Short Story: Can You Take The Heat? {Part 1}

Drake felt someone shaking him and groaned. “What do you want Jacey?” He called out but didn’t open his eyes. He felt like he only got a few hours of sleep and he wasn’t trying to get up right now.

“Wake up Superstar it’s game day,” she told him and he shot up out of bed.

“First game of the season,” he smiled.

“And I’ll be rooting you on with our parents. You’re gonna beat their ass,” she raised her hand and he slapped it. “Who are you playing?”

“One of those rich schools, Greenhill Indians,” he shrugged.

“I can’t wait until you play Clearwater,” she perked up.

“I’on know why they’re our biggest rival. They suck but they don’t shut the fuck up. They always talk shit but we always kill them on the court. They just look down at us because of where we’re from. Fights always break out over there with their stupid captain Young,” he hated that school with a burning passion.

“When do you play them?” Jacey looked at Drake.

“Two games from now so we play them next week,” he nodded.

“You’ll kick their ass. I hate those spoiled brats too,” she mumbled as she left. Drake’s dad remarried when Drake was seven and Jacey was his stepsister. She’s a freshman while he is a junior so he sees her as a younger sister since they practically grew up together. He got up and went to get ready.

“You ready?” He looked around downstairs.

“Make me proud today son,” his dad came out of his study.

“Always,” he nodded as Jacey came out of the kitchen.

“Bye Daddy!” She hugged him and Drake dapped him up before they hopped in the car and headed to school.  “See you at your game!” She pecked his cheek and rushed out once he pulled up. Drake got out of his car and dapped up people he knew as he walked down the hallway.

“You ready for today Captain?” Jay appeared by his side.

“I’m ready to go through these schools so we can get to Clearwater. I want to shut them up once and for all,” he was determined.

“With Young as their captain it won’t be that hard,” Jay joked.

~~~

“Ms. Maraj.”

“Yes?” Alvira and Onika looked at their teacher.

“Nicki,” she clarified. Nicki looked at Vira and they shared a look.

“Yes?” They answered in unison again.

“This little game is getting annoying,” she gave them a stern look.

“It’s actually pretty entertaining,” Issay chuckled with a few other classmates. The bell rung and the twins shot up.

“Looks like we’ll have to talk next time,” Nicki smiled at the teacher and walked out of the room. “Check,” Nicki looked at Vira.

“And mate,” she dapped her up. Nicki eyed her boyfriend down the hallway and a smile made its way onto her face.

“You’re coming to the game right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world sis.” They went their separate ways as Nicki walked up to Evan and he wrapped his arms around her.

“Hey baby,” he pecked her lips.

“Hey are you ready for the game?” She cocked a brow.

“I’ve been ready,” he hung his arm around her shoulder and they walked to their class.

“Aye Evan how does it feel to have your girlfriend kick your ass on the court?” Some random freshman asked.

“It makes me damn proud,” he kissed the side of her head. “You know I’m proud of you baby.” He made sure she remembered that every day.

“I mean being the only girl on the boy’s varsity basketball team is kind of a big deal,” she smirked. She always played basketball but was on the girl’s team. She was basically the team until the school canceled the girl’s team. Her coach talked to the coach of the boys team and he decided to let Nicki try out. He quickly put her on the team when she kicked the ass of every boy on the court.

“Just be prepared for Westlake they can get rough,” he warned her.

“I like it a little rough,” Nicki bit on her bottom lip and he shook his head with a laugh.

~~~

“Who’s ready to kick some ass!?” Drake yelled to his team as the bus drove them over to Clearwater. The guys broke out into cheers and Drake chuckled. They all knew that they were about to destroy Clearwater.

“I heard that they got a new player on the team,” Jay told them.

“So?” Eman looked at him weird.

“Clearwater won their last four games. They completely destroyed Hemlock. We barely won against Hemlock last season.” He was making some of the team nervous but Drake wasn’t nervous.

