Axel’s POV
The sound of shoes squeaking, balls bouncing as opponents eye each other up. I’ve missed this so much, the environment of a basketball tournament.
“Hey, did you hear? Number 8 of the Blue Koyas is going to be playing on one of the teams today” I hear a guy say and I smirk. I still have no idea how word got around, but I think it’s funny when people are talking about me without knowing I’m listening to them.
“Yeah, I heard. I hope it’s just a rumour though” the other guy says and I hold in a laugh.
“Nah dude. He probably stopped playing after he disappeared, so he’s probably out of his prime. How sick would it be if we beat him?” the guy says excitedly and I smirk.
“What are you smirking about?” I hear Jay ask as he comes to stand beside me.
I smile, “They’re talking about mysterious number 8 and I just think it’s funny when people are talking about me, not knowing that I’m listening. It’s like when people talk shit about you in another language, but you actually understand what they’re saying” I say and Jay laughs.
“You’re adorable”
“Oi, Captain. Stop flirting with your boyfriend and get your ass over here” Vincent says as the other boys snicker. I wave Jay goodbye and walk over to them, whacking Vincent on the head as I walk by.
“Okay, so you guys are playing the Water Turtles today. They’re the team that made it to the semifinals last year, so make sure you be careful about them” Coach says and we nod.
“It won’t be a problem, we have the country’s best player on our team” Yohan says and I hear sounds of agreement coming from the rest of the team.
“Just because we have Axel, doesn’t mean that you guys can slack off. Even with the country’s best player, we can’t win if the rest of the team doesn’t try” Tom says and they all shut up. I’m grateful for Tom because even though I have the captain’s title, he acts more like it than I do. I’m more like an assistant coach.
“It’s time, boys. Let’s go” Coach says as we head to the court we’re playing on. I look up and see Pete, Franco, Tyler, Jack, Jay, May, Dan, Jason and Mace sitting on the stands. I wave to them and they all start a chant that they horribly messed up. They stop and glare at each other accusingly and I laugh.
“Axel, get on the court. The game’s about to start” Coach says and I nod, taking off my hoodie to reveal my jersey number, number 8.
I head onto the court and I hear guys from the other team snicker.
“He’s starting? But he’s tiny”
“He’s going to get pummelled, I almost feel bad for the kid”
“Should we go easy on them?”
I roll my eyes at the typical comments. I heard them all the time when I first started at the Blue Koyas, but they shut up when we won the championship.
We get in our positions, Tom doing the jump ball and I stand off to the side. The whistle blows and the ball is thrown. Tom jumps and gets the ball easily, passing it to Yohan. Yohan dribbles a bit before he passes it to me and I dribble past all the guys on the other team and jump. I dunk the ball and land, the gym goes silent. Even the people on the other courts stopped their game and are looking at me with wide eyes.
“I didn’t know you can dunk” I hear Gregory say, and I shrug.
“Didn’t get a chance to do it during practice”
Everyone seems to recover from their shock and resumes what they were doing. The other team dribbles the ball and passes to the guy I’m guarding, probably assuming that it’ll be easy to get past me because of my height. I quickly jump and catch the ball before the guy can get it, and I dribble to the three-point line. I jump and shoot, the ball going in with a swish.
I turn around and walk back to my side of the court, high fiving my teammates as I pass. We play and both teams continue to score, but our team is leading with 32-13.
I didn’t get all of them by myself, the team helped a lot and I was relieved they weren’t just relying on me. But, our opponents seem to have figured out that I’m the key player on the team, and decided to double team me when I had the ball. Two of them stop me at the mid-point line, and I smirk.
I pretend to pass to someone behind them, and they both fall for it. I jump, and shoot, the ball going in with a swish. The other team looks at me shocked, as the crowd cheers.
I smile innocently and head back over to my side of the court. My teammates high five me, and we get back into position.
