Playing the Court (Lauren/You/Camila)

Chapter 41

Demi's pov

I sat at the kitchen island eating my fast food hamburger as my dad took a bite of his own burger.

"How's your sandwich?" He asked.

"Almost warm." I replied. He shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Well... maybe I'll start cooking again." He thought out loud. "Unless your mother comes to her senses."

"You know," I started. "Just when I think things can't get any weirder around here, mom takes over Karen's Café. Next, I think I'm gonna invite (Y/n) over to spend the night." I joked, but my dad glared at me in the middle of dipping his french fry in ketchup.

He sighed, "well, your mother hasn't exactly been herself lately. It might help her if you tell her you're happy. She thinks I have ruined your life." He shook his head, as if denying that it could be true.

"The Cove City game is coming up." He immediately changed the topic.

"Yeah, Smith claims that if we lose, the sun doesn't rise." I explained as he picked up his milkshake, took the straw in his mouth, and sipped it.

"He might actually be right for once." He put the milkshake back on the table, and he looked me in the eyes. "You know who scored the most points against the Cavaliers." He bragged. I internally rolled my eyes and nodded.

"42." He smiled proudly.

"Yeah," I smirked. "I'm looking to top that this week." His smile dropped as soon as it came.

"No you won't." His tone was stern and condescending. "Do you want to know why? Because you're not tough enough inside." My eyes adverted themselves to my fingers on the kitchen counter. I sighed and softly shook my head as I quietly drummed my fingers on the table.

"I got garbage buckets you'll never get, because you can't bang down low like I did. Plus the fact that your conditionings are crap." He continued to rant about all my flaws. "I never left the floor during a game."

My mom entered the room during the middle of his rant, but she announced her presence when she set her purse on the kitchen island. "Hey." She greeted.

I stood up and pushed my food away from me. With the most stoic and monotoned voice, I spoke up.

"I'm happy, mom. Dad loves me." I sighed as I walked out the room and toward my bedroom, just wanting to be alone for now. Once I was in my room, I removed my phone from the charger and dialed her number.

"What up, baller?" I heard once she picked up. I had a mini basketball in my hand, tossing it around with one hand.

"Ariana, you do know you aren't black, right?" I responded rudely. I wasn't in the mood. I paced back and forth as I continued to toss the ball in the air.

"What's wrong?" She asked, but I ignored her.

"Is your brother still dealing?" I asked.

"Why?"

"Because I need to tear it up against Cove City." I answered.

"How is getting high gonna help?"

"Not weed, Ari, performance enhancers. Look, just tell your brother I need to be on the floor for 40 minutes, and I need to be in a different gear."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah, he'll know what to get." I then hung up when she confirmed.

I rolled the ball around in my hand as I saw a picture of my dad and I a few years ago on my dresser. I gripped the ball hard making my knuckles turn white. I pegged the ball at the picture causing it to shatter out of the frame and fall off the dresser.

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(Y/n)'s pov

I took Keith out to dinner, because I didn't feel like going to the café today. We sat in a pretty decent Italian restaurant, and we were eating pizza.

"So, what, are you just gonna avoid the café for the next six weeks?" Keith asked. Earlier, I had walked into the café to see Deb making coffee, while Dan chastised her about taking over while my mom was gone. When I saw them, I immediately walked out.

"What, you don't like pizza?" I asked.

"I love pizza, but that's not the point." He answered.

"Don't you find it strange? You know, Demi's mom running the café?"

"Yeah, it's a little strange. It's also pretty gutsy of her. Dan's got to be giving her a lot of grief about it. You know, (Y/n), you really ought to give her a chance. Deb's okay. And when you think about it, when she got pregnant in college, her life changed a lot like your mom's did." He reasoned.

"Yeah, but Dan?" I asked. "Why does she stay with a guy like that?"

"I don't know. Maybe she wants to protect her daughter." He suggested. I rolled my eyes, but then felt arms slide across my shoulders from behind.

"Hey, cutie." Camila's head rested on my left shoulder, and she put the book I gave her in view. "Three more chapters and you're all mine." She whispered in my ear. She kissed my cheek and gave a quick smile to Keith before walking back to her own table.

"What was that about?" He asked.

"Nothing." I smiled, thinking about Camila.

"I disagree. That was definitely something." Keith wiggled his eyebrows. I chuckled and took a sip of my drink.

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Demi's pov

I walked into the locker room the next day before practice to get the stuff from Ariana. She saw me walk in and opened her locker. She took out a small plastic baggy.

"Are you sure about this?" She asked.

"Have you met my dad?" I asked.

She sighed, "okay, here's the deal. These are basically amphetamines. They're like steroids on speed or speed on steroids. Anyway, you gotta be careful, Demi."

"As long as it gets me jacked for Cove City."

"These will definitely do that." She spoke and relocked her locker. She walked out the locker room to leave me in peace. I sighed as I rustled the plastic bag in my hand. I opened the baggy and took a pill out. I looked around, and when I didn't see anyone, I popped the pill into my mouth. After swallowing the pill, I changed into the practice gear and jogged out the locker room.

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Coach blew the whistle and we started playing half court. My team was on offense first. I shoved the girl guarding me and caught the ball. I just felt so unnecessarily aggressive. I passed it to Ariana and dove toward the goal. She dribbled around and shot, so I jumped up, along with Zendaya. I pushed her and grabbed the rebound, about to put it back up, but Coach blew the whistle.

"Hold up!" Smith yelled. "That was a foul, Demi! You have to get off her back!"

"Why don't you get off my back, Smith?" I yelled back. The whole gym silenced in shock, but I couldn't care less. Saying I'm pissed is an understatement.

"How would you like to call that a practice?" He yelled, but I started to walk out the gym.

"Demi!"

"What?! Huh?" I shouted. "What the hell do you all want from me?!" Smith's facial expression darkened, but I wasn't scared.

"Just walk away." He glared. "Walk away." I walked away and slammed the door open as I heard his whistle go off. "White ball up top."