💋 Dedicated to: @Blinded_By_Reality 💋

~A/N~

Doesn't it just make you feel so accomplished when you update a chapter? xD

Btw: bit of a short chapter, only 1K words cuz usually they're like 4-5K, but it was necessary. :) Also, I dedicated this chapter to Blinded_By_Reality cuz uh... I'm sorta trying to make up for something I did and this is my way of failing at it like a proper shitface, but...

Yeh, I just suck in general, guys. Don't be my friend, lol.

- PBJ

~

/// N I N E ///

** UNEDITED **

*Zella's POV*

*last day of school (Tuesday)*

"Hi," I said once he had taken a seat next to me. He glanced at me with a shy smile.

"Hey." His voice was soft, barely audible over the noise made by the loud seventh-graders inside the classroom.

"My name is Zella, what's yours?" I said and I saw him look away, his eyes slightly hidden under his dirty-blond bangs.

"Scott," he replied. I saw his chubby-fingered hands lock together under the table, fidgeting probably as a nervous habit of his. It was cute, somehow.

He was cute...

I stared down at the photograph in my hands, my fingers gently brushing over the smooth surface. It was a well-taken picture of everyone who had stayed at the party past the finishing time, sort of like an in-the-moment photo rather than a planned one. On one end, stood Scott who looked strange without a girl wrapped in his arms - Jazz had left early. He wasn't smiling - he looked distant and isolated from the rest of the group, like he did in almost every photo he was ever in these days. In the middle sat Max, his coke can held up in the air and he had asked me to sit beside him in the photo.

Hah, we looked just like a couple. In all honesty, I'd say we'd be quite good together. A few of my friends had often said so, but I'd never took note of it until now.

I rubbed at my eyes and looked up at the wall-clock in my room. God, it was really late. Yawning, I placed the photo inside my bedside drawer and snuggled into my pillow. I was just about to drift into sleep when my phone buzzed. That sound was starting to properly annoy the crap out of me.

"Mmph," I groaned as I leaned over and picked up the device.

Basketball Group:

Coach - Everyone make sure to bring your kits, both blue and white. Be there by 2:00. Eat well.

Well, shit. I had a match tomorrow. How could I have forgotten something so important? It was the last match of the year, for fluff's sake.

Feeling like the biggest idiot in the world, I threw the phone onto the sheets. It landed somewhere near my feet and I ignored it as it buzzed again, stuffing my face back in my pillow.

--------- time skip -----------

There was a huge crowd of seniors as well as parents from both schools when we walked onto the court. Our school wasn't a pretty one, but it had never looked this alive before. The people watching jeered when they caught sight of us, some of them chanting our signature school cheer while others applauded and whooped. I heard Marcie somewhere in the crowd once we got closer, screaming my name like a proper madman. I saw the usual group of Jazz's fans and Scott's clique, he himself pumping his fist in the air and hooting along with his animal friends.

I'd never expected such a big crowd to appear - maybe it was because we were against NEH. We needed the support to even have a chance at winning.

The rest of the team followed suit as I walked towards our benches, each of us dropping our changing bags down and taking out our lunches. I ruffled through my bag and searched for my pasta, but couldn't find the box. Where the heck had it disappeared to?

My head ached from the lack of sleep and I felt a sting in my eyes every now and than. I barely stayed awake while everyone else ate their food - I must have forgotten to pack my lunch in the morning due to my intense tiredness and lack of time. 

Minutes passed and most of my teammates had finished eating. It was almost time for the game to start.

"Um, hello? Zella, what the hell are you doing?" Linda, a dark girl in my team who had midnight-black hair asked me with a shocked look, walking up to me.

"What?" I asked, confused as to why she'd be angry at me.

"Where's your food? Are you kidding me? Cuz if you're not eating, I can't say I've heard of a worse role-model for the team," she said, finishing up the last bite of the sandwich she had been eating before taking a seat beside me and dropping her bag down. My mouth watered and I felt light-headed, but I tried my best to keep a steady gaze.

"I forgot to pack my food," I replied, the words coming out in a barely audible whisper.

"Zella, you need to eat. You sound half-dead," she demanded, taking out her lunch box again. I felt my mouth watering again as she lifted the lid. She was just about to give me a sandwich when the referee blew his deafening whistle, signalling the start of the game. "Uh, if you want you can eat this quickly, but you might throw up while playing. You really should have eaten earlier, at least at home."

I didn't reply, just took the food from her small hands and devoured the snack. What she didn't know was that I had actually slept past my alarm and I hadn't had time to eat anything anyway, even if I had remembered to. Then again, it was probably my fault since I had stayed late into the night at that damned party.

I vaguely heard someone call my name and followed behind the team that had been picked out for the first quarter of the game. The screaming and cheering of the crowds, some for our school and others for NEH, sounded a little distant as if my head was underwater and they were above the surface.

There was another blow of the whistle and I was guessing I had been standing in the right place. I heard the ball being hit hard and before I could register what was happening, it landed in my hands only to slip through them, a member of the other team laughed and grabbed it off the floor.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"Earth to Zella, our supposed team captain."

"Get yourself together, idiot."

I heard voices all around me and I attempted to shut them out because they were hurting my head, "Shut up..."

There was a loud uproar and I guessed that someone had scored. From the look on my teammates faces, it was definitely not our team's point.

"Happy now?" Jazz hissed, shoving me. Why was she so violent about everything?

"ZELLA STEIN, GET THE HELL OFF THE COURT!" the coach's voice thundered over the court, ringing in my ears.

And then everything went blurry. 

I was falling back, but I couldn't feel it until I hit the ground. Black spots blotted out my vision and the noises around me faded into a bubbling silence.

-----------------END OF CHAPTER---------------