Chapter 7: New Levels of Torment

You would have thought that the last day of tryouts would have been one without any drama, since the top ten players were pretty obvious, and the only real question was going to be if Coach Hendrix was going to carry the maximum number of fifteen players or stick with the standard of twelve.

There were still twenty of us in the running and we got divided up by position with Coach Hendrix taking the forwards and centers, and Coach Murphy taking the guards.

While Coach Hendrix explained to the centers what he wanted them to work on, the group of us trying out for forward watched the guards. As Matt had said, Coach Murphy shared the video of Ellery destroying a guy five years older than her and then he had her explain some of the techniques that she’d used to accomplish it.

The last thing she’d said to me had been playing on an endless loop in my head. I couldn’t figure out if she was hinting at wanting that type of relationship with me, or if she was just taking the piss because I had embarrassed her.

Since this was the only time I got to spend around her I hadn’t had a chance to ask. She was dressed in workout clothes again with her hair in a French braid and it became apparent just why.

“Let’s see if you can do better against her than poor Carl,” Coach Murphy challenged the players trying out for guard.

“Man, I can’t decide if I’m happy or pissed that I’m not trying out for guard,” I muttered to a junior named Grant, who was a shoo-in for starting power forward.

“Same.” Grant never said much.

We watched in silence as Ellery stole ball after ball, from everyone but Matt who had clearly watched the video on repeat, pausing to explain how she’d done it, until this smarmy guy named Seth said, “she can play with my balls all she wants.”

“Dude!” Grant gaped at him in disgust.

“What? You’re telling me you don’t look at her and want to bend her over the nearest chair?” He watched Ellery with undisguised lust.

“Shut the fuck up, man,” I snarled trying to rein in my anger.

“I’d fuck her up, that’s for sure. Do you think she likes it up the ass? I bet she likes it up the ass.” Seth’s beady eyes never left Ellery.

I started to lunge for him, but Grant put his hand out and stopped me. “Fuck him up during the drills. He’s not one of us.” I backed away and Grant turned his ire onto Seth.

“Ellery is not the type of girl you should say that shit about. Hell, no girl is. You need to watch your damn mouth.”

“Whatever, man. She’s got to be the tightest piece of pussy in this school.”

I started towards him again and Grant grabbed my arm. “During. Drills. Understand? Put your claws away.” I looked down in shock and pulled them back in.

Coach Hendrix came over at that moment and paired us up for our drill: three on three with a concentration on setting picks and boxing out. Fortune smiled on me as I was guarding Seth. All my seething hatred poured out during the drill and after I had knocked him on his ass for the third time he got into my face.

“You trying to make me look bad?” he demanded.

“You’re doing a fine job of that all by yourself.”

After that it became a personal duel between the two of us, to the point that the other four forwards left the court and let us go at it. I could feel frustration coming off of him in waves which only fueled my play more. He took a shot and when I went up for the rebound he shoved me in the back while I was in the air.

It sent me flying and then skidding across the floor. I leapt back up ready for blood and he charged towards me only to have Ellery cut in front of him, flipping him over her back by bending over right before they collided. Seth landed on his back and smacked his head hard against the floor.

“Oh my goodness! I am so sorry,” she exclaimed, not sounding sorry at all. “I was just so focused on getting to Alexander to make sure he wasn’t hurt by that blatant intentional foul that I didn’t even see you.”

Seth laid there, tears streaming down his face, struggling to breathe. “Oh dear, it looks like you got the wind knocked out of you. That can be so painful. Here, let me help you sit up.”

She grabbed the front of his tee shirt and hauled him into a sitting position. Only those who could see her face saw the venom in her expression and only those of us with enhanced hearing heard her hiss “and that’s just a taste of the world of pain you’ll be in if you do anything like that to anyone I care about again. Are we clear?”

He gave a curt nod, and Ellery let go of his shirt and stood up. “I don’t think Seth is going to be able to finish tryouts today, Coach Hendrix. In fact, I think Seth has realized that he doesn’t really like basketball anymore, isn’t that right, Seth?”

She turned her focus on me and gestured to the trainer’s room. “Let’s get you checked out. You’re probably going to get a massive contusion on your hip.”

I followed her to the trainer’s office, wincing as the adrenaline left my system and I began to feel the pain. Half of the guys looked terrified, but the returning players, as well as Grant and Nick, were all trying not to laugh.

She shut the door behind us and took a deep breath before muttering. “That stupid son of a bitch.” She patted the trainer’s table and said, “climb up and let’s have a look.”

“Did you really not see him?” I asked as I climbed up; grimacing.

“What do you think?” she asked, her beautiful face screwed up in a scowl. She looked at me and her demeanor changed. “I need to look at your skin. I realize this is awkward, but I have to check if you’ve started to bruise already.”

I shoved my shorts down to expose my hip and she let out a low whistle. “Yeah, this is going to be bad, even with the accelerated healing factor.” She noticed me freeze after she said that. “Relax Foxy, do you really think I’d tell anyone? The top six are all going to be Shifters, and at least three others aren’t fully human.”

She started dabbing a cream on my hip and I clenched my jaw trying to breathe. I had been wrong before. THIS was my personal hell.

“Relax,” she admonished me again. “Close your eyes and think happy thoughts.” Then she started rubbing the cream in.

“Holy fuck!”

“I know it hurts.” She spoke in the voice one might use with a child who had a skinned knee. “This will help.”

I was in a nesting doll of different levels of hell. She finally stopped touching me, pulled the shorts back up, and got me an ice pack.

“Stay in here icing it for twenty minutes and then get up with extreme care. You may need to spend the night at the Hendrix’s because sitting is going to be a bitch for a while. Do you want me to stay and distract you?”

What had I done to deserve this? Who had I sinned against? Both choices would be unbearable.

“Nah, that’s okay. You’ve still got work to do with the guards, right? Your defensive skills are really impressive. Do you help with the girl’s team too?”

“Um….not really. I would if they asked me, but….let’s just say that I’m not well liked by the girls at this school.”

“What a fucking loss for them,” I groaned.

She made a noise that was laughter adjacent. “If you’re sure you want me to go, I will.”

“I’ll be alright.”

“Okay.” She hesitated. “I’ll leave the door open so if you need help, someone will hear you.”

“Hey Ellery?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for caring.” I lifted my head when she didn’t respond and saw she was gone. I put my head back down and tried not to cry.