Part 70: Jenna's Point of View I walked into the gym, with my mom and Sydney right by my side. Mom went to sit with Josh and Ali, while Sydney and I went to the very top of our bleachers. The bleachers were huge, extremely tall, I mean. I heard buzzing all around us, people talking. Pointing at me. Whispering. It never went away. "Yeah that's the girl in that video with Mason Parker..she's pathetic." It was humiliating. And it never stopped. Everywhere I went, someone knew about it. "Holy crap it's loud!" Sydney shouted. That's when I realized that the team was about to come out. I heard them yelling from the entry way of the boy's locker room. The cheerleaders were forming a tunnel for the guys to run through. "Hey, let's fire it up, say hey let's fire it up." They cheered. Sydney rolled her eyes. "I'd like to light Aubree's uniform on fire. That'll fire her donkey up." I gave her a small attempt at a smile, I couldn't bring myself to form one anymore. "FIRED UP, WE'RE FIRED UP. FIRED UP. FIRED UP. WE'RE FIRED UP." The guys chanted. My school does a lot of chanting, I don't know why. We're a very sports-centered school. The guys sprinted out of the locker room, crossing half court and forming a circle by our foul line. The music went dead, silence spread through-out the gym. The guys were huddled, with one guy kneeling down in the middle of the circle. It looked like Mason, but I couldn't tell because of the large team surrounding them. I saw Carter immediately, #22, just like Dad. Owen, #23 was right next to Carter. "ARE YOU FIRED UP?!" Mason screamed. "YES WE'RE FIRED UP!" They all responded. "I SAID, ARE YOU FIRED UP?!" Mason screamed again. Holy shiet he was loud. "YES WE'RE FIRED UP!" They all put their hands on top of Mason's head, as he bounced, almost like they were dribbling him like a basketball. "DEVILS!" They shouted. The lights cut off. Leaving the whole gym in pitch black. A spot light came on in the middle of the court. Mason was standing dead center. He had a microphone in one hand. He was wearing his basketball warm up, black athletic pants, with a blue long sleaved shirt. Franklin Basketball, was written across the front. A C was on his right sleeve. He and Carter were the captains. I knew on the back it had" Parker" written across the top, with #14 right below it. "FRANKLIN!" He yelled into the microphone. The whole gym errupted into applause. Mason was the only thing we could see. "ARE WE A BUNCH OF CRAZY FOOLS?!" He yelled again. "AWWWH YEAH!" The audience replied. Mason smiled, and continued. "I SAID," He licked his lips. "FRANKLIN! ARE WE A BUNCH OF CRAZY FOOLS?!" "AWWWWWH YEAH!" The audience chorused once again. Sydney glanced at me, to see if I was okay. But I just ignored her, facing forward, pretending it wasn't Mason at Half Court. He cleared his throat, to get the audience to quiet down. "At this time, I would like to remind everyone that buying a ticket to the game does NOT give you the right to harass the officials." Everyone laughed as the refs perked up. "Who am I kidding!" Mason smiled. "IT'S SENIOR NIGHT! WE DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DO!" The lights went black again. Spot lights circled the gym. "We'd like to welcome you to the 2012 Franklin High School Senior Night!" More applause. "At this time, we would like to introduce the seniors from Epping High." Mr. Fredrick started naming people, they stood up one by one and just raised a hand. 2 seniors for them. "Starting for Epping, #21..." I zoned out, I never really cared about listening to the other team's starting line up. "Annnd now," Mr. Fredrick said in a deep voice. "Your FRANKLIN DEVILS!" He boomed. "At Guard, Number 3, Sophomore, Leo Perez!" Leo jumped up and ran through the tunnel, high fiving the guys who created the tunnel, and doing a handshake with the freshman at the end. The only freshman on the team. Each player had a handshake with Eric (The freshman) they did it when their name got called. Leo ran and fist bumped the refs, followed by shaking Epping's head coach. "At Forward, Number 5, Junior, Troy Johnson!" Troy ran out, following the same routine as Leo had. "And now for your 2012 Seniors!" He yelled. "At Guard, Number 23, Senior, OWEN WATERMAN!" "As your starting Point Guard, for the past 4 years, Son of the one and only, Zach Bennett, Number 22, Senior, CARTER BENNETT!" I stoood up and screamed for him as loud as I could, followed by all of the other girls in our school. "And now, for the best post player Franklin has ever seen, also a starter on Varsity since his freshman year. Number 14, SENIOR, MASON PARKER!" Mason ran through the tunnel, his handshake involved Eric shining his shoes. He rubbed Eric's head and then ran to fist-bump the refs, and shake Epping's coach's hand. He ran down the team mates line, everyone checking him. Troy popped Mason's imaginary collar, while Leo padded him down. It was weird, but that was their handshake. "At this time, we'd like to invite the families down to take pictures with their Seniors."