“I guess we’ll have to show this new guy who we are,” he was ready. They got to the school and as usual they felt awkward. Clearwater was filled with a bunch of rich kids while Westlake was filled with a bunch of kids from the ghetto. They got dressed in the locker room and discussed some of the plays they wanted to use in this game. Drake had an extra ten minutes so he decided to get something from the concession stand.

Nicki had the same idea as Drake and she leaned against the wall next to the stand. The line was long as hell.  She eyed this player from Westlake and smirked to herself. She wasn’t dressed yet so he probably didn’t know that she was on the team. He walked over to the stand and got in line behind her. She turned to looked at him.

“You wouldn’t happen to be the captain of Westlake would you?” She heard about him but wasn’t sure if he was who she thought he was.

“I guess I’m pretty well known,” he grinned.

“You’re definitely well known around here,” she nodded slowly. A lot of people in her school hated him and his entire school. Something always seems to pop off between the two schools no matter what event it was.

“You go here?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t look like the rest of them,” he eyed her sweatpants and hoodie.

“And what exactly are we supposed to look like?” She raised a brow.

“I’on know I just never seen a girl from Clearwater dressed like that,” he shrugged. He didn’t mean it as an insult and he hoped it didn’t come off that way. He was relieved when she laughed.

“There are a lot of things that separate me from girls at my school.” She looked forward to seeing his face when she stepped out on the court.

“Oh yeah? Like what?” He questioned.

“You’ll see,” was all she said before she got to the stand. “Can I have four Gatorades and a bag of skittles?” She was getting drinks for some of the guys on the team. They were too lazy to walk out there themselves so they gave her the money.

“Thirsty much?” Drake had an amused look on his face. She paid and grabbed the stuff before facing Drake.

“Good luck on your game Graham. You’re gonna need all the luck in the world to beat Clearwater this season,” she flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked away. Drake stood there confused but figured that she was just some delusional girl who supported her school. Everyone knew that Westlake kills Clearwater every game.

“Drake get your ass in here!” He heard his coach yell. He paid for a drink and some candy before rushing over. He eyed the stands and all the seats were filled. He saw Jacey in the stands and she waved at him. He returned it and they got ready to run out.

“Make some noise for the away team the Westlake Hornets! Give it up for their starters; Jay Burns, Eman Wiley, Myles Dyer, Asher Smith, and their captain Drake Graham!” They ran out while the rest of the team went to put their stuff on the sidelines.

“Now make some noise for your home team the Clearwater Knights! Give it up for the starters; Logan Taylor, Josiah Moore, Isaiah Lewis, and Evan Young,” the announcer took a second to announce their captain.

“What the hell? Young ain’t their captain no more?” Jay looked at Drake but he was just as surprised. He’s been their captain since he was a freshman because he was that good. He was the one dragging his team along but now there was someone better.

“And your captain NICKI MARAJ!” The crowd erupted in loud cheers and Drake’s mouth dropped as he eyed the girl.

“What the hell? That’s a girl. Aye ref! Ain’t this a foul or something?” Myles walked over to him.

“Captains!” The other ref motioned for Drake and Nicki to meet him at the half court line. Drake met him there and Nicki walked over with a grin on her face. “Make sure this is a clean game given the history between the two teams,” he looked in between them.

“Maybe we should go easy considering you’re a girl and all,” Drake offered.

“You might wanna bring your all Graham because I’m gonna crush your ass,” she threatened. Drake found her attitude amusing.

"Shake hands.” Drake reached out and she gave him a firm handshake. Drake swore that he felt something but he could tell by her face that she didn’t or so he thought. Nicki felt something but paid it no mind because she was completely focused on killing this team.

“You really believe that you can crush my ass?”

“Just watch me,” she turned and walked back to her team. Drake walked back to his and Jay shook his head.

“This shit ain’t ever happen!” He grew frustrated. While they were freaking out, Nicki was laughing. She was used to this kind of reaction. One thing stuck out and she grew angry.

“A bitch can’t be captain.” Drake shook his head at Jay and Myles.

“Did you just call her a bitch?” Evan got up in his face.

“And if I did?” Drake snapped.

“Babe he’s not worth it,” Nicki pushed Evan back.

