To my excitement our team won the match without too much difficulty, pulling a 10-point lead this time and they walked out of the gym with their heads held high. Iris's stomach growled while we waited for their next match and we all laughed amongst ourselves. Several of the other students had already bought food from the concession stand set up at the back of the bleachers so I offered to get us some snacks. The girls insisted on coming with me so we walked up in a group to the bleachers and each ordered something. I chose to try the soft pretzel with a cheesy dipping sauce and I was surprised at the large pieces of salt that seemed to be baked into the pretzel's outer crust.

By the time we made it through the line and got our food, it was almost time for the boys' next match and I hoped that they were able to eat between their matches. I was surprised that in the third match they didn't start with the normal players, but instead, Brandon was in the tip-off position with Troy, Mark, a senior named Kevin, and a junior called Devon making up the other four members.

"They're all probably getting tired, huh? This is already their third game in one day," Iris pointed out with obvious worry, not even touching her nachos as she watched Brandon face off against the other team. The player's number was a 2, the lowest number on the team, so I assumed he was the captain of the other team.

"I'm sure they're tired, but that's why we came, right? To cheer them through it," I said while bumping her shoulder encouragingly.

She glanced at me and then back at Brandon before taking a deep breath and yelling loudly, "You can do it, Brandon!" just as the coach blew the whistle and the basketball was tossed into the air. 

With an incredible burst, Brandon leaped into the air and deftly tipped the basketball towards Mark who immediately passed it off to Troy. I watched in fascination as the other team frantically went to block Troy's progress to the goal but Brandon broke his guard and Troy passed the ball cleanly over the guys protecting him into Brandon's waiting arms. He shot the ball, hitting the corner of the painted box perfectly so the ball ricocheted into the net for the first 2 points of the game. Thunderous cheers erupted around me which Iris and I joined as our team made their way to their side of the court once again.

The rest of the game was fascinating as the team members constantly switched in and out and formations I hadn't seen in either of their first two games were used expertly by the whole team. It was obvious that all of the changes were frustrating the other team who didn't seem to be adapting well. The game ended with a large 25-point lead for the Sharks and I jumped to my feet and cheered loudly as the boys left the gym again with wide smiles. 

After our cheers died down, Mr. Borsema once again stood on the bleachers. We all turned to face him as he explained that there would be one more game for today and our team was going to be on the other basket court. He asked us to pick up all of our stuff and any garbage we had around us before following him to the other side of the gym. We did as he asked, depositing our paper plates and napkins in the first garbage can we came across. We made the trek to the other side of the gym where the game had just finished between two teams, one in black jerseys with gold numbers and the other with white jerseys with maroon letters.

Once that game ended all of the basketball teams left the court and people came in to sweep and polish the floors. I sat back and sipped from the can of lemonade I bought with my pretzel and waited for the people to finish cleaning off the gym floor. As I relaxed someone announced with a megaphone that the last matches for the day would start in ten minutes.

"Wow, I haven't even been playing and I feel exhausted," Iris muttered, standing and stretching her arms above her head.

"I know what you mean, Iris. These bleacher seats are not comfortable at all," Kim complained as she stood and stretched as well.

"Well, I've gotten quite a few costume ideas while I've been here, so I am completely satisfied," Rosa interjected, stretching her feet out to rest on the bleacher seat below her. "I'm glad we all came together," she said with a smile which we all returned.

"Me too. This has been more fun than I thought it would be," I said honestly and Kim laughed.

"The real fun will come tonight at the hotel!" she said with a grin and I chuckled, glancing at Rosa.

"Is there really a game room for the guests to use?" I asked and she humphed.

"Yes, there is, but I wish they had a pool! Iris could have really caught Brandon's eye with a hot swimsuit," Rosa lamented sadly. Iris immediately blushed, reaching past me to whap her on the shoulder lightly. "What? You know it's true," she said imperiously and Iris sighed, sitting back down without further comment.

The last game was almost painful to watch. Our team was leaps and bounds ahead of their opponents when it came to skills and the other team started to try and do underhanded moves to cause our players to foul. When a player basically bodychecked Troy mid-shot, causing him to crash to the ground, I instinctively jumped up. I was halfway down the bleacher steps before Kim caught up to me and held me back from going onto the court and punching the jerk square in the gut. Dajan and the rest of the players on the court ran over to him and I sighed in relief when he got back to his feet without a limp or any obvious injuries.

