Disclaimer: I do not own anything!

Author's Notes: Sorry for the long wait… I decided to go back to school. I'm taking four classes plus some other personal things going on. I will try my best to get chapters up faster. Thank you for the reviews and for reading. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you!

Rise Above All

Chapter 10

(Spencer's POV)

It's Friday night. Our first game of the season. I'm excited and fearful at the same time. I want to do great. I want to be able to kill it during this game, but I'm scared I won't be able too.

"I'm ready for this. I've got this." I chant to myself silently as I rest my head against my closed locker. This last week, I have thrown myself into school and basketball. I've caught up on the two days I missed plus done all my new homework. I have been practicing when not doing homework. Taylor and I have talked a little bit, but not much. We text. More so her. I answer when I have a free minute, which is maybe 3, 4 times a day. Not much of a conversation, is it? I'm just not ready to push for us to be more then friends right now. I don't want her to think that we can be more then friends especially right now. I need to get my head straight about Ashley. I need to let go of my feelings for Ashley before I decide to bring another person into my life like that. I don't like complicated. I can't do complicated.

"You okay, Spence?" I hear from beside me causing me to get pulled from my thoughts. I let out a small sigh before turning my head in their direction. Taylor is standing there looking at me with a concerned look. I give her a small smile.

"Yeah." I whisper, while also nodding my head against my locker. I see Ashley out of the corner of my eye. She is watching mine and Taylor's interaction. I wonder how long she has been watching me before Taylor interrupted my quiet time with myself.

"Almost show time. Let's go ladies!" Monica says running through the locker room and through the doors that lead to the gym. I hear a few girls giggle before following Monica out the doors. I turn and pick up my water bottle from the bench behind me. I give Taylor another small smile as I walk towards her. Ashley still sitting on the bench by her locker a few feet away watching us. She has been just staring and not saying anything. If I didn't know her at all, I would think she is creepy as hell. Too bad I know her all too well. I make eye contact with Ashley before I walk out of the locker room doors. There has been a sad look in the brunette's eyes. I'm not sure why. She is the one that wanted things to be this way. I told her we could just be friends even though I didn't want to be. I guess I shouldn't make it all about me. There could be something else wrong with her that has nothing to do with me. Gosh, I'm being selfish. Maybe I should just see if she is alright. I should see if she wants anyone to talk to. No harm in that, is there? I'll try to catch her after our game is over.

Ashley joins the rest of the team after a couple minutes. Our coach signals for us to huddle around him when he sees Ashley walk over to the bench. Everyone gets up and makes a circle around Coach M. Ugh, this is just my luck. Who do you think is slightly behind me breathing down my neck lightly? If you thought Taylor, you would be wrong. It's Ashley. I turn my head slightly looking at the side of her face. The brunette is smirking. She knows that she has heightened all my senses. She knows she got a reaction out of me. I think a reaction is what she was looking for. Damn it, Ashley. Why does she have to do this to me? Why does my body have to react to her like this?

"Carlin, you got that?" Coach M asked pulling me from my stare down with the side of Ashley's face. I nod my head with a small smile. I don't have a single idea what he wants me to do.

"He said you were the best with remembering all of our plays, so he wants you in charge of taking ball up court in tonight's game." Ashley whispers in my ear. I'm glad someone could pay attention with us being this close together. "Cobras" Ashley adds with everyone else before moving out of the huddle. I sigh before starting to stretch my arms and legs.

"Have a good game, Spence." Taylor says then kisses my cheek.

"Thanks. Same to you." I give her a smile as I continue to stretch. Ashley drops her whole body down touching her toes. The sad look is back on her face.

"Carlin, Davies, Walker, Scott, and Brown." Coach calls his starting five over to him. Walker is Monica, Scott is Allie, and Brown is Taylor. Davies is Ashley. I am of course Carlin. "Relax, you guys have had tons of practice together. Don't over think it. Just play and have fun together." Coach says looking around between all of us. Coach nods his head to Ashley.

"LET'S DO THIS!" Ashley yells out. "On three Cobras." Ashley says looking at the four of us. We place our hands over hers. Taylor squeezes my hand from above it. Ashley glares at her. "1, 2, 3…"

"COBRAS!" We yell in unison. Monica and I give each other a high five as we walk to the middle of the court. Monica stands getting ready for the jump ball. The rest of us get into position to try to get the ball. Monica winks at Ashley, which means she is going to try to hit the basketball towards her. The ref blows the whistle and Monica and Hemet High's center both jump up. Monica was a split second quicker, so she was able to knock the ball towards Ashely. Ashley grabbed it with both hands. Once she brought it down, she turned sideways tossing the ball to Allie. Allie quickly passes it over to me. I dribble the ball to our side of the court.

