Twenty-Seven

Archer

It's the day! Today is the fucking day that I'm gonna go to the school and kick some serious ass motherfuckers.

I woke up early today because of the said schedule. We need to be at school at exactly 6:00 in the morning. As I scratch my grumpy eyes, I was facing Asher's bed and saw him still sleeping.

I looked at the clock and it is already 5:28 a.m. yet this bastard is still asleep.

I stood up and went to his bed. Annoyed, I slapped his sleeping face once. He quickly reacted and jumped because of shock. He glared at me like he is about to kill me.

"What the bloody shit is your problem?"he exclaimed, glaring at me.

"Get your ass up, manager-lover boy." I said and walked away from him.

"You know If one day I die, you are probably the cause of my death." I heard him muttered. I raised my middle finger at him while laughing and went to the bathroom.

We left the house at exactly 5:45 a.m.

Stepping outside the house, the cold dusty air hit our faces. It made our eyes squint and cover it with our hands. "What's with the weather?" I asked, covering my squinting eyes.

Asher shrugged and locked the door. We walked through the street while Asher reads something on a folder. I peeked at it, but the cover of the folder slightly blocks the paper.

"What is it?" I asked him. He continues reading the paper.

"It's the schedule for today, along with the opponents of each team." he answered. I nodded and took a deep breath.

He seemed to notice the way how I reacted, I felt his glance by my side, "You alright?" he asked. I nodded and let out a loud breath.

"Yeah, man. It's just...I am really excited about today, but nervousness is killing me." I stated. He closed the folder and put it in his bag.

"You're nervous?" he unbelievably asked.

I nodded again. "Why? Is it a problem?" I asked back.

"No." he shook his head. "I just never saw you nervous about something so, It is new to me seeing you like that." he answered, grinning. I looked at him with disbelief and chuckled.

"Well, it seems that you are seeing the other side of me." I also grinned.

"Is it a good sign or a bad sign?"

I shrugged and smiled. We proceeded on walking, I looked at my phone to check the time. 5:50 a.m. on the clock. We still have ten minutes to arrive at the school.

We passed a convenience store, but Asher needs his morning coffee so we went back to buy some. He bought a large coffee and a croissant. This guy really is a morning person, he knows what to eat and what to drink. I just bought a donut because it is tasty and enough for me.

The school was full of students. And by that, I meant other students. Like students from different schools wearing different kind of uniforms with banners and cheering squads, I think.

"Woah." I muttered as well as Asher. We are both astonished by the scenery that we are currently witnessing. There are so many students.

We both started walking slowly like we are at the mall. Looking around and smiling while walking.

We didn't notice the time. It's already 6:00 a.m. and we are still here near the front gate. So, we both rushed our butts out and ran directly to our meeting room, where Asher was recruited.

Busting in the room, the whole team looked at us. "Are we..." I was about to ask when Mr. Eric stood up because he was leaning on a desk.

"Nope, just in time." he responded.

I chuckled and went to grab a seat. "Thank God." I said then sat behind Jason.

"Wait, you use that word now?" Jason turned and looked at me.

I glared at him, "Fuck off."

"Language, Archer." Mr. Eric warned. He then told us that the first match will start at exactly 10:00 a.m., Asher was also called at the front. He explained the rules and regulations one by one like a teacher. He also added some tips for us to use during the match.

The meeting lasted for just 30 minutes and we went to our classrooms.

It's not a normal day today, I mean it is normal but we have no lessons for today because the whole school will be watching the match.

Since I don't have any other things to do, I went out of the classroom and ran to the covered court where we train. The school will be using a different court for the match. We actually have 3 basketball courts here.

I grabbed the ball trolley that is beside the bench where Asher and his weird-ass best friend sit.

I then took one ball and started dribbling it until I got to the three-point spot and shoot the ball. And of course, it went in. I did that for a couple of times until I was bothered when someone called out.

"Hello?" It was a girl's voice and I'm pretty sure I've heard that voice before. So, I turned around to see who it is that just busted in and I was right by the familiar voice.

It was the Candice girl.

She's holding a folder and is looking around like a lost kitty. "Hey." I waved my hand on her. She was a bit surprised. I ran towards her and greeted her again.

"What can I do for you?" I said, politely and smiling.

"I was looking for the basketball team and I saw this court open so I thought maybe you guys are here, but it seems that it is only you." she explained then handed me the folder.

"What's this?" I asked without opening the folder.

"It's for today's schedule. All the matches along with the opponents are included there." she answered.

Today's schedule? But, Asher just had one and he was looking at it while we were walking.

"Uh, okay. I'll give this to Mr. Eric." I responded. She nodded and turned around to exit the court. I stopped her before she could completely leave.

"Candice, right?" I blurted. She turned around to look at me. "Yeah." she answered shortly.

I nodded slowly, "Just making sure." I said and smiled. She smiled back and turned around again to completely leave the court.

I went inside and sat on a bench then opened the folder that Candice gave. I scanned and read the paper and yes, it is the schedule for today with a signature from the principal.

There I wondered that if this is the legitimate schedule for today, then what was Asher reading back this morning?

I put that thought aside for now. I closed the folder and went out of the court to go to Mr. Eric and give him this folder.

I spent my free time sleeping in the classroom since we came to this school so fucking early. The match starts at 10 o'clock and it is currently 9:30. I got up from my sleeping position and brushed my jacket with my hands.

