As the sweat dripped down her face the crowd was counting down from ten. She was at the other side of the court with the ball clutched in her hand “Three, two, o…” she closed her eyes and eeerrrrrr the ball swished into the hoop. All of her troubles melted away and she wished that it could stay like that forever. The crowd was cheering and the cameras were flashing, she could already see the headlines on the news “Esmee Carder. The first woman to play on a men basketball team brings the New York Knicks to the top.” Ever since Esmee was young she had always dreamed of this moment and lived by the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “You gain strength… by every experience in which you…do the thing you think you cannot do.”
Esmee started to ponder on her past life significantly when she was thirteen and how she would practice basketball in school afterschool everywhere she could find a hoop and a ball. She started to remember that basketball never came naturally to her, but the fact that it didn’t made her want to play it and practice it even more. She loved to face challenges, the more obstacles she faced the better she got. At that moment she everything until he passed by, that “he” happened to be Jason Romano the man she had been in love with for three long years. Every time he passed by Esmee would melt and then she would be filled with envy because he was the only thing she couldn’t have. Breaking the image of him walking towards her in slow motion he said, “Wow, you’re going to take this team very far this year!”
“Well thanks.” She said with a warm smile
“Okay then, congratulations I wish you the best.” He said
“Umm bye I guess.” Esmee blurted out

Cutting their very verbose conversation was Jason’s girlfriend. Every time Esmee saw his tennis-playing girlfriend she wanted to pass the basketball to her head. ‘Rachel, Jason’s girlfriend, hadn’t achieved anything as big as I did’ Esmee thought to herself. “So what’s going on?” Rachel said
“Oh nothing I was just about to leave.” Replied Jason
“Yeah me too I have a ton of errands to run.” Esmee fibbed
Esmee ran out of the court and to her car it was a very windy night. All she could think about was Jason, she pondered on why she couldn’t get him off her mind when she had more important things to do and think of. Her brother was sick in the hospital and she could only think of Jason. She thought ‘Why am I always thinking about when he probably never thinks about me? Why am I so selfish? All I do is think about my terrible love life problems while my brother is dying of cancer!’ she broke out into tears, every time she thought of her brother she would always cry hysterically. She remembered all of the times Peter and her had they were always together and she absolutely adored him. She remember one time when she was really sick with pneumonia he stayed with her the hole time even the doctors told him not to. He was always there for her he never let her down. Her train of thought was then broken by the ringing of her blackberry that her grandmother had gotten her last Christmas. It was her mom. Of course. “Esmee!” screamed her mother
“What!”
“That’s just a fantastic way to answer your mother.”
“Mom I’m driving right now I can’t talk.”
“Fine but don’t forget your brothers birthday next week Saturday.”
“(click)”
Esmee dreaded to talk about her brother and his birthday because she memorized overhearing the doctor, Dr. Williams the one with the short black hair and her slanted eyes, explain to her parents on how this might be Peter’s last birthday. Every time she went to see him those words would repeat in her head and the lump in her throat grew tighter. So Esmee decided she would sleep on what had happened to her earlier. She had woken to the sound of her phone ringing yet again, but to her surprise this time it was Jason. It felt as if she had a billion butterflies in her stomach. “Hello?” Said Jason
“Hi.” Replied
“So what are you doing this Saturday?”
“Oh nothing, why?” Esmee replied
“Well I thought I would take you out for lunch and dinner.”
Before actually thinking about her answer or her brothers’ birthday on Friday she accepted. Until the conversation stopped she had remembered that he had a girlfriend already but in her eyes he was perfect and he would never do that. With all of this anticipation she had forgotten all about her brothers’ birthday. It was Friday and she had an absolute wardrobe malfunction everything in her closet was either sweat pants a jersey or her basketball stuff. So she had done something she had never done before. She went to Bloomingdales (she could hear the creepy music in the background when she thought of it) a store that she said she wouldn’t be caught dead in but it was her last resort. It was either she went with sweat pants of dressed “pretty” something she had never done before. She was always the kind of person that was a tomboy she never wore dresses she never went to prom and cheerleading was the last thing she would ever do. But she saw how Rachel looks all girly and beautiful, so if she was once his girlfriend he must like girls like that and she was willing to change everything for him. While in Bloomies she saw a very sparkly pretty and girly dress so she decided that she would take it she wasn’t quite the shopper.

When she got home she did a total makeover in which was a manicure and a pedicure and a steam facial. So she got a goodnight sleep. She woke up the next morning happy and fresh so she then she got dressed and ready so he told her that he would pick her up at four o’clock it was four fifteen and Esmee was finally dressed and ready so she called him but he didn’t answer. She thought to herself ‘he is probably stuck in traffic don’t worry Esmee he will be here soon.’ It was five o’clock and this was the fifth time she had called him but he never answered. She waited and she waited and she kept trying to tell herself that he would come. It was eight o’clock and he never called. Finally at eight thirty on the dot he sent her a text message and she jumped for joy, but when she opened it it had stated “You loser, love you Jason.”

Esmee’s heart sank to the floor she felt lost and empty she sobbed her heart out. She never felt this bad in her whole entire life. The next day she woke up and it hit her yesterday was her brothers birthday and she didn’t even call but she stayed home all day waiting for some loser to take her on an imaginary date. She ran to the hospital to find her brothers hospital bed empty all of his posters were taken down and all of his possessions were put away. Esmee’s heart started to beat faster and faster she went to the front desk to ask for her brother and they had said he had passed on. That was it. Esmee fell to the floor sobbing so hard she couldn’t breathe she didn’t care who saw her she felt as if she would die of a broken heart. Her hands were shaking and she couldn’t stop them she couldn’t think she live over her guilt…
To be Continued