"FOUR!" I yell and hold up the number four on my left hand. I look around to the other four players on the court to make sure they know what play we are doing. I watch them start to run around to get open. Ashley went from the three-point line on the left side to the right. Monica positioned herself to make a screen for Allie, who is going to get the ball when she gets to about the free-throw line. Once the guard on Allie runs into Monica, I throw the ball to Scott. She makes an easy lay-up. Allie and Monica stay down court to run up with the girls inbounding the ball. Ashley, Taylor, and I run down court with the girls we are guarding.

We have 2 minutes left in the second quarter before half time and Ashley doesn't seem to know how to play basketball. It has gotten worse and worse as the game has went on. Monica passes the ball out to Ashley. Ashley is wide open. I watch the ball go right by her hands and out of bounds. That is the seventh time she has turned over the ball since the game started. She has only made four points. Ashley averaged 20 points last season. She can't seem to pass the ball either. She has been called for traveling four times. We are losing to a mediocre team because of her mistakes. Score is 25 to 33.

"What is going on with you?" I ask Ashley as I jog to her while we go down court. The brunette doesn't look at me. She drops her head looking to the floor while shaking her head. The girl Ashley is on makes an easy lay-up. 25 to 35. That team is fully taking advantage of Ashley and her mishaps. Damn it! What is wrong with you, Ashley?

"King High time out." A referee screams out after he blew his whistle. I look over to our coach. He signals us over. All of us jog over to the bench.

"Davies take a sit. What is happening out there?" Coach asks her then slams his clipboard down on the chair next to Ashley. Ashley rolls her eyes at him then places a small towel over her face. She leans forward putting her face in her hands and her elbows on her knees. I walk over to Ashley and knell down in front of her. I place my hand on her slouched shoulder. I feel her let out a sigh.

"I don't want to talk right now, Spence. You have a game to play." Ashley whispers into her towel.

"I'm here you know." I whisper back then walk over to the huddle. Again, I miss what the coach said because of paying attention to Ashley.

"Coach wants you to take charge of the game." Taylor whispers in my ear.

"Thanks." I say before walking to get into position. Ashley never came back into the game. Coach had her sitting the rest of the game. I'm going to try to talk to her when we leave the locker room. We came back and won the game 71 to 63. I quickly make my way into the locker room after we shook hands with the other team. I watch the rest of the team hurry in and scatter to their lockers to do their after-game routine. I watch Ashley make her way in and start to quickly change her clothes. I pulled my basketball shorts off and pull my sweats on. I put my feet into my all black Under Armor slides. I pull my jersey off and put my hoodie on over my sports bra. I shove my uniform into my gym bag and make my way out of the locker room. I want to make it out before Ashley can leave. I want to make sure I could catch her, if I went after her, she would run. She can't run from me if I am in front of her.

"Good game sweetie." My dad says walking up to me as I make my way outside the building.

"Thank you, dad." I give my dad a sideways hug.

"Hey, Ashley." My dad says lightly.

"Hey Mr. C." Ashley says looking between the two of us. "Sorry about the game." My dad says sympathetically. Ashley gave him a sad smile.

"It's okay. I'll figure it out. Thank you. Nice seeing you. Bye Spencer." Ashley squeaks out quickly. Ashley give my dad another sad smile before walking away.

"Ashley, hold up a second." I call after her as I jog up to her. I turn my head and look at my dad. "I'll meet you at the car in a minute." I call back to him while catching up to Ashley. Ashley doesn't stop walking.

"I have things to do, Spencer." Ashley declares, but stops in front of me.

"I just wanted to know if you were alright and…"

"Don't worry about me. Worry about your girlfriend." Ashley snap then quickly walks away before I could even respond.

"She isn't my girlfriend." I whisper to myself. I watch her get into her car before I walk towards my father's car.

"SPENCE, HEY, WAIT UP!" I hear Taylor yelling after me. I don't want to deal with her right now. I'm emotionally drained. I plaster a fake smile onto my face and turn around to face her.

"What's up?" I say lightly.

"How about another outing tomorrow evening? Good game by the way." The taller girl says with a huge smile on her face. Taylor is like 3, 4 inches taller than me. I'm on the shorter side when it comes to basketball players. Ashley is even shorter than me. She is like an inch or two, so shes not shorter by much at all. Ugh, all my thoughts always go right back to Ashley.

