December 27, 2009
Vroom Vroom
The sound of the bus on the highway was the only sound heard as it traveled down Interstate 380 toward Binghamton. Through the window, the landscape could be seen covered in snow, a clear sign that winter had arrived and swept through the state of New York, leaving the trees and all vegetation buried in snow and cold—a sharp contrast to the warm interior where the bus and its passengers were.
Inside was the entire varsity team and the staff of the Christ the King High School team, the Royals. Leaning back in his seat, Aaron was resting with his eyes closed while listening to the music coming from his headphones connected to his phone.
At this moment, the team was on its way to play the Stop-DWI Holiday Classic, one of the most prestigious high school basketball tournaments in the United States, transforming the city of Binghamton into the epicenter of national talent during the holidays. In this tournament, Aaron and the team would play for the next 3 days against the best teams from New York and other states with the goal of taking home the trophy, in which he had full confidence, knowing they had great opportunities to win.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Coach Arbitello stand up to start talking to the players, so Aaron quickly lowered his headphones to pay attention to the words the coach was going to say.
"Guys, your attention," the coach began, making all the players inside the bus pay attention to him. "We are about to arrive at our hotel, so a few quick guidelines."
He began to say:
"First but not least, it is forbidden for you to leave the hotel without any of the coaching staff accompanying you," he started, causing grimaces of annoyance to appear on the faces of the older players. "But coach…" Maurice was going to say. "No buts about it, Barrows," the director cut him off before he could even start speaking, making Maurice swallow his words.
"Rooms will be shared, so you will share rooms with one extra person," the coach continued to list the pairs:
Maurice Barrows – Ronald Brown
Corey Edwards – Dominykas Milka
Omar Calhoun – Aaron Reed
"Looks like we'll be roommates, bro," Omar said, extending his fist toward Aaron as soon as he heard they would share a room. To which Aaron also bumped his fist against his, sharing a smile between them; out of everyone, Omar was undoubtedly his best friend on the team and the one with whom he also had the best chemistry on the court.
"Please tell me you don't snore," Aaron said in a half-serious, half-joking tone toward his friend, who simply shrugged at that. "I promise nothing."
Then both shared a low laugh between them to continue paying attention to the coach.
"Now let's get back to the important part," the coach said with more seriousness in his voice this time, making the players instinctively straighten their backs.
"Our first opponent will be Villa Angela-St. Joseph," he then began with a brief summary about them. "They are a team from Ohio known for their fast offense, applying the run and gun," he said, going over the notes on his clipboard. "Their game revolves around their point guard, Jeff Albert." As soon as he said that, his gaze fell on the data he had on him.
Name: Jeff Albert Position: Point Guard Age: 18 Recruit: 3 stars
Basic and easy-to-obtain information from the Rivals and ESPN sites. He had not signed with any university yet, but a few calls revealed that the University of North Carolina was following him closely and that they would be present at the tournament to watch his performance more carefully.
"One last thing," he added quickly, calling the players' attention again. "Some already know, but in case you forget, college recruiters will also be present at this tournament, so for the seniors, it will be better if you take the game seriously." It was his last comment, at which he saw how the gaze of all the players changed at the mention of the recruiters.
"Good," Coach Arbitello thought, seeing the hungry looks of the players, knowing perfectly well that he had succeeded in motivating them. After saying that, he returned to his seat, waiting for the bus to reach the hotel to unpack the suitcases and rest for tomorrow.
When he saw that the coach had effectively finished his announcements, Aaron was going to put his headphones back on until he felt the person sitting at his side tap his shoulder, calling his attention.
"Wanna play?" Omar asked, shuffling some cards in his hands.
"What do you want to play?" Aaron asked, curious to know what his friend had thought of.
"Do you know poker?" Omar asked with a cunning smile on his face, with a plan plotting in his mind.
"A little," Aaron responded, surprised by the question, but even more so by seeing how Omar's smile widened more than it already was.
"Well, how about a bet?" Omar asked this time with more enthusiasm in his voice, moving the cards in his hand in an attempt to tempt Aaron more.
"What kind of bet?" This time it was Aaron's turn to ask, curious to know what his friend had thought of.
"The winner chooses the room's bed first," Omar said with a smile, believing he had the game won.
"Deal." Without wasting a second, Aaron quickly accepted the bet without any hesitation, causing Omar to sigh with excitement.
"So easy," Omar thought, seeing that his plan had worked.
20 minutes later.
Once the bus stopped at the hotel doors, the coaches and players quickly got off the bus, stretching after spending several hours sitting and starting to unpack the luggage from the bus. But at the back of the group, one of the players got off with a devastated look and with his back and shoulders slumped in a clear sign of defeat, showing a clear contrast with the person next to him who had a great smile on his face.
"Seriously, you didn't know how to play?" Omar asked in a low voice, not knowing whether to laugh or cry at the defeat he suffered minutes before.
