“Okay…” Carmen raised the ball above her head, but only remotely similar to what Shane showed her since she doesn’t really play the sport at all. “What do I do next? How do I throw it up there?”

“Uh, you’re right-handed?”

“Yes.”

“Then you just have to use your left hand as support. The right hand’s for actually shooting the ball… Since you haven’t really shot a basketball that much, for a jump shot, you can gather strength more from your legs, not from your arms. Some girls shoot using both their hands, in fact. I’m not gonna get surprised if that’s what you try to do. It takes a while before you can follow-through with only your right hand…” Shane explained. “Try it. Fling the ball or whatever.”

Carmen executed her jump shot the way any “girly” girl would do – with one leg jerking backwards after a hop with the knee bent. The ball didn’t even hit the rim since she was shooting from the free throw line, a rather far distance for a first-time jump shooter. “Oo-kay… That didn’t go as well as I had planned…”

“Nice try though. Just a little more force. Wanna try it again? You might actually hit the rim this time.” Shane joked. She was feeling better and better after every word she let out of her mouth; she was getting relaxed and at ease with Carmen again.

Carmen laughed a little. “No, thank you. One airball is embarrassing enough as it is. I don’t want to add up to that.” She thought about bringing up the subject about the bathroom incident but swallowed it up and changed her mind.

“Your choice. Practice makes perfect. Being a cheerleader, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.”

Carmen also thought of asking Shane if she wanted to go someplace else but she wasn’t about to make another move for a player like her. It appeared like she had been doing most of the asking lately and at that point, she didn’t want Shane thinking of the wrong idea about her intentions.

To Carmen’s surprise, Shane opened her mouth and said, “You wanna grab something outside? Coffee? Juice? Beer? Whatever… There’s not much happening around here…” Finally, Shane was gaining some of her confidence back. But the truth was, none of it ever went away. There was just something about Carmen that made her feel like an unsure, scared little kid.