The ball just hung in the air, frozen under those crazy bright lights, like someone had pressed pause on the whole world. The whole crowd wasn't even breathing, like, at all. You could feel it in the air, this weird pressure, like when you're waiting for the rollercoaster to drop.
Then Nash exploded up. His muscles looked like those tight springs in a garage door, all coiled and ready to snap. Right next to him, Jax jumped too, big, heavy, his veins popping out like thick ropes under all those tattoos. Their hands smacked together with this gross, meaty sound, like when you slap raw chicken on the counter too hard. The ball wobbled toward the Raptors' side.
"Raptors ball!" the ref yelled.
Then the arena just detonated.
"BLACKLIST! BLACKLIST!"
"RAPTORS! RIP THEIR FUCKING HEADS OFF!"
Over in Section 112, Lina shot up so fast her pink twintails whipped around like helicopter blades.
"NASH! LET'S GOOOOOO!" she screamed, her voice cracking from how loud she was going.
