Chapter 12: Going to my Favorite Park I
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I duck as I exit the classroom. The doorways at Holden high school aren't made for seven-footers. I feel someone tap my forearm as I walk down the hall, and I turn to see who it is. It's a girl by the name of Jade, last name Smith. She transferred here Junior year, and we've been great friends since then. The first time I talked to her was when I helped fix her broken-down car in the student parking lot. She is a very shy girl, but also very cute. She has black hair and green eyes. She is the average height for a girl at 5'4.
She smiles up at me. Since Ellie can't afford a car for me, I walk everywhere. Makes my cardio great. "You heading to the park today? I can give you a ride if you want." Jade has become a very good friend of mine and is always offering to help me somehow. I want to run today and work on my dribbling on the way there. So I don't need a ride. I take a breath, knowing she will be disappointed, but I want the extra activity.
She can already see my rejection and slumps slightly. "I'm running today, Jade, besides. Don't you have a date with William today?" William is the quarterback for our football team. He is a pretty chill guy. She looks away slightly as if avoiding eye contact. I don't know why she is acting this way. "Something wrong, Jade? You usually talk about William all the time." I think that's what happens in relationships. I've never been in one myself.
She raises her head and sighs slightly. "I'll see you around, Ulysses..." She turns around and walks away disappointed. I scratch my head in confusion. I could've sworn things were cool between us. I guess I did something that made her mad. I walk down the hall towards the entrance of the school and make my way outside. I take my basketball out of its separate bag and start dribbling as I jog lightly. At 6'11 without shoes, I have the tight and quick handles of a guard. I can even break ankles.
I start to make my way off the school's property and down the sidewalks leading to my favorite park. I do some size-ups and complex moves as I walk and jog to create paces and correct movements. As I'm doing this, I hear a horn honk behind me. I turn around, and it's a new Ford pickup truck. I stand still, knowing who it is. The truck pulls over, and Terrance gets out. "You know you don't have to walk and run everywhere." I can't get away from the scouts no matter what I do.
I continue to dribble as Terrance walks up in his expensive suit. "I prefer it this way, Terrance. It lets me practice, and it clears my head." I've utilized the simulation space in my sleep for years and in class, but it's still more effective to train in real life. The simulation space is great for passing the time on the road trips and free time, which is nice. "I'm going to be recording my practice at the park. If there are people, I might even play some pick-up. I know all the scouts watch my videos on youtube." That's how they know my favorite place to play.
I've got quite the following on youtube and Twitter. Not the same as the top players in the NBA right now, but I'm on the map. "You shouldn't have done that. Now everyone knows where to go to watch you play. Other than official games, we didn't know where you played." In retrospect, that is true, but I wanted to do something to occupy my time. Posting some videos on youtube sounded fun. In the end, it just caused more problems.
It was fun at first, but now it's just annoying. "Why are you here anyway, Terrance? All you scouts don't approach me that often out of school." They have time to time, but I can dodge them most of the time. The smart ones go to Ellie to get a chance to talk to me. It was the first thing Terrance did. Terrance turns towards the ford truck and holds out an arm towards it. Scouts have done this before too. Trying to give me cars or things to get close.
I sigh and turn to leave. "C'mon, Ulysses. Just take it. Do you know how dangerous it is to walk everywhere? Every scout knows about the poor financial situation you and your aunt are in. It's okay to accept help once in a while." I turn back to him, give a smirk and place my beats into my ears and play music as I turn around to continue walking. Let them do them. I'm not focusing on college right now. Just playing good basketball and improving as much as I can.
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