Part 71: Jenna's Point of View Mom stood up and started searching behind her, looking for me without a doubt. She waved her hand, motioning for me to follow her down onto the court. I groaned and looked at Sydney. "Smile big, you pretty girl!" She said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and started walking down the bleachers. My mom and I walked out to Carter, together. "Alright, let's get a big picture and then you can take separate ones." Why did my dad and Josh have to be best friends? "Come on Jen!" Carter said smiling, moving over to make a spot for me. Unfortunately, that spot was right next to Mason. His black eyes lit up when he saw me, but I avoided his gaze. "You came." He whispered. Ignore him, my mind screamed at me. I felt his strong arm wrap around my waist, pulling me closer to him, for the picture. My whole body felt like it would turn into jello at any given moment. No Jenna. He hurt you. Mason doesn't care about you. You don't mean anything to him. The camera flashed, as soon as the light went away, I lept away from Mason. "I'm going back up to the bleachers." I grumbled as I walked past my parents. My feet carried me up the stairs, back to Sydney. Mumbles from every direction. "Jenna." "Mason.." "Did you see?" Just shut the duck up. I got back to my seat next to Sydney, and the lights went off again. "Tonight is a very special night." Mr. Fredrick said. "Not only is it Senior night, two of our seniors are very close to scoring 1,000 points. Carter Bennett." The whole audience cheered. "58 points away." More applause. "And Mason Parker." I felt my stomach drop at the slightest mention of his name. "14 Points away." How ironic. His number is 14. Can I just leave now? "Would you all please rise, and remove your hats as we honor America with the playing of the National Anthem." I stood up and faced the giant flag we had on the wall. Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light... My eyes widened. I know that voice. I shifted my eyes and saw the one and only, Aubree Woods, singing the National Anthem. I could throw up right then and there. She finished and went to hug Mason, giving him a large kiss. I can't believe I'm sitting here watching this. I stood up and went to leave, I can't handle this. Sydney tugged my hand back down, "It's Carter's Senior Night, Jenna. You have to stay for his game." I groaned and sat back down. The whole arena was filled with people wearing white, one of our school colors. We call it a White Out. The boys, of course, had custom jerseys made. They were Purple, and had their nicknames on the back with their number, instead of their last name. I watched as all of the guys walked out on the court for the jump ball. Carter's was Lightning, he was incredibly fast. You never want to leave him unguarded. Owen's was Firecracker. Give him the ball and he'll explode on the court. On defence, he'll stuff anyone. Blow them away. Troy's was Fouler. Kind of self-explanatory, he fouls out almost every game. Leo's was Legendary. His family has been going to school here for generations. His parents, grandparents, they all went here. And then Mason took off his warmups. I saw his back as he turned, shaking hands with the other guy who was going to do the jump ball. 'Mystery' was written across the back. Mystery is right. That {insert bad word here} is filled with surprises.
