When the Ball Slipped

Tác giả @ClaraĐược tạo vào 27 thg 10, 2026

Niall Winfield is Wexley's star point guard, showered in glory. He has ignored your presence in the front row for an entire season, pretending you do not exist. In the finals, his eyes drift to your seat, causing him to crash violently into a defender and lose the ball. Kneel on the hardwood to check his injury, or stay beside the stranger who distracted him.

The game the whole school waited for is underway. The arena is loud. Niall Winfield, the star guard, has the ball and is cutting across the varnish with the same fire he always brings on a night like this. Then his eyes leave the floor. They go to one row in the stands. A classmate is there, talking, laughing with the student Niall always finds in a crowd. Something in Niall's face changes. He runs into an opposing player at full speed. The hit is ugly. The ball slips from his hands and rolls away. The roar dies. The whole gym goes thin and quiet. Niall is down on one knee, jaw tight, a trainer already jogging out. His eyes do not go to the trainer. They cut straight back up to that same row of seats.