Nick sat there on the bleachers of Lincoln High School watching the girls get ready for their big game. They were playing for the state championship. The boys were playing after the girls. Nick sat with his teammates and best friends, Brian, Howie, AJ, and Kevin. Outside of school, they would hang out and sing at the underage club, the Underdog. Nick saw Brian’s girlfriend, Alicia, Howie’s girlfriend, Amy, Kevin’s girlfriend, Kristin, and AJ’s girlfriend, Amanda on the court with their best friend, Brizee. Nick really liked Brizee. They were friends but Nick wanted to be more but was afraid of admitting his feelings. He watched Brizee as she warmed up with the girls. Brian was the only one who knew of Nick’s feelings for Brizee. He looked at the crowd and looked back and saw Brizee staring at him. He smiled and waved. She waved back and made a motion that she needed to talk to him. He got up and went down to the court and she ran over to him.

        “Hey, good luck out there,” Nick said.

        “I don’t know if I can do this,” Brizee said.

        “Briz, it’s a game, just think of it as just a game, there is no championship, just a normal game and just play to win, you guys can do this,” Nick said.

        “I’m team captain, Nick, what if I fail leading them to victory,” Brizee said.

        “You won’t, there is no I in team, they can’t blame you if you guys lose, they would have to blame themselves, too, but you guys are going to win, I know it, it’s a big win day for Lincoln High, coach wants you over there, good luck and I’ll be cheering you guys on with the guys,” Nick said. Brizee smiled and ran back over to the bench. Nick went back up and sat down.

        “What’s up,” Brian said.

        “She’s nervous about the game,” Nick said.

        “Oh,” Brian said.

        “I so much wanted to hug her,” Nick said. The game began and they watched the girls fight for the title. Nick watched Brizee play and smiled and cheered when she would make a basket and she even made a few three pointers. He watched her dribble down the court and ran around the players and one player from the opposite team pushed her to the floor and started smacking her. Then she pulled a knife from her shoe and stabbed Brizee in the arm. Alicia kicked the knife out of the girl’s hand and the team tackled her and held her down and the refs took over. Alicia ran to Brizee and they held pressure on her arm as the coach called 911. The guys ran down to the court and Nick ran to Brizee. He knelt beside her. She saw him and grabbed his hand and held it. Nick put his other hand over hers and held onto her hand. The paramedics and police arrived and the girl was arrested and the paramedics loaded Brizee on a stretcher after they had the bleeding stopped. She wouldn’t let go of Nick’s hand.

        “I want him to go with me, please!” Brizee said crying. The paramedics nodded and they loaded her in the ambulance and Nick got in and she grabbed his hand. They headed to the hospital.

        “I’m here, Briz,” Nick said. He held her hand between his and watched the paramedic work on her arm. They arrived at the hospital and they wheeled her in. Nick stayed behind in the waiting room. The coach and Brizee’s parents arrived at the hospital. Nick looked at them.

        “Nick, how is she,” Laura said.

        “They just took her in, coach, what was the deal with that girl,” Nick said.

        “She hated Brizee, that it wasn’t fair that Brizee was so good at the game and led the team to an undefeated season, wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t happen ever again,” Janine said.

        “She should have known the consequences!” Nick said. Janine nodded.

        “She said it was worth it to get Brizee off the court for good,” Janine said.

        “She’s a senior, she wouldn’t be there next year,” Nick said. Janine nodded.

        “She wanted to ruin Brizee’s life, but she ruined her own life, too, she will be going to jail for awhile,” Janine said. The doctor came out.

        “Mr. and Mrs. Hardin?” he asked.

        “Yes,” Laura said as she and Steve faced the doctor.

        “Brizee is going to be fine, there wasn’t any damage to the nerves or blood vessels, her arm will be as good as new in a few weeks,” the doctor said.

        “Thank god, can we see her?” Laura asked.

        “She’s asking for you guys and she’s asking for Nick,” the doctor said.

        “I’m Nick,” Nick said.

        “You guys follow me,” the doctor said. They went to the room where Brizee was. They walked in and saw her with a bandage wrapped around her arm and it in a sling. She was looking out the window.

        “Briz,” Laura said. She looked at them.

        “Mom,” Brizee said. Laura gently hugged her.

        “I was so scared,” Laura said.

        “I’m okay, Mom,” Brizee said. Steve hugged her. She reached for Nick. He gently hugged her.

        “I’m glad you’ll be okay,” Nick said.

        “Thanks for staying with me,” Brizee said.

        “What are friends for,” Nick said.

        “You are my best friend, Nicky, I don’t know what I would do without you,” Brizee said.

        “Same goes for me, Briz,” Nick said.

        “I need to talk to Nick alone,” Brizee said.

        “We’ll go talk to the doctor about your recovery,” Laura said as she and Steve left. Nick sat down beside the bed and looked at her.

        “What’s up,” Nick said.

        “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about this for awhile now and never got the courage until now, I have feelings for you, Nick, more than friend feelings, I’ve had them for awhile, I was scared to tell you, still am because I have no clue whether you feel the same way and I’m probably making a fool of myself,” Brizee said. Nick shook his head and stood up and leaned down and kissed her tenderly.

        “I do, I do feel the same way, I was going to talk to you after the game,” Nick said. She smiled and they kissed deeply. Nick pulled back and Brizee started yawning.

