Twenty-Six

Big day tomorrow.

When I arrived at the school, everyone is feeling excited. I noticed their faces wearing wide smiles, they're chatting everywhere, like literally everywhere. If you look at every corner, you'll see groups of friends that are happily talking.

Walking in the hallway while looking at everyone's faces, I noticed that the door to our classroom was left open. I got confused so I slowly walked into it and opened the door open.

My eyes widened as I see numerous people in the room.

In the state of shock, I walked and looked around like a lost boy in a forest. The room was filled by students. No teachers, just students. And to top that, it is all joined by different year students, like freshmen, sophomores, and juniors.

I threw my bag to my seat and turned around to look at every one. Still confused, I immediately saw Irish so I went to talk to her.

"Hey, Irish!" I called out. The volume amount caused by the chattering of students increased and filtered my voice. So, I had to call her again. "Irish!" I called for the second time. Thank God she heard my voice and noticed me.

She looked and waited for me as I walk through the crowd. "Hey." I grunted.

"Hey." she greeted back.

"What's with this crowd?" I asked. "Why are there so many people in our class?" I asked again.

She shrugged and glanced at the chattering students. "I don't even know. It's like the school end party is four months early." she joked.

"I wonder what's going on." I muttered, looking at the chattering students.

Just a second later, another group of students entered our room. This time, it is the basketball team, the whole team.

"What's up everyone!" Roller shouted and all of the students cheered. The captain pulled a seat and placed it in the front. He stepped on it and glanced at every single person in this room.

"Tomorrow is the day where we, the athletes, are going to compete with high-level varsities." he started, saying every single word with pure confidence. "And today I want this moment to be ours. We promise to give our best and fight for our school. We will make history by being the first batch of athletes that will compete against powerhouse schools!"

"Yeah!" someone from the crowd shouted. The others murmured yeses.

"May you wish us luck and fight by our side!" Roller said and everyone cheered again along with their hands clapping.

I smiled and can't help myself but join the others on clapping. Roller is a very confident and incisive person. He never leaves any man behind. He insists to have fairness for the team.

With that kind of personality, no wonder he is the captain of the team.

Still clapping and smiling, Roller's eyes noticed me. He immediately shushed everyone and called me. "Oh, wait!" he said. "Asher, come here!" he offered. Some students have known me so I can see their eyes looking at me.

Roller waved his hand, delivering a signal to me to come to the front. I had no choice but to take a step and walk to the front. He pulled another chair and made me step on it.

"Everyone.." he called the students' attention. "This is our one and only manager. Asher Elcarpe!" he shouted again.

The students cheered and clapped again. I felt nervous and shy at the same time. I'm not used to standing and facing a lot of people. My confidence is below the sea level so it is new to me to had this kind of moment.

Roller shushed the crowd. "He is just like us. His age is similar to ours, but he managed to lead and take care of the team. We cannot wish for more. We wouldn't be here without him."

The crowd came on clapping and cheering again. They started chanting my name as Roller put his hand on my shoulder and shook me. I smiled and gained this moment. I felt confident in the meantime.

The whole gathering ended and we also ended up cleaning all the mess.

Picking scattered cups from the floor, my eyes noticed a familiar wristband. I picked it up and stared at it for a couple of minutes. It is a black rubber wristband that has a carved name on it.

I looked closely to have a better look at the carved name. I twisted the wristband and touched the carved name. I then saw it clearly. The letters were spelled as 'Wolves'.

I got confused so I stood up and looked at everybody that is also busy at cleaning.I asked Justin first since he is the closest person from my distance.

"Justin," I called him. "Is this yours?" I asked and showed him the wristband. He squinted his eyes and took the wristband. He looked around it, examining it.

Then he gave me the wristband and shook his head. "Nah." he denied. I nodded and looked for another person to ask.

I almost asked everyone, including the girls, but none of them owns the wristband. I scratched my head as my frustration started rising. There are various students here earlier and don't expect me to ask them one by one or create a petition to find the person who owns this wristband.

I put the wristband inside my pocket and decided to deal with it later. I still need to clean this room.

Since tomorrow is the big day, Mr. Led gathered all of the athletes to have a meeting. The teams met at the quadrangle along with their respective coaches.

Each team lined up and waited for Mr. Led as he walks to the front and gets everyone's attention. He stood up in front of the teams and looked at them proudly.

"Tomorrow is the day." Mr. Led started. "I am truly proud of all of you. Battling against powerhouse schools is literally the bravest thing this school has ever done. And I will not stop complimenting each of you, for your confidence, for your fighting spirit, and for your willingness."

As he speaks to the crowd, my lips started smiling. Being alive and being able to witness this kind of moment made me feel so blessed. I would spend every single minute at this scenery and would never get tired of hearing Mr. Led's words for motivation.

