Chapter 14 - Family Ties

And so the season continues on as the King's Academy Monarchs continue their dominance over their opponents. Teddy Walker, able to prove his ability on the court and his chemistry with the starting five, is now the top rated bench player on the squad and is giving the most minutes on the bench. Multiple Colleges and Universities are starting to pay attention to the kid from Maine. He's on everyone's radar. Especially a certain teenage reporter girl.

As Teddy drops his equipment from his after school practice, he locks the door behind and aggressively throws the phone on the living room couch. The phone then suddenly starts buzzing off. The phone displays that an unknown number is calling him, he then picks it up and answers the call.

"Hello?"

"Is this Teddy Walker?"

"No, this is Patrick." He hangs up. He gives a slight smile at the little inside joke in his mind. Immediately after hanging up however, the phone erupts again with the same number that called him before. Before he can say anything, the caller erupts in anger.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I CALL YOU ALL THE WAY FROM EL PASO AND THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT ME?"

Teddy starts panicking over her voice, it's all too familiar. "Wait, I recognize you! You're the reporter! Paige, I believe?"

"Well at least you remember that, so I CAN forgive you….for now. I came to ask you a few questions for our magazine."

"If you want that, come pester my team captain. I just came out from practice, I'm really not in the mood."

"Wait….are you not aware?"

Teddy raises a brow, "Aware of what, how awesome I am?"

"No, about how you're in the talk of the Duke of The Court race?"

"What the heck is a Duke of The Court?" There's a new term Teddy's never heard of.

"The best 6th Man or top bench player on a roster in the nation. It's really simple, you lead in minutes on your team's bench so you stand out. There's also Viscount of The Court and Baron of the-"

Teddy stops her right there. "Okay, okay, I get it. That's cool and all but that is far from my goal. My plan is to become King of The Court and I don't care if it takes another year, college, or even in the pros to make that a reality. It's gonna happen."

"So confident, Teddy. Well that's what I find interesting about ya."

"I guess." Paige continues her barrage of questions until…

"Okay, so this one might hit a nerve."

Like you haven't already is what Teddy thought. "What?"

"Are you aware of Summer Walker?" Teddy's eyes widened a little. "She has been making her rounds in middle school. In the 6th Grade, already breaking multiple records in California. And I'm wondering if she happened to be-"

"Related to me?" There's a brief pause.

"I'm sorry Teddy if you're not comfortable with this. I was just wondering. Anyway, thanks for answering all my questions-"

"No. I'll tell you, Summer and I are cousins. It's probably gonna become more apparent the more she and I succeed. Her Dad is my uncle but when both my parents died, I went to my grandparents in Maine. My uncle has a competitive drive that I think she inherited. Every time we met, she beat me up. Even though she seems prim and lady-like, she's probably more chaotic than me." Teddy laughs.

"Hey Teddy, thanks for telling me. You didn't have to."

"I wanted to. It was gonna come out anyway but I don't think now is a good time."

"You can trust me. That info is all to myself. Anyway, have a great rest of the day!"

You too. Paige hangs up. With that, Teddy heads to the shower quickly.

Seems like ties are never forgotten.