Bounce Back

Chapter 11

Ryan's POV

I came downstairs the next morning to only find Jamie downstairs. I was slightly surprised that my parents weren't up yet but I didn't know how late they got in last night. I moved around the kitchen as I started to talk to Jamie.

"How is Duke going?"

He positively lit up and started to talk about his season. I knew that he would be annoyed by being told to go home after being injured but that's what happens.

I didn't have a lot of time to hang around because I had to get to school but I mostly managed to catch up with Jamie.

"Are you doing anything after school?" he asked.

"I've got tutoring after school and I don't know how long that will be," I said.

"Ok, but after that the four of us are going out for dinner," he said.

I nodded and headed out. It wasn't a long walk to school and I found my three friends standing outside our lockers so I unlocked it and started to change my books as they talked.

"How are you?" Jordan asked.

"Jamie's home for the week," I smiled.

My three friends smiled brightly because they knew my brothers well and liked them a lot. I didn't hang around to talk for long because I need to start getting work done so I headed to my first class and spread my stuff out on my desk.

I had a lot of work to do so every time that I wasn't doing class work I was working on something else. Even at lunch I had some school work out on the table and was working as I was eating. I was so engaged on what I was doing that I didn't notice the glances that my friends were exchanging.

Tyler had basketball training afterschool so I headed with my friends to the library beforehand. I had dumped my stuff on the floor and took a seat as Jordan joined me.

"You are overworking yourself," he started.

I glanced up at as he sat down opposite me.

"I'm being serious Ry, you are trying to do too much," he continued.

"I'm fine Jordan," I protested.

"No you aren't. I've seen how much you are trying to do."

We didn't talk about it much more because Drew and Morgan joined us but Jordan was still looking at me. I ducked my head and focused on what I was doing.

Jordan was definitely wrong in this situation. It was just that I have a bit of homework at the moment so that was why I was doing a bit more work at the moment. I knew that Jordan would want to talk about it more later but it wouldn't work together.

I had just finished my report when I noticed Tyler come into the library. I grabbed my stuff and moved tables so Tyler and I could work by ourselves. He grabbed his stuff out and we started by talking what he had been doing in class.

"Have you got your test marks back?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, I had forgotten that I hadn't told you. I got a B+," he smiled.

"That's awesome"

He nodded but then we had to start working. We'd covered most of the content that he had already studied in class so we only had to work on the stuff that he was covering now in class. We didn't spend a lot of time but then we had to work on the basketball stats.

He tucked his books away and I grabbed my laptop out. We started by going over the last game and then started to talk about the upcoming game. We were both so absorbed that we didn't notice how late it was getting until the librarian came over and told us that the library was closing and we had to leave.

We headed out together as I responded to Jamie's text, telling him that I would meet them at their place for dinner.

"I didn't realise that was that late," I said.

"Neither did I. I guess we got sucked into your stats," he smiled.

We both went our separate ways after agreeing to meet up tomorrow after his training again. In some ways it worked better for me because it meant that I could get most of my homework beforehand and then work with him.

The place that we were going out for dinner was somewhere that we had been quite a few times. I stepped in I headed over to the table my family was seated at.

"Doing more work today?" Dad asked.

"Yeah, I got a bit caught up in what I was doing," I explained.

"It's alright. Good to see that you are getting all your work done," Mom smiled.

"Yeah, well, I've still got a bit of work to do though."

We then stopped talking about my homework and listened to Jamie talk about Duke. I liked listening to my brothers' talk about their time playing basketball but unfortunately they couldn't make it home that often.

I could feel myself beginning to tire and was glad when Mom suggested that we head home as we had finished. I fell in step with Jamie as we walked and he turned to face me.

"You look exhausted Ry," he said.

"I've just had a bit of extra homework to do at the moment," I protested.

"I know but you look even more tired than normal. Promise that you will look after yourself."

"I promise."

He nodded and once we got home I headed up to my room. I wasn't lying when I said that I would look out for myself but I did have more work that I need to do. I grabbed my laptop back out again and start to work.

My phone was vibrating on table and I glanced at it to see that it was Jordan calling me. Usually I would pick up but I had too much work to do. Instead I let it continue to ring and focused on what I was doing.

I just had too much to do and it all needed to be done now.

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Comment and Vote

The Wise One