“Oh I get it the bitch is your girl,” he chuckled.

“Call her a bitch one more time,” Logan walked up to him. They heard the refs blowing their whistles.

“Break it up!”

“Just watch this bitch show you why I’m captain,” Nicki finally understood why they hated this school. She walked away and they warmed up until the buzzer went off.

“You ready?” Vira looked at her twin concerned.

“I’ve never been more determined in my life,” she nodded.

“Kick their ass Nic,” Issay told Nicki.

“Best believe I will,” she nodded and walked into the middle of the court. She was a lot shorter than the guys but she made up for that by the way she played ball.

“How tall are you baby girl? You probably ain’t reach 4’ll,” Drake joked and his team laughed.

“I’m 5’2 nigga,” she snapped.

“She got a mouth on her,” Jay chuckled.

“Can we start so I can shut them up?” She turned to the ref. He nodded and blew his whistle. He tossed the ball in the air and Evan jumped and tipped the ball towards Nicki. She took off and shot a layup. “Can this bitch ball now?” She eyed the Hornets as they all stared at her in shock. Nicki was only getting started because twenty seconds left in second quarter the score was 50-25. Nicki shot a three pointer as she heard the buzzer. She ran into the locker room with her team as they dapped her up. It took them a while to get used to having a girl on their team but they got used to her because she could ball. That’s why everyone voted for her as captain, even Evan voted for her.

“What the hell was that out there!?” Drake’s coach yelled at them.

“The bitch is good,” Jay mumbled.

“We can’t have Clearwater beat us!” He continued to yell. Drake sighed because he didn’t think that she would be that good.

“She’s kicking our ass,” Myles groaned.

“And she’s fine as hell,” Eman smirked. Drake slapped him in the back of his head.

“Focus,” he reminded him.

“I was focused on her ass,” he dapped up Asher.

“She does have a good ass,” Myles nodded.

“Drake talk some sense into your team because if y’all lose, suicides all practice long tomorrow,” Coach snapped.

“But we don’t have practice this Saturday,” Myles scrunched up his face.

“If you let this girl beat you then y’all will have practice on every fucking Saturday!” He threatened before walking out.

“We need to focus on the game. Find her weakness,” Drake tried to think of something that she did.

“She don’t got any,” Asher shook his head.

“She’s amazing,” Eman couldn’t even deny that.

“I eyed her legs when she was shooting,” Jay spoke up and all the guys looked at him like he was crazy. He let out a huff and rolled his eyes at them. “She shoots off of her right leg. She leads with her right and avoids her left leg at everything. I think she got a knee problem from what I saw,” he explained.

“When did you have time to figure all of that out?”

“She was kicking our ass so I tried to focus on her instead of the game,” he shrugged.

“Foul her!” Myles popped up.

“What good will that do?”

“Someone foul her and make sure you knock her hard. She won’t be able to play if she hits her knee hard enough,” he elaborated a little.

“So we’re playing dirty? I’m down with it,” Drake nodded. “Hornets on three….1…2….3 Hornets!” They chanted before filing out of the locker room. They walked out and saw Clearwater just shooting around. Drake looked in the stands and saw Nicki talking to two girls. She hugged one and that’s when all of the guys noticed.

“A girl that fine has a twin!?” Asher’s eyes went wide.

“I’m done nigga,” Eman shook his head.

“Let’s just start the game.” They started the second half and Jay nodded at Drake to do it. Drake knocked her hard and stole the ball. He made the shot and the team patted him on the back but he noticed that the Knights weren’t on the court. They turned and saw Nicki still on the floor holding her knee.

“Time out,” the ref said. They walked on the sideline and watched Nicki. She looked in a lot of pain and that made Drake feel bad.

“You asshole!” He felt a girl push him hard. He looked at her and thought it was Nicki for a second but realized it was her twin.

“She said she was tough enough to be on a boy’s team,” he shrugged.

“She has knee problems and I promise you if you blew out her knee I’ll kill you. I will murder your ass so I dare you to try me,” Vira spoke in all seriousness. She will kill him if he ruined Nicki’s chances to play basketball. She walked back to Nicki and they helped her up and brought her in the locker room. They sent a sub in for Nicki and returned to the game. Drake was sorta relieved because he was schoolin’ this team again.

