✅🎊✂️ Hypnosis Won't Take Me There!! [alternative cut]

Chapter 519: Rivalry

It was hot for autumn. The sun blazed gold off the leaves, and made it feel like the park was almost a hot plate. Dean wheezed, fighting to keep his breathing under control. He knew that his summer had contained a lot more babysitting than most years, and a lot less running and exercise. But he couldn't believe how out of shape he felt after just a few months break. He would have to start hitting the gym again if he wanted to be on top form before his courses started. Thankfully his major was mostly academic, studying strategy on a whiteboard. But he still needed to be out on the court sometimes, and his friends wouldn't be able to keep a straight face