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Tiredness threatened to overtake my body but I tired to fight it. My head pounded and I took a sip of coffee. I needed to say awake. I steered the car into a busy parking lot, glad to finally have the car in park.
I walked into the stadium where the crowd was deafening from the halls. I found my seat and sat down, glad to sit without that seat being in a car. I had a good seatsl lowest section, near the court. I silently thanked Logan for getting me the seat. I looked next to me and saw Kassidy. "Hi Kassidy."
"Oh, hi Elena. Geez, you look tired."
"I've been driving awhile."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's cool...oh, my head hurts."
"Have you taken ibuprofen?"
"Huh?"
"Advil."
"Uh...no."
"Here, I always have back up for...stuff."
"Gotcha." I then took the pill with a swig of my coffee. I tried to relax and think of what advice I had given to Logan. Magic. I let the word sit on my mind, letting it flutter to the highest dreams.
I looked at the court where Logan's team was gathered. The rival team all looked tall, but most of Logan's team matched their height. Then I spotted Logan. He was pretty handsome, just how I had pictured him. He had short light brown hair with hazel eyes with a tint of green.
The game went underway and I was about to pass out. That's when I saw Logan driving to the basket. He powered through, but was stopped. Someone rammed into him. Everyone gasped as what was left of his bad leg gave out and he fell to the ground. He laid on the ground for a minute, before he tried to get up. His coach was there and his friends helped him to the bench. My gut dropped at the thought of what taking one for the team really meant to the coach.
Someone else threw freethrows for him. Someone else drove to the lane. Someone else defended his former defender. I looked to the bench to see Logan painfully massaging what remained of his leg. The medical personal was looking him over. I ran down to the bench. I had no idea why, it was an instant reaction.
A guard stopped me, I pleaded to be with Logan. He looked behind him, speaking to Logan. Then he turned back to me, "Who are you exactly?"
"I'm Elena Daves." I saw Logan turn in his chair at my voice. Our eyes locked, and I knew we were always meant to meet.
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I turned in my chair, I heard Elena. I body screamed in pain but it all vanished when I saw Elena. Her blonde hair was perfectly made into a ponytail. Her brown eyes were so light, they looked orange for a moment. Her skin was slightly tan, not like Kassidy's though. She had bags underneath her eyes, I begged the guard to let her through. Reluctantly, he let her pass.
She rushed over to me and hugged me. She bent down to my level. But before she could speak, the trainer spoke, "Well, it looks like no real damage was done. It seems that your muscles are very tight. Like they've constantly been working and they act like a rubberband. They were bound to snap, or in this case, give out. I want you to sit out the rest of the half, then during half-time I'll put some heat on it to relax the muscles and we'll go from there."
I nodded, relief flooded through me. I was still allowed to play. I then turned my focus back to Elena, her beauty still catching me off guard. "What are you doing here?"
"I needed to be here, you looked so hurt."
"I'm fine, you need to realize that I can take a beating."
"I guess."
"I need to hear it from you, it only works that way."
"Huh?"
"The healing word."
"Oh, well, can I add something?"
"I guess...?"
"I love you Magic."
"I love you too."
I limped off into the locker room for half-time as Elena took her place in the crowd. Heat was applied to my leg and an instant relief flooded through my body. Then the trainer started questioning me, "Have you been doing a lot of activities?"
"Yeah."
"What have you done?"
"Basketball, and track when I don't have basketball."
"Okay, I want you to limit yourself to about two hours a day of exercise just to give some recovery time to your muscles."
I nodded, focusing on my coach as he walked up to me, "I didn't quite mean taking one for the team like that, but are you alright?"
I nodded again and he continued, "Listen, I know I was harsh on you, but I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you so hard. All of your teammates came up to me, begging me to let you stay. They all said that you were their motivation. If you could do it, then they could do it too. I want you to know that I want you to come back next year."
"Thank you, but I do have a problem. See, I came here on a full ride for basketball, but only for three years. I don't understand why it's still considered a full ride. Anyways, I don't have the money to finish college "
"I'll try my best Logan. There's no guarantee that you can get a year under another basketball scholarship, but I'll see what magic I can pull off."
"Thanks Coach."
I stepped onto the court, I was determined to prove I could win this. It was down to the final mintue. We were down six points. I dribbed down the court, passing to the guard on my right. I cut around, our play working perfectly. I got the ball at the top of the key. My defender rushed to meet me but I had already shot. Only three points behind.
The other team shot the ball, it hit the rim where Conner leaped to meet it. I sprinted down court, my track practice was paying off somewhere. Conner lobbed the ball, it bounced once and soared through the air. It was headed too far in front, the ball just kept going up, higher and higher into the sky. I ran even faster, jumping off and catching the ball midair. I started to come down so I released the ball.
We were down one, and ten seconds remained. The other team had the ball. I was guarding their point guard. I pressured him once he passed half court, I was going to make this diffucult.
He stood there, I could see him panicking. He found his friend pop out. He faked, but I didn't take it. He passed the ball anyways. Six seconds remained.
I smacked the ball from the air, my defender stood for a moment shocked. I took off, dribbling hard but pushing myself harder. Three seconds remained. Two defenders fell on me, but none of my teammates could be reached. I dodged outwards, ball clutched to my hip. I then stepped inwards with one second to go.
I pushed off into the air. It was now or never. This was truly a magic trick if I pulled it off. I circled the ball around my head and banked it. I held my breath as the buzzer sounded and I landed onto the court. The crowd roared and my teammates lifted me into the air. The contents of the jug labeled with the Gatorade logo were dumped onto my coach. My teammates were laughing and smiling.
We were all headed back into the locker room when Elena ran up to me. I hugged her and she glanced lovingly into my eyes. I leaned down and kissed her. She kissed me back and my heart fluttered. I could tell she felt the same. When we separated, Elena softly spoke to me, "Magic..."
"Yes, Elena."
"I always liked something about you."
"I felt the same way."
"So, I have to ask..."
"Yes?"
"What about us?"
"Most definitely forever."
"Agreed, you truly pulled off a magic trick."
"Winning the game?"
"No, winning my heart."