The rest of the game had me clenching my hands into fists and grinding my teeth but the Sharks came out as the clear victors with a 45 point lead, including an incredible shot hurled from the opposite side of the court by Sterling that magically made it in the net just as the buzzer rang. It might have been spiteful since they were already winning, but I wanted to buy Sterling a cake.

After the game ended all of the teams from the different high schools came into the gym and stood in circles with their teams and coach. Once everyone assembled, an announcer with a microphone came onto the floor. 

"Well done for all of the teams who have participated today in the winter tournament. Tomorrow for the final matches to decide the winner we will have eight teams compete. The first qualifying teams will be the Sweet Amoris Sharks and the Coral Bay Dolphins, both with zero losses," the man said.

Me, Rosa, Kim, and Iris all exploded from our seats, cheering and screaming for our boys with as much energy as we could muster along with the other students who had come to support them. I could hear a similar response from the other side of the stadium, which I assumed were the Coral Bay High students. The other qualifying teams were announced and I was pleased to see that the unsportsmanlike team had not made it to the finals.

After the schedule was explained briefly we were all dismissed and the basketball teams left the gym, some with excitement and others with obvious frustration and disappointment. I slipped on my coat, making sure my phone hadn't fallen out of my pocket, before pulling my backpack straps over my shoulders. We were on the far side of the bleachers so we had to wait for a while for all of the spectators to clear out of the middle section before we could exit out of a side door of the gymnasium.

"Wow, that last team was such sore losers!" Iris raged as we inched our way to the exit.

"No kidding. I thought Opal was going to murder that kid who knocked Troy down," Kim remarked with a laugh and I felt myself blanch.

"I would never..." I started to say and Kim laughed harder.

"I know, but he deserved a good punch. If the rules weren't so strict about fighting between teams then I bet one of our boys would have throttled him for sure," she said and I blinked.

"What do you mean?" I asked, curiously and Kim shrugged.

"I went to the tournament last year because a couple of my senior friends invited me. After the Friday matches, there were a couple of boys from teams that played each other that got in a fistfight. Even though the team who didn't qualify started it all of the boys that were in the qualifying team that participated in the fight were banned from playing on the second day of the tournament," Kim recounted just as the doors finally came into sight.

"You're kidding!" Iris exclaimed. "That's not fair!" Kim shrugged and I frowned, thinking that I understood the logic behind the punishment, but that it hardly seemed fair if the person was only defending themselves.

Mr. Borsema guided us out to the parking lot where countless buses, both greyhound and normal school buses, were lined up along the curb. He explained that all those that were not spending the night here were to follow him to the return bus, and those who were staying were free to ride the bus to the hotel with the basketball team or go to their predetermined places for the night. Rosa smiled at us and instantly began walking over to the greyhound buses and boarded the first one without hesitation.

"Girls! You're going to party with us tonight?" I heard someone, most likely Mark, shout as we boarded. The coach quickly yelled that the party better not have anything minors shouldn't be consuming in response. This caused me to smile as I climbed the steps behind Iris, but my eyes instantly sought out Troy who was smiling brightly at us from his seat next to Jason.

"Troy, are you okay?" I asked in concern.

I swiftly moved past Rosalya and Iris, who had claimed the seats in front of Brandon and Dax, and went past several other players so that I could see for myself that he wasn't hurt. A yelp escaped me when I saw the angry rash of skin that ran up his upper arm where he had fallen.

"Troy! Why haven't you bandaged this?" I asked, feeling a strange kind of deja vu as I realized that this was exactly how Auntie would react when she would see a fresh bruise or cut that hadn't been worth going to the hospital for.

"A bandage wouldn't really help. It's just a court burn," he explained while shrugging. I reached out to gently touch it, causing him to flinch and I frowned at him.

"I don't know how to treat this but I am pretty sure there are ways to make it better faster than leaving it alone. I'm going to look it up and buy whatever you need. I don't want you to argue with me about it, okay?" I ordered with a stern voice. He reached up to sweep his slightly wavy bangs off his forehead.

"Don't give her trouble, Troy. This girl nearly decked the guy that knocked you down," Kim said from behind me, causing me to jerk back in surprise. Troy blinked up at Kim and then at me.

"You didn't," Troy said in awe and Sterling laughed from his seat next to Dajan in the back of the bus, a few rows behind Troy.

