UNPREDICTABLE
XIII. TALENT
"YOU HAVE A TALENT LIKE NO OTHER, EMERY ELLWOOD."

➖
IT WAS now game time. Bartsch, Ellwood, Ringer, Roden and Stark were the first on court, with Stark jumping again because she was the tallest on the team. Ellwood stood to the right side on the other side of the circle, which was their shooting end, Roden on the left. Ringer on Ellwood's side, on the Dodger's shooting end, and Bartsch to her left.

The referee walked over to them, whistle in her mouth and ball in her hand. She blew the whistle, and threw the ball up, but unfortunately the Blazers tapped the ball to their side. The Blazers player caught the ball, the player pivoting on one foot, only to throw the ball at the next player who was going in for a fast break.

However, Ringer was too quick and intercepted, catching it, and quickly dribbling the ball over the half court line, passing it off to Bartsch on the left side. She dribbled around to the right side, passing it to Stark, with Ellwood running in from the far left corner, getting the easy pass through the key. She turned to take the layup up, but was fouled by a Blazers player. The crowd went crazy.

The ref blew the whistle, calling the foul out on the player, holding two hands up for one shot as the ball had gone through the net. Stark and Bartsch stood on either sides of the key, three Blazers players also lined up, reading to catch the rebound of Emery's shot.

The umpire blew the whistle, bounce passing the ball to Emery, who spun the ball around, bending down as she bounced the ball a few times. She rose up as she shot the ball, the ball flying through the net with ease. The crowd went crazy again, as the Raptors girls made their way back down the court.

The game continued on, a couple of time outs being called as the coach from Blazers was getting frustrated because his team weren't performing as well as they should be. It just made Emery laugh. Her team were on absolute fire tonight, rebounding, shooting, passing was on point. She couldn't even yell at them for one silly pass.

It was half time now, and that meant time for the team to go into their change rooms. Raptors collected their gear, and walked across the court to their change room. Emery was behind the rest of the team, making her way to the doors that led to the back of the stadium where the change rooms were. Someone yelled out for her, causing her to turn around in alert.

Her eyes flickered up, finding a man who looked to be around her age, waving down at her with a jersey and hat in his grasp. He held the marker up and motioned for the hat and jersey. She understood what he meant, and he dropped them down for her to catch as he was a few flights of stairs above where the door was.

She learnt against the wall beside her, signing the hat, before quickly signing the jersey as well. She folded the jersey and placed it into the hat, and stuck the pen in there too. She took a few steps back, throwing the hat like a frisbee up to the man, who caught it easily.

"Thank you so much!" He yelled.

"You're welcome! Enjoy the rest of the game!"

He nodded his head as she made her way into the change rooms, the rest of the team were already seated listening to what the coach had to say. He had his board out, drawing the offence on the board.

"I want five out, like usual. Ellwood, I want you to bring the ball up, Ringer run beside her to assist. Stark, I want you in the left corner, Bartsch, right corner, and Roden, right side next to Bartsch. I want ball movement! Ball movement until a spot opens up, and then shoot! Use the girls in the corner if available! Understood?"

"Yes coach!" They echoed.

"And for defensive coach?" Barnes asked.

"The same as you've been doing. It's obviously working because it's preventing them from putting any shots up. Now continue to work your asses off!"

Everyone placed their hands in, screaming out Blazers as they threw their hands up. They collected the rest of their belongings again, and made their way out onto the court again. The crowd started shouting again, the adrenaline of the stadium transferring to the team.

They found themselves back on the court, Emery was on the court ready to play. It was Blazers ball, which meant they were defending. It was a zone defence, with each of the girls standing in a corner of the key, except Stark who was just under the ring. It was their strongest defence mechanism, as nobody was able to get through them. It always worked.

They were in the last quarter, four minutes to go. Raptors were up, 92-48. In the last four minutes of the game, Ringer managed to get up four points, Emery with a six, from one three pointer, one lay up and a foul shot, and Bartsch got a last minute lay up in also, worth two points. They finished the game off with 104-52.

