"Ami! I'm still a little dizzy from last night. Do we really have to do this now?" Jake has been pleading me not to play basketball today since he has not completely recovered yet from last night.
Right after breakfast we changed to our basketball clothes for the bet game between me and Dean. I borrowed a jersey from Jake and made him wear one as well. When I got out of my hut, Dean was sitting on the steps of his hut surprised to see me wearing a jersey with a shirt underneath and tight jersey shorts below. He realized I was serious about it and he changed immediately. Luis brought us to a nearby basketball court. It was walking distance and good thing we only came across a few village people. The good thing about Northern Province is that it really is a remote place with poor television signal. Only a few people knew about the show. Also, they have restricted outsiders from entering the town for the meantime, so we can kind of freely move even outside the camp.
I glared at Jake as my response and he instantly knew I wasn't joking about this. I have a pretty competitive nature in me and when I say I will do something, I am really up to it. I continued doing my stretches while the other guys have started playing for fun.
Jake turned to Dean who was standing near him. "Dean, do you really have to do this now? You don't know how she is in the court."
Only a few people are aware of my basketball skills. I've played with Jake a few times in between filming. I have played with and against Jake. Maybe we have played a lot of times that we have practiced a number of plays already. I am the shooter of course. My only dilemma is that Dean and Darren are a few centimeters taller than Jake, which means they are way taller than me.
"Then I'm not going easy on her," Dean replied to Jake and then glared at me. I have no idea what I have done to this man for hm to provoke me this much.
"Hey Ami, don't you think I should team up with Dean instead of him and Darren so it will be fair for you?" Katherine asked obviously still a little dazed.
I smiled at her and shook my head. "It's okay Katherine. Just rest and watch."
"Hey! Why can she rest while I have to play with you?!" Jake complained like a child. I just rolled my eyes at him.
"Eeeyy! Can we start the real game now?" Dean asked the guys.
They stopped playing and we gathered around Luis who is going to be the referee of the game.
"I just want you all to know, especially you Dean, I'm sorry bro, I'm not an athletic person," Darren said with a shy smile. He looked so cute when they were playing a while ago. He was really trying hard to dribble the ball while running. I smiled at him and tapped his back.
"It's okay bro. I got you," Dean told him while glaring at me. I have a feeling Dean is an equally competitive person like me. It's going to be a tough game but I'm gonna win nonetheless.
"It's going to be a 10-minute game with 1 time out each team. The timer is continuous," Luis explained. "Hey, Katherine! Tell us when 10 minutes is over, okay?" He shouted so that Katherine can hear. "You start the time when I whistle." Katherine answered him with a thumbs up. "We're going to use half the court only, alright? Why don't you shake hands before we officially start?" Luis continued. I shook Darren's hand while Dean and Jake also shook hands. Then I reached for Dean's hand and shook it.. a little too hard. He snatched his hand from mine.
"Hey! Are you trying to break my fingers to win?!" He exclaimed. I smirked at him.
"Who's going for jumpball?" Luis started. We went at the center of the court. I pushed Jake to do the jumpball. Darren is going against him.
Since Jake has more experience in playing basketball than Darren, I trust him that he can give me my first point. "You know where to bring the ball," I whispered at Jake.
Luis whistled and threw the ball up in the air. The two boys jumped and Jake was able to tap the ball where I was expecting him to. The ball flew on my side towards the ring and I ran for it. There's no way the other team is getting the first point here. I grabbed the ball, dribbled it and shot it to the ring above me.
"Yes!" I screamed. When I looked back at the boys, they were pretty much in the same location as before with shock in their faces.
"Woah, that was fast Ami," Luis told me a little startled. "Alright, two points for Ami's team. Dean who's going to bring the ball outside?"
Dean ran towards the area Luis pointed. Luis passed the ball to Dean and then Dean passed the ball to Darren. Dean went into the court and Darren passed the ball to him. I went against Dean to guard him. Since I am smaller than him, I can go really lower and maybe snatch the ball from him. But man, the guy got skills it's like I'm not even in front of him. He threw the ball to the ring without an itch.
"Alright! The score is now 2-2!" Luis announced.
I went to receive the ball from Luis then passed it to Jake. He passed the ball back to me and went to cover Dean. When I went nearer to the ring, Darren was there to block me. The guy does not need to do much he just stand there and wave his long arms in front of me. I looked at Jake for help and he ran so I passed the ball to him. He struggled to shoot the ball with Dean's guarding. I ran away from Darren's reach and asked for the ball from him. He passed it to me and I was quick to shoot it before Darren could block me.
