I walked over to the girls to join in on practice, and starting searching for Ashley.  There was a question that had been bothering me ever since I woke up and saw that she had already left for practice.   A question I had to ask when I found her surrounded by a group of freshmen admirers.

“Ashley, why didn’t you get me up?”

“Um…are you talking to me,” she replied as she started to look around in mock confusion.  “Because I thought we agreed last night to just ignore each other.”

“Are you serious?  I should have known you would be that petty.”

“Petty?!  This from the girl who refused to offer a word of congratulations or even shake my hand after my team won the finals this year.  Now that was petty.”

By this time we had attracted not just the attention of Ashley’s freshmen lackeys, but a few of the other senior players were looking on as well, mostly those from the Los Angeles area. 

“Well, I’m sorry if at some point between you making a lucky shot and running up and down the court yelling ‘we beat those bitches,’ I lost respect for you as a player.  But I think it’s time to get over it.”

“Oh, I am over it.  And you need to get yourself a new alarm clock,” she shot back, walking away. 

If there was one person who could infuriate me beyond reason it was Ashley Davies.  There used to be a time when just the mention of her name would anger me.   I don’t know when it started, but I’m sure it has something to do with us going to competing high schools.  She’s enrolled at Kentwood High — a school full of rich kids acting out for mommy and daddy’s attention, and Ashley is no exception.  I, on the other hand, am at King High — your typical clique-ish high school, not without its faults but the students aren’t nearly as stuck up or pampered as those at Kentwood.

Both of us made varsity our freshmen year, which was practically unheard of.  Our schools had been longtime rivals, so when both our teams trampled the competition and made it to our division’s championship finals, it was the game of the year.  It was also the only year my team won the finals, and the only year I was named MVP.  Kentwood had won the finals sophomore and junior year, and Ashley had been named MVP both times.