She ran down the court. Her heart pounding as her pace fastened. In that moment, she knew that she needed that final push. So that's what she did. A final burst of energy came surging through her and she made it. Just before-

BUZZZZZZ

"Yes! You did it Sam!" She felt pats on her back as she smiled.

"Good job Goodman." Their coach nodded his head at her.

"Samantha!" A girl came running from the bleachers to hug her. "That was amazing!"

Eventually, everyone left the gymnasium. Most of them going home after the exciting game. Even though everyone else went home, she did not. Heaving a sigh, she grabbed her bags and took her basketball to walk away to a nearby park. She quickly found herself a court she could play on. Dropping her bags, she unzipped her sweater and hurried onto the court to start practicing her shots.

Her heart pounded and just as she was about to make another shot, she felt her legs go limp under her. Before she knew it, she was on the ground, breathing harder than she had all day. Moments later, she felt a hand on her shoulder. If she was not so weak, she would've lifted her head to see who it was, but she did not, she could not.

"Let me help you out." The arm took hers and slung it around their shoulders.

She managed to stutter out a "T-Th-Thank you." to them.

Within a few moments, she had been set down on a bench and there was water being held out to her. She took it gratefully, drinking the water quickly. She handed the water bottle back to the person and finally, her eyes looked up and met... His?

"O-oh, thank you for helping me." She stood up.

"No problem." He smiled and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Is there something I could do for you? It only seems fair." Samantha stared into the boy's blue eyes.

"No, it's all good." He smiled and pointed to her things on the bench. "You should go home, it's getting late."

"I-I will. Thanks again." Samantha grabbed everything that was hers and started to walk. "Are you sure there's nothing I can do?" She turned back once more.

"Actually..." He trailed off. "Never mind, you probably wouldn't want to anyways."

"No, tell me what you were thinking." She crossed her arms and stared at him.

"Teach me." He said, pointing at the ball.

"I'll be here tomorrow, four pm." Samantha gave him a nod. "Be here."

"Sure." He smiled and held out his hand.

She took it and gave it a squeeze. "See you later...."

"Van. Call me Van." He responded.

"Alright, I'll see you then, Van." She smiled and let go. "By the way, I'm-"

"Samantha, I know." Van nodded and walked past her.

He left her to wonder how he knew her. Shaking away the thought, she walked off the court and started to walk home. Looks like her parents would not pick her up anyways.

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Thanks for reading this, guys! It's been a while since I've written anything new, I hope you enjoy.

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See you in the next chapter!