CH 3. INTER-HIGH

 As the Blazewood Phoenix were going through their tedious and intensified practice session, Alex was sitting on the bench yawning and cursing Riley in his mind, giving her weird and frustrated glances as if trying to show that he has had enough of her mischiefs. Finally breaking the silence and awkward glances, Riley spoke up,

"You know, maybe you should analyze their game a bit as they are your new teammates." After hearing this from Riley, Alex went on a rant. "OH, REALLY NOW?! BUT I THOUGHT SOMEONE SAID THAT I DIDN'T HAVE TO COME TO PRACTICE? SO WHY IN THE FUCKITY FUCK AM I HERE HUH??".

"L-Look, in my defense, I said you didn't have to practice, not that you didn't even have to show up or something like that." Riley said with an awkward look in her eyes.

As Alex was arguing with Riley, he saw Emma coming into the gym, throwing her bag on the bench and beginning to warm herself up. Alex completely fell silent as Riley continued to throw words at him but all Alex had his eyes and mind on was Emma as if he was hypnotized by her smile and body as she was running circles around the gym.

"Hey! Are you even listening idiot!?" says Riley shouting at Alex. "Shut up, I am analyzing." Said Alex with a serious look on his face, still having his eyes completely set on Emma. "THAT'S THE WRONG THING THAT YOU'RE ANALYZING DUMBASS!" Riley shouts at Alex and hits him on his head with her writing board.

As Alex was in a quarrel with Riley, Jake came up to him completely shocked at the fact of why Alex was there. "Alex? What are you doing here buddy?". Alex hadn't thought of this circumstance, about what excuse he would give to Jake for joining the Basketball team.

"Oh! Uh- Jake what's up man?" said Alex in a hesitant tone. "Yeah sup, but fancy seeing you here! Why are you here?". Alex had absolutely zero clue of what to say. His brain had a lot of stuff going on in it at that time like "Shit! What do I say… what the fuck do I say…". Alex tried to ask for help from Riley telepathically and while looking at her with a helpless face.

"Coach please help me out here! Come on!" said Alex in his mind. As Alex helplessly looked at Riley, she gave the creepiest grin known to man-kind, cementing the fact that she had no intention of helping Alex and urging him to get out of this himself.

Alex after finally losing all hope decided to just go with the flow. "Jake… I have decided to join the Basketball team…". Jake surprised at this reveal questioned further, "What? I thought you hated sports?". Alex again flustered, put his hand on Jake's shoulder and said, "Jake… the truth is… I got REALLY inspired by you. The way you put in so much work… it has inspired me to learn basketball…".

After Alex finished this sentenced, his face looked like he was going to puke at any second now. "O-Oh Alex you don't look too well… You, okay? Anyways I am glad to hear that I inspired you…". Alex covers his mouth as if he was actually going to puke and says in a muffled voice, "P-Please d-don't repeat my words…".

As their interaction ended, Alex was approached by Emma, she asked the same question to Alex. "Oh, hey Alex! Fancy seeing you here!". Alex's body posture and facial expressions took a sudden 180 degree turn as he saw Emma.

"OH, HEY EMMA! YOU KNOW HOW YOU SAID YOU NEEDED A MORAL SUPPORT GUY IN YOUR TEAM? THAT IS WHY I JOINED THE TEAM HAHA!". Alex said the whole thing with joy and a smile on his face. "How the fuck did he switch up that fast…" said Riley in her mind as Alex pulled a complete 180 while talking to Emma.

"Aww that's so sweet of you!", said Emma smiling back at Alex as she went away to complete her rounds. "She is so beautiful…" Alex says to Riley to which she replies, "Well, she is my little sister, what do you expect?" said Riley complimenting herself until Alex says, "Shut up! I am sure you're adopted." Alex gets a smack on his head from Riley for this remark.

Riley introduces Alex to the Boys and the girls' teams. "Good morning, everyone! We have a new player joining us today! This is Alex. He is just the water boy and we are taking him in to just fill the roster so don't expect him to join y'all in practice sessions."

"Now, Jace! Come forward and introduce the whole team to Alex." Jace doing as told, shakes Alex's hand and begins introducing his team members to him. "Hello Alex! I am Jace Crawford, the captain of the Blazewood Phoenix. I play the center position."

Jace guides Alex to each player of the boys' team one by one introducing them. "This is Clint, our team's Shooting Guard and the person next to him is Reggie, our Power Forward. Oliver, Small Forward. Lastly, as you may already know, Jake our Point Guard. That concludes the intro of the playing 5."

