The look on Aaron's face, like that of the other players, was one of bewilderment, as if they were still processing whether what Coach Joe had said was real or just their imagination.
"Ok," Aaron said seconds later, recovering from the initial shock to take off his jersey and walk towards Roland.
"Tscht," the sound of annoyance came from Roland's mouth once Aaron was in front of him and passed him his yellow jersey; for Roland, just seeing that color gave him nausea.
"Roland, what are you waiting for?" Coach Joe said this time with more seriousness in his voice, seeing that Roland was just standing there looking at the yellow jersey with annoyance.
"Coming," Roland said toward Coach Joe while taking off the green jersey and passing it to Aaron, receiving the yellow one and putting it on.
"Don't think you're a big deal just because you're with the starters now," Roland whispered to Aaron in a low, threatening voice while at his side.
Seeing no reaction from Aaron to his intimidation attempt, he simply gnashed his teeth while crossing to the opposite side of the court.
"I'll finish you," Roland thought, getting into position and ready to prevent Aaron from continuing to play as he had been doing until now.
Meanwhile, Maurice gathered the rest of the team and began giving his instructions.
"I don't want anyone passing the ball to that brat, did you hear me?" Maurice said while giving a significant look to each one, expecting nothing but compliance with his order.
"But what if he's in a better position?" Omar couldn't help but ask.
"I don't care if he's alone or has an easy layup, I want him not to touch the ball again for the rest of the game. Understood?" Maurice said this time, giving Omar a more threatening look.
"Understood," Omar said, not quite in agreement with what Maurice was trying to do.
After that, Maurice's gaze passed over the other two players waiting for their response.
"Understood," Dominykas said.
"No problem," Corey said.
After that, the four of them got into position ready to resume the game.
The game resumed with Artie's whistle and, after a few seconds, a serious look came into Aaron's eyes as he saw something he didn't like.
"They're icing me out," was the quick analysis Aaron made as he saw how the ball was distributed to places where he wasn't located.
"As if playing as a power forward wasn't complicated enough," Aaron thought bitterly, trying to figure out the reason why Coach Joe put him in the Power Forward position.
In his short career to date, he had never played any position other than center; because of his great jumping ability and post moves, it never occurred to any of his previous coaches to put him in any other position.
"Let's think about that later," Aaron muttered, coming out of his thoughts and focusing on what mattered at this moment, which was the game he was playing.
The plays were fast and precise. Along with the sound of sneakers on the floor, the tension in the green team was visible as they isolated the new player.
"They are isolating him," Artie said in a low voice toward Joe.
"I see it," Joe said, also watching what Artie was looking at.
"Aren't you going to do anything?" Artie asked, expecting Joe to take action.
"Why should I?" was the simple question Joe asked Artie.
"You're the coach," Artie said simply, as if that was the obvious answer.
"Exactly," Joe said; but seeing that Artie didn't seem to understand, he decided to explain. "As a coach, I must be impartial and not show favoritism to any player. If I tell them to start passing the ball to Aaron, I'll only cause resentment towards him from the others."
"I understand," Artie said, seeing the bigger picture this time.
"Besides, this will also be like a test for the kid," Joe said with a smile. "Let's see what he does in this situation. Don't disappoint me, kid," Joe thought to himself, paying special attention to Aaron.
At one point, the yellow team missed a shot, causing several players to fight for the rebound, but someone had already positioned himself in the exact spot where the ball was heading, as if he knew in advance that the ball would fall there.
After winning the rebound, the first thing Aaron did was look up and scan the court, analyzing the landscape.
"Here!" Maurice's shout was heard in Aaron's direction, ordering him to give him the ball.
Once Maurice saw Aaron look up and see him, he shook off the opposing player and prepared to receive the ball; but to his disdain, he saw Aaron ignore him and head straight for the rim.
"Idiot, I'm open!!" Maurice couldn't help but shout as he saw Aaron ignore him.
Aaron kept going toward the hoop, which was heavily blocked by the yellow team. He then saw Aaron jump into a shooting position, ready to launch the ball. But what followed next was something neither he nor anyone saw coming.
He saw Aaron jump with the ball ready to shoot, but once suspended in the air, instead of following the script and shooting, he threw a kick-out pass to the corner opposite Maurice, where Omar was located.
Seeing the ball heading towards him, Omar instinctively raised his hands and caught it. Seeing that there was no opposing player near him, he had enough time to adjust his posture and drive upward with a jumper to throw the ball toward the basket.
Swish. It was the clean sound of the ball going through the hoop.
5-6 score, green team in the lead.
After that, under the incredulous gaze of some, Omar was seen approaching Aaron and putting his arm around Aaron's neck.
"Friend, that pass was crazy. You were here and I was there..." Omar began to speak rapidly while using his free arm to gesture the fake shot and Aaron's pass.
"I saw you were open, so I passed it to you," was the simple response Aaron gave to an anxious Omar.
