A Different Descendant: Freshman Year 1

Chapter 3

      As Clyde, Daphne and Freya told me stories of humiliated freshmen they had heard from their older siblings, the basketball team walked into the cafeteria.
     "WHAT'S UP MFHS!!!" a blonde guy-- probably the captain, in the captain's jacket shouted, causing the cafeteria to go wild with applaud.
    I didn't join the applause, but simply watched as the team captain stood on a table and gave his speech, wondering why exactly the captain humiliated every single tenth grader that tried to try-out for the basketball team.
   He announced that try-outs were coming up and gave detail on how to sign up.
    “…and I promise you, that this season, I will make sure the Blizzards title is brought back, and is never taken away!!”
As soon as those words left his lips, the cafeteria went wild with cheering once again.
    "That's what he said last season," Erica groaned.
     "Give him a break, I believe in them this year," Freya replied defensively. They bickered among themselves about their beliefs on whether the Blizzards title could be brought back, while I pondered on ways I could join the team.
    The Blizzards title was the title given to the MFHS basketball team three years ago.
    The team earned that nickname when they played in the finals that year. According to the stories I heard, they moved pretty fast and it was like a storm on the court that fateful day. The Hurricanes hadn’t made it to the finals since then.
     Seeing that my presence in the cafeteria had no purpose, I picked up my bag and left.
    ‘I should find a way to talk to the team coach so I can join the team,’ I thought to myself as I walked out of the cafeteria.
    Looking at my phone, I saw there was only fifteen minutes left before the next class would begin.
   On my way to my locker, I was stopped by none other but the captain of the basketball team, Jackson. I heard Daphne mention his name earlier at the table.
    "Hey," he said rudely, stopping me in my tracks. I looked him in the eye wondering what he could probably want.
     "Is there a problem?" I asked
     "Sort of. I was just wondering why you think I can't fulfill the promise I made when I was speaking," he said.
    "I never said that”
    “Now if you would excuse me, my next class starts in a few minutes," I said and I walked past him.
      Just as I was about to walk past him, he pulled me back by my shirt.
  "You don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you freshman," he said, pulling me by my shirt.
     "And who exactly are you?" I asked.
     "You better watch your mouth,” he warned as he came closer, huffing his chest to make himself look bigger and more intimidating.
    At that moment, students already began to come out of the cafeteria, giving the both of us quite an audience.
    "Look, Jackson. I do not have time for all this. Excuse me."
  As I attempted to walk past him, he stood in my way. He wasn't going to let me through.
     ‘Does he expect me to be intimated by him?’ I asked myself.
   Getting mad was a thing I really tried to avoid due to the things I did in the past when I let my anger get the best of me. But when I do, my siblings and parents know better than to touch me.
    "Please do not touch me again," I warned, sounding as calm as ever.
   At that moment, the murmurs of the students around us grew louder and louder by the minute while he, being the naïve blockhead he was laughed.
     "What are you gonna do huh?" he laughed and pushed me with his one hand.
     As he laughed along with his friends behind him, I got pissed.
     ‘I’ve had it.’
    Clenching my right fist, I tapped his shoulder with my left hand. As he turned to look at me, he received a surprise kiss from my fist to his cheek.
    I felt the hit connect perfectly as he staggered backwards like a drunk that almost fell into the gutters but was caught by his friends.
    As he recovered from the hit, he attempted to charge at me like an angry bull, but his friends behind him held him, trying to keep him from coming any closer. I stood there and watch the angry Jackson struggle to burst free from his friends.
     "Um-if you guys fight here, you'll be surrounded by teachers in like seconds,” said a girl form the crowd. The murmurs from people in the crowd seemed to agree with what the person said.
     "Fine," said Jackson, finally calming down.
     "After school, behind that old building next to the school," he said.
   “Oooohh!!!”
Virtually everyone present at that moment seemed excited that a fight was going to go down.
     "I'm not fighting," I said, making some people unhappy.
     "Why? You afraid you'll get hurt," he said mockingly.