Part 72: Mason's Point of View "Good luck, Bro." I told the guy as I shook his hand. I think his name was Scott, but I don't exactly remember. "You too man. Congrats on the 14 left." I smiled. "Thanks. I'm pretty stoaked about it." The ball was thrown into the air, but I didn't have time to react to jump for it. Scott smiled at me. "Don't let people distract you, BRO." He emphasised it. "Dastard plays dirty." I grumbled under my breath. Guess what, Scotty. My nickname isn't Mystery for nothing. I'm full of surprises. Prepare to officially be named my ditch, Scott. Carter had the ball and was dribbling it up the court. I was posted up in perfect position, waiting for the pass. "HEY!" I called. "BALL!" My words were muffled by my mouth guard. Carter looked at me and then passed it to Owen. Am I not open enough for you? What a dhore. "BALL!" I called. Owen looked at me and threw it as hard as he could. Right in the place where it hurts. I didn't even have time to react. I was on the ground. I felt like I was going to throw up. It hurts like a ditch to get hit down there. No one realizes how painful it is. I rolled onto my back, trying to breathe evenly. Troy came over and extended his hand. "Come on Bro, get up." I took it and got up, walking over to the other side of the court. "What the duck was that?!" I growled at Owen. He shrugged. "Bad pass. Sorry man." Whatever you little duck. Carter stole the ball and tore off down the court, 3 defenders on him. "BEHIND!" I shouted. He glanced over his shoulder and chucked the ball to me. Another crotch shot. Back to the floor, coughing my brains out. Twice in 2 minutes? Are you ducking kidding me? "WHAT THE DELL?!" I yelled. "Time out!" Coach Bennett called. We all ran over, after I lugged myself up. "Owen, Carter, you've gotten him now. It's senior night, you need him. You've gotten your revenge, now be done and let's play some basketball." We all put our hands in, "TEAM." We chorused. I stayed behind to ask Coach a question. "Coach, you knew about that?!" I still felt nauseous. "Like I always told my wife, I want to have a son before a daughter, so my son can beat the shiet out of anyone who hurts my daughter." He smiled. "You're lucky we need you, Mason."
Part 73: Mason's Point of View 6 Points left until I'm the first person since 2006 to score 1000 points. I've been working for this since my Freshman year, and now it was right in front of my eyes. Taunting me. Coach wanted me to wait until the 4th quarter to get it. We were up by 15, but we never stop playing as hard as we can. There is no pity rule. "HEY! BALL!" I called. I had my defender pinned behind me, in perfect position. The great feeling of the ball's grip skidded into my hands. Bounce once. Turn right, hookshot. Swish. 4 points left. "TIME OUT!" Coach called. Everyone jogged over to the bench, Eric handed me my Gatorade and I practically chugged it. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aubree staring at me. Undressing me with her eyes. What a little dhore. I really don't like her. Especially after what she did to Jenna. What I did to Jenna. "Parker!" My attention snapped back to coach. "Can't you wait 3 more minutes to score 1,000? Come on. Wait until the forth quarter." I just simply nodded. "Sure thing." If there was one person I never challenged, it was my coach. It didn't matter what sport. Football, soccer, hockey, basketball, or baseball. I didn't talk back to them. "Okay. Here we go boys. Let's demoralize these people." He said. Coach Bennett always used strong words, he didn't like beating teams. We ripped them down and burried them in a hole; demoralizing them. My eyes quickly scanned the stands as we walked back out, beginning the 4th quarter. No sign of her anywhere. Did she leave? Posted up again. "BALL!" I called. Troy looked at me and passed it, a quick drop step and bam. 2 points away from a thousand. Another minute and I had made 1000. My 1000th point, I dunked it. What up ditches? The whole game stopped, everyone stood up and lost it. Aubree ran over to me and jumped into my arms, but I pushed her off. I didn't want anything to do with her. "MASON PARKER! The first person since 2006, the 10th person in Franklin history to score 1000 points through out their whole highschool career." I can't believe this is happening. Ever since my freshman year I would look up at that banner and think "One day, my name will be up there." And now it is. Mason Parker 2012 Was written right below the last. It's an unreal feeling. But she slipped into my mind. My feet carried me over to Mr. Fredrick. "Can I say something?" I asked him quietly. He raised an eyebrow at me, but then reluctantly handed over the microphone.