"She probably would have if Kim hadn't stopped her. When you got tackled I looked up to see how the crowd would react and Sato was trying to fight her way to the court. I'm pretty sure that guy would've peed his pants if he had seen our spitfire Sato coming at him with her mama bear instincts," Sterling said with a laugh. I blushed, turning away from Dajan's amused look.

"Hey Sato, you forgot your container in the green room," Dajan said while holding up the empty container.

I went back and took it from him, congratulating Sterling on his last long-shot score, and listened to them brag about their four consecutive wins until the coach announced that we were leaving. I waved and joined Kim who had gone to sit in front of Rosa and Iris. 

During the ride to the hotel, I looked up how to treat the angry rash on Troy's arm and found out it was actually called a skin abrasion. It talked about the need to wash it with soapy water to clean it thoroughly and then wrap it with sterile gauze after applying enough ointment for the gauze to come off easily and not stick to the skin when removed.

The trip to the hotel didn't take long and all of the students who were staying at the hotel with the basketball team, which turned out to be less than a dozen including me and the girls, departed the bus and checked in to the hotel. After we settled the payment with the hotel clerk all four of us were issued a key card and we promised to meet Dajan and the boys in the lounge after we put our stuff away. The room we had paid for had two queen-sized beds with the normal overabundance of pillows typical of hotels and everything seemed to be white from the blankets to the carpets.

We quickly dropped off our things and Rosa insisted on adjusting our headbands so they were once again 'perfect' before going down to the lounge. Most of the team was already there and the ones who weren't were planning on ordering a pizza in their room so we all made our way to a nearby fast-food restaurant. The boys were still high off their success and bought more food than I could believe could actually fit in their stomachs, yet somehow they polished off every bite as we talked about the games and enjoyed each other's company.

"I could really go for a smoothie or a frappuccino," Rosa mused aloud when there was a lull in the conversation. 

My hand jerked, moving my cup so close to the edge of the table that I was afraid it would fall. I tried to cover my reaction by bringing it up to my mouth for a sip and I glanced sideways at Iris. This was one of the openings that we had discussed on the bus ride down here to get her and Brandon some alone time. I could see the inner battle going on behind Iris's eyes as her embarrassment and desire to get to know Brandon better seemed to war within her.

"Y-yah, that sounds kind of good. When I came here with my parents a while ago there was a cute shop that had really good frappes. Do you want to try it, Rosa?" Iris asked with only the barest hint of hesitation and I smiled down at my cup.

"Is it far? I am so ready to change out of these shoes," Rosa complained extremely convincingly.

"I can just go get it for you," Iris replied easily, falling into her normal role now. To my surprise, Rosa's next line was interrupted by Brandon.

"A girl shouldn't be walking around the city after dark," he said, gesturing out the windows at the setting sun.

"Ah, I guess you're right," she admitted, looking both happy and disappointed at the same time.

"I'll go with you," Brandon announced, beginning to pile his wrappers and french fry envelopes onto his tray in preparation to leave. 

Iris's eyes widened and she looked over at me with a shocked expression. I nodded, trying to be both firm and subtle but Dajan's small smile that I caught from the corner of my eye seemed to suggest I hadn't succeeded.

"S-sure! Does anyone else want anything? They have lots of different milkshakes and frozen coffee drinks," she said while standing up from her own seat.

"I wouldn't mind a caramel milkshake if they have one," I said, pulling a five-dollar bill out of my wallet and handing it to Iris. Sterling asked for a Mocha Frappe, saying Brandon owed him one.

Brandon just rolled his eyes but nodded. He turned away from the table and Iris trotted after him, dumping her things in the garbage can and placing her tray on top of Brandon's before following him out of the restaurant.

Everyone else who had finished began packing things up and getting ready to leave the restaurant. I sucked up the last bit of my pink lemonade before freezing with the straw in my mouth as I glanced to the side and saw both Dajan and Sterling giving me a knowing look. Quickly swallowing the juice in my mouth, I tried to put the cup with just ice cubes left on the table as naturally as I could.

"What?" I asked innocently. 

Both boys chuckled, making me glance down at my lap to try and hide my embarrassment.

"Oh, nothing. Hopefully, they have fun together," Sterling said with a wicked glint in his eyes. I sighed, covering my cheeks with my hands while leaning my elbows against the table.

"Was it super obvious?" I muttered awkwardly. They both laughed loudly, prompting a few of the other team members to look over. They waved them away though and Dajan smiled at me.

"It doesn't get more obvious than Rosa telling him to let her wear his jersey," Dajan answered in a low voice. I sighed again, reaching for my tray but Dajan swiped it before I could.