      I could only laugh on the inside when he tried to mock me. But I had something better in mind.
     "Why fight when there's a better way to settle things.”
      "And what's that?" he asked.
I slowly took in a deep breath, adding a little suspense to the moment. And then I spoke.
      "I challenge you to a game of basketball."
The murmurs from the crowd grew louder yet again.
     "We are not playing basketball," he said.
    ‘Good. Now it’s just a matter of triggering him,’ I thought to myself.
     With a half-smile, I said;
   "Why? You afraid you'll lose?”
      “Ooooohhhh!!”
       Of course everyone was surprised. A freshman challenging the captain of the basketball team on the first day of school is not an event to expect on the first day of school.
    "I won't lose to a freshman," he said boastfully.
     "Then why decline?” I asked, wearing a small smile on my face.
He bit his lower lip, getting frustrated little by little.
    "Fine. But we'll place a bet on it to make it interesting," he said with a mischievous smirk.
     "What's your bet?" I asked.
He took a while to think before he spoke.
    "If I win, you have to….."
He hummed silently as he thought of whatever wild idea he could think of.
   “I’ll make it simple, but embarrassing. Do the “Buss-it” tiktok challenge while wearing the girl’s cheer outfit.”
People in the crowd seemed happy like they would love to see that. An embarrassing video of a freshman was very natural for a bully to request.
    I sighed.
    ‘How juvenile.’
    "Fine. And if I win--"
I took two steps closer and looked him straight in the eye.
    "--You have to quit the basketball team."
    The murmurs grew louder. It was a rather heavy wager from a freshman.
    I noticed a hint of anger on his face as he bit his lower lip. Trying to hide his anger, he forced a smile
     "It's a bet.”
     "At the basketball court closest to the school. The one close to the antiques shop. See you after school," I said and walked away from him and the crowd.
               ****************
    School ended, and it was time for the showdown. All everyone was talking about was what was going to take place between me and Jackson.
    Before the end of my last class of the day, I stayed in the Janitor's closet. When school ended, I waited for a while so the people who were eager to watch the game would reduce in the school premises, allowing me to go to the court with only a few asking me questions.
     After waiting for a while, I left the janitor's closet and headed for the court.    
     *******************
The court was filled with students, all eager to watch an interesting game of basketball.
     "So you finally decided to show up. I thought you chickened out," said Jackson with a crooked smile on his face.
   Ignoring him, I dropped my bag next to a hoop, took of my shirt so I could play with the black T-shirt I wore on the inside and walked to the other side of the court where our game would take place. Since it was just the two of us, we were going to use half of the basketball court.
     "Alright, listen up!!” Earlier today, the freshman here who goes by the name Henry Collins, challenged the captain of the basketball team to a game of basketball.”
    A classmate of Alexis gave some sort of pre-game updates. He was shouting quite a bit so everyone would hear him.
    "If Jackson here wins, Henry has to make a video of himself in the girl’s cheer outfit while doing the Buss-it challenge.” Those words switched on the cheer option of Jackson’s supporters.
    "But if Henry here wins, Jackson has to quit the team. Bold bet if you ask me. Anyway, we're not here to listen to me talk all day. Without further ado, LET THE GAME BEGIN!"
     *************
    The game began with a check-up (I simply passed the ball to Jackson to start things.)
    As the game went on, I noticed Jackson was so focused on taunting me as we played. It was perfectly normal to taunt an opponent while playing by street rules. But Jackson was definitely overdoing it and definitely underestimating me while he was at it.
     One of the plays I love going for when in a one on one game of basketball, especially if I was being underestimated. I let my opponent; in this case Jackson, get cocky and pretend to be sort of weak and let him get ahead by the first six points, and then I show my true colors thus throwing my opponent off course.
    ‘Considering the kind of person Jackson was from what went down between the both of us in the hallway, this should work perfectly’; is what I thought during the game
    As planned, I let him get the first six points. The crowd seemed disappointed. No surprise. I challenged him and I wasn't putting up much of a fight. But that whole charade was about to end.