Playing the Court (Lauren/You/Camila)

Chapter 7

Demi's pov

I was outside in backyard because it was a pretty day, and I didn't feel like working out inside. I was in the middle of lifting some weights when my dad came outside, and let me say, he looked pissed.

"What's this I hear about a fight?" He yelled.

"It was nothing." I mumbled.

"Did you win?" Of fucking course he would ask that. It just had to be a competition. Everything was a competition with him.

"It was nothing." I said again.

"Obviously it was something. If it was nothing, your principal wouldn't have called me at the dealership. Do you realize how fast a suspension or bad reputation will ruin your prospects?"

"Dad, she's hitting on my girlfriend. What do you want me to do?" I raised my voice.

"Your girlfriend?" He asked incredulously. "Demi, if you are going to get in a fight, get in a fight over something important. Did you get hurt?"

"No." I glared at him.

"Okay. Good." He said and was about to walk off.

"Did you?" I asked, stopping him in his tracks.

"Me? Why?"

"She wasn't swinging at me. She was swinging at you." I told him.

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(Y/n)'s pov

"So are you going to tell me about the fight, or you wanna just assume I know about it while I yell at you?" My mom asked as we were seated at a small table in her café. Ally had just sat down before realizing the tension.

"Is that the phone? Well, would you look at that. I have to get back to my job." She excused herself, leaving my mom and I at the table.

"Mom, she had it coming. You know, she said-"

"No. They called me today and I was certain they had the wrong Lovato. They then told me they had two Lovato's and I could take my pick. Honestly, (Y/n)... fighting in class!" She yelled.

"She was being a total jerk." I yelled back, not wanting to call Demi a bitch in front of my mom.

"And this is suddenly a surprise to you? What, she hasn't been a jerk before?"

"No, she's always a jerk!"

"So why go down to her level? This wouldn't have anything to do with playing poorly, would it?" I scoffed at her last question and bitterly laughed.

"And how would you know? You weren't even there!" I yelled before I could stop myself. My mom looked shocked by my words. Once I realized what I said, I tried to apologize.

"Mom, I'm sor-" I was cut off by her jumping up from her seat and rushing out the room as her chair flew to the ground from the force of her leaving. Fuck. Shit. Fucking shit. I thought to myself, and looked out the window. Across the street I saw someone familiar in front of the local magazine building with a sketchpad looking thing.

Lauren stood in front of the door, looking as if she was debating whether to go in or not. She reached out her hand and rested it on the door for a moment. She turned around and took a deep breath before walking toward the trash can next to her and throwing the sketch book away, and leaving. I got up from my seat, and walking across the streat to the trash can. I know this is highly disgusting, digging through a trash can, but thank god the book was laying on top of a clean newspaper and was untouched by nasty ass trash. I picked it up and took it with me home.

The next morning, I walked onto the front porch in search of my mom to apologize. She was sitting in our chair swing with a cup of coffee in hand.

"How'd you sleep?" She asked as I sat next to her.

"Not good." I sighed. "I had this really bad dream to where I was a total jackass to my mom."

"Listen-" We both said at the same time.

"Jinx." I said and poked her arm as she slapped my arm afterwards.

"Sorry." I said.

"No, I'm sorry. I should have told you the truth about why I couldn't be there. I really wanted to be there, (Y/n), but the idea of walking into that gym..." She paused and shook her head. "That's where he told me he was going to college without me. That's where everything changed." She took a deep breath before continuing.

"I don't regret a single second of a day with you, okay? I don't." She said while looking in my eyes. "But that day was a hard day in that gym, and it was basketball that he chose. I'm sorry that you have to hear things like that, but I don't want to lie to you, either."

"I'm sorry you had to live it." I said before bringing her into a hug.

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Demi's pov

Dan and I had just finished our run, but we walked a little to cool down.

"Look, I wanna talk about what's happening with the team. I know you think I've been hard on you, but it's because I see the big picture here. Smith isn't going to bench this kid just because of one bad game." Dan said.

"So, what? Just let her humiliate herself." I said.

"No, it's more than that. Back when I played for Smith, before he switched to coaching the girls, his word was law. He was always right, even when he was wrong. So eventually, I called him out on it."

"He benched you in the state championship." I said.

"Yeah, so he claimed. He covered and acted like he benched me. You deserve the truth, he didn't bench me, I refused to go back in that game. We were ahead in the fourth quarter, and Smith wanted to stall, but what did I tell you about playing with a lead?"

"Be aggressive." I replied, trying to please him, even though his methods were unsportsmanlike.

"Exactly. Also, there were scouts that were there to see me. This guy was checking me, and he was going to some big college, but I could take him, so I did. I disobeyed Smith and I scored on him."

"Nice."

"Yeah, so Smith calls a time out, talking about how it was his system that got us there, and no one player is bigger than the team, so I sat down and called his bluff."

"And they lost." I said.

"Yeah. I felt bad for the guys, but he needed to know... I'm the one who got us there, not him... and not his system. Listen, Demi, I don't want you to back off this kid, no matter how poorly she plays. Smith is just using her to get back at me. Eventually, I'll deal with Smith, but for now it's just you and me, okay?"

"Yeah." I nodded before walking into the house.

A/N Dan is just such an ass. It pains me to write out how much of an ass he is. You people are awesome. I'm hungry. I shall make a sandwich now. Anyways, comment and vote.