Chapter 253

Their instructor, Albert Linton, asked, “Do any of you girls know how to play basketball?”

Only one or two girls from the chemistry department raised their hands. Shermaine was one of them. Being good at everything wasn’t just talk. She could handle basketball too.

Shermaine stood there in her camo uniform with the sleeves rolled up. At five–foot–seven with that sweet but striking face, she totally stood out from all the other girls.

Albert announced, “For this basketball game, we’re doing co–ed teams. Each five–person squad needs two girls.” He pointed at Shermaine and another girl who’d raised her hand. “You two are it. Get your positions sorted and get ready to take them on.”

Once they picked the five–person team, one of the guys who played basketball regularly spoke up, “You two can handle guard positions.”

The other girl said that was fine, and Shermaine nodded along. The remaining three guys would split between two forwards and one center.

After they figured out positions, Shermaine stripped off her camo jacket, leaving just a loose T–shirt underneath. By now, the bleachers were filling up with spectators.

The computer science team also went with three guys and two girls, but their female players looked way more athletic than Shermaine’s side.

A bunch of computer science upperclassmen showed up to watch too. Word had gotten out that their department’s new heartthrob was playing basketball, so groups of girls came to check out his moves on the court.

But when people realized Shermaine was also playing, the news spread fast and even more people started showing up at the basketball court.

One was Basterel’s top science student, the other was second place. Now, they were going head–to–head.

The place was buzzing with excitement. Though honestly, comparing guys and girls in basketball wasn’t really fair. Men already had a natural advantage in this sport.

The game kicked off with the referee’s whistle. Right from the opening tip–off, Jason jumped up and grabbed the ball. He was good–looking, which definitely worked in his favor with the female audience. A bunch of girls immediately started screaming and cheering from the stands.

Shermaine was standing toward the back, but the opening play never made it to her anyway.

The ball went to that other girl from their class instead, and she looked completely panicked. She seemed totally lost about who to pass to, and while she was standing there frozen, someone snatched the ball right out of her hands.

Her face just crumpled. She looked like she was about to cry. ‘I should never have volunteered for this,’ she thought. She could play basketball, sure, but she sucked at it. Usually she just jogged around for exercise.

Shermaine saw how guilty she looked and gave her shoulder a pat. “Hey, relax. It’s fine.”

“Shermaine, aren’t you nervous at all?”

“Nope.”

“You really are something else.”

That was what made a genius a genius. Even in sports, she just stood out from everyone else.

About ten minutes in, the Computer Science team was way ahead on the scoreboard.

Jason was actually pretty good at basketball and had some real skills. His performance had all the girls in the audience cheering him on non–stop.

Meanwhile, their Chemistry department had way fewer people, so their cheering got completely drowned out.

Actually, plenty of guys who were fans of Shermaine had shown up to watch, but since the ball never made it to her hands, they couldn’t really cheer her on or anything.

Shermaine figured that if they wanted to win, they’d probably need to switch up their positions for the second half.

While she was thinking about it, someone passed the ball right to her hands.

“Shermaine, quick! Pass it over here!” one of the guys on her team yelled.

Shermaine glanced up and was about to make the pass when a computer science major came charging over to steal the ball.

The guy thought he’d snag it easy, but Shermaine suddenly changed the ball’s direction and threw him off completely. He stood there confused for a second, then kept trying to grab it.

There was no way Shermaine was letting him get that ball though.

Everyone watching held their breath as they saw Shermaine take total control of the court with this commanding presence that just blew them away.

Her ball handling was absolutely incredible. The guy couldn’t even touch the ball once while she basically played him like a fool.

When Shermaine figured she’d messed with him enough, she spun right around him, jumped up, and took the shot.

The ball went straight through the hoop with a perfect swish. She nailed the three–pointer without even touching the rim.

The crowd went absolutely wild with screaming. “Shermaine, that was so freaking cool!”