"Don't worry about it. I don't think Brandon would have ever got the hint if it wasn't that obvious. He's had a week to mull it over and I think him offering to walk with her is a good sign," Dajan said, waiting for me to get out of my booth seat and move around the small table that had separated Kim and me, although Kim was already throwing her garbage away.

"I hope so. She really likes him," I said quietly and Dajan smiled. 

He placed my tray on top of his and patted my head, causing my hair trapped in my ponytail to bounce a bit.

"Your hair is pretty today, but I prefer it when it's down. It's hard to rest my arm on you when you have a high ponytail,"  he commented honestly. I laughed shaking my head a bit and causing my hair to swish around.

"I like my hair in a ponytail because it doesn't get everywhere, but it gets kind of heavy. I prefer it down too," I admitted and Dajan smiled as he threw out first his tray of wrappers then mine.

"Hey, Dajan, I noticed a corner market down the street from the hotel, would you mind going in with me to get the stuff to bandage Troy's arm?" I asked and he immediately agreed. 

I found the items I needed quickly and paid for them with Auntie's card since my cash was depleting fairly quickly after so many meals out.

Even though it was dark now there was still plenty of time before the school's curfew so we all decided to meet up in the game room. To our delight, there was hardly anyone there and the basketball boys quickly claimed the various foosball and pool tables. I was happy to see a small alcove where a sink and several pastries and other various snacks were kept. 

Troy yelped in surprise when I pulled him away from the foosball game he had been watching. However, he didn't argue when I prompted him to sit on the counter before carefully washing his arm with soapy water, apologizing when he winced in pain. After I finished applying the ointment and was fastening the gauze I heard Iris's voice call out my name.

Troy and I walked out of the snack bar area and I waved over at Iris who was holding a plastic cup full of a caramel-colored mixture that I assumed was my milkshake. She made her way through the various basketball boys. Only a few steps away from me though, one of the basketball boys sitting on the ground playing a handheld gaming device stuck his foot out at the last second.

Seemingly in slow motion, I saw Iris's foot get caught on the long leg and she began to pitch forward. Instinctively I moved forward, hoping to catch her, but gravity proved too efficient. I watched as she squeezed the cup in her hand, popping the top off, and as she fell forward the force of her fall flung the runny mixture toward me and splattered across my cheek and all the way down Dajan's jersey. Iris was able to semi-catch her fall with her forearms but remained on the floor for several seconds. I rushed over, kneeling next to her as the basketball boy also leaned forward, guilt clearly written across his face. 

"Iris, are you okay!" I asked while reaching out to shake her shoulder. She propped herself up by her elbows with a groan, then saw what state I was in and gasped.

"Opal! I am so sorry!" she cried as the basketball team member apologized to both of us and tried to help Iris up off the floor. 

Everyone ran over to check on us and to my surprise and delight, Brandon rushed over to Iris with what seemed like genuine concern. As Dajan made his way over I looked down at the caramel milkshake still dripping down all of me and I looked up at him with a contrite frown.  

"I'm really sorry I got your jersey dirty, Dajan," I said contritely. 

Iris apologized profusely to both of us, brushing aside Brandon's concern with an embarrassed smile.

"As long as no one is hurt then it's fine. We can wash the jersey," Dajan said with a soothing smile but I still frowned.

"I'm going to call room service and see if they have a laundry service. I was hoping to wear this for tomorrow's games as well," I said sadly.

It looked like Iris was about to cry so I quickly smiled and assured her that she was not at fault in any way. Without wasting any time I assured everyone I was fine and ran to the elevator while holding the bottom of the jersey out and up to create an impromptu bucket to catch the melting milkshake. I quickly made my way to our hotel room and scanned in.

As the door closed behind me I kicked off my shoes and jumped in the shower fully clothed, rubbing the milkshake off me as much as I could before stepping out of the shower and pulling the jersey off. With a damp cloth and some soap, I blotted at the stains as best as I could until it looked less prominent.

Having done everything I could think of, I phoned room service and explained the situation. The person on the phone assured me that they could get the jersey washed and stain-free by morning and that a maid would be sent to pick up the jersey. I thanked them profusely and sent a text to Iris saying I was going to take a shower since I had discovered some milkshake in my hair.

The maid came within minutes and I handed the jersey off to her, signing the release form with my name, phone number, and hotel number, along with a two-dollar tip since that was all I had in small bills left. She left with a happy smile and I quickly jumped in the shower, washing away both the stickiness and the makeup that Auntie had worked so hard on. 