“Shit it hurts,” Nicki groaned as the nurse tried to bend it.

“I think you should take a couple of weeks off from basketball,” she told her.

“No just pass me my brace,” she pointed to it. The nurse handed it to her but was still concerned.

“Nicki you did this back when you were on the girl’s team and that’s how this whole knee problem started,” she reminded her.

“I’m not letting those assholes win,” she stood up and ignored the pain. When she walked out everyone from her school clapped for her. Even some people from Westlake clapped for her. No one thought she would be back on the court after taking a fall like that but they didn’t know her determination. “Sub me in,” she told her coach.

“You sure?” She nodded and waited. The ref blew his whistle and she took Jeffrey’s spot. Drake looked at her in shock because she fell really hard. The score was now 66-59 with Clearwater in the lead but Westlake caught up fast. Nicki ignored the stares from the other team and got in position. She started again and killed Westlake. The game ended 99-68. Nicki grabbed the ball and walked up to Drake.

“If you have to result in playing dirty to beat me then you must be pretty damn desperate. If I ever play you again then I promise that I will beat your ass worse than this. Learn a lesson from this game; a bitch can be captain,” she shoved the ball at him and left. He sighed and knew that he was wrong for doing that to her.

“Why did you push that girl down!?” Jacey pushed him. She’s never seen her brother act that way on the court. She knew that he was intimidated by the girl but that was uncalled for.

“It was a stupid team decision,” he shrugged it off. Their parents already left but Jacey stayed as he got dressed. They walked towards his car and he saw Nicki leaned up against the school with her phone in her hand. He noticed some tears fall down her face as she straighten out her knee. He contemplating going over there or not and decided to go over. “Wait in the car,” he tossed Jacey the keys before walking over to her. She already slid her phone back into her pocket and eyed him. “Hey are you alright?” She let out a dry chuckle and thought that this nigga was a good actor.

“Look Westlake asshole I don’t know you and you don’t know a fucking thing about me. Stay out of my way and I’ll gladly stay out of yours,” she glared at him.

“Why do you always gotta be a bitch?” He was trying to help but she was just snapping at him.

“Always? Nigga you’ve only known me for two seconds and you’re telling me that I’m always like this?” She shook her head.

“This is why we don’t fuck with your school. Y’all are just some bitches with money,” he always hated this school.

“Bitches with money,” she nodded her head slowly. “And you’re school is filled with ghetto people and crack heads. So what does that make you? I’d say a mix in between the two. You keep fronting like you’re this thug who can beat someone’s ass. I know real thugs and your ass surely ain’t one,” she looked him up and down in disgust.

“Little rich bitch knows thugs? I’ll believe it when I see it,” he knew that she was lying.

“Call me a bitch one more time. I dare your ass to try me,” she straightened up.

“There goes the bitch with a temper,” he chuckled but quickly groaned. Nicki straightened out her good knee and smirked at him as he held his crotch in pain.

“Who’s really the bitch?” She flipped her hair and walked off. Vira pulled up the car and she hopped in.

“I like her,” Jacey said after Drake got in the car.

“Shut the hell up,” he started the car and pulled out.

“No I like her. She can kick your ass in basketball, smart talking, and literally. She knows how to put you in your place. I don’t know why you kept calling her a bitch. You don’t know her,” she said.

“Every girl is a bitch,” he mumbled.

“So I’m a bitch?” She crossed her arms.

 “You don’t count Jace,” he shrugged her off.

“See there’s your problem. You treat females who aren’t related to you with zero respect. You act like all girls are just some hoes wanting dick from you,” she hated that side of her brother.

“Most of them are.”

“Most aren’t all girls. That girl on the team obviously worked hard to be that good of a player. You hurt her and I heard that she already had knee problems. That was a bitch ass move and you’re the one calling her a bitch.”

Nicki sat in the car pissed as hell. “I swear I’m going to kill him,” she couldn’t stand a bone in his body.