"Eeeeyy!!" Jake and I celebrated. I side slammed my body against Jake in the air.
Dean asked for the ball right away and passed it to Darren. Dean received it back and Jake was there to guard him. He faked to shoot the ball and got away with it.
"The score is now 4-4," Luis announced. Everyone can say the game's getting intense since nobody's talking random anymore.
Jake passed the ball back to me but I could not get through Darren. Jake suddenly got away from Dean's guard and ran towards the ring. I quickly passed the ball to him and he laid it up but missed. Dean was quick to get the rebound. He dribbled the ball with ease and shot the ball. I can say the man's a sharpshooter.
We got the ball possession again. I dribbled it thinking about how we could get another point. I can't lose much time since the other team is leading. I was about to run from Darren's side just waiting for the perfect timing but he snatched the ball from me. He quickly passed it to Dean who ran towards the ring and jumped for it.
"Dean's team is leading at 4 points," Luis announced.
There's no way I'm losing to him. This time I got Jake to receive the ball from the outside. He passed it to me and quickly gave it back to him. Dean's not going to let him through. I had to cover for Jake so I ran to them and slammed my body against Dean. "Go Jake!" I'm not sure if it really helped since his body was rock hard against mine. I think Dean was too surprised with my move that he was not able to move an inch. Once Jake shot the ball, I ran to him to give him a high five.
"Hey, there's no foul there?!" Dean protested.
"No she just covered for Jake. Let it go, buddy!" Luis answered.
This time, Darren's dribbling the ball. I am pretty sure the ten minutes could be done any moment now. I can't let them win here. I looked at Darren's face and then snatched the ball from him. I ran toward the ring but Dean was quick to guard me. I eased my dribbling and looked at Jake from the corner of my eye. Darren's not going easy on him. He can't pass through. I looked at Dean's eyes? I stopped dribbling, stood up and carried the ball to my waist with my arm holding it.
"You're really this serious about getting me drunk?" I said with a smile. I just realized how silly it was of us to bet on something so petty and get so competitive about it. "You know there's no way I can shoot the ball with you guarding me like that."
Dean smiled and let out a little laugh.
I repeat, Dean smiled. He got that wide smile that shows up to ten of his upper teeth. When he smiled, his eyes smiled as well. He eased his stance and stood up with his hands on his waist.
"Fine. Shoot the ball," he said challenging me.
I realized that we are too far from the ring, almost on the three-point mark of the court. I have made a few three-point shots but only after several tries. I narrowed my eyes at him, widened my eyes and dribbled the ball. I looked at the ring and jumped to shoot the ball from our position.
While the ball was mid-air, Katherine shouted, "Ten minutes is up!"
The ball seemed to move in slow motion in the air. Everybody turned to follow the its direction. My heart was beating so fast from fatigue and nervousness. I stopped breathing until the ball touched the ring and circled around it two times until it finally went into the hole.
"Yes!!" Jake exclaimed running to me. He gave me a big bear hug and carried me while hugging me. I felt like a champion right there.
When Jake put me down I turned to Dean and did the 'you-can't-see-me hand action on him. Then, I ran around the court with Jake celebrating that buzzer beater shot. I gave Darren and Luis high-fives when I passed by them. They looked so happy for me.
"Hey, you did not win! The score's 8-8," Dean broke our celebration.
"So what are we gonna do then?" I stopped running and asked him.
"How about you both won?" Luis suggested. "Let's end the game here. I still have some errands at the camp, sorry."
Luis, Katherine, Darren and Jake started walking out of the court.
"Alright then," I smiled and followed them.
"Are you serious?! There's no basketball game that ended with a tie, there's always an overtime!" Dean shouted behind us. When nobody responded, he started running towards us. "Hey Ami. How about our deal?"
I shrugged as a response. I don't really want to get drunk on national television.
"How about you just do both consequences?" Luis, who was walking in front of us, suggested.
Dean was able to catch up and walked beside me now. "Oh! Alright that will do," Dean agreed excitedly.
"Hey! We'll only do that if we lose, but since we both won we're not going to do any!" I slapped his arm.
"Let's just do both. That way we'll feel our victory because the other did the consequence," he countered. "Right guys?"
"Right!" Darren, Jake and Luis answered simultaneously.
I rolled my eyes since I could not say no anymore.
"Hey!" Dean called me. "I'm going to claim my prize tomorrow after dinner alright? Drinks on me!"