I made sure to wipe away the residual dark smudges from the mascara after finishing my shower before applying a fresh, thinner coat. I didn't bother with foundation or lip gloss since we'd be going to sleep in a few hours anyway and I changed into my muted gold sweatpants and black pajama shirt.

Pulling out my house slippers, which Auntie had insisted I bring since she didn't trust hotels to clean their floors diligently enough, I sent a quick text to Auntie letting her know the results of today's games and that I was having a lot of fun. Almost immediately I got a reply saying that she would call me later on tonight but that she was glad I was having fun. 

Smiling at my phone I closed the text and flinched again at the picture Castiel had changed both my home and lock screen background to show. I loved Demon's doggy smile and honestly, the picture was one of my favorites. Still, it seemed so strange to see a picture of me and a boy on my cell phone screen.

I have only ever seen couples do that before... I thought to myself uneasily but then I shook my head and turned off my phone, sticking it in my sweatpant's deep pockets with ease.

My hair was still wet but I didn't want to take the time to dry it, so I grabbed a hair tie, slid it down my fingers to rest on my wrist, and then used the hotel scan card to leave my room. Making sure the door closed completely before I moved, I pulled my damp hair to the side and over my left shoulder. Gently I brushed through it with my fingers before I hit the elevator button, smiling at the memory of when Auntie and I stayed in a hotel together and raced to hit the elevator buttons first. The elevator came quickly and I stepped on alone so I pressed the button for the game room floor and began to braid my hair as the elevator brought me down.

My braid was almost finished by the time the elevator doors opened and I stepped off. I could hear the sound of a group of boys walking down the hallway away from the game room so I looked up. My eyes narrowed when I recognized the burnt orange jerseys of the team that was playing dirty against our team during the last match. Mentally telling myself to be mature, I stared stubbornly near the wall and finished my braid, tying it off with the hair tie on my wrist as the voices of the three boys came close enough for me to hear what they were saying.

"...and now they think they rule the game room? Why did we have to be in the same hotel as those snobs?" one of the boys complained loudly. 

I clenched my teeth, willing myself to just let them go and not tell them off. Since I was focusing so much on the wall I nearly didn't see the arm that was suddenly in front of my face until I had almost run into it. I stopped in surprise and looked up at the tall boy from the dirty team who was giving me an appraising look. His two friends stood behind him giving me similar looks and I quirked an eyebrow up at them.

"Excuse me," I said politely, turning to go around them. However, the boy was quick to block my path, casually placing his arm against the other wall and leering down at me with pale brown eyes.

"Where are you going, cutie?" he asked with false sweetness and I tried to keep myself from shivering in disgust.

"To the game room, If you'll excuse me," I said, once again turning to go around them, but again the guy and his friends slid into place to block me.

"You're the girl that brought the Sharks muffins, aren't you?" the boy said with a dangerous glint in his eyes. I blinked in surprise, glancing at him and then at his two friends flanking him. "Why would a pretty girl like you waste your time making food for that bunch? They're just a bunch of cheaters," he said with a strange wheedling tone and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Them? Cheaters? I think you'd better look in the mirror if you're looking for cheaters," I snapped, my anger seeping through my logical side. 

The boy's eyes widened then narrowed as he frowned. He took a step closer to me, making me instinctively move back.

"Careful what you say, sweetheart. There are three of us and only one little you. We could be very unpleasant if you make us angry," he growled.

A shiver went through me. This boy's growl was so unlike Castiel's growl when he was genuinely annoyed or angry. This was a dangerous growl that reminded me of my father when he was about to explode. Unbidden fear began to sprout in my heart and I clenched my hands into fists to keep from them from trembling.

"Then if I've angered you please excuse me," I said, trying to reign in my fear and anger and remain polite.

I once more began to turn but the lead boy with his weak brown eyes lashed out his hand and grabbed my left shoulder. The sudden strong grip surprised me so much that I yelped. Just as I was about the hit his wrist with the heel of my palm to make him let go, a dark hand reached out. It grabbed the offensive boy's wrist, twisting it away from me in an iron grip and pushing the surprised boy backward so he could insert himself in between me and the three jerks.

"What. Do you think. You are doing," he growled in a much more intimidating and obviously infuriated tone of voice than the jerk who had grabbed me.

"Dajan," I whispered.