"I haven't introduced myself, my name is Omar, dude," Omar said this time while extending his fist to Aaron.
"Aaron," was his simple response as he returned the fist bump.
Then, taking the arm off his neck, Aaron began to back up, ready for the game to restart. But perhaps because Aaron wasn't used to any position other than center, he subconsciously placed himself under his team's basket.
"You're in my spot, friend," Dominykas said at Aaron's side as he watched the boy stand under the rim.
"Sorry," Aaron said with a trace of embarrassment in his voice as he headed to the corner that belonged to him now that he played the power forward position.
"This feels weird," Aaron thought being on the edge of the court and not in the center under the hoop.
After that slight error, the game resumed. Aaron, still not fully adapted to his new position, decided to step up and block Roland's path.
"I see you want a one-on-one," Roland said with a sinister smile, believing the reason Aaron was sticking to him was because he wanted to defeat him in a 1 vs 1.
"Very well, so be it," Roland said, raising his hand and waiting for the ball.
Everyone looking in that direction subconsciously gave them space so they could have a 1 vs 1 duel.
"Let's see if you can handle this," Roland said as he cut quickly toward the basket.
But out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow behind him following him as if his life depended on it.
"Ok, then what will you do against this," Roland said as he suddenly stopped and jumped to shoot the ball, but to his surprise, he saw a hand in front of him that stripped the ball from his hands and then passed it to Corey, the green team's point guard, and ran toward the opposite rim.
"Get back here," Roland said this time as he went after Aaron, this time with the roles reversed between pursuer and pursued.
But Aaron was faster and more accurate with his movements. The moment he gained a little space over Roland, he raised his hand calling for the ball. Looking briefly toward Corey, he could see the slight hesitation in his eyes, as if he were weighing whether to pass the ball to Aaron. Then, to Aaron's dismay, Corey looked past him and passed the ball to Maurice, who was heavily marked by the yellow team.
With a lot of effort, he saw Maurice launch a shot that bounced off the backboard and the opportunity was lost while the yellow team's center got the rebound and passed the ball.
Shaking his head, Aaron turned on his heels and prepared to return as fast as he could to his side of the court, but even then it wasn't enough. With a clever pick and roll, the yellow team's small forward was able to bypass Dominykas and launch a simple layup toward the basket.
7-6 score, yellow team in the lead.
"SHIT," Maurice could be heard cursing as he saw his shot miss, causing the opposing team to score.
"Pass it to me again," Maurice ordered again as he jogged toward his side of the court.
Shaking his head, Aaron decided to focus on his own game and not on what he couldn't control. So once the game resumed, Aaron decided to look for the ball himself instead of remaining passive.
At one point in the game, the ball came loose and both Aaron and Maurice ran straight for it, but Aaron was faster and was able to secure the ball before it went out of bounds.
"Give it to me," Maurice said while waiting for Aaron to pass him the ball.
But to his dismay, Aaron ignored him and instead began to advance with the ball toward the hoop. While the ball was loose, the yellow team had enough time to organize the defense under the post. Seeing that, Aaron frowned slightly, thinking about what to do because he knew that once he lost the ball, it would be difficult for them to give it back to him.
"Here!" Omar said, raising his hand.
At that, Aaron looked in his direction and thought that since he had no option that would allow him to score, he might as well take the risk of betting on his teammate. So without hesitating, he passed the ball to Omar while he entered the paint.
And Omar didn't disappoint him. The moment he received the ball, he freed himself from his opponent with an ankle breaker, then looked up and saw Aaron already inside the paint and without hesitation threw the ball in his direction.
Inside the paint, Aaron was seen struggling with the two people at his sides, but the moment he saw the ball heading in his direction, he knew what to do.
Using his shoulders, he made contact with both players with the aim of knocking them off balance, then jumped and caught the ball in the air and slammed it against the basket.
Pum!! was the sound heard in the gym.
After that, landing with both feet firmly planted on the court, Aaron smiled and ran toward Omar.
"Good assist, friend," he said with a smile.
"It's nothing," Omar replied with humility until he was interrupted by his least favorite person.
"I told you to give me the ball," Maurice said toward Aaron with a look of rage on his face.
"You weren't in a good position," was Aaron's simple response, hoping logic would make Maurice see reason.
"It doesn't matter, if I ask for the ball, you give it to me," Maurice said firmly as he approached Aaron intimidatingly.
"Next time, if I see you're open, I'll pass it to you," was Aaron's simple response as he walked past Maurice, ready for the game to restart.
After that, the game continued its course, but with tension in the green team—a clash between two different ideals and people.
The question is, which one will emerge victorious?
Author thoughts
Do you like the chapters being posted at this time, or do you prefer the previous schedule?
I also regret to inform you that I'll be switching to updating this fic every two days, as I've recently started a new job. I hope you understand.
What do you think of today's chapter?