. They all know I hate being called that! The rest of the team all stand up, trying to get in between us.

“Don’t fucking call me that! I don’t go by that name anymore!” Ever since we moved I took on my mother’s maiden name, Peterson, but it’s wasn’t official when I moved so people still call me Marshall.

I caught a glimpse of Nicole, eyes full of tears as she storms out of the cafeteria. Fuck my life…

Tossing the rest of my lunch out, I chase after her.

“Look, he’s going for more dick!” Finn shouts. I swear to God, I’m going to beat his ass.

I finally catch up to Nicole in the stairwell. She’s crying underneath the stairs.

“Hey…” The only word I could muster.

“Go away! I don’t ever want to talk to you, again!” She buries her face in her knees as she tries to hide from the rest of the world.

“I just want to apologize… Finn is an asshole.”

“No fucking shit… Doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure that out,” she mutters. “You think I give a shit what he thinks?”

“Why are you so pissed at me? I tried to defend you!”

“No, you didn’t! You just defended yourself… Why are you even talking to me? You’re not a homo, remember?” she says as she gets up and walks past me.

Fuck…

Why can’t things be simple?

—

When practice finally came, I was stunned to see Nicole there.

“You came!”

“You think I’m going to let assholes like you and Finn ruin what I worked so hard for?” she says as she pushes past me.

“Nicole! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it…”

“Look who it is, the shemale and the faggot that sucks her off!” Finn says, walking into the gym.

“Finn, I’m going to fucking kick your ass!”

“Woah… Hold it, let’s all just take a chill pill,” Jason says as he rushes in between us.

“Come on guys, are we seriously going to let this tranny freak on our team?” Finn says.

“I outplayed you yesterday. What’s wrong, Finn? Afraid to get beat by a “tranny”?” Nicole asks.

“Yeah right! Like I’m going to lose to a freak like you!” Finn says.

A whistle blows, as coach walks into the gym. “Everyone on the line. You know what time it is.”

As we line up for sprints, Finn makes the dick sucking motion with his hand at me. I fucking swear to God, one more time…

The whistle blows both Nicole and I explode off the line. I can tell she’s pissed as she beats me, finishing the gutbuster first.

Finn finishes well behind both of us. We continue doing gutbusters and Nicole won’t let up.

Finally, coach divides us into two different teams. Once again Nicole’s on the opposite team, this time with Finn, Jeremy, and Josh. The three people who opposed her being on the team the most. Jason’s also on their team. So I’ve got Donny, Brock, Caleb, and Austin.

Tip-off, Austin gets the ball and passes it to me. I push it up the court as Jason trails me. Nicole comes up to block my path to the basket and I pass it out to Brock for the open 3.

Jeremy takes it out and inbounds it to Jason. He pushes it up the court and then passes it down to Finn.

Finn posts up Caleb and fakes a spin move to the left and pulls up to the right, dropping it in.

I take the inbound pass from Brock and drive it up past half court as Jason tries to defend.

Obvious mismatch down in the post with Josh trying to guard Austin. Since we’ve only got 3 big men, there’s always going to be a mismatch down low. I dish it to Austin and he easily puts it in over Josh.

Josh inbounds it to Jason and he passes it up to Jeremy. Donny’s on Jeremy, but he drives the lane and pulling Brock off of Nicole.

Instead of passing it to the open player, he pulls up. The frustration is visible on Nicole’s face.

Caleb grabs the rebound and dishes the ball to me. I push it up the court. Jason meets me at half court and I crossover to the right side and as he switches his position I go to cross over to the left, but instead use the in and out dribble.

A fake crossover, making Jason change his position to where he thought I was going, but instead of crossing over to the left, I do what looks like a crossover where I change my momentum to the left, but keep the when the ball bounces to the left, I use my right hand to intercept it and step to the right.

Before Jason realizes where I’m going, his momentum is taking him to the left and I’m able to dribble past him.

Jeremy comes up for help, but I dish it off to Donny and sprint past him for the give and go. Donny bounces it back as I slam it down for the dunk, making it 7 to 2.

Nicole grabs the rebound and inbounds it to Jason. He tries to push it up the court, but I attack him like a fly I’m about to squish and force him to pass it to Jeremy.

Jeremy passes it to Finn and he dunks it after he drives past Caleb.

