The Bubble Bursts

[Frozen Smoke]

((Luca Thomas - Pregame Start!))

Luca swung her feet back and forth under the bench as she waited for Coach to leave his office. It was a little cold in the gym, and there was nothing much to do but wait, so she did. This Coach was different to the one that she’d had in elementary, he was a lot shorter and fatter, and he made them do way more practice than their old one. She liked that though, it was just more time playing with her friends.

It was only as Coach finally came out of his office that Luca began to wonder why he’d asked to see her, but the thought was quickly brushed aside as he motioned for her to come inside. She was happy when he sat down at his desk and she got to sit on the other side of it, like adults did when they were doing adult things. She swung her legs a little on this chair too, but less. She didn’t want to kick Coach’s shins after all.

“So, Luca.” began Coach, with a tone of voice that made Luca’s legs freeze mid-swing, before falling together neatly beneath her. He didn’t sound happy, and that meant she’d done something wrong, or something bad had happened. And she was pretty sure she hadn’t done anything wrong, so that meant something bad had happened.

“I’m sorry to spring this on you, but I wanted to make sure I told you face-to-face, because I know it means a lot to you.” he continued, as she continued to look at him with a puzzled, worried expression as she tried and failed to see where this was going.

“But we’v- I’ve made the decision to put in our small forward in as the starter for our next game.” he finished up, matter of factly.

The words took a few moments to really sink in, and then kept sinking, taking the bottom of Luca’s stomach out with them. She was off the starting lineup. She wouldn’t get to compete any more. She’d just have to sit around being useless all the time as her friends had fun without her. Her vision began to swim a little as she asked an important question.

“W-what did I do wrong?” she asked, her voice tight as she tried her best to act like the adult she was sitting in the position of.

Coach seemed like he didn’t have an answer for that. She thought it was stupid to not have an answer for why you’d do something like that, as she looked up at him with spiteful expectation of an answer she already knew, when she thought about it. She just wasn’t as good. She sighed in exasperation and rested her head in defeat on the cheap, plastic coated wood of the desk in front of her.

She mumbled out another question, one that hopefully Coach might be able to answer.

“What can I do to play again?”

Coach had an answer to that, and it involved a lot of work. She agreed to it quickly.

As she moped out of the office, Luca knew exactly one thing. She was going to prove everyone wrong. She was going to keep playing and make it to the top. Just, her own way. If Coach didn’t think she could work as a starter, then she was going to become the best substitute ever, and win that way. She’d make sure that she helped the team win, even if she couldn’t play.