The following week, on Monday after the morning practice, Cora receives an email from… Case Western’s coach? That made her question whether it’s for real.
“Case Western just asked me for my questionnaire!” Cora tells both Audrey and Heather, with questions on her face.
“That doesn’t mean anything. It’s a Division three school, I sent mine to them months ago, no response from them. Presumably because they feel like I am Division I material, and hence can’t play for them! I shall show them tonight that Columbia’s offer wasn’t a fluke!”
“Yeah, we all know about how, last season, no one believed any of us could get offers to play in college!”
At the same time, there’s a reason why I didn’t pull the trigger on early decision at Columbia: maybe I can actually get a full ride playing elsewhere! Then again, actually getting a basketball scholarship would depend on the playtime I would get. I went into this whole game of sending questionnaires and highlight reels thinking that I would stand a better chance of getting playing time at schools with stricter academic requirements. However, what would be the point of playing for, say, Berkeley, if I can’t get much, if any, playing time? Heather ruminates, knowing the Columbia Lions desperately needed a big. How much playing time I could actually get at Berkeley will depend on how well I play tonight! At Columbia, I will start all four years provided I don’t get injured in college!
“Audrey, I know I haven’t been the nicest to you since the HSNCT, but could you, please, ask Pablo to come to the game tonight? I’ll even pay for his ticket!”
“What?” Audrey gasps. “Do you owe him a favor?”
“Yes, for AP Chemistry, we paired up together the week for the lab on liquid chromatography; I couldn’t do a whole lot on it because of that official visit to Columbia”
“How do you feel about Pablo as a student? I might be biased because I date him”
“He might be a football player, but he takes schoolwork seriously. I don’t think he’s much different from other people in this course”
Audrey then comes to Pablo asking him to come to Lacassine for tonight’s game to encourage VA players with scouts from some of the most prestigious universities in attendance.
“I went to your games this season, could you please come to today’s game? It’s a very important game to me! Only it’s on the road”
“I wonder if the team can get a selected number of students to an away game. If not, I’ll need to ask my parents if they want to go to that game”
“Priority is given to band unfortunately”
Even though, last season, band hardly sent anyone our way, I’m not sure about this game. Hugh and Tyler are confirmed to attend, the latter because he dates Heather, which means there are seven spots left on the team’s bus, Audrey ruminates on the busing situation.
“By the end of classes I will have a definite answer, but provisionally I’ll add you to who will take our bus to the game. Each player can only bring in one person to the game though”
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But then, as she leaves the locker room, Heather is consumed by thoughts of what her future could look like, depending on which college she could possibly attend, based on the scouts attending. If I’m actually good enough to get meaningful playing time out of a P6 school as a freshman, and play well, maybe then I can make a run at the WNBA. However, I understand that’s a very big if. Otherwise, I must accept that I’m really there to get an education. Also, from what I’ve heard, I would be the brainiac of the team at that sort of P6…
Poor Heather: she seems to have difficulty focusing in the AP Chemistry second period lecture about chemical kinetics, and Audrey also seems to have some difficulty focusing on the course, too. It seems like these two girls can barely follow what is meant by reaction order and what their rate laws are. Whoa: why is it that I can’t seem to focus on coursework today? If I’m destined to be the brainiac of the basketball team of whichever college I’d end up attending, and playing for, I’d better get back to paying attention in class! Notwithstanding that I will have people around me that have been their respective high schools’ brainiacs, too…
“Heather, can you tell me what’s the difference between average and instantaneous reaction speed?” the instructor asks.
“One is about how fast reagents are consumed over a period… I think?” Heather attempts to answer, unsure of herself.
“That’s the average speed. Instant speed then?”
“Something something slope of a tangent?” a somewhat distracted Heather answers, while rolling her eyes.
“You have a piece of the right idea, but you don't sound like an Ivy-bound basketball player at all, Heather!” the AP Chemistry instructor comments. “Perhaps Audrey might end up playing in the Ivy League, if some Ivy League school needed a power forward, or she could convert to center!”
In which case Audrey could be the answer for Columbia down the center, the AP Chemistry instructor calls upon the knowledge Heather gave him about the hoops situation in the Ivy League. Then again, Heather told me everything I knew about college basketball!
Way to embarrass myself in class! Heather blushes, and her face clearly showing some discomfort, before spacing out again, and shaking in her seat. Now I realize that my offer to play basketball for Columbia may be used against me in class! And now I must calculate my A-G GPA for Berkeley just because their scouts are here to our game tonight! Of all schools in this region, they had to be scouting our game, presumably because academics was the first screen they use to determine which games to scout!
At the end of AP Chemistry, Tyler, who’s also taking that course, didn’t seem to be very happy about what happened in that course. He tells her about her obsession for that game.
“Heather, you seem preoccupied by the basketball game. I know how much this game means to you, so I am going to perform at that game just for you!” Tyler fails to realize that Heather is focused on calculating her A-G GPA for Berkeley prior to opening her account to the University of California application portal.
“How cute… But you do realize that some college scouts are watching us tonight! Probably the most important game of my life up to this point!” Heather then notes her UC A-G GPA as being 4.15 somewhere on her cell phone. She then opens her account.
”Do you realize you made a fool of yourself in class? You want to play basketball for Columbia, you can’t coast on your hoops talent alone!” Natalie warns her.
“Best-case scenario: it’s probably going to come down to Columbia vs Berkeley”
“Even if you were somehow good enough to play for Berkeley, you still need to pay attention in class!” Natalie keeps warning.
Was I playing anywhere else, I don’t think people would make fun of me for not paying attention in class. Or that I wouldn’t get to star on the basketball team while taking APs; some schools cut playing time from players for taking APs, Heather then reviews the essay prompts for UCs.
“There’s no one other than Hugh and me that will, on the band, go to tonight’s game. So Heather, choose wisely who you will bring with you to the game!” Tyler adds before kissing her.