On 153rd Street, a young man could be seen running toward the bus stop with a backpack on his shoulders, while urgently trying to tie a knot in his tie while in motion; which, by the way, was not easy at all.
"Come on," Aaron said desperately, with his fingers stuck in the middle of the tie knot.
"Curse the idiot who invented this stupidity," Aaron thought annoyed, once he finally freed his fingers and had a half-decent knot in his tie.
After that, he arrived at the bus stop and took a moment to catch his breath while waiting for the Q54 bus to arrive so he could go to the high school. Taking his phone out of his pocket, he prepared to check the time.
"7:30," Aaron muttered to himself, while doing the math to know if he would arrive at class on time.
"If the bus takes 35 minutes, I would arrive at Metropolitan Ave at 8:05, and if I run afterward, I would arrive 3 minutes before the bell rings," Aaron thought quickly, while internally crossing his fingers for the blessed bus to appear.
As if God had heard his prayers, out of the corner of his eye he saw the bus approaching as if it were his salvation.
After that, Aaron entered, paid for his ticket, and began to look for an empty seat to sit in, while his gaze turned to look at the city streets on his way to school.
Taking his phone out again, he prepared to take some earphones out of his pocket and connect them to his phone, while he prepared to decide what to listen to next.
Once his choice was made, "It's my life - It's now or never - I ain't gonna live forever" could be heard in his headphones, while he reminisced about his last few months.
He still couldn't believe how far he had come in this time; from simply dreaming to now having a reputation in the basketball school circle and soon playing in one of the largest divisions in the country. That simple thought couldn't help but remind him of the decision he made months ago.
Flashback
Aaron was seen again with Melissa and Paola sitting at the kitchen table, but with several papers on the table and serious looks on the faces of all three.
"Well," Melissa said beginning.
"The time has come to make a decision," Paola continued saying in a serious tone.
"Yes," Aaron finally said, without taking his eyes off the pile of sheets, as if the decision he was going to make would decide his future; and for good reason.
"We received several invitations to schools, but I narrowed them down to 4 options," Melissa said as she separated 4 sheets from the rest of the pile.
Christ the King Regional High School. Archbishop Molloy High School. St. Francis Preparatory. Holy Cross High School.
These four institutions are pillars of high school basketball in New York, competing mainly in the CHSAA (Catholic High School Athletic Association), specifically in the "AA" division of Brooklyn/Queens.
Receiving an invitation to one of these schools opens the doors for you to play in a D1 university; but if all 4 invite you, it means they see that you have great potential.
"Which one is the best?" Paola asked, analyzing the 4.
"If we go by distance, the one that would be most convenient would be Archbishop Molloy High School," Melissa said as she pointed to the blue shield on the sheet to the right.
Aaron fixed his gaze on the blue logo while remembering all the info about that high school.
"While it competes in the CHSAA, they focus more on the academic aspect than the sports one," Aaron said after a moment of reflecting on the school.
And he was not wrong, as Archbishop Molloy High School has one of the lowest admission rates along with a higher SAT score than the state average.
While his academic future would be secured there, Aaron would have more difficulties gaining championships and visibility.
Thinking about that, Aaron directed his gaze toward the sheet in the other corner; on it, the school emblem could be seen in a maroon color.
Christ the King Regional High School, of the 4, was the one that had the best basketball program in the state and the country, being always among the top 30 in the country; at the same time, it was a Nike elite school, which gave it free equipment and was invited every year to participate in the City of Palms Classic in Florida.
Another fact why Aaron remembered more about this school was because, although he was never a fan of high school basketball, the Royals managed to win the championship this year in both boys' and girls' categories.
Another aspect he considered crucial was coach Joe Arbitello, considered by many one of the best coaches in the league in player development and contacts with prominent teams in NCAA Division I.
Because while Aaron trusted his skills to stand out in any of the 4 teams, he knows that not only skills matter, but also contacts.
No star reached where they are now without good contacts behind them; even Jordan reached where he is now thanks to his strategic alliances and Nike's marketing behind him.
So if you want to go far, sports performance and contacts go hand in hand.
While Aaron was immersed in his analysis, Melissa and Paola saw how his gaze directed toward the maroon logo of the Royals.
"Do you want to go there, honey?" Melissa asked with a smile, seeing the direction of Aaron's gaze.
"It's the one that is furthest from here," Paola said while quickly checking where that high school was located.
"It has a great basketball program and a solid academic program," was Aaron's response after analyzing the 4 options.
"But in this one, a starting spot on the varsity team is not guaranteed," Melissa said seriously, letting Aaron see that it wouldn't be easy there.