He never fails to amaze and motivate everyone.

"Good luck and let us all fight fair!" Mr. Led's speech ended.

All of us clapped while some athletes jumped because of excitement. We all felt proud and happy at this moment.

After the gathering, Mr. Eric assigned our team to have a personal meeting. He explained some things that only basketball players would understand. He also reminded us about the schedule for tomorrow.

The match will be held at our school, which is why the faculty has gone busy today. I saw them earlier roaming around the school back and forth.

The meeting ended because the coaches from other schools have arrived.

Before leaving the place where the meeting was held, I noticed something peeking from Roller's jacket sleeve. I walked close enough to him and noticed that it is a black rubber wristband. Remembering what I saw earlier, I immediately stopped him.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" I muttered. I caught everyone's attention. "Roller, can you lift up your sleeve?" I pointed at his jacket sleeve. Roller was confused but did what I asked.

He lifted his sleeve and revealed the black rubber wristband. And just exactly what I thought, it is the same wristband that I found earlier. I immediately patted my pocket and felt the wristband.

I reached it and put it out to show it to everyone. "Then whose wristband is this?" I confusingly asked.

I saw everyone looking at me as their faces smile and they all started chuckling. "Uh, I found this in our room while I was cleaning and I asked my classmates, but none of them owns this." I explained. They didn't respond and just continued chuckling.

I pursed my lips giving them a boring look. Roller stopped laughing. He made a fist and lifted it like he was promoting a brand of watch. I shook my head, indicating a sign that I don't get any single idea of what he's talking about.

"Look at everyone," he ordered. I squinted my eyes and turned my head to look at the team. They all did the same as Roller. They showed me their wristbands and all of them have the exact same design.

"It's for you, Asher." Roller blurted. I looked at him with mouth parted open. "You are a part of the pack." he said and smiled at me.

Astonished, I glanced my eyes at the wristband and stared at it while caressing the carved name. "A pack." I muttered. "Like a pack of wolves?" I looked up to Roller.

He nodded at me while still smiling. "Yes, like a pack of wolves and as the alpha of the pack, I give you that as a gift that symbolizes our team. I'm sorry you found it lying around somewhere, I didn't notice that I've dropped it. I was just about to give it to you later." he added.

"But, you're not real-life werewolves, right? This is just like a symbol, like inspired or reference or anything?" I asked continuously. All of them laughed at my question. It was a joke, yes.

I chuckled softly and looked at everyone on the team. "Thank you." I said while looking at each of them. "It is really an honor to be a part of this team." I added, proudly.

"The honor's all ours." Jason charged in.

I put on the wristband and raised my fist. "For the pack, I guess." I muttered, smiling.

Everyone raised their fists, "For the pack!" they all shouted as a response. We all chuckled happily.

"Alright, we gotta stop now because I am starting to feel like we really are some shapeshifting assholes." Jared joked. The team laughed then teased each other.

Archer and I decided to go home since we have an early schedule for tomorrow. On our way to the gate, I realized that I left my earphones in the room. I told Archer to wait for me as I rush back to the building.

Thankfully, no one had the interest to snatch or take my earphones as I found it lying on the floor under my table.

I ran back to the gate while putting the earphones in my pocket, my right side triggered pain. I forgot that I still have this issue. Though for the past few months it triggers for some time.

Then I suddenly bumped into an unfamiliar face. The man was carrying folders that contain files, obviously. I helped him pick up the scattered papers and apologize redundantly.

"I'm really sorry. I am not looking at my way because I'm just rushing back to go home." I talked continuously.

"It's fine, it's fine." he understood. I forced myself to smile at him and was about to run away when he noticed something on my wrist.

"Nice wristband." he pointed. I glanced at my wristband and looked back at him. "Yeah, um, it's from my team." I blurted.

"Team?" he repeated, curiously.

"Yes. Uh, basketball team."

"You play basketball?"

"Uh, no actually, I am just-"

I was cut when I heard Archer calling me while waving his hand. I noticed him and greeted the man goodbye then quickly ran to Archer. When I got to him, I saw him staring at the man.

"Isn't that the coach of Brixton Course?" he asked, referring to the man that I bumped into. I also looked at the man, "How do you know?" I asked.

"You stupidass motherfucker, look at his back." Archer annoyingly exclaimed. I did what Archer said and looked at the man's back. There, I saw a medium printed logo on the back of his shirt.

"Oh." I only said. Archer rolled his eyes. I turned around to face him.

"What did you two talk about?" he asked.

I shook my head, "Nothing. I just bumped into him." I answered. He slowly nodded while looking at me. "Alright, let's go home." I said and tapped his shoulders.

We both walked to the gate while I turn my head to have a final look at the man.