They absolutely smashed, the entire crowd going wild with every point scored by the Inner City Raptors. When the game finished, the girls celebrated happily, the coach praising them yet again as their performance was out standing.

The coach had gathered most of the team belongings, and took them to the change rooms , while the girls cooled down. They were on the ground in a circle after signing merchandise that was handed to them. They were all stretching out their muscles to prevent injury and pain tomorrow when they woke up.

One of the commentators came up to Emery after she stretched, as she was untying her shoes on the sidelines. Majority of the crowd had left, and she had just finished her cool down just moments before. She wasn't paying attention to anybody, just in her own world after the game. Her world where she recognised her strengths, weaknesses and stupid mistakes she'd made during the game that she could've fixed.

"Emery Ellwood," Jackson greeted.

Emery looked up from her shoes, finding her favourite commentator standing before her in his suit and tie, microphone in hand and head phones resting on his head. His camera crew following behind him. Emery quickly put her shoes in her bag and slid her slides on, rising to greet him.

"Jackson P. Granger, who invited you here?" joked Emery.

Jackson let out a chuckle and replied with a "My boss?" before Emery let out a laugh at him. She just smiled at the man dressed up, knowing that she'd be on television somewhere and had to impress somebody.

"So, Em, how did you feel about the game tonight?"

Emery just grinned. "Really, really happy with it, JP. We executed really well, played hard, and our defence was on point. We're really happy, and I know that the coach and the fans are too."

JP smiled. "That's good to hear. You have a talent like no other, Emery Ellwood. What inspiring quote could you tell the fans out there who are inspired by you?"

Emery let out a laugh. "I'm not so sure about that JP, but, hard work is the key, on and off the court. Put in the hours, motivate yourself, and really just love the game. Then you'll know you've succeeded."

"Thank you Em, really inspiring. Emery Ellwood everybody. Thank you for your time!"

"Always a pleasure JP!"

Jackson and his crew walked away after the commentator and player gave one another a quick hug. Emery just let the smile over take her face, reaching down to pick up her basketball bag off the ground.

The blonde then began to make her way to the change rooms, but was interrupted by a fan. The little boy ran up to her, holding up a jersey with her number on it and a permanent marker in his grasp.

"Emery, could you please sign this?" he asked.

Emery grinned. "Of course I can! What's your name little man?"

"Owen!" replied Owen.

Emery knelt down to his height, as he was only about eight years old, and a third of her height. She gently took the marker and the shirt from his grasp, laying it out to sign a little message onto his jersey. She gave him his shirt back, when he quickly wrapped his arms around her. She let out a laugh, hugging him back tightly.

"Thank you Emery!" Owen said.

"You're welcome Owen! Did you want a photo darlin'?"

Owen then frowned at her. "I don't have a camera."

Emery just let out a giggle. "I have my phone. Wanna take a selfie?"

"Yes please!"

Emery then pulled her phone out of her bag, quickly opening up the camera. Owen stood beside her, the both of them smiling as Emery took a photo of them both. They took a few silly ones also, before Owen had to leave. He gave her another hug and bid her goodbye, before he was running back to his parents.

Emery just grinned, rising from where she was kneeling. She felt a presence behind her, causing her to turn around. She found Shawn standing behind her, dressed in dark jeans and a nice floral shirt. How did he managed to always look so good? What caught her attention more was what looked like a jersey hanging off his shoulders. Did he want that signed?

"Hey," she said.

"Hey."

"What are you doing here?"

"I told you I'd be here at two thirty. It's a bit past that though."

Emery just nodded her head. "Oh, right. Is there anything that you need?"

"Could you sign this for a friend of mine? It'd mean a lot to her. She's a big fan."

Emery nodded her head. "Sure."

Emery walked a little closer to him, close enough to be able to grab the jersey from Shawn. He held out a marker, which she gently took from him. She then realised there wasn't really anywhere to lean, so she opted for his back instead.

"Turn around?"

Shawn turned around for her. She flattened the jersey against his back, popping the lid of the marker. She signed the jersey with ease, before putting the cap back onto the marker, throwing the jersey over his shoulder again.

