more life / b.simmons (2)

53

familiar faces crowd the room; people adrian hasn't seen since he was 14 stand around the ballroom, among people he saw only days ago. it's nostalgic and bittersweet remembering how they've all been chasing the same dream together. he just hopes they all get to live it out tonight.

adrian smooths down his suit as he weaves through the people in the room. the energy in the room bounces off the walls and onto the future stars, everyone in good spirits and high hopes. he nods at a few people he recognizes from the general basketball world, and then finds the people who he grew up with. "i'll be right back," he says to his sister and parents before hurrying off.

jamie, donovan, bronny, and shaqir stand in a circle, joking and laughing. shaqir is the first one to notice him, making a big deal out of it. "no fuckin way," he says, pushing jamie out of the way to give adrian a big bear hug. "i missed you, man!" he says.

adrian laughs and pounds him on the back. "you too, bro. how was LSU?" he asks after they pull away.

shaqir smiles at the question, remembering all of the good times he had there. "you shoulda came out there, bro. i know kentucky is kentucky, but, you would've had fun, man." he says. the two of them would've been hall of fame legacy, being that both of their fathers played at some point and are now in the league.

adrian shrugs. "i dont doubt that, but big blue nation something different," he says, the two of them walking the short distance back to the group. adrian greets everyone, asking them about their time at college. bronny went to duke, donovan went to ohio state, and jamie went UCLA—kyra saw him a lot because of malik—and they all had successful times there.

"yeah, so how's your sister?" bronny asks as smoothly as possible once there's a lull in the conversation. adrian gives shaqir a is this nigga serious look, before scoffing.

"what, you don't know her name now? cmon, man. do better," he says, putting a hand on his shoulder. bronny rolls his eyes and shrugs adrians hand off. "why you still worried about her like that anyway? you gotta move on." adrian adds. kyra and bronny haven't talked in about a year, and that's just how it's meant to be between the two of them.

"she got a man now, anyway," jamie says. he played with malik on the bruins and frequently saw kyra, since she was barely going to school at one point. the three of them hung out on the low, sometimes.

shaqir, bronny, and donovan all look at jamie with wide eyes. "what? she's dating one of my boys," he says with a shrug.

"who?" bronny asks, spinning the ring on his pinky round and round. adrian rolls his eyes.

"i'm not here to talk about my sister, aight? who she's dating is none of your business, bron. let it go," he says, shaking his head at him. bronny goes quiet and crosses his arms over his chest. he missed just talking to her and it's now clear to him that he had several chances, and missed them all. annoyed with the conversation, adrian says, "i'll catch y'all later." he daps all of them up, cutting bronny a glance before heading back over to where he left his family.

amari beams up at him, filled with pride and love for her baby. she cried right before they got in the car to leave, and had to redo her makeup on the way there. ben is equally as excited, but he always knew adrian was draft bound. "stop, mom," adrian says, dramatically rolling his eyes.

amari scoffs and shakes her head. "let me be happy for you."

"we all knew i was finna be here one day!" adrian says cockily. ben snickers at this while amari gives her son a look. kyra rolls her eyes and grabs amaris hand and starts leading them to their assigned table.

the four of them sit down and adrian pulls out his phone to see a ton of texts from avery, telling him that she just saw him on tv due to the pre-draft that they're doing. he looks around and spots all of the cameras that he didn't notice before. "here, talk to nia," amari says, passing the phone down to adrian.