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own cheerleaders; watching them play builds its own excitement. The crowd is already on their feet, and the stands are filled with homemade signs showing their love for the elite five and the entire team.
    The energy in the room is intense whenever any of the five of them are on the court together. They move as one, can read each other perfectly, and they know when to take advantage of each of their individual strengths. The rest of the team is talented, but when the elite five work together, it’s magic.
    Nonetheless, we are out here to keep the crowd going, so that’s what we are doing. Although, we are all more interested in the actual game than doing our cheers.
    “Let’s go, Knights; let’s go!” we all shout out to the crowd.
    The score isn’t even close; we are officially killing the other team. This is the game that will get us into the district championships and one step closer to state.
    I should watch Marcus, but I can’t take my eyes off Jake. He commands the court, pumping up the crowd. The sound is deafening with just one motion of his arm directing them to cheer more loudly. The wooden bleachers are practically shaking from the entire student section jumping up and down, screaming for our team.
    There are fifty seconds left, and Jake has the ball. He passes to Marcus who takes his time bringing it down the court, running down the clock until they have to shoot. Now they are just toying with the other players.
    Our skill level is so far above theirs it’s almost not fair. It’s like a cat and mouse chase, and the mouse is running the show. The other team reacts, but our boys are always five moves ahead of them.
    Marcus passes to Dax who sends it back to Nate, and without the other team noticing, Jake has positioned himself perfectly. In the blink of an eye, he has the ball again, and there is a perfect swoosh as it flies through the basket.
    The crowd erupts, and whoever wasn’t standing is now. Everyone starts pounding their feet on the wooden bleachers in response to this epic win. The score is 102 to 89, and there is no way the other team can come back. They are no longer trying; instead, they just let the last few seconds on the clock run out.
    When the buzzer sounds, indicating the end of the game, the echo of the entire student section’s feet banging on the wooden bleachers drowns out all the other cheering and shouting. The excitement is palpable.
    In all the commotion, Jake finds my eyes, and he gives me a sweet smile, revealing his dimples right before he is lost in the crowd of the team and students swarming the court.
    I look over and smile at Mel who is just as in awe as the rest of the student body. I pull her back while the rest of the girls on our squad line the wall of the gym to avoid getting trampled by everyone else swarming the court.
    “D.” I feel hands around my waist and turn toward them. My eyes land on Marcus, whose hair is soaked with sweat. “We won!”
    “I knew you would,” I tell him, which is true.
    I’m not sure why he is always so cautious when it comes to games. He never thinks they are going to win when they always do. His lack of confidence given his tremendous ability is endearing and the complete opposite of Jake and the rest of the boys.
    Before I can say anything else, he is pulled away by his teammates.
    ***
    “District, here we come!” Dax wraps his arm around Em as we enter Lucas Miller’s house, which is like Architectural Digest type of enormous and designed specifically for entertaining.
    Lucas’s dad is a big time lawyer who is always out of town on a big case or doing research. His mom is on wealthy husband number seven, so she is also not around, which equals the perfect party house.
    It’s become routine. Every Friday night after games, we go to Lucas’s house. It’s not discussed; it’s a given.
    Dax pulls Em into him, and she giggles. Clearly, they only have eyes for each other tonight. I wonder when they will just get it over with