The other team scores a point, and William goes to get the ball and passes it to me. I dribble, not moving from my spot as I look at Tom, he nods at me. I look at the guy who’s standing at the mid-court line, guarding me. He was the only player I had difficult getting past -although I did manage to with a bit of struggle- thanks to his height and build. He was significantly taller than me, standing at 6’1 and it was obvious he worked out.
I smirk at him and he looks at me confused, his eyes widening as he sees me stop dribbling and holding the ball in my hands. I jump, and shoot the ball as it goes in with a swish. The opponent’s whole team looks at me with wide eyes.
Since this was just a half court, I could shoot with ease from anywhere. I can shoot from anywhere on a full court, it’s just not as accurate. On a half court, I can shoot with there being a 99.9% chance I get it in, but on a full court it’s only about a 90% chance.
“What- how- I-” the tall guy stutters and I smile.
“How far is your shooting range?” he asks and their whole team looks at me.
I smirk, “Maybe that was just luck” I say with a shrug and their eyes widen in disbelief.
I look at the score, 52-21. They’ll be fine. I turn to look at Coach, and he nods. I switch with Kyle and sit down on the bench beside Coach.
He smiles at me as I put a towel over my eyes, resting my head on the wall. I’m actually not tired, but I rather not get injured this early on in the season. It’s not like the other team tries to injure me or anything -though some have tried- I’m just really clumsy. I could be walking and manage to somehow break a finger. I don’t want to have to sit on the bench for the rest of the season because I accidentally sprained my ankle.
“You were amazing out there, baby” I peak up through my towel and see Jay walking over to me, a proud smile on his face.
I remove the towel and smile at him as he plants a kiss on my cheek and sits down. It makes me happy that he’s never afraid to show me affection even when we’re in public like this. It puts a smile on my face, knowing that he never wants to hide our relationship from anyone.
“You haven’t even seen half of what he can do yet” Coach says smugly as I roll my eyes.
“You sound even more proud about my skills than I am” I say and Coach laughs.
“Of course! I’ve never seen anyone play basketball as exceptionally as you. You’re talented, kid. I know you’ll make it big in the NBA world, but don’t forget about your old coach here” he says with a laugh and I chuckle.
“I’ll make sure to tell everyone about the one who helped me find my passion for basketball again when I ‘make it big'” I say and laugh.
I see a middle-aged man walk towards us from the corner of my eye. I turn to look at him as he stops in front of me “Hello young man, may I speak to you? I’m from the University of Kentucky”
My eyes widen as I nod, standing up and following the man out of the gym.
He turns to me, “Those skills you displayed were exceptional, and we would love to have you on our team. If you accept, you will get a full scholarship from the University of Kentucky” he says and my eyes widen.
I smile, “Thank you sir, may I have some time to think it over?” I ask and he nods.
“Of course, I understand that you may get many scholarship offers from different universities and colleges, but we hope you choose us in the end. Here’s my business card. You can give me a call when you’ve decided” the man says before walking off.
I sigh, not Michigan, but Kentucky is just as good.
A few other representatives from universities and colleges come up to me offering me scholarships and I tell them I think about it. So far I’ve got offers from Duke University, University of Kansas, Villanova University and UCLA. I sigh, I’m going to need to try harder to get Michigan to notice me.
“Hello young man. You’re from Mang high school, correct?” a man in his mid-twenties comes up to me and asks, I nod.
“Do you know where I can find the boy wearing the number 8 jersey?” he asks and I turn around, showing him my jersey number.
I face him and see a smile on his face, “That was easier than I thought. Allow me to introduce myself, I’m a representative from Michigan university. I would like to offer you a full scholarship at our school” he says and a smile appears on my face.
I sigh, “I was worried I wasn’t good enough to impress you guys” I say and he laughs.
“No, you were definitely impressive. I’d like to see you play more before we have anything set in stone. Continue playing like today, and we’d love to have you join our team. May I have your email?”
I exchange emails with him and I smile, “So you’re saying, if I lead my team to win the tournament, my scholarship is basically guaranteed?” I ask and the man laughs.