Shawn turned back around, facing the blonde that had become such a big part of his life in such a short amount of time. She wasn't supposed to be, but somehow she had. It scared Shawn, quite a lot, as there was no way he'd be able to do anything about it without somebody getting hurt. How was he supposed to stop her from becoming a bigger part in his life?

"Thank you," said Shawn.

"No problem," Emery smiled.

There was silence between the both of them, as they both stood there looking at one another. However, it wasn't silent for very long, when Emery's team mates had seen the two of them together. They started laughing and shouting at the both of them.

"GET IT EMERY!"

"YOU GO GIRL!"

"GETTING INNNN!"

Emery flushed bright red at the comments that had been thrown out at her. Shawn watched in amusement, a grin adorning his face at the sight of Emery's cheeks reddening in embarrassment. He thought it was absolutely adorable. She was so innocent.

"Sorry, about that," apologised Emery.

Shawn just let out a laugh. "It's perfectly fine."

Emery just nodded her head, looking away from Shawn again. She turned on her heel, making her way out of the stadium. Shawn followed behind her, hands resting in his pocket as he walked beside her.

"What are you up to tomorrow?" asked Shawn.

Emery turned to face him. "Hang out with Ashes, probably go for a run and then head to basketball training."

"You have basketball training on a Sunday?" asked Shawn.

Emery nodded. "Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and Thursday if it's finals time."

"That's a lot of training."

Emery let out a laugh. "Gotta keep our skill level up and develop more skills. It's required, otherwise you get kicked out of the team."

"That's harsh."

Emery shrugged her shoulder slightly. "Not really. A few girls over the years have dropped out because they couldn't attend all the trainings. They ended up getting lazy on the court and stopped attending training until the week before Semi finals, so the coach booted them out."

It was a few years ago. Two girls had joined the 2011 season, where they only attended every training for about three weeks, before they stopped showing up for training completely. They were causing the team mistakes that cost them a few loses, so the coach said that if they didn't show up to all the trainings, they weren't able to play.

They never showed up, until the week before semi finals. The coach didn't approve of them suddenly showing up to training so late into the season, and kicked them off the team. They weren't of any help to the other players, they were just letting them down. So they were kicked off the team.

None of the Raptors team back then have seen them since, it was like they never existed. But it didn't matter to them, they've had a strong team since 2012, when Barnes and Rogers joined, as Ringer, Roden, Stark, Bartsch and Ellwood were already playing in that team. They've had a few people come and go, but nobody stayed for more than one season as they moved clubs.

Shawn's eyes widened. "Wow. Yeah, no, that's understandable now. It was bound to happen if they just didn't show up."

Emery nodded. "Exactly. Really, it is their own fault. Nobody has seen them since."

Shawn laughed. "MIA?"

"MIA," laughed Emery.

"How long have you been playing for Inner City Raptors?"

Emery just smiled. "Since I was about five years old."

"Over twenty years. That's dedication."

Emery just chuckled. "Yeah, it was the only hobby that really stuck with me this whole time. And I loved playing, so I continued to development my motor skills."

"That's good that you stuck to something. Dedication and motivation stop a lot of kids from playing. Motor skills?"

Emery looked up upon hearing what Shawn had said, noticing the completely bewildered expression on his face. She began laughing when she realised what she had said.

Emery then laughed again. "Sorry, that's the physical education in me speaking."

Shawn chuckled. "That's alright. I was just a bit confused for a second."

Emery had finally reached her car, unlocking it to throw her bag on the passengers seat. She closed the door and leaned back against it, looking back at Shawn.

"I could tell," Emery giggled.

Shawn just smiled. "I'll let you go now."

Emery nodded. "And I'll let you go."

Shawn then remembered that she'd signed the jersey for him. "Thank you for signing this too by the way."

Emery shrugged him off. "It's no problem. I hope to meet your friend one day!"

Shawn smiled. "I might just bring her next week. She was busy today, otherwise I would have."

"I'd love it if you did."

"I will, promise. I'll leave you alone now. I'm sure you're busy or whatever, hanging out with your kitten and all."

Emery just laughed, nodding her head in agreement. "They're a lot of hard work."