"Now moving on to the bench, this is Karim, our back-up center. And now, these remaining three are Elijah, Lucas and James." Jace concluded the introduction. Alex a bit puzzled asked Jace, "I thought there should be Twelve players in the roster but… including me there are only Ten?"

Jace avoids Alex's eyes and then with a hesitant smile says, "Let's just say… our team is not very popular in the school haha…". Alex completely understood what Jace meant by his words and decided to not question him more on this topic.

The practice session begins, and Alex watches from the sidelines. Despite himself, he starts analyzing the players' techniques and strategies. He notices small mistakes—Jake's poor footwork, Emma's hesitation during fast breaks, and Jace's tendency to overcommit on defense.

"Man, this team's a mess…" Alex thinks, though there's a strange sense of nostalgia in his observations. However, there was one thing that Alex really liked about this team, their work-ethic and passion for the game. Despite the world being against them, they practiced and practiced without a single complaint.

Four days passed by since Alex had joined the team. Alex was kidnapped by Riley each day to watch the practice sessions. Alex didn't want to admit it, but he was really impressed by the team's improvements in such short amount of time and their self-assessment. Jake had made his footwork better without anyone ever telling him about it, Jace also worked on his defense quite a bit and Emma was practically a genius, the ace of her team.

"Well, they aren't half bad…" said Alex in his mind as the Inter-High edged closer and closer. Alex was preparing to go home as he heard the noise of squeaking of shoes and dribbling of a basketball.

"Which crazy bastard is practicing at this hour?" Alex thought to himself as he went on to check. It was Emma, she was practicing her free throws alone in the whole gym. "Emma, don't you think you should go home now? It's quite late…".

"Oh, Alex! Perfect timing! Can you rebound for me a bit while I work on my shooting?" Emma asks Alex with joy as she wanted help. "Uh sure I guess…". As Alex stood by the ring rebounding and throwing the ball to Emma while she swished almost all of her shot attempts, he complimented Emma.

"Emma, your shooting action and motion is so fluid, it's beautiful to say the least…" Emma chuckled while continuing to shoot. "Why thank you Alex! Your passes are on point too… you're passing the ball to me right on the seams which is enhancing my shot… have you by any chance… played before…?".

"Obviously not, those were just flukes I guess!" says Alex as he intentionally makes a sloppy pass. "Haha, whatever it may be, thank you for doing this for me Alex…". Alex keeps rebounding for her while also asking her questions about her life. Eventually Alex asks a question which ruins the fun environment they were in.

"So, what about your parents? They must be really proud of you, seeing how talented you are huh?". Alex passes the ball to her while asking this question. Emma catches the ball but stops shooting and looks saddened, the atmosphere completely changing as Emma's face drops down, the ball still in her hand.

"What… happened? Did I say something wrong…? I-I am sorry Emma… you don't have to answer it..." says Alex with a look of regret on his face. "No… It's okay, I'll answer it." Says Emma as she begins to explain the situation of her house.

"My sister, Riley was a WNBA prospect, did you know that?" Alex after hearing this fell silent as if cat got his tongue, then suddenly exclaimed, "WHAT?". Emma smiled a bit seeing Alex's reaction, sadness still fawning over her face as she continued, "My parents really supported Riley in her time as a player because… well… she was what you call a genius in the sport. However, despite her talents and my parents' endless support, she didn't make it to the WNBA.".

Alex didn't know how to react, the Riley he messed around with and the Riley who always laughed and brought positivity had suffered so much in her life… he had absolutely no idea about it. Emma continued, "My parents, especially my dad, started to think that there was no scope in sports after that and he hates the fact that I play this sport. H-He says… if Riley wasn't able to do it then how can a talentless brat like me… ever dream of achieving something in basketball…"

"I-I am… so sorry to hear that Emma…" Alex replied sympathetically looking down trying to process, how much she had to go through, always being compared to her sibling. Emma took a deep breath and replied, "It's okay Alex… because I have decided that I'll prove myself to my father… I'll do whatever it takes." Riley throws up her final shot, completely nailing it.

"Let's go Alex! Sorry I didn't want to ruin the mood haha!' said Emma as she forced a smile on her face. "N-N-No it's completely fine don't worry about it, remember… I am your number one supporter so don't forget about me once you become famous, okay?" said Alex in a playful and reassuring tone. "Thank you, Alex, for everything…".

As they went their separate ways, Alex thought to himself, "Emma is really trying hard… I wish the best for her… I had a similar dream…".