        “I think the pain pills are kicking in, please stay with me,” Brizee said sleepily. Nick nodded and sat down and held her hand as she fell asleep. Laura and Steve came in.

        “Nick,” Laura said.

        “She wants me to stay with her,” Nick said softly.

        “Nick, do you have feelings for our daughter?” Steve asked. Nick nodded.

        “She admitted to having feelings for me, I feel the same way about her, I was going to talk to her after the games,” Nick said.

        “I know you two belong together,” Laura said hugging him. Steve shook his hand.

        “Take care of our girl,” Steve said.

        “I will, Steve, I wouldn’t let anything happen to her,” Nick said. Steve and Laura went home. Nick called his parents.

        “Hello,” Jane said.

        “Hey Mom,” Nick said.

        “Nick, how’s Brizee?” Jane asked.

        “She’s going to be fine, she’ll have full use of her arm in a few weeks, no damage to the nerves, she wants me to stay with her,” Nick said.

        “I’ll bring you a change of clothes in the morning, honey, is she asleep?” Jane asked.

        “Yeah, painkillers kicked in, Mom, we are a couple now, she’s got feelings for me, more than friend feelings,” Nick said.

        “That’s great, honey, I knew you two were bound to get together someday,” Jane said.

        “Did the guys win?” Nick asked.

        “They postponed the guys game, the girls won by forfeit due to the attack on Brizee, they didn’t want to play without you, the other team understood the circumstances, they saw the whole thing and they were disgusted by it like everyone else,” Jane said.

        “Okay, I’ll see ya in the morning, Mom, love you,” Nick said.

        “Love you, too, honey, goodnight,” Jane said. Nick hung up and looked at Brizee. An orderly had brought in a cot and set it up and Nick settled down on the cot and went to sleep. The next morning, Nick woke up and saw his mom and dad talking with Steve and Laura quietly. Brizee was still asleep. Nick sat up and stretched.

        “Hey honey,” Jane said handing him his bag. He went into the bathroom and took a shower and changed and came out and saw Brizee awake and both sets of parents gone. He put his bag down and went to her bedside.

        “Hey you,” Nick said.

        “I woke up and you were gone, I was alone,” Brizee said. Nick stroked her forehead.

        “I was in the shower, Briz, my mom brought me a change of clothes since I was in my basketball uniform,” Nick said.

        “Did the guys win?” Brizee asked.

        “They postponed the game, they didn’t want to play without me, the other team saw what happened and they were disgusted by it as everyone was, they understood the reasons and knew everyone would be on edge with what happened and wanted to play when our heads were clear and in the game, you guys won by forfeit,” Nick said.

        “Good, I get to watch you guys,” Brizee said.

        “Only if you are up to it, it’s next week,” Nick said.

        “I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Brizee said.

A week later, it was the championship game for the guys. Brizee was in the stands with her parents, Alicia, Kristin, Amanda, Amy, Jane, Bob, BJ, Leslie, Aaron, and Angel. Since Brizee and Nick had started dating, Angel, BJ, and Leslie had grown attached to Brizee and they sat around her. Brizee hugged Angel close to her side with her good arm. Angel watched her big brother warm up. The game began and they all cheered the guys on to victory. The guys posed for pictures and went to change. Brizee made her way down to the floor with Alicia, Amy, Kristin, and Amanda to wait for their guys. Nick came out and gently hugged Brizee. He hugged his siblings and parents.

        “Shake Shack?” Nick asked Brizee.

        “Of course,” Brizee said. They got into his car and went to the Shake Shack and sat down in their usual booth and waited for their friends. Brizee rested her head on his shoulder as he put his arm around her.

        “You okay?” Nick asked.

        “Yeah, just happy, everything has fallen into place, I knew you guys would win tonight, you guys had the perfect undefeated season and would not let it go down the drain in the championship, you guys will kick butt at UCLA,” Brizee said. Nick smiled and kissed her forehead.

        “I wish you were going there with me,” Nick said.

        “I was thinking of transferring, actually, the scout from the girls basketball team came to talk to me at the game tonight, they offered me and the girls a spot on the team for the upcoming season and full scholarships, we gave up our plans for other colleges and accepted so yes, we all will be going with you guys,” Brizee said. Nick grinned and kissed her forehead.

        “I’m so glad,” Nick said. The rest of the gang showed up and joined them and they ordered baskets of fries and mozzarella sticks and sodas.  The girls told the guys their college plans. The guys were thrilled that their girls would be going to UCLA with them.

        “Hey, there is a five bedroom house on campus open, Brian and I went ahead and signed for it, we could all move in there,” Kevin said.

        “Yeah, that way we could be together in one house,” Howie said. They all smiled.

Two weeks later, Brizee was doing physical therapy. Nick was watching along with Alicia and Brian.

        “I still can’t believe that girl, so proud of Brizee for her testimony at the trial, I’m glad that bitch got five years in prison,” Alicia said.

        “No kidding, she sat there glaring at Brizee the whole time, I wanted to strangle her,” Nick said.

        “It was like she wanted to go finish the job, the way she was looking at her,” Brian said.

        “I don’t get it, what did Briz do to her, it was a game, just a simple high school game,” Nick said.

        “That girl is sick,” Alicia said. She received a text. She looked at the guys.

        “That was Kris, she got a call from Kevin, that girl killed herself in her jail cell an hour ago,” Alicia said.

        “Damn,” Nick said quietly.