And she was right; although none can openly say he will be a starter, at least the other 3 gave subtle signals toward Aaron and his mother.
"Challenges don't bother me," Aaron said with conviction in his voice, without taking his eyes off his mother's eyes, showing that he didn't mind having to fight for a starting position.
"It won't be easy," Paola said trying to see in Aaron any sign of doubt or weakness in his posture; but what she found was Aaron's determined and confident gaze.
"It never has been," Aaron said.
"Well then, it's decided," Melissa said, seeing that Aaron had already made a decision.
End of flashback
Coming out of his thoughts as soon as he saw he was arriving at Metropolitan Ave, Aaron put away his earphones while pressing the button to get off and started running toward the school.
After running fast, Aaron managed to reach the high school with 5 minutes to spare.
"Safe," Aaron said while he slowly began to breathe and regulate his breathing, while he began to walk straight toward his locker.
Once at his locker, he left his backpack and began to take out his book for the first period class, which was English 9; while Aaron checked his books and planned his day, a hand touched his back from behind.
"What's up, Aaron?" said a friendly voice of a boy who was next to Aaron opening his own locker.
"What's up, Drew?" Aaron said with a smile as he extended his fist for a fist bump that Drew responded to in a friendly way.
Drew was a freckled boy with wavy hair of average build and average height; Aaron already stood a head taller than him, so if Aaron had to estimate, he would say he was 5'10''.
"Did you see the game last night?" Drew began to speak.
"The Heat defeated the Knicks by more than 20 points and Dwyane Wade killed it," Drew said with a smile while recounting last night's game.
"I didn't have time," was the simple response Aaron gave him. And the fact was that, after dinner and yesterday's exhausting game, Aaron's body was crying out for a rest; and even more so because he can only enter that state when he has deep sleep, so hours of sleep are important for him.
Drew threw Aaron a scandalized look, as if it were an insult not to have seen that game; and the thing was that his friendship with Drew was generated from the fact that they both liked basketball and he is the only friend he made in this last month at school.
But of course, if Aaron likes to play it, Drew is more into watching it on TV than playing it; although he does play, his level is mostly amateur at best.
"Today the tryouts begin, right?" Drew said while they were now walking toward the classroom before the bell rang.
"Today are physical tests and tomorrow tryout games," Aaron said, remembering the instructions he received in the email a few days ago.
"Great, then I'll see you there," Drew said with a smile while he continued walking.
"Are you going to participate in the tryouts?" Aaron said with a hint of surprise thinking about his friend in the basketball tryouts.
"Sure, if you can, why can't I?" Drew said as if it were the most logical thing in the world.
To that comment Aaron didn't know what to say without sounding arrogant or cruel; because while he came to this school specifically to play basketball with a scholarship, Drew didn't, so he had to do the tryouts but for the freshman teams while Aaron competed for at least the junior varsity level or even for the varsity level.
While Aaron continued walking distracted in his thoughts, he suddenly felt something crashing against him, or rather someone. Looking down he found a girl who, apparently, hadn't realized she had crashed against him either.
"I'm sorry," Aaron said quickly as he also bent down ready to help the girl pick up the books that had fallen on the floor.
"It was my fault," the girl said as she adjusted the glasses that covered her face.
Once crouched down Aaron could see her face better; she had dark blonde hair, almost brown, tied in a braid, while large glasses covered much of her face along with the school uniform.
Quickly, helping to pick up her books, he extended his hand to help her stand up.
"Are you okay?" Aaron said trying to make sure the girl was okay and without any obvious bruise or scratch.
"I'm fine," was the simple response the girl gave him as she stepped back a few steps upon looking up and meeting Aaron's gaze.
Once standing, Aaron could better see the girl who was in front of him, and who had to lift her head while Aaron lowered his.
A silence fell between them, as if they didn't know what to say or how to end this situation, until Drew decided to break the ice.
"Aaron, let's go or we'll be late for class," Drew said while looking at the clock that was in the corner of the wall before the bell rang.
Coming out of his stupor Aaron cleared his throat and said: "Yes, everything is fine then, see you later," while walking in the direction of Drew.
"See you later," Aaron heard the girl mutter, while she quickly left with her head down.
"Strange," Aaron thought while he watched the girl lose herself among the crowd of students headed to class.
Shaking his head Aaron approached Drew to head together toward the classroom.
Once there and in their seats, the bell rang starting the classes.
While the professor arrived and began the class: "Well guys, picking up from what we saw last class..." the professor began while Aaron slowly lost himself in his memories sighing.
"This will be a long day."
Author's thoughts
What did you think of today's chapter?
I know the encounter with the girl is a bit of a cliché, but I couldn't think of another scenario