Why did the coach schedule practice for Thursdays when our games are on Fridays? I wondered for probably the thirtieth time today. 

It was a wonder that our team was so good with all this weird practice schedule. Our coach had us practice hard for two hours every Thursday night. It may not have sounded like much to those who weren't on the basketball team, but to those of us who were found that it was torture. We were always exhausted by the time that practice was over and the next day our muscles hurt like hell. That meant that all our games the next night featured a bunch of tired, sore teenage boys who somehow still managed to win.

"Get your head in the game, Wilde!" the coach, Mr. Embersling, yelled at me. 

I shook my head to clear it of thoughts and focused on the scrimmage game we were playing. Seth, Max, Matt, Jonah, and I were one one team. Christopher, Kayden, Daniel, Jason, and Lawrence were on the other team. 

As of right now, Christopher had the ball that was soon taken by Jonah. Jonah then passed it to Max who passed it over to his twin brother Matt who passed it to me. I ran the ball up the court- dodging the attacks from the opposing team- and shot it into the hoop. Kayden took the ball and ran it to his team's side of the court. He passed it to Christopher who shot it and missed. Jason got it on the rebound and shot it again, this time making it into the hoop. 

Our scrimmage continued until Mr. Embersling stopped it. We ended with a score of 45-32, my team having won. 

"Good job boys!" I said, playing my role as team captain well. 

The five of us high-fived one another before saying "Good-game" the other five boys on our team. 

"You guys all did great, except for one little thing," Mr. Embersling said, taking the ball from Kayden who was co-captain of the team. "You need to act more like a team." 

Kayden's scrimmage team all looked at the coach in confusion. 

"Connor, your scrimmage team did a good job, but Kayden yours did not. You all would only pass the ball to one other person before shooting. You need to get the rest of the team involved. Teamwork is our secret weapon. You've seen the teams we've played against. They all think they're better than each other. The ten of you are all equally talented at this sport known as basketball," Coach said. "And don't give me that look Christopher! I've told you before and I'll tell you again, the team captains were chosen on their leadership skills and ability to take initiative, not their ability." 

Christopher rolled his eyes and glared. He had always  been jealous that his best friend (Kayden) had gotten a spot as captain and not him. 

Coach glanced at his watch. Seeing the time, he let out a heavy sigh. 

"I'll see you all tomorrow at five for the game! And don't forget about teamwork!" he yelled as we all went to grab our water bottles and go to the locker room. 

I wanted nothing more than to go home and fall into bed, but I knew that my grandma would not like it very much if I came home a sticky, stinky, and sweaty mess. So, I let the water of one of the locker room showers wash the stick, stink, and sweat from my body. The hot water felt nice against my already sore muscles and I couldn't help the sigh that escaped my lips. 

After five minutes of letting the water pound against my back, I turned the shower off, dried my body off, and changed from basketball shorts to sweatpants. I slipped a hoodie on as well and shoved my now wet shorts and towel into my sports bag. 

I left the locker room and walked back through the gym to get to the front doors. I stepped out into the cool November night air. I shivered, instantly regretting not fully drying my hair. Pulling my hood on and adjusting the strap of my sports bag on my shoulder, I began my walk home. It wasn't a long walk, only five minutes, but when your muscles are sore and all you want is to collapse in bed, even five minutes feels way too long. But I do it anyways. Grandma doesn't like driving at night, it scares her, so I walk. I walk on regular days too because Grandma works. She owns a bakery. I help her out sometimes. 

~ooo~ 

When I reached home, Grandma wasn't in the living room nor in the kitchen. 

"Grandma?' I called out to the emptiness of the house. 

When I got no answer, I began to panic. Running down the hall, I start to call out for her again, but stop when I see that she is asleep in her bed. I sigh in relief and walk across the hallway to my own bedroom. I throw my bag down on the ground by the foot of my bed and proceed to throw myself into bed. 

I lay staring at the ceiling, not tired but glad to be laying down and doing nothing. I think about all the things that happened during the day. Particularly something the teacher had said. 

"We're going to get a new student tomorrow everyone!  She's coming all the way from New Jersey!"  the teacher had said, capturing all her students' attention. 

A new student. We haven't had one of those in a while, at least not in the tenth grade anyways. I find it surprising since the town of Los Angeles has a population of four million people. 

"I'll need a volunteer to show her around," the teacher continued and looked around the room. "Hmm... Connor. You'll be the tour guide. I'll have you excused from your morning classes to show her around," the teacher said with a smile. "Be in the front office tomorrow morning. Okay?"

"Okay," I said and smiled back at the teacher.

Still staring at the ceiling, I began to think about the new student. All the teacher had told us about said student was that they were a female and from New Jersey. I wondered what she would look like and what she would act like. I wondered if she would have an interest in sports or an interest in something else. I wondered why she had moved from New Jersey to California. 

With those curious thoughts in mind, I drifted off into a deep, peaceful sleep. Or at least it was peaceful until it wasn't. 

I woke up breathing heavily and with a thin layer of sweat covering the entirety of my body. I threw the hoodie I was wearing off of my torso and onto the floor. I kicked the tangled sheets away from me and tried to calm my breathing. 

There were lots of things that I hated, but I hated my nightmares the most. They plagued me most nights and the nights they didn't were nights that came few and far between. This one hadn't been as bad as most of them were, but it was still a nightmare and it still scared me. 

Finally able to calm my breathing, I shivered in the cold, the adrenaline wearing down. I pulled the sheets back over my body and closed my eyes, hoping to get at least an hour more of sleep. After hours of just laying with my eyes I closed I finally fell asleep again, this time staying asleep until my alarm went off in the morning.

Rolling out of bed, I got ready for the day. I was groggy and tired, but tried my best to hide it seeing as I'd have to show the new kid around today. 

Why, oh why did my nightmares have to keep up so late last night of all nights...? I thought and stumbled into the kitchen to eat a quick breakfast and then head to school.