"I guess I have beginner's luck," was the only response Aaron gave, putting his hands behind his neck while giving his biggest smirk of satisfaction toward Omar, who simply rolled his eyes in his direction.
The truth was that in the future, he was an enthusiast of playing online poker and with his colleagues. Of course, while poker depends a lot on luck, once you know probability and how to read facial expressions, it gives you a clear advantage. Especially with someone like Omar, who was like an open book as soon as he had good cards in his hand, making Aaron's victory simple.
"Alright guys, let's go in," the coach said while each of them took their suitcases and entered the lobby to proceed with the hotel check-in.
Once inside, the coach went toward the counter while the players sat or toured the hotel lobby with curiosity. Aaron, more attentive than the rest, could see other groups of boys just like them wearing varsity jackets, which could only mean one thing.
"The competition has arrived," Aaron thought, looking carefully and counting 3 more groups in the lobby besides them, which meant there were at least 3 other schools in the same hotel as them.
"Here is your key, Reed and Calhoun." A voice pulled Aaron out of his thoughts, seeing that it was Artie, who extended an electronic card to Aaron with their room number.
Taking the card in his hand, he saw how Artie quickly raised it while saying, "Don't lose it or you will have to pay for the duplicate yourselves," he advised seriously while extending the card to Aaron again, who took it and nodded toward Artie, who turned and approached the next person to deliver their key.
"Let's go," Aaron said over his shoulder toward Omar, who took his suitcase again and headed with Aaron toward the elevators.
Once on the corresponding floor, Aaron inserted the card into the door slot, and hearing the slight click, he pushed it inward to enter the room, followed by Omar behind him. As they passed through that door, they were greeted by a simple room with two beds occupying most of the space, a television in front, nightstands, a small desk in a corner, a closet, and a door that probably led to the room's bathroom.
Without wasting time, Aaron quickly claimed the bed next to the window and began to unpack his clothes and put them in one of the drawers while Omar did the same on the other bed.
"Do you think we'll win the tournament?" Omar couldn't help but ask toward Aaron, breaking the comfortable silence the room was in.
"I don't know," Aaron began. "But I think we have good opportunities," he finished, trusting the skills of his teammates and the coach's arrangements.
"It all depends on how we do against St. Joseph," Omar continued, thinking about starting on the right foot in their first game of the tournament.
"You heard the coach, we have to defend Jeff Albert well," Aaron reminded him of the talk the coach gave on the bus before they arrived at the hotel.
"I know," Omar said while finishing arranging the clothes in his drawer.
"Finished." Triumphantly, Omar immediately threw himself on the bed once it was cleared of all the luggage that was on top, stretching lazily across the entire bed.
"Don't relax too much, don't forget the training," Aaron quickly reminded him that they indeed had training in a few hours to adjust their condition for tomorrow.
"Relax, bro, there's plenty of time for that," Omar replied, still sprawled across the entire bed without showing any sign of wanting to move from there.
"Instead, tell me about the cheerleader," Omar quickly changed the subject, wanting to know more about the girl from a few weeks ago.
"What do you want to know?" Aaron asked, also deciding to rest on the bed.
"Her name, her tastes?" Omar kept insisting, very interested in the topic.
"Are you interested in Meghan?" Aaron questioned his friend.
"Meghan, eh," savoring the name between his lips. "Does it bother you?" Omar asked, looking for any reaction from Aaron toward that.
"Not at all," Aaron said, waving his hand, dismissing the matter, knowing that things with Meghan hadn't even lasted a month to be considered something serious.
"Then do you think I have a chance?" Finally sitting up on the bed, Omar paid special attention to the next words his friend would say.
At that question, Aaron couldn't help but fall into deep reflection at his friend's question, thinking carefully about what Meghan is like.
"I think so," he said, causing a smile on Omar's face. "But I warn you, she is very intense," he wisely decided to warn his friend before he tried a move with her.
"Don't worry, friend, I like intense girls, if you know what I mean," he said, suggestively moving his eyebrows at him.
At which Aaron kept an impassive face, knowing what his friend was referring to and having experienced it firsthand at the Halloween party a few months ago.
"Run at your own risk," was the last thing Aaron said, raising his hands toward his friend, giving him the green light for whatever could happen between him and Meghan.
After that, they simply stayed in the room resting and talking about topics that had happened at school these last few months until the time finally arrived.
"Time to train," Aaron said, standing up and putting on his basketball shoes while waiting for his friend to do the same.
"5 more minutes," Omar couldn't help but plead toward his friend, who was already in the hallway with his hand on the knob, waiting for him to stand up.
"Ugh." With a tired and resigned sigh, he stood up very reluctantly and followed his friend toward the elevators to meet the rest of the team in the lobby, knowing it would be a long training session this afternoon.
Authors thought's
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