The classroom was already empty. I was left alone without any reminders.

Great, they didn't even bother waking me up and tell me that there are only 30 minutes 'til the match starts. Fucking useless classmates.

I first saw Roller when I got out of the classroom. He was looking around but also in a hurry.

"Cap." I called him. He immediately looked at me and ran.

"There you are. I've been looking for you for the last 10 minutes." he said, breathing heavily like he was just done running.

"I'm sorry. I was asleep." I apologized.

He shook his head and patted my shoulders. "No sweat. Let's go. The match is about to start." he said then we both ran to go to the court.

I entered the venue and I'm pretty sure I felt my jaw dropping.

The entire court, or stadium actually, was filled by hundreds of school students and athletes and also cheering squads with their own banners, flags, logos, and more.

Different schools from different sections of the stadium were cheering as loud as they can. The drum rolls and the beats coming from their squad, filling the stadium with the presence of pressure and excitement.

I can't help myself but smile and feel this moment. It is really amazing!

Roller and I went to the team. We stood up and formed a line. The event started as the speaker welcomes all of the athletes with a remarkable speech. They also introduced each school and each team.

Then the match started.

Surprisingly, we are the last team that will fight against the powerhouse school that is mentioned back then. The Brixton Course Academy. The second powerful school in our town. See? A simple powerhouse school is not enough to determine their academy.

The first five were called and I am not included. Mr. Eric said that he'll be putting me at the court for the second quarter.

The game started. The first few points were gained by us. The good atmosphere is rising and all of the students from our school are cheering loudly.

Every point they achieve, I'm jumping and cheering at the bench like a happy bastard.

6 minutes have passed and we're still on the lead. I never knew we could keep up with that team's skills. They're good, like really good. The first five actually wasn't replaced because they can keep up the good work.

The first quarter was finished and we're still on the lead. 42-39 was shown at the scoreboard. And yes we are at the lead. Sorry, I keep repeating, but we are on the lead.

"Good work on there." I complimented them.

They were chugging the water bottles that Mr. Eric provided earlier. "Yeah, you should too." Jared said after drinking.

Jason charged in and said that he would like to take a rest. They were working their muscles and feet for the whole ten-minutes, of course there are time outs but that's not enough.

"I'll take his spot." I confidently said because Mr. Eric was looking for a substitute. Mr. Eric smiled and agreed.

"Guys, where's Asher?" Cap broke the silence. We all didn't respond and just looked at each other, then Mr. Eric spoke. "I told him to buy some more water." he said.

"For ten minutes?" I asked.

Mr. Eric shrugged, "Maybe he bought somewhere far, I don't know. But, I'm sure he'll be here." he stated and smiled.

"I hope so." Cap said. We all looked at him. "I'm really looking forward to him to watch this match." he said and I can see the worrying by the tone of his voice.

The second quarter started.

We were doing good for the first 3 minutes, then problems have occurred. Jared injured himself by landing on the wrong way. His foot was sprained and he wasn't able to walk.

He needed to go to the clinic and be out of the game. Luckily, we have a third-year substitute. Luke, one of my classmates, the most competitive guy on our team.

We kept up with the score for the next following minutes. Luke has been scoring a lot of points from the three-point zone, I was good at passing the ball to my teammate, then Cap was great at the defense. I've watched a lot of Kuroko's Basketball and I honestly adapted some of the protagonist's skills.

The good score has been keeping up until the fourth quarter, the last one.

I looked at the scoreboard and saw our score. 105-117. We are 12 scores behind. I then looked at the remaining time. Only 1 minute left.

The good atmosphere was filled with tension. I can't hear anything but my hard breathing. Looking directly at my opponent's eyes, focused on his next move. He ran pass through without me noticing that he has the ball and he passed it to his teammate.

They scored.

105-119.

Tension keeps on spreading and increasing. I can feel my whole body trembling. I was hardly breathing and my mind was spacing out.

I looked at the remaining time again. 30 seconds left. I gave it my all. All of my remaining strength, remaining agility, remaining speed, remaining reflexes, all of it.

I took the last shot and it went in.

107-119.

The match ended, we lost. We were all down and not gonna lie, disappointed. Mr. Eric tried cheering us up and was giving as bits of advice. I'm sad for the team. Especially, for Cap and his classmates. This is their last year, but they didn't get the chance to at least win a single match.

We thanked all of the students that supported us by watching the match then we all went home.

I was surprised when I saw Asher's mom in the kitchen. "Good evening, Mrs. Elcarpe." I approached her. She immediately turned around to face me and smiled.

"Good evening, how's the match?" she questioned.

I pursed my lips disapprovingly and shook my head. "Maybe this year is not meant for us." I answered.

She gave me a soft smile. "I'm sure there is a reason why fate didn't give you this opportunity for this time." she said. I nodded and forced myself to smile.

I bid my goodbye to her and went to Asher's bedroom.

I opened the door and saw no one in the room. Confused, I checked the doorstep if there are shoes left but I saw nothing. I let out a sigh and went inside the room.

Before going to reat, I took a quick shower.

I then laid down to the couch where I sleep and stared at the ceiling for a couple of minutes. I'm really tired today to think about things. I decided to go to sleep, so I closed my eyes.

Then I heard the door opened.