Chapter 10 - Lone Stars Part.2

The venue fills up, the booths are open up, and the student section is seeming livelier and livelier here in the Arlington Sports Complex. Meanwhile, our fellow kings and queens of the academy enter into a modern-style locker room.

The Locker Room is matched tightly with cupboards, safes to keep valuables in, and even a complementary assortment of goodies for each other. There's even sleep pods, miniature TVs, and even a door that leads to a pool of all things. Clearly, even being a part of this sporting event is special in its own right.

Teddy Walker looks for his locker and is surprised to see he's at the very back. Just like he wanted to be. In his locker is his equipment, gear, and finally his jersey and shorts. On the light brown and golden jersey is inscribed his name in the back along with the number of his choosing, 13.

Taigen looks at his jersey with interest.

"...Thirteen, huh? Isn't that like an unlucky number?"

"Heh, who are you to judge, number zero? You already have your game clothes on, it seems you're even more ready than me."

Suddenly, Jonathan enters the corner. Taigen backs away with a hint of disgust. He holds out his hands for a fist bump with Teddy obliges but Taigen refuses to return back. Taigen then walks away.

"Seems it's gonna be hard to get a conversation around him." Jonathan says.

"It's cool, he's gonna have to follow your instructions. You're the team captain. You focus on you."

"You're not nervous about this?"

"No more than you are." Teddy notices Jon's legs wobbling a little. "Get those jitters out before the game. Imma head to the bathroom."

"Sure thing."

Teddy heads out of the locker room onto the team tunnels to find the nearest restroom. On the way, he comes across two individuals standing next to each other. One of them is a young lady, perhaps a high school student, wearing slim jeans with a shirt and a suit jacket. She is backing up against the other person who is wearing a red dodgeball jersey with white strips. It seems he's a player on the Carter High team. He approaches her with a hint of flirtness in his body language while she has her arms crossed, not having any of his advances.

"C'mon girl! I'm just saying you're meeting a future National Dodgeball League star in the making!" The player says."

"Don't c'mon me, scrub! The way you play is so amateurish, you're on the bench, don't you think too highly of yourself?" The girl retorts back.

The player is taken aback from her comment. He cocks his hand backwards, trying to strike the lady. Fortunately for her, Teddy grabs his arm before he could even attempt the slap. The player looks back in shock.

"Hey man, I know fair equality and all that, but can you not?" Without warning, Teddy sweeps his feet off the ground and face slams him. The player grunts in pain. "Oh boy, maybe I've learned how to stop using too much grip strength."

He looks back at her, asking if she's okay. She nods back in agreement.

"Enough." A voice in the tunnel shouts out. A shadow enfluges the floor as it inches closer and closer to the three.

"Team Captain!" the player shouts to which Teddy immediates sucker-punches him while he is already on the ground.

"Heh, so you're the Thomas Mallory I've heard so much about."

The mullet does not lie and as its blonde color enraps in a certain aura. Thomas Mallory commands a level of respect like Raymond but this is different, he's more of the real deal.

"Glad to see my name even reaches the bottom of the totem pole." Mallory says in a condescending way.

"I've been wanting to meet you for quite some time ya know? And now that I've seen ya, I'm more than ready to tear you up."

"You? A mere bench player?"

"Yep."

Thomas then gives a serious face. "You're serious?"

"And if I wasn't?"

"I have been waiting for my entire high school career for this moment. The day I finally asunder the entire King's Academy foundation."

Are all top players like this or is this just high school theratics is what was going through Teddy's mind.

Meanwhile, the girl Teddy had saved. looks in awe of this spectacle.

"Well Mallory, let's just say that's not gonna happen."

"Ha! You are so funny, bench boy. You guys have been pulling the same moves each year, it's so predictable."

"You haven't met me yet and I'm far from what people call predictable. I promise, you by the end of this, you'll remember my name. Teddy Walker."

"No need. C'mon Jeremy, you're needed for the pep talk."

Suddenly, the player who had been laying down on the ground from Teddy's onslaught get back up. "How am I gonna explain this to Coach?"

"We won't. There's no need. We'll just say you tripped."

The two left for their locker room. Teddy sighs as he had gotten into a talk fest with Thomas Mallory and still doesn't know where the restroom is.

"That was weird. Anyway, thanks for the intervention. Even though I totally would have handled it on my own, much appreciation for the assistance." The girl states.

"Wow, your thank you sucks."

"Forget about it. I'm Paige Hall, youth sports journalist for VYPE U in Texas, I'm a high schooler like you. I'm here to get any scoop info for the Lone Star Classic."

"You're gonna have to talk to my team captain about that. Sorry." She grabs onto his arm as he is about to leave. He turns around.

"Please, information is very limited around these times. I need something different from the papers."

"Tell me where the nearest restroom is and I'll help you with this. But it'll be with my Team Captain, I can't even info like that anyway without knowing." Her eyes that had looked like they were about to cry quickly dried up and started beaming.

"Thank you so much!" She starts hugging him aggressively and quickly grabs his arm to take him to the closest restroom, and minutes pass as he brings Jonathan together for an interview. We jumpcut to the two of them in the locker room, burned out from the convo. Veronica in her casual attire, walks up to the two in bewilderment.

"What's up with you two?"

"Paige Hall, I don't think I'll ever forget a weirdo like her." Jonathan weakly exclaimed.

"Same here, pal. Why are you in your casual attire, V? We are about to enter the game soon."

"Dude remember, I'm in the practice squad. I don't get to play, me and Marcus are up in a VIP booth with the other squad members."

"Oh...yeahhh." Teddy exclaimed. She sighs at the current state of the two.

It's now 5 minutes till gametime and Mr. Juggernaut enters the locker room. Everyone's eyes quickly meet his enormous structure and they quickly set into game position. The minutes of relaxation to calm down before the game have ended. Fear sets in some as the Academy expects them to beat Carter High no problem. Expectations are a game changer for some. It allows people to reach heights they would have never thought of. For others, it is a reminder of where they can never reach and how they feel burdened by it. That is not Coach Juggernaut's thought process however. It's success or failure and is what allows him to push students to unleash a drive they never thought they have. For over a decade. He takes a deep breath.

"Listen up guys and gals. Expectations are a great thing for some people. It sets the bar and then you don't stop even while you surpass it. Some can't because they are looking at the lofty expectations others place on us. Think deep about what Carter High and what their program wants, they want to finally succeed against us after a long time of losing. That's what they want, not what others want, what they want. Most people expect them to lose and us to win. It's not just about that. It's what you want. Of course, I want us to win like we always have. NOW ARE WE READY TO DO WHAT WE NEED TO DO?"

"SIR YES SIR!" The room erupts in cheers, that seemed to get everyone's blood flowing.

Teddy looks with a smile on his face. "Truly the greatest coach of our time."

The stadium crowd is getting louder as the announcer starts announcing the teams.

"Introducing in the left corner, with a spanning history of over 100 years of the game, The King of the Texas, THE KING'S ACADEMY MONARCHS!!!!!"

The cheer reaches a new decibel unit we can't ever describe truly. The feeling of this game is molded on these players. They wear the game on their sleeves and march onto the court with the ambition of winning.

It's showtime.