“Yes, just continue playing like how you did today and everything will work out just fine” he says and I internally cheer. I got an offer from Michigan! I just need to make sure I play well the next few games and my scholarship will be in my grasps.
“We’ll contact you if anything changes, see you soon. Do your best” he says as he turns and leaves. When I see that he turns the corner, I let out a little happy dance. I walk back in the gym and sit down on the bench beside Coach and Jay, smiling.
Jay and Coach look at me, “You were gone for a while, you okay?” Jay asks, concern clear on his face.
I smile at them, “Better than okay, I’m frickin ecstatic! I just got a bunch of scholarship offers from Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Villanova, UCLA and… MICHIGAN!” I exclaim and Jay hugs me tightly.
“You got it” he whispers, and I giggle.
“Not yet, it isn’t confirmed. But if I play well, win my games and show what I’m actually made of, my scholarship’s basically guaranteed” I say and Jay leans in, giving me a long, sweet, gentle kiss. He pulls away and I smile at him.
“I knew you could do it, kid” Coach says and I turn to him with a huge ass smile.
“Thanks Coach, for not giving up on me and continuously pestering me to join the team” I say and he chuckles.
“I couldn’t give up on such talent” he says with a proud smile.
The whistle blows, and I look at the score. 61-56. I grimace, we won in the end, but how did they let the other team catch up so much?
I look at the team and see them all exhausted, and the other team is tired but not as drained as ours. Stamina’s a problem on this team, we’ll need to work on that.
“I’m sorry” I hear Tom say, and I look at the team seeing them all facing me.
“You gave us a huge lead, and we lost it all in the end. We managed to win but only by a smidgen” he says, with guilt lacing his tone.
I shake my head, “Stamina’s a problem on this team, so when we get back to school we’re all doing 50 laps around the gym. No complaints, yeah? If you do, then you can think about how the score was when I left, and how the score is now. They managed to get 35 points where as you guys only managed to score 9” I say disappointedly and they all look down.
“Sorry Capt” Greg says and I shake my head.
“Cheer up guys, I’ll be putting you guys in intense training starting tomorrow so you guys can’t be looking so glum now. You guys’ll hate me by the end of it” I laugh and they all smile.
“We’ll make it up to you, Capt” they all say, and I nod.
“AXEL THAT WAS AMAZING” I turn around and jump out of the way as Jack comes flying past me and landing on the ground. I sigh in relief as I managed to dodge that.
He gets up and looks at me with a pout, “You were supposed to catch me” he says and I laugh.
“And become as flat as a pancake? I’ll let you take the fall” I say and he rolls his eyes.
He chuckles, “Some friend you are” he says and I grin.
“So you are as good as Jay says” Jason says and I laugh, shrugging.
“I guess so”
“Axe here got scholarship offers from Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, Villanova, UCLA and Michigan” Jay says proudly.
The whole team as well as my friends look at me, wide eyes.
“You got 6 scholarship offers?!” they yell and I wince.
I nod and Pete, Franco, Tyler and Jack smile at me. “Guess one of us already made it, the rest of us need to work hard to get into Michigan” Tyler says and they all nod.
“It’s not confirmed yet. I just need to show what I’m really made of and lead this team to victory” I say and turn to smile at my team.
“We won’t let you down Capt” Yohan says and I laugh, nodding.
“Wait, ‘what you’re really made of’? You haven’t played your best yet?” Jason exclaims, and Coach chuckles.
“He hasn’t even shown half of his true abilities” he says and everyone -including the team- looks at me with wide eyes.
“Geez you’re exaggerating Coach” I say and he rolls his eyes.
“You still haven’t shown your farthest range shot, your amazing jump ball capabilities, your passing and I can go on” Coach says and I sigh.
“I can only do those things on a full court, and we only play on a full court if we make it to the finals” I say and the team shakes their heads.
“Not if Capt, when” Tom says and I smile, nodding.