A day before the Inter-High, Alex comes a bit too early, only one person in the gym, Jake, chucking up shots from half court, far from counting them as he air balls half of them or throws them too far back. "Jake? The hell are you doing throwing up shots from half-court?" Jake stops as he hears Alex, he waves at him with a smile and says, "I've heard people say that this was the first shot the Reaper would take in every game of his… and he counted all of them, it was like a ritual for him."

Alex, hearing that, gets a bit tense but asks, "Why do you have to do the same thing though? Why not do something different?". Jake laughs at Alex's question and says, "Oh come on! What fun is it when you don't try to copy your idol?".

Alex gets a bit flustered and a hint of madness on his face, he speaks, "Why do you idolize him even? Do you even know what kind of a person he was? What if- What if he was a really terrible person? A terrible, selfish, egotistical bastard?". Jake was surprised seeing Alex snap, he said calmly,

"Dude what happened? You speak as if you personally knew him…" Hearing this, Alex calms himself down and says, "N-No I am just… putting forward a possibility." Jake, after listening to Alex remarks, "You're acting weird dude… get a hold of yourself." Alex realizes how dumb he was acting and apologizes to Jake and sits on the bench sipping water from his bottle.

As Alex was watching Jake practice, he was wondering why no one else had shown up as it was already way past the time. Alex checked his phone just to stumble upon a text message dropped on the official group chat of the Blazewood Phoenix by Riley which stated, "No practice today, rest up as tomorrow is the Inter-High ;) ". Seeing the message, Alex was frustrated,

"THE ONE TIME I DECIDE TO SHOW UP ON PRACTICE ON MY OWN, SHE GIVES THEM A FUCKING OFF DAY!" Alex shows Jake the text message and both prepare to leave.

Finally, the day of the Inter-High clawed its way to Alex. He woke up, went through his usual morning routine and joined Lily for breakfast. "So, how does it feel going to a tournament after such a long time?" asks Lily to which Alex replies making an embarrassed face, "Oh hell no! I just want to be done with this immediately! I am not going to play anyway!"

"Just make sure you enjoy yourself… and keep supporting your friends." Said Lily while smiling and patting Alex's head. "Yeah yeah sure, living friendship band…". Lily playfully hits Alex on his arm as he prepares to leave.

"Bye Lily! I'll miss you!" Alex says his goodbye to Lily as she replies, "Bye honey! Take care of yourself out there!".

Alex runs to school and meets up with the team. "Alex you're late!" says Riley with an angry look on her face. "Well, you all haven't left yet, right? That means I am right on time." Replies Alex.

"Everyone! Come here and take your jerseys!" shouts Emma to which everyone responds and approaches her with excitement except for Alex as he is quite hesitant to look at his name imprinted on a basketball jersey again.

As Alex was standing with a look of fear on his face, his head down in silence, he feels someone hand him a piece of cloth wrapped in a plastic bag which happened to be his jersey. It was Riley, the person who handed him his jersey.

"Look, whatever happened in the past, I don't care, but if you're a part of my team, I would hate it if you're sad or scared as it would affect the team morale, cheer up!" Riley says to Alex with a smile on her face. Alex remembered about everything that Emma told him about Riley and couldn't help but respect her.

"Thank you… coach." Riley gets surprised listening to Alex and says, "Oh my? Is that the great Alex giving me respect?" Alex gets embarrassed and hides his face. He builds the courage to finally open his jersey and see it, "CARTER" printed on the back and his number, 09. As he saw them, he was hit by a hard sense of nostalgia.

"Alright everyone let's go, we are leaving or we will miss the train." Riley commands everyone to move as the boys and the girls both excitedly follow her.

The Inter-High was held in Riverstone, Alex's hometown where he became a legend. Alex was a bit worried but he told himself that it's been years so no one would remember him most probably.

As the teams reach Riverstone, Alex enjoys the scenery of his previous town. As they move to the host school, Riverstone High, they could see the fancy arrangements for the tournament, everything handled by care and vivid decorations could be seen.

"Get ready everyone! The opening ceremony is going to start in 15 minutes." Riley informed her team. Everyone started to wear their jerseys all excited about the tournament as they made their way out to the Basketball court where the matches would take place.

As the opening ceremony starts, all the players get bored by all the speeches and motivational talks as every player in that tournament was itching to play and compete, except one, of course.

After a long and tiring opening ceremony, the head of the Basketball federation of the state uttered the words that every hooper there in that tournament was dying to hear, except one, of course.

"I HEREBY DECLARE THE INTER-HIGH TOURNAMENT… OPEN!"

TO BE CONTINUED….

NEXT CHAPTER – CH 4. RETURN.