The Basketball Atrocities

Fourteen - Amused

FRI 9/26/2003 2:54pm (Josh)

He sat in his car, waiting for Jordan to come out of the school. Sometimes, Josh thought his brother could be one of the slowest people in the world when it came down to getting ready to go somewhere. He always took forever in the morning when they were getting ready for school and in the afternoon when Josh would be picking Jordan up from school. Even when Josh first started picking up his siblings from school when he first got his car, 6th grade Jordan still took forever to get ready. He didn't even have to do much except put on some deodorant and brush his teeth. Josh would never understand how he always took so long.

Finally, his brother walked out of the doors. Jordan got into the passenger seat, panting. "What the hell happened to you?" Josh asked, watching sweat pour from his head.

His brother gestured for Josh to wait a moment. "Coach... Atkins made us... run... so much." he panted.

"Huh?" Josh said, raising an eyebrow.

Jordan leaned against the back of the seat and savored the A/C. "Coach Atkins made us run 8 laps around the track and it was literal hell. I think I nearly died." he breathed.

"Sounds rough," Josh answered. "Hey, at least you'll be prepared for your freshman year on the team next year. Coach Aki's gonna want you in the best possible condition."

His brother sighed. "I know. Coach gotta chill, though." he grumbled.

Josh simply shook his head. "Whatever you say, Jordan." he snickered. He drove a little further up where Ashley's group usually was.

Unlike his little brother, Ashley was patiently waiting on the sidewalk for Josh to come pick her up. She was typing away at her phone, occasionally giggling and blushing, then typing something back. Ashley didn't seem to realize Josh had pulled up. He honked the horn and she jumped, nearly dropping her phone in the process. She climbed into the backseat with her stuff. Josh simply giggled and waited for her to get fully situated before he drove out of the pick-up line to Southwood Elementary, where Abigail was at.

Once again, Abigail was waiting outside at the entrance for Josh. She wasn't dragging her ass like a certain one of Josh's siblings and making everyone wait on Jordan to get in the car. She got in the backseat behind Jordan. Abby immediately thrust a piece of paper into Josh's hands. He looked at it and saw a bunch of circles with names beside them and lines connecting them. He noticed his own name, his parents, and both sets of grandparents.

"This a family tree?" Josh asked, craning his neck to see her in the backseat.

She nodded. "I have all of our cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and Mom and Dad on there. We had to do it for a project in Mrs. Gracie's class today. She's giving us two weeks to do it because she wants us to trace back our ancestry as far as we can." Abigail explained proudly.

Josh nodded and put the paper on the dashboard. "I can visit Maw-Maw, Paw-Paw, Gramma, and Papa Jack throughout the week and get their families on here. I know for a fact Papa Jack can trace his family pretty far back. So can Maw-Maw." he told her, driving back to their house.

Abigail's face lit up. "Really?! I could outdo everyone in my class!" she exclaimed.

"That's the spirit. So, Ashley. You've been pretty quiet. What's up with you?" he asked.

"Oh, uh... just talking to a friend." she responded in a casual voice, too casual.

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Josh!" she exclaimed. "Me and Jonah are not like that!"

Josh laughed. "Aha! So, he has a name." he declared with lots of pride and triumph.