Taking the inbound pass from Donny, I push it up the court and meet both Jeremy and Jason at half court.

I crossover to the right, forcing both of them to chase and then stop my momentum and spin back to the left, giving me the entire left side of the court to move.

Driving it past Jeremy I rush the lane, forcing Finn to help.

As meets me at the free throw line, I bounce it between his legs to Caleb who he left open and he puts it in the for the easy layup.

Jason takes the inbound pass from Josh and throws it up to Jeremy. Donny rushes up to guard him.

Nicole is wide open for an easy bucket. Where the fuck is Brock?

There he is over by their basket, sniffing his fingers. I don’t even want to know.

Instead of passing it to Nicole who has the easy shot, Jeremy drives it up the court. I sneak up behind him and pick his pocket, knocking the ball loose.

Donny grabs it and passes it to me and I yell at Brock while I chuck the ball at him. He wakes up out of his daydream just in time to catch the ball and put it in for the easy basket.

“Why the fuck didn’t you pass me the ball? I was wide open!” Nicole confronts Jeremy.

“Don’t you get it!? We don’t want you on our team!” Finn says.

“Who the fuck made that decision?” I interrupt.

“I did as co-captain of this team! Got a problem with that?” Finn asks.

“As one of the other co-captains of this team, I do have a problem with that!” I tell him.

“Well then let’s put it up to a vote then,” Finn says.

Coach blows the whistle. “I decide who’s on the team and who’s not. And we haven’t decided who the captains are. Just because you were both captains last year doesn’t make you captains this year.”

“We here to play basketball, not fight like children… Since you all would rather bicker, we’ll run instead. Everyone on the line,” Coach Brooks orders.

The entire team sighs as we walk over to the line. “We don’t walk in this court, only losers walk.”

Immediately everyone starts jogging to the line. “This is your fault, fagboy,” I hear Finn mutter under his breath.

“Don’t fucking call her that!” I rush up to Finn and shove him.

“And what are you going to do about it, knob jockey!”

I was about to knock his nose in before Nicole grabbed my shirt. “Come on, Dave… it’s not worth it.”

I’m surprised she’s even talking to me after what happened at lunch.

“That’s it… Dave and Finn… 20 push-ups, now!” Coach demands.

I brush Finn off and start pushing the ground. Finn also starts doing his push-ups. After we finish, coach makes us run for the rest of practice.

Everyone’s exhausted by the time she lets us leave. Before Nicole rushes off, I grab her arm gently and force her to face me. “Are we good?”

“Not really… But thanks for standing up for me. Also, I can fight my own battles,” she says as she looks up at me.

“What do I gotta do to make it up to you?” I ask.

“I don’t know…” she says as she turns away and walks out.

That could have gone better, it could have gone worse too.

Chapter 3

A couple weeks went by and tension grew between the team. School became littered with rumors of Nicole being trans, with Nicole and I having sex, with all sorts of stupid shit. Some were true, obviously. Nicole is trans and we did have sex. I still haven’t admitted it to anyone, but that doesn’t mean some people haven’t put two and two together.

But we haven’t really talked a whole lot since then. Which sucks…

Everyone made the team, obviously. We need all the help we can get. Coach also had us vote on team co-captains. Just like last year, Finn and I became the co-captains. I can’t imagine why anyone would think it’s a good idea to have Finn as a captain.

During our practices, coach implemented 2 different plays. They were simple and easy to remember. And they were plays we learned last year. Those who were on the team last year already knew the plays.

The first play coach calls pick. After I tap my head and yell pick, we set up a box offense, but the small forward and the shooting guard are in the low post and the two post players set up at the top of the free throw box. The point guard, being me, is at the top of the key.

The post players go down and screen for the guards who pop up at the three-point line and the center and power forward post up at the bottom. I pass it to whatever guard is open, they can either take the shot if they’re open or pass it down to the post player if the defense switches and has their wing guarding the post player, giving us a mismatch at the post.

The second play was very easy and simple. All five players lined up on the wing. The center is in the corner on the right and the power forward is in the opposite corner. The point guard brings the ball to the top of the key and the shooting guard is on the left between the power forward and the point guard. The small forward is on the opposite side.

Basically, whoever I choose to pass the ball to, I go set a pick for the opposite side. So I choose to pass to the shooting guard, I go set a pick for the small forward.