We leave the gym and head back to school. As I said, we started the intense training the next day, working on the guy’s stamina.
I made them run 20 laps around the gym, do 100 sit-ups, 50 push-ups, 100 burpees and 50 squats. That was just the warm-up, and they were already all out of breath. Next, I had them each do 200 shots, and do 10 push ups for every shot they missed. They missed more than 100 of them, they needed a lot of work on their shooting. I can see how the other team manage to catch up so quickly, but their defence is good so that helped us win.
By the end of the week, the guys look about ready to kill me.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Vincent says with a glare and I smile innocently at him.
“Quite a lot” I say and they all narrow their eyes at me.
I laugh and look at the time. “Okay guys, practice is over. Make sure to pack up all your stuff and get a good night’s rest. Oh! Also, come support the boy’s football game tomorrow night”
Tom turns to look at me, smirking. “You just want us to support your boyfriend”
“I do, he deserves it. Although, he probably doesn’t need it” I say and all the boys laugh.
“You’re so whipped” Kyle says and I narrow my eyes at him.
“Did you say you want everyone to run another 10 laps? What a great idea Kyle!” I say and they all look at me with wide eyes.
“Monster!” William exclaims before they all sprint into the locker room. I laugh, and wait until I hear everyone leave before I begin my practice. I take off my hoodie and start running laps. After I finish, I pick up a ball and begin my shooting practice.
“You’re still here?” I hear a voice and turn around, seeing Tom.
I shrug, “Yeah, I always train after you guys’ practice” I say and Tom looks at me incredulously.
“He gives himself twice as much work as he gives you guys” Coach says, appearing from his office.
Tom’s eyes widen and he looks down, ashamed. “I had no idea.. and yet we kept complaining about how you’re working us too hard and not working hard enough yourself since you were already so good” he says and I laugh.
“I know, I heard you guys talking once in the locker room” I say and he plays with the hem of his shirt.
“I’m sorry, I had no idea you worked this hard” he says and I shrug.
“It’s fine, dude. I normally don’t train in front of others because then they’ll say that I’m already so good and that I’m outdoing myself. So, I rather train in secret. Even if people will say I’m slacking off, I’m not, so it’s not a problem” I say and Tom looks up at me.
“I really admire you. You’ve helped the team improve so much in the short time you’ve been here, and you still remain humble” he says and I chuckle.
“Now don’t go blabbering about my training regimen to the others, I don’t need them all coming in mopey and apologizing to me. I want you guys at your best, even if it means you guys hate me for my training, and think I’m a lazy butt” I say and he shakes his head.
“We could never hate you, we all really respect you. We were just really angry and tired that day, and said things we didn’t mean. That’s no excuse, but for what it’s worth, I’m really sorry” he says and I put a hand on his shoulder.
He looks up at me, “It’s fine, really. Just make sure you guys put your all in the upcoming games and all will be forgiven” I say with a smile.
Tom nods, and I wave at him as he leaves. I resume my training, and tell Coach that I’m leaving as I leave the school and see Jay waiting for me in his car.
“Hey baby, how was practice?” he says and I smile.
“Good, they’re improving really quickly. They won’t need me too much in the upcoming games, so I’ll just give my all in the semifinals and finals. Not saying I won’t be trying the next games, but I can’t play my best unless I’m on a full court” I say and Jay nods. He pulls out of the parking lot and we head home.
“You worried about your game tomorrow?” I ask and he tightens his grip on my hand.
“Of course, the game tomorrow will decide whether or not we can go to university together. I really want to spend every day with you, so I’m going to give my all tomorrow and leave no regrets” he says and I smile, kissing the back of his hand.
He’ll make it, I just know it. There’s no way that they can ignore such an amazing player like Jay. I don’t know much about football, but I just know that he’s amazing and will have no problem getting a scholarship from Michigan.
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A/N: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Phew, this was a long one.
Have a great week, and please stay safe everyone!
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