Crestfallen

11: The Bet's Off

I put on the jersey, and when Chris and Liam saw me, they hooted and hollered. I rolled my eyes but approached them nevertheless.

"Couldn't get enough of us, could you?" Liam commented with a laugh. I smiled and shrugged.

"You any good?" Chris asked me as the teacher blew her whistle.

"If I could dribble and shoot, I'm sure I would be." I grinned as they laughed at my joke. There's something about making hot guys laugh that just makes you all bubbly on the inside.

Liam and Jeremy jumped for the basketball, but Jeremy was taller so he got it. He passed it to another player on his team who threw it to James. I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. James took a shot and made a basket.

"C'mon Casey, just stand in front of them and wave your hands around!" Liam encouraged as Chris and James faced off. Chris won and the ball fell into my hands. I stared at it curiously just as someone bodied me, sending me flying at the floor.

There was no cliché moment when someone caught me before I fell, no, I just hit the ground with surprising force. My back hit the hard gymnasium floor and my head soon followed. I groaned as white and black spots clouded my vision. I didn't even know who'd body checked me because at the moment I was only concerned with the pounding in my head.

I closed my eyes and someone slapped me 'lightly'. "Ow," I whined, taking one hand off my head to grab my cheek. I opened my eyes to see James, Liam, and Chris all leaning over me.

"What was that for?" I asked, feeling woozy.

"If you have a concussion you shouldn't sleep," Liam said, his head seeming to float away from him.

"Too much cuteness." I giggled at the three boys leaning over me. My dimples made an appearance as I started to laugh uncontrollably. The teacher made her way into my field of vision.

"Jeez Jeremy, could you have body-slammed her any harder?" I heard her ask and I tried to glare somewhere at Jeremy, but I couldn't see him.

Of course, it was him.

"What a hoe." Was the last thing I remember saying before drifting out of consciousness.

See, this is what happens when I participate in sports, specifically basketball. You know you're bad at something when you get KO'd in the first five minutes.

-----

"Goddamn it, Jeremy." I heard Liam say angrily. "Why'd you have to slam her into the floor?"

"I was just taking the ball." Jeremy defended and I fought the urge to scoff.

"Well, you got the damn ball." Liam retorted. "I'm actually starting to like this girl, I'm calling off the bet."

"You were the one who made the bet, you can't take it back," Jeremy said.

"She's a nice girl, she doesn't deserve-" I tried to roll my eyes under my eyelids, but an explosive pain flashed behind my eyes and I groaned, clutching my head.

Someone rushed to my side and I'm going to assume it was Liam because as if Jeremy would do such a thing. "Casey, how do you feel?" Liam's worried voice sounded from above me.

"Like I got hit by a truck; or a Jeremy for that matter." I joked playfully, trying to ease his worry. Though I was still skeptical of his intentions, I didn't want him to worry.

I heard him laugh above me, but I kept my eyes shut. I figured that Jeremy had left because he hadn't added some rude comment yet. Jerk.

"Are you alright to go to class?" Do I look alright to go to class?

"I think I'm just going to go home," I told him, holding my head as I slid off the couch-like chair.

"Do you need a lift home? I can take you, I have a car. It'd be no-" I cut him off. His voice was causing my head to pound even harder.

"I'll walk," I said curtly, feeling a little more short-tempered than usual. I opened my eyes and nearly fell as my knees buckled from under me. Thankfully, Liam caught me before I hit the ground.

"Please, Casey. Let me-" I still didn't let him finish his sentence.

"Only if you stay quiet. Talking hurts." I explained as Liam made a zipping his lips moved. We walked out to his car in silence and he asked where I lived quietly. I froze and debated whether or not I should tell him. My options were to risk being humiliated, or walk home with a concussion.

"Are you sure you want to drive me? I mean, you'll be missing-"

"You're thinking of me when you have a might have a concussion?" Liam laughed, though truly it would serve my own purposes. Agreeing to let him drive me home was a stupid idea. "Give me your address."

I gave him some fake address somewhat near my house but in a nicer neighbourhood. When we got there, I thanked him and got out. I tried to wave him off, but he watched me walk up the yard of some random apartment building. Thankfully there was a gate that led to the backyard so I entered and walked behind the building and shut my eyes as my head pounded and I heard Liam drive off.

Then, a loud bark sounded from beside me. The dog was a greyhound with a rusty chain tying it to the ground. It barked and came at me, the chain barely hanging on. It looked angry that I'd intruded on the property and I knew that even as fast as I was, I wouldn't be able to outrun a greyhound without a huge head start. Being the moron I was, instead of leaving the way I came, I sprinted across the yard and hurdled myself over the fairly low fence just as I heard the chain snap.

If I thought that horse of a dog couldn't jump that fence, boy was I wrong.

I was still sitting on my butt when the dog charged at me, easily scaling the fence and coming at me, its canines revealed.

---------

Got me some fresh cliffhangers ladies (and some gentlemen)

So I just found a good book here on wattpad and I read it all in an hour and a half. It's ingenium I think? Sherlock Holmes, go read it peeps.