When I walked out of the classroom I met Coach Randy on his way to the Court, he invited me to walk with him. I wish I could tell him that I had plans but what will he think of me? -unserious and aimless? I faked a smile, grumbled within and dragged my feet slowly to the court. I changed quickly and joined the other boys on the court- guess who was there? Archie. Coach Randy instructed us through the day's drills.

When we had warmed up enough he divided us into two teams - the red and blue teams. I was not on Eddie's team, neither was I on Archie's. Well I was the new guy on the court I didn't expect to be with the first line up.

First Line up against the reserve team. Coach Randy did this all the time to identify new good players in the reserve.

After some few minutes of playing the score gap was 10 points, it's obvious who was losing right? I received a pass from my teammate, moved some few steps into the three-points-area and made the shot. As if in slow motion the ball flew and entered the basket, followed by the applause from some players.

Now the attacking team advanced towards our court, with skilled and well-rehearsed passes they displaced our defensive line. Archie makes the jump for the whoop but my hand is quick in the way to block the ball and prevent a goal- we utilized a counter.

The screeching of boots, tapping sounds of the ball got us there, our opponents pressing on us as their captain commanded them to fall back. I spun around with the ball, throwing the defender off then leaped for the whoop, ready to dunk.

Then, boom! The floor came faster than gravity's pull, my body hit hard and I felt the thud in my head. The pain raked through my body, thick and bitter. Archie pushed my lower body when I was in mid-air throwing my center of gravity out of my base. It was all blurry and buzzy at first, but it cleared gradually, the coach standing over my body "Are you okay son?"

We were awarded a consolation penalty and I scored easy and gentle. The match continued, the gap was now 3points and my team's morale was up. We were picking up.

Then push turned to shove, I saw a blow swing toward my face, I braced myself for the pain - tightening my jaw. Out of no where a hand blocked the punch and returned it to Archie's face. Eddie came to my rescue. After some messy struggle on the court the coach succeeded in calming things. I was so shocked at what just happened - Eddie had always been Archie's guy but today he threw all that away to defend me. They were both panting and absorbing the painful blows they had exchanged. The coach instructed them to his office and dismissed the rest of the team.

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