"Look Tay, I like hanging out with you. It has been great, but I want to make sure this is clear. I don't want you to think I am leading you on or being a tease or something. I just want to be friends. I don't want anything more. We hang out, I want to make sure you know 100% this is only on a friend basis." I explain. Taylor nods her head with a sad smile.

"Okay Spence. I'll text you." Taylor rushes out.

"Okay bye." I whisper to myself because she is the second person within minutes to walk away from me without a farewell. I sigh then once again continue my walk to my dad. Tonight has been very exhausting. I just want to go home, take a shower, crawl into my bed, and sleep all weekend. Maybe eat food here and there, but that's a big if. My dad let me sit in silence the whole way home. I am glad he just gets it sometimes.

Once we got home, I ran up the stairs and into my bathroom. I quickly strip off my clothes and jump into the shower. I clear my mind and slowly take my time doing my shower routine. I put on a sports bra with a black hoodie over it. I pull my undergarments on then a part of white sweats. I just want to be comfortable. It's sad that I am a 16-year-old with no plans on a Friday evening. I should probably do something to change that. I slowly make my way downstairs. I am hungry. I hope the food is here. I think dad said he was ordering Chinese.

"How was school?" My mother asks pulling me from my thoughts as I walk into the dining room. I didn't know she was here. I swiftly pull the surprised look from my face and give her a smile.

"It was okay. How's work been?" I ask taking a seat in my typical chair.

"Busy. How's basketball going?" My mom inquires. I give her a confused look then look over at my dad. She never asks me about basketball.

"H…" I clear my throat. "It's been good. Our first game of the season was tonight. We won. Ashley had a horrible game though. Coach M took her out." I explain.

"I haven't seen Ashley around. Where has she been?" My mom questions. I look at my father again before looking down at the little bit of food I have put on it so far.

"She's been busy, I guess. We haven't really talked much." I rush out. I just want the subject to change.

"What's wrong? Did you two have a fight? Is this over a boy? You guys shouldn't let boys interfere with your friendship." My mother says sweetly. I let a slight giggle out. Maybe if it were about a boy, we would still be friends.

"It wasn't a fight about a boy." I look up at my dad as he clears his throat. I see my mom taking a bite of her food out of the corner of my eye.

'It'll be okay. Tell her.' My dad mouths to me. I shake my head no at him. He nods. I take a deep breathe. "I'm right here with you. It'll be okay, I promise." He whispers placing his hand over mine on the table and giving it a light squeeze. I look over at my mom and she is looking between me and dad with a perplexed look on her face.

"What's going on?" My mom questions. 'I can do this.' I chant to myself. I chant to myself a lot. I never realized I did it so much.

"Ashley and I aren't really friends anymore. Well, I guess we are friends at all anymore."

"What happened?"

"Well, you see…" I pause. I really don't know what to say really. I don't really know how to say this at all. It was so much easier when I told my dad. Why can't it be that easy with my mom? Ugh. Maybe if we had a better relationship this would be easy.

"What is it? You are scaring me. Are you pregnant?" My mom rushes out worriedly. I'm trying to tell her I like girls and she thinks I'm pregnant. She couldn't be further off.

"No, I'm not pregnant. Still a virgin." I whisper out.

"Oh, thank god. You still have your whole life a head of you." She gasps out.

"Ashley and I aren't…" I pause. That isn't how I should start this. "We…" Ugh! "I like… Um… Girls." I whisper out the word 'girls.' My mom looks between my father and me. My dad has a proud smile on his face.

"You like girls?" My mother repeats lightly. I nod my head looking down at my plate. I don't know what to expect. I think I am expecting the worst. "YOU CAN'T…" She starts to yell.

"Paula, calm down. You don't need to yell." My father quickly steps in to stick up for me.

"You are okay with this?" My mother snaps out.

"What's there not to be okay with? She is still my daughter. She is still smart. She is still excelling at school and basketball. She is still her. She is still Spencer. Her liking girls doesn't change anything."

"HOW DOESN'T THIS CHANGE ANYTHING OR HER? PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BULLY HER AND MAKE HER LIFE HORRIBLE. SHE WON'T BE ABLE TO HAVE KIDS OR GET MARRIED. SHE MAY NOT CHANGE, BUT THIS WILL CHANGE EVERYONE AROUND HER AND HOW THEY VIEW HER." My mom yells out continuously looking between me and my dad. I sigh and down my head back down to look at my plate. I'm not longer hungry.

"She…" My father starts, but I cut him off.

"I can still get married; it will just be to a female. I can still have kids, but it will be with my wife and not a husband. I will get bullied. Everyone gets bullied in some way. As long as I have my family beside me, I don't care what anyone else says. I just need your guys' support. I don't need the worlds support. Nobody can make my life horrible unless I let them, and I won't. This is who I am, and I've known for awhile now. Up until last week the only person to know was Anna…"

"Was I the last person in the family you told?" My mom whispers.

