Yep. Any dare. You in?"
Jasmine thought for a few seconds… "Okay, deal!"
And with that… the match started.
Right from the start of the match, there was just a different kind of energy in all the players. There could be many reasons for that energy, but the biggest one was that the team currently didn't have a captain. The team's best player—basically, you could say the captain—suffered a major leg injury during practice and won't be able to play sports for the next six months. So now, whoever proves to be the best player will become the new team captain.
Although the whole team plays well, there are two players who are right on the edge of becoming captain—but ironically, they're holding each other back. Jack and Niko. Yep, you heard that right—Jack and Niko, both insanely good at basketball. That's why the coach is having a hard time deciding who should get the captain position. Both of them are so good that you can't pick just one easily. And today's match might just be what finally settles it once and for all.
But this match might also come at a cost for Jasmine and Mia. Why? Because they placed a bet on this high-tension match. Sure, they knew there was practice and a practice match after it, but they had no idea how important this match would turn out to be. Maybe after the match, they'll understand exactly what they've gotten themselves into.
Five minutes into the match and Jack was on fire. Like, no one on the court could even come close to defending him.
Jasmine couldn't stop watching Jack—whether he had the ball or not, her eyes were just locked on him.
"Damn, Jack is playing so good!" Jasmine said to Mia.
"Yeah yeah, not bad," Mia replied, "And what's up with Niko? I KNEW he was a total idiot! Ugh, if he keeps playing like this, I'm going to lose the bet," she said with a mix of annoyance and sarcasm.
"Better start prepping for that treat and dare, Mia," Jasmine teased, smiling big.
After five minutes, both Jasmine and Mia were enjoying the game, but couldn't keep track of which teams were which or who scored what. So, to keep things simple, they gave the teams their own names. Jack's team, Team A, became Team J. And Niko's team, Team B, became Team N.
After 5 minutes, the score was Team J: 15 and Team N: 5. Team J had a 10-point lead—and out of those 15 points, Jack had scored 12. On the other hand, Team N had 5 points with just 2 from Niko. Jasmine was clearly thrilled while Mia was straight-up frustrated.
"Hey, Niko! WOULD YOU PLEASE PLAY PROPERLY?!" Mia suddenly shouted, so loud that the entire court—players, coach, even the audience—turned to look at her.
"Mia! What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?" Jasmine asked in a shocked voice. "Look over there—Luxe and her minions are all laughing at us now."
"Ugh, fool," Luxe muttered with a mocking laugh. Her group of girls laughed right along with her.
"What am I even supposed to do?! That idiot's playing so badly—I'm gonna lose!" Mia said under her breath so only Jasmine could hear.
"Well, maybe you should've thought of that before betting on him," Jasmine replied, teasing her again with a smile.
"Yeah yeah, laugh it up. The game's just started, Jasmine—don't celebrate too early," Mia fired back.
"I'm not celebrating," Jasmine said happily, "Just enjoying my day—it's literally the best day ever."
"Thanks to me," Mia said, rolling her eyes.
"Thanks SO much, Mia—but I'm still gonna win," Jasmine replied with pure joy in her voice.
"We'll see about that. The game's far from over," Mia said, now watching the game with intensity.
Ten minutes had passed—the first quarter was over. The score was Team J: 30 and Team N: 12. Team J had an 18-point lead, and all thanks to Jack, who scored 20 of those 30 points. Meanwhile, Niko managed just 8, slowly falling behind in the race to become captain. Jasmine, well, she couldn't hide her happiness. Her eyes were glued to Jack like he was the only thing in the world.
"Jasmine… Jasmine!" Mia had to literally shake her to break her trance. She was that lost in watching Jack.
"What? Why are you disturbing me?" Jasmine snapped, sounding kinda annoyed, like Mia had just yanked her out of the greatest dream ever.
"Where were you lost?! Don't stare at him like that! At least look around a bit too. If Luxe sees you, she won't just roast you—she'll probably roast me too… or beat us both!" Mia warned, half-joking, half-scared.
"Oh my god, don't say stuff like that," Jasmine said, startled.
"Well then stop staring at him like a starving person stares at food," Mia said bluntly.
"What!? No I wasn't! I was just… normally watching," Jasmine replied, trying to defend herself.
"That wasn't normal. And seriously—don't even look that way anymore. Luxe is right there, and if she sees you now, she's gonna twist this perfect day into a disaster," Mia said.
"Okay fine, but what's with the girl next to Luxe? Why is she looking at us?" Jasmine whispered to Mia nervously.
"Where?! Oh crap!" Mia turned quickly and looked away in panic. "Don't look back, whatever you do," she said in a quiet, tense voice.
"Why, what happened?" Jasmine asked, starting to panic a little now.
"Luxe's little gang has caught on. You've been checking him out for too long. I swear they already suspect something!" Mia said, looking right at Jasmine.
"Sorry! But… why is Luxe looking over here now?" Jasmine asked, visibly more nervous.
"You're STILL looking in that direction? I told you not to!" Mia scolded her again.
"I'm not really looking, I just glanced a little sideways," Jasmine said defensively.
"Yeah well that's all it takes. One wrong glance and we're screwed. Just don't look at them anymore, okay?" Mia said, serious this time.
"Okay okay, I'm not looking anymore," Jasmine agreed quickly.
Both of them forced themselves to look over at Niko's team instead and started fake-laughing and pointing, trying to act natural. But even the acting wasn't going that well—they were both shook and low-key scared now.
Then the match was about to resume, and players came back to the court. Mia and Jasmine went full fake-mode and tried to cheer for Niko.
"Hey Niko, best of luck—you got this!" Mia called out energetically.
"Yeah Niko, we believe in you!" Jasmine added, but her voice barely reached beyond herself.
"Dude, why'd you cheer so loud?" Mia whispered to Jasmine.
"I couldn't help it, I'm literally so scared my voice won't even come out right," Jasmine whispered back.
All the players were back on court and the match was about to kick off again, but suddenly—
"Sh*t!" Jasmine said, panicked and scared.
"What?! What happened?!" Mia asked quickly, alarmed.
"Luxe is coming this way!" Jasmine almost froze.
"You just got us both killed, Jasmine!" Mia whispered sharply.