Take Me to the Hoop (Gerri)

[Ginny Campbell]

Snow was useful for many things: snowforts, snowmen, snowball fights among other things. It was even good for a few sports, should one have access to the proper equipment. It was not, however, ,good for any sport that involved kicking around balls. Ginny loved the winter and all the accompanying snow-related sports, but she had none of the equipment needed for such things as skiing and, more importantly, she had nobody to play with. No Jean, no Mia, no Nikki, no Jordan...no L.C. She didn't feel like making snowmen or snow angels by herself; she didn't even much feel like hanging around the gym by herself, but she figured there was at least the off chance some students would be there, as well.

That was why she was in the gym, bouncing a basketball against the wall. Boring. She should have called one of her friends, asked them to play with her.

The door to the gym opened and without even waiting to see who it was Ginny tossed her ball in their direction. "Catch!" She shouted. Never mind that a basketball was a bit bigger than a softball or baseball or that the person coming through the door was probably not equipped with a catcher's mitt; she was bored and she was claiming them as her new companion, which meant using what she had on hand. And if they got hit in the face....well, then they needed to work on their reflexes.

[Germaine Sharpe]

Germaine was well aware of the fact that it was nearly impossible to play ball games outside in the New England winter. It wasn’t long into the snowy season that she had attempted to play soccer on the fields and was thwarted by the growing snow banks. It was just another reason for her to hate the time of year, one of many added to her list of hate since the snow first began to fall in November. Her only salvation was that spring was right around the corner and the cold and snow would be gone soon.

In the mean time, she was still confined to playing in the school gymnasium. It wasn’t nearly as much fun as it use to be, as Gerri still hadn’t received a replacement soccer ball, was limited to less interesting games, and was forced to play alone (After spending so many afternoons there, she found that the gym was empty on most days). As such, when she pushed open the gym door, she did not expect to have to think on her toes. Had it been a soccer ball coming her way, the girl probably would have been better equipped to react, but as it was Gerri squeaked and threw her arms up to protect her face. With a thud, the basket ball smacked into her forearms and bounced on the floor.

The girl puffed out her cheeks as she scooped up the ball and looked up at whoever had thrown it at her. “That wasn’t--OH HI!” Germaine’s anger quickly dissipated as she recognized the other girl. It had been months since she met Ginny on the training fields, and while she thought the college student was weird for liking snow, she had no reason to dislike her. Gerri pranced to the blonde’s side and grinned. “Remember me? I’m Gerri!”

[Ginny Campbell]

It turned out that the person entering the gym was an unexpectedly familiar face. Ginny lit up at sight of the younger girl; she didn't understand the aversion to snow (who didn't like snow?! it was so much fun!) but other than that she seemed nice enough.

"Hey, it's the summer pixie!" She grinned as the other girl trotted over to her, apparently forgiving her for the unexpected attack. "Whatcha doing? Tryin' to escape the winter wonderland?"

She hoped that Gerri was here with the intent of playing, not running an errand for some teacher or faculty member. "Yeah, sorry about that." She laughed, thrusting her hands into jean pockets. Her high school gym teacher would have been quite horrified at her for wearing jeans in a gym, but it wasn't as if she just carried gym clothes around with her everywhere. Certainly she hadn't thought to bring any on a weekend trip to visit her dad. "I was starting to get bored by myself. Glad you're here. You by yourself or did you bring friends?" She peered at the door as though expecting it to open up and reveal more Hammel students, but it remained disappointingly closed. Ah, well. Two people was plenty for fun times.

"You like basketball?" She inquired, turning her attention away from the door and to the ball in Gerri's hands. If not, there were other balls they could raid. She thought there were even some tennis rackets in the gym's storage closet, though she wasn't sure if there were the standard movable nets anywhere easily accessible.

[Germaine Sharpe]

The attack was already forgotten, and the nickname made Gerri giggle. “As always,” she confirmed before snapping, “And it’s not a wonderland.” Winter was so long here, and all the high schooler wanted was for it to go away. At this point it seemed like spring would never come.

“This is my favorite hideaway,” she admitted. The girl did end up coming here almost everyday to escape the cold, and it usually wasn't any more crowded (sports practices being one of the few exceptions). Most other kids just didn't have the same appreciation for physical activity that she did.

Unlike her companion, Germaine was decked out in her usual gym attire; a soccer jersey and shorts. Definitely here to play. She wasn’t about to judge the other girl on her choice of casual clothing, however. She followed Ginny’s gaze to the door, then whipped her head back around to grin at her. “‘S only me, but I promise to be as fun as thirty people!” she squeaked, bouncing. She was thrilled to have some one to play with for once, and she didn't want to bore the older girl.

With a vigorous nod, she passed the ball to Ginny. “It’s not soccer, but I still like to play it.” In general, Gerri was not picky about the sports she played. There were very few that she disliked and even less that she down right refused to play. Basketball did not fall into either category, and she was more than willing to play one on one or any other hoop related game. Speaking of which, “What exactly do you want to do? I'm up for anything.”

[Ginny Campbell]

"Ha! You're that eager for pollen season to start, are you?" Ginny laughed, although she couldn't blame Gerri. She loved the snow herself, but even she was getting a bit tired of it. There were so many activities one couldn't do when the ground was covered in slush and ice and besides, too many of her friends had the flu. She hoped once spring came around people would begin to feel well again and she would have more people to play with.

"Thirty people, huh? Ladies and gentlemen, I've found the solution to the energy crisis." One person was enough to keep her entertained; it was just that pesky being alone business she didn't like. If she didn't have someone to make mischief with then she at least needed someone to make mischief at. Someone mature and responsible who would do that hilarious freaking out thing that mature and responsible people did when confronted by mischief.