"Yes." I answer honestly. I have concluded that I will no longer look down when talking to her about this like I am ashamed because I am not ashamed. I am proud of who I am, and I am happy with who I am. It took me along time to get here. It took me along time to feel this way about myself.

"Why?"

"I was scared you would react badly. We haven't had the best relationship. We don't really get along as is. I didn't want to make it worse." I admit. My mom looks down at the table regretful about what I had just said.

"I'm sorry." My mom says then gets up and walks away. I look over at my dad sadly. I let out a small sigh. I don't know what shes sorry for. I guess her yelling only once is a good thing, right? She didn't kick me out. So, that's a plus. I don't think my father would've let her kick me out. I hope this doesn't make our relationship worse. I hope she realizes that I am still me. I love how much my dad is there for me. I love that he has been there for me especially tonight. It means so much to me and so loved.

"Thank you for being here for me through all of this." I tell him lightly. My dad reaches across the table and squeezes my hand.

"I'm always here for you." He says then gets up and walks around the table to me. He pulls me up from the chair and into a hug. "I love you, Spence." He whispers into the top of my head.

"I love you too."

"Finish your dinner. I know you must be hungry with a game like that. You did so good tonight. I am so proud of everything you have accomplished so far. I can't wait to continue to see you shine. You are going to be great." My father gushes out. I smile at him before returning to my food. I walked my dad watch out of the dining room. He is probably going to talk with my mom.

I ended up eating to plates of food. I am going to have to run forever tomorrow to work this dinner off. It was so worth it though. I put all the leftovers into the fridge and load the dirty dishes into the dish washer then start it. Less one of my parents will have to do later. I went upstairs to my room and started tackling my homework. I don't have much, but I'd rather get it done now. I hate having to fit it all in on my Sunday's after church. I look up from my textbook and glance at my clock when I hear a knock at my bedroom door. It is 10:45pm.

"Yeah?" I call out looking towards my door. I wait for it to open to see who it is.

"Can we talk?" It's my mom. I get up from my chair and sit on my bed before pointing her to sit on my chair. The older woman took a seat on my computer chair and sighs.

"What would you like to talk about?" I ask gently.

"Me and your father have been talking for the last couple of hours…" My mom pauses. I sat silently waiting for her to continue. "I'm sorry we don't have a close relationship. I want to change that. I want to be someone you come to, not the last person. I want to be a mother that you know is always there for you. A mother that stood up for her daughter. I'll get better, I promise. I love you Spencer. No matter if you like girl or boys. I love you for who you are and how you are. I want to start by changing my schedule at work so I can make sure I am at all your basketball games and not just Glens. I want to support you in everything and not just in you being…" My mom pauses again looking confused.

"Lesbian." I fill in for her with a small smile on my face.

"Right, lesbian." She mumbles out. "Might take me some time to get used to." The older blonde says with a shy smile.

"It took me some time to get used to also. I can't be mad about that." I tell her honestly. My mom stands up and motions for me to get up off the bed. I stand up and step into her open arms. We embrace each other tightly. It feels weird to hug her like this, but it feels so good at the same time. I let a couple tears fall from my eyes. I am so happy right now. I have my entire family behind me, and they still love me for who I am. I couldn't ask for anything else right now. Well… No, I'm not going to think about Ashley right now in this perfect moment between mother and daughter. My mom pulls back and kisses me on the forehead.

"So, tell me about Ashley?" My mom says jokingly. I pull my bottom lip into my mouth and put my hands up to my cheeks trying to hide my blush.

"Okay." I say. I fill my mom in on the situation between Ashley and me. I tell her every little thing that happened, even the conversation we had tonight.

"It sounds to me like she is simply scared of what she feels for you. From the small conversations I've had with her and what you or your father has told me, Ashley hasn't had an easy life. Ashley hasn't had everything that you've had. Ashley has already experienced a lot of things that seemed to have made her withdrawn. I think you should give her some time. I know she will come around." My mom says with a smile on her face.

"Thank you." I say lightly. My mom hugs me one last time and kisses my forehead before walking out of my bedroom. I watch her close the door before letting out a deep sigh. That went so well. I grab my phone. I stare at it for a few minutes before placing it back on the bed. I move back over to my computer. I did want to text Ashley. She is the first person I thought to tell about this. I really wish I could tell her about this. I wish there weren't this big gap between us. I hope my mom is right about her coming around.