Thursday, October 29, 2009 Christ the King Gym, 15:00
The next day, the candidates for the basketball team could be seen lining up, waiting for the coach along with the starters.
In that group, one could see a calm boy who stood out for his height and for the serenity with which he stood, as if he belonged to this place.
"I'm nervous, dude," a freckled boy said as he ran a hand through his wavy hair, a sign of his nervousness.
"Everything will be fine, Drew," Aaron said, directing some reassuring words to Drew so he wouldn't get distracted in the game.
"Easy for you to say," Drew said with a grimace on his face, remembering yesterday's physical tests and how Aaron stood out in each of them.
"Just concentrate and everything will go well," was the last thing Aaron said to Drew when, suddenly, footsteps were heard approaching the gym, followed by the squeak of the door opening.
At that moment, the entire coaching staff entered, led by Joe Arbitello, and behind them were the five current starting players of the team.
"Gentlemen," the coach began to say. "Yesterday we saw your physical capabilities," he said as his gaze passed over each of the potential recruits, stopping for a few extra seconds on Aaron.
"But the physique doesn't matter if you don't know how to play," he said in a deep tone of voice, with a serious look.
"Now then, we are mainly looking for players for the Junior Varsity and Freshman teams; but if you manage to exceed my expectations or surprise me, we can talk about having a spot on the Varsity team," Coach Joe said this time, as his eyes looked directly into Aaron's blue eyes.
In Joe's gaze, he could only see Aaron's cold eyes, without any hint of fear or insecurity, as if he already knew what he was going to do before it happened.
"Now then," Joe said, glancing at his wooden clipboard as he began to organize the players; and as he read the names, the coaching assistants began to hand out red, yellow, and green jerseys.
Once Joe finished reading the list and each player had a jersey, Aaron could intuit the meaning of each color while looking at the yellow jersey he was given.
"For those who haven't realized yet, these jerseys signify the level we believe you are at based on your physical data," Coach Joe said, explaining the function of the jerseys.
"Green are the Varsity starters, yellow are Junior Varsity, and finally, red are the Freshmen," he said as he pointed to each group according to the color of their jerseys.
If one looked closely, there were only seven green jerseys with the five starters and two substitutes, followed by fifteen yellows and the rest in red.
"Not bad," Aaron said as he looked at his yellow jersey without any emotion.
"Red, dude," Drew said with a bitter smile, looking at the crowd of yellow and green jerseys in the gym.
"Don't get discouraged, dude," Aaron said, trying to comfort his freckled friend.
"You'll still have a chance to play," Aaron finished saying, trying to encourage Drew.
"You're right, dude," Drew said, shaking his head, trying to shake off all the bad vibes.
But while Aaron was comforting Drew, his gaze couldn't help but land on the men in the stands with hats and notepads on their laps.
"Recruiters," Aaron muttered to himself as he looked in more detail at the people, along with the insignias and logos on their hats.
"Fairfield, UConn, Florida, Villanova..." Aaron continued muttering as his gaze landed on each of the recruiters in the gym.
That was one of the reasons Aaron chose to come to Christ the King: visibility. As the school with one of the best basketball programs in the state and the country, many recruiters often pass through the gym catching talent or discovering hidden gems that haven't exploded yet.
Coming out of his concentration, he snapped back as Coach Joe spoke again.
"Now then, we will play yellows against reds first, and remember: even if you are red or yellow, you are still subject to change, so take this game seriously," Coach Joe said as he took a step back and let Artie take the reins of the game, while the other two assistants acted as coaches.
Approaching his yellow teammates, they formed a circle toward the man who would be their coach in this practice game.
"Okay guys, my name is Derick Phelps," Derick began to say. "Now we will play an 8-minute quarter against the reds, with no substitution limit, so give it your best or you'll end up on the bench," Derick said with gravity at the end, letting it be known that no one had a guaranteed spot here.
Then he proceeded to read the list of the five who would start the game and stopped as soon as he said the name of the young man Coach Joe was interested in:
"Aaron Reed, you'll be the center, don't disappoint me," he finished saying.
After that, different emotions could be seen on the faces of those who were not chosen for the starting five: envy, bitterness, and frustration; but that didn't matter to Aaron. The only thing that mattered to him at that moment was the game that would unfold next.
Once on the court, Aaron could see that Drew had also been chosen to start for the reds in the point guard position; that brought a slight smile to Aaron's face seeing how his friend had a chance to be on the team.
Erasing his smile, Aaron fixed his gaze on the boy in front of him as he stretched and prepared for the opening tip-off.
The boy in front of Aaron felt slightly intimidated by his gaze, wishing he didn't have to be in front of him; he knew that the only reason he was a center was because he was the tallest on his team, but even so, he barely reached Aaron's nose.
"Damn monster," the same boy murmured as he had to face such a giant.
Dribbling the ball, Artie approached the center with a whistle, temporarily acting as the referee for the encounter.
"Alright guys, I want a clean game," Artie said once in the center and with the ball ready for the opening toss.
"Ready?" Artie asked, fixing his eyes on Aaron.
"Ready," Aaron said, flexing his knees and with his eyes on the ball in Artie's hand.
"Ready?" Artie asked the boy on the red team this time.
