Bounce Back

Chapter 19

Tyler's POV

Ryan collapsed straight onto the bed and I sat down on the chair.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"I'm just really tired," he said softly.

"I'll leave you to sleep then."

"Thanks for looking out for me," he mumbled.

"Of course, it's what friends do."

He didn't say anything more so I took that as a sign to leave. He had moved to kick his shoes off and was now under the covers but he was still fully clothes. I didn't want to bother him anymore so I crept out and shut the door behind me.

I found both his parents and someone I assumed was his brother since I had only met one of them.

"Thanks for that Tyler. What's up with Ryan?" Mrs Moore asked.

"He's just tired," I said.

I didn't want to tell his family about how stressed he was about college because I wasn't sure if he wanted them to know so I didn't say.

"That's Ryan for you," Mr Moore said.

The family had a quick discussion that ended with the two adults leaving the room and headed upstairs.

"I'm Dan, Ryan's oldest brother," the brother said.

"Tyler."

"Ryan's mentioned you before. He is your tutor?" Dan asked.

"Yeah, he is really good."

We talked a little bit longer. We both learnt that the other played basketball and that got us talking for a while before I glanced at the time and realised that I should be heading home so I said as much.

"I might see you again sometime. Look after my brother will you," he said.

I wasn't a hundred percent sure what he was talking about but I still nodded and that made him smile.

"You are a good kid," he said.

I nodded again before heading out. It wasn't long walk home but I had a few things on my mind. I'd had pressure about college but I knew what I wanted to do and lots of people had told me I was good enough.

I had never thought about from Ryan's perspective. He was clearly smart and I knew that people would be asking what he was going to do and I don't think that he knows and that it is a lot of pressure. College is just a lot of pressure.

I was a bit later than usual so my Mom was the only one up. Lisa must have been more tired than usual because she was already in bed. I dumped my bag on the floor and joined her on the couch.

"How was the game?" Mom asked.

"It was good. We won and a scout from UCLA talked to me after and was really happy with me," I told her.

"Ty, that's awesome. Is he going to call you?" she asked.

"No, he gave me his number and told me to call him in a couple of days."

We talked for a bit longer but I was tired from the game so I headed into my room. I changed and then lay down on the bed.

I was still thinking about Ryan. I didn't realise how stressed he was but I should have realised. I saw how much he exhausted himself earlier in the year. I should have seen it coming.

I had basketball training afterschool today and it meant that Ryan and I hadn't planned to have a tutoring session after school. I was the first one into the locker room so I quickly changed and headed out into the gym.

Coach was already out there and he handed me a ball which I started bouncing as I waited.

"I saw that there was a scout talking to you yesterday," he said.

"Yeah, he was from UCLA," I said.

We talked about it for a little bit longer as more of the team joined me. Coach started talking and before we started to warm up. I led it as Coach set up the rest of training. It was an usual training but it was still a lot of fun.

We headed into the locker room together and started to change. I had to shower before I could change but then I collapsed on the bench. Once James was changed he sat down beside me and poked me.

"Do you want to hang out or do have your tutoring with your new best friend?" James asked.

"No one could ever replace you. I'm free, what do you want to do?" I asked.

"Oh, it's good to know Ryan hasn't replaced me and that you love me more," James teased.

I laughed slightly and I never got an answer as to what we were doing because James' name was called across the room and he got distracted by that conversation. I sat up and glanced around the locker room.

My thoughts stalled and I couldn't believe what I was thinking about. I pushed it out of mind and focused on talking to Scott and Blair. James slid into the seat beside me again and smiled at me.

"Where do you want to go?" I asked.

"I'm hungry so let's go get food," he said.

We were both ready to leave so we said a couple of last things to a couple of teammates before heading out. We talked about the team as we headed to our usual place for food. We both ordered before settling at one of the tables.

"I feel like we haven't done this for ages," I said.

"That's because you are so busy studying," he teased.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"No, you shouldn't. You are caring about your grades and clearly Ryan is good for you."

I nodded slightly and he realised that I didn't really want to talk about it anymore. Instead as we ate we talked more about the basketball team instead. I relaxed more because basketball was something that I could talk about all day.

We didn't spend a large amount of time together because he had to get home but it was nice to spend some time together.

We headed out together before we had to split off and he paused for a minute.

"Since you are getting new friends don't forget about me," he teased.

I hit him but he smirked at me. We didn't say anything else which was good because I was stuck in my thoughts and I wasn't completely sure I liked where they were going.

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

Comment and Vote

The Wise One