“I’ll be right behind you twin. He’s a jealous asshole. He’s the type of guy who doesn’t want a girl to beat him in anything,” she added in.

“We’re the first school to beat Westlake in years. They’ve been state champs for years. I’ll assure you that I’ll be taking that title by the end of this season. The next time I see him will be when I show him what a bitch can really do.”

~~~

Nicki rolled her neck and put her headphones in. Today was State Champions and it was Clearwater vs. Westlake. Everyone was waiting for this game and so was Nicki. She was ready for that Westlake asshole. She just wondered around outside for a minute. She wanted to clear her head and prepare for the game. She felt someone tap her shoulder and she quickly turned around. “Nigga don’t be sneaking up on people,” she snapped as she took her headphones out.

“You really have a mouth on you,” he chuckled.

“What do you want Westlake asshole?” She crossed her arms.

“Westlake asshole, I guess I deserve that. I just wanted to apologize for the last game. That was wrong of me and I’m sorry for calling you a bitch,” he apologized. She eyed him noticing his demeanor.

“Trying to get inside my head huh?”

“I ain’t gonna lie,” he shrugged.

“Play a clean game and maybe I’ll take it easy on you,” she walked past him. She turned around and thought for a minute. “Nah I think I’ll kill you even more than last time. I want to show you which bitch not to mess with. Get ready to lose your state title Graham,” and with that she walked away. Drake shook his head and ruled her off as a stuck up bitch.

“Did you apologize?” Jacey asked him as soon as he walked back inside.

“Yeah and the bitch still acted the same.” He needed to focus on this game to make sure that they come out on top. He was not about to let a bitch take that title away from him. Both players were in their game mode up until the point where they all met on the court.

“Captains!” The ref motioned for them. Nicki met Drake at the half court line. “Let’s make this a clean game,” he looked between the two. They were holding an intense stare down.

“Did you hear that Graham? Make sure it’s a clean game,” Nicki cut her eyes at him.

“I don’t need to play dirty to take home that trophy.”

“Shake hands.” Nicki looked at Drake and scrunched up her face.

“No thanks.”

“Can’t shake a hand? Spoiled stuck up bit-,” he started but she cut him off.

“Finish the sentence I dare you,” she gave him a warning look.

“Just shake hands!” Drake held out his hand and Nicki sucked it up as she placed her hand in his. They both felt another shock like last time causing Nicki to pull her hand away quickly. She looked back up into his eyes and he stared at her trying to figure out what that was. Nicki slowly let out a smirk.

“Game on Westlake asshole.” Drake stepped up his game and didn’t underestimate her in the first quarter. It just seemed like the two were going back and forth with shot after shot. There was twenty seconds left on the clock and the score was tied 116-116. Drake had the ball and Clearwater did a full-court press on them. Nicki kept her eyes trained on Drake as he tried to move past her. He looked at her and noticed the fire in her eyes. He knew that there was more behind her determination but before he could think, she stole the ball. She rushed to the hoop and shot a three pointer just as the buzzer went off. Her team immediately attacked her and lifted her up.

“For the first time in years Clearwater takes home the trophy!” The announcer shouted into the mic. Drake mentally cursed himself because he was so wrapped up in her eyes.

“Man this is bullshit,” Myles muttered.

“The bitch better be gone next season,” Jay shook his head. His team went into the locker room to change then they headed to the busses.

“Hey Westlake asshole!” He heard her call behind him. He turned and she walked up to him. He prepared himself to be cursed out but was shocked when she extended her hand. “Good game.” He shook her hand and let out a small smile.

“I’m coming for you next season,” he warned her.

“I’ll be waiting,” she smirked before going back over to her team.

“Damn she got a big ass,” Eman stared beside Drake. He finally let his eyes trail down to her ass and was shocked.

“Damn,” he mumbled.

“Hopefully you go blind by next season so you won’t be distracted,” Asher laughed. Drake knew that as long as she was on the court he would have a hard time focusing next season.


I completely rewrote this story but kept the name and some of the basic concept. It was just sitting around in my drafts so I posted it.