"Ready," the boy said, swallowing hard as he flexed his knees, ready to jump.
"Okay then," Artie said, putting the whistle to his mouth and preparing to throw the ball as high as possible.
"Fiiuuu!" the sound of the whistle was heard, followed by the toss of the ball into the air.
In that moment, both boys jumped to get the ball; but to the amazement and incredulity of some, they saw Aaron jump almost a head higher than the other boy and get the ball to pass it to the point guard, while he headed straight for the paint.
As that happened, the reactions were not long in coming.
"Did you see that, dude?" one of the players on the bench said.
"I see it, dude," the other responded while trying to discern if it was possible to jump that high.
"With him there, I don't think we have a chance," the player said this time with a resigned tone.
"I wouldn't be so sure, maybe he'll go straight to Varsity," his friend said, trying to be logical and believing that the coach wouldn't leave a player like that in Junior Varsity.
Meanwhile, next to Coach Joe:
"He never ceases to amaze me every time I see him play," Coach Joe said with a smile on his face as he still remembered that opening jump, and in his mind, he began to design new schemes and strategies.
On the other hand, the starters were not so happy.
"I think he jumps higher than even you, Maurice," Roland said hesitantly, fearing the reaction of the aforementioned.
"Just because he's good at jumping doesn't mean he's better than me," Maurice responded while a slight trace of incredulity, and perhaps envy, crossed his gaze as he saw the player heading for the paint.
"Careful Milka, I think he's coming for your spot," Maurice said as his gaze turned toward Dominykas Milka, the current starting center.
"He might jump high, but he can't compete with me in contact," was Dominykas' simple response as he flexed his muscles, showing he wasn't afraid of Aaron.
Returning to the game, once Aaron won the rebound, he headed straight for the opposing team's paint while trusting that his team would get him the ball.
And he wasn't wrong; out of the corner of his eye, he saw the point guard pass to the forward to then run a pick and roll. As the forward headed toward the rim, Aaron instinctively raised his hand calling for the ball, but to his dismay, he saw the forward attempt an outside shot that ended up bouncing off the rim.
Once the ball bounced, Aaron saw the opposing power forward and himself jump for the ball, with Aaron being able to catch it seconds before and then planting himself firmly on the ground. Seeing that he was surrounded, he quickly decided to make the best move for these cases: Olajuwon's "Dream Shake."
Faking to the right and seeing how the player blocked his path, he quickly moved his waist while changing direction with his feet, going to the left for an easy layup.
2-0 current score, yellow team up.
Without looking back, Aaron returned to his side of the court waiting for the rival team to resume the game under the watchful eyes of everyone in the stadium.
"Don't just stand there watching, resume the game!" the red team coach shouted, trying to snap his players out of their stupor while he himself was also incredulous.
After that, the red team reacted and the game resumed as the red team's shooting guard passed the ball to Drew to set up the play.
Aaron could see the slight hesitation in Drew's gaze as he dribbled the ball across the half-court line toward the yellow team's side.
Pushing that thought out of his head, he concentrated on the game, knowing that in that moment they weren't friends but players on two different teams with the goal of winning.
"Come on," Aaron murmured as he saw Drew pass the ball to the red team's forward, and then the forward quickly tried to pass it to the center.
Generally, that would mean the center would shoot, but out of the corner of his eye, Aaron saw the forward, once he gave the pass, run straight to the rim looking for the return pass. So, in a split second, Aaron made a decision.
The rival forward, believing he had fooled Aaron, waited for the pass from the center in the area of the court that was free, and once their gazes met, the center passed him the ball. With a smile, he prepared to make a dunk that would impress the coach.
Too bad his dream couldn't come true, because with a look of horror and incredulity, he saw a shadow looming over him and a hand going straight for the ball.
BLOCK!
Seeing how the ball headed straight to the point where Aaron's team's shooting guard was, the latter quickly headed toward the opposite basket being blocked by two members of the red team.
"Here!" Aaron shouted as he raised his hand.
Without hesitation, the shooting guard passed the ball to Aaron while shaking off the two players.
Now Aaron, in possession of the ball, took a few seconds to see the positions of all the players on the court, while the previous shooting guard, once he broke free from the rivals, raised his hand asking for the ball back.
"Pass it to me!" he shouted toward Aaron.
After that, he saw Aaron look toward him while preparing what he believed was a pass; but to his incredulity, he saw him throw a diagonal pass to the other side of the court while his sight remained fixed on him.
Turning his head in disbelief, the shooting guard saw how his team's forward was right there holding the ball with a face that said: "How? When? What?".
"Shoot!" Aaron shouted seeing the forward stand still trying to understand what had happened.
Coming out of his stupor and remembering he was in the middle of a game, the forward prepared to get into a shooting stance and launch.
Swish was the sound heard as the ball entered the net.
5-0 current score.
As Aaron returned to his side of the court with an impassive face, the previous shooting guard couldn't take his eyes off him as he remembered that last play.
"How the hell could he see where the forward was if he was looking at me," the shooting guard murmured as he also prepared to return to his side of the court to continue the game.
Author's thoughts
First of all, wow—over 100,000 views! I have nothing left to say but thank you. When I started this story, I never thought it would reach so many people.
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