She caught the ball, grinning at Gerri's response. "You on the soccer team? You know Jean Manne, then." Even if she wasn't on the soccer team it was likely she knew him; Hammel wasn't such a big school that the students weren't in contact with most of their peers. "This," She bounced the ball once before tossing it at the hoop (and missing spectacularly), "was the first ball I found. We can look for a soccer ball if you want. Didn't see one, but that doesn't mean it's not there." She hadn't looked that hard; she'd simply grabbed the first ball out of the pen.

"I was just shooting hoops, so you know. Nothing too amazing." She shrugged, allowing the ball to travel the length of the gym, smacking into the wall before bouncing back towards the two girls and rolling to a stop just out of reach. "Didn't have anything in mind, really. We can try and stop one another from scoring." She grinned again; it was obvious from her previous attempt that Gerri wouldn't necessarily have to try that hard to stop her.

[Germaine Sharpe]

((Sorry for the delay. <3))

Gerri shrugged, "I'd rather have pollen than ice any day." She was fortunate enough to not be affected by allergies, and even if she was, she would gladly deal with the stuffiness as long as she was warm. And unlike ice, which was a lot more trouble than it was worth, she didn't think pollen was deadly. Ice caused things like car accidents, and it pretended to be a sturdy walking surface only to shatter under your weight seconds later and toss you into the pond water. In short, "Winter just sucks." She stuck her tongue out then shrugged, done with the discussion.

She nodded in response to the other girl's question. "The really young one, right? About this tall?" she asked, holding her hand out to roughly indicate his height. "Yeah, I know him." To say she knew of him would be a more accurate statement, but she did at least know who Ginny was talking about. Even if she never formally met the boy, she was aware of who her other teammates were. Jean included.

She watched as the ball bounced across the court, then looked back at the college student. "Well, I use to have my own soccer ball, but then this girl I met accidentally popped it by playing with it too rough." As far Gerri knew, it was an accident; she was still oblivious to the fact that L.C. had purposely mutilated her favorite toy. "I've used the school ones, but they kinda suck--you know how school equipment is--but basketball is fine. Besides, this gym isn't really set up well for soccer." The field could only be as big as the court, and that was much too small for her taste (she wasn't really considering the feelings of others on this issue). She was far less picky about basketball, however, and didn't mind borrowing school equipment for that.

With a nod, she ran over to the ball and scooped it back up. "So kinda like one-on-one, but, like, more street style with no real rules?" Germaine dribbled towards center court with a grin on her face. "I'm down with that."

[Ginny Campbell]

Ginny allowed the discussion on the demerits of winter to end, shrugging with a grin as the other girl stuck her tongue out emphatically. Obviously Gerri had some strong opinions on the subject.

"Yeah, that's the one. He's itty bitty and so adorable and I want to take him home!" The fact that he followed her around as if she was the coolest person on the planet didn't hurt, either. "He's talked about his brother, some guy named R.C. Haven't met him yet. Is he cool, you know?" Jean seemed to think his brother was a huge wet blanket, and from what he'd told her she had to agree. How could he not want to turn into a puddle for people to jump in? If she had his power that was totally what she would have done.

"Oh, bummer." She sympathized. "School equipment's not that great, but it's better than nothing. Isn't there a sporting goods store by the mall? We can run out and get one after we play?" She offered. If nothing else they could wander around and people watch.

She nodded once at Gerri's description. "Yup. Like that. No rules, all fun." She crouched down in front of the hoop, ready to spring up and block the ball whenever the younger girl tossed it. Of course, there were no guarantees she would be able to block it, but was that really the point?

[Germaine Sharpe]

Gerri giggled at the older girl's description. It caused her to picture Jean as a small animal in a pet store that was so adorable, everyone wanted to take him home. She hadn't the foggiest clue who his older brother was, however. Anything that the little boy might have said at practice didn't stick to her memory. She shook her head as she answered, "Naw, haven't met him either. Sorry."

The offer made Germaine squeal with delight. "Really? You'd go shopping with me? That would be awesome, yeah! Let's do it." Being a fourteen-year-old girl, she was not at all deprived of girl-bonding shopping experiences, but the fact that Ginny was a college student and wanted to go to the sports store excited her. Most of her girl friends were around her age, so getting to hang out with someone older made her feel ultra cool.

Gerri's grin quickly turned mischievous as her game face took over. "Alright, sounds good." With that, she bolted towards the hoop, running as fast as she could while still keeping control of the dribbling ball. Once she was close enough to shoot, she made a quick movement to the right in an attempt fake out the poised girl before going left to launch the ball at the hoop.

[Ginny Campbell]

Ginny shrugged nonchalantly. Sooner or later she would meet this R.C. and determine if he was really as lame as Jean claimed. She'd hoped to get a (possibly) unbiased opinion out of Gerri, but apparently R.C. wasn't cool enough to spend his time with the jocks. Jean was probably right in his assessment of his older brother. Bummer for Jean.

"Yeah, definitely! I need some new shorts and stuff, anyway, so why not?" She wasn't in any sports that required any sort of special equipment, but she'd been on track in high school and still got up early every morning to run. That meant, of course, that she needed as many pairs of cute gym shorts as possible. Her father would probably not have been pleased if he'd known just how short some of those gym shorts were, but her mother didn't have a problem with them; she'd bought her daughter quite the collection when Ginny had been on the track team.

The fake out did, in fact, take her by surprise, and Ginny laughed as the younger girl darted past her. "Damn." She commented more than cursed, making a mental note not to trust that Gerri was going in whatever direction she initially appeared to be.

As the ball slipped through the hoop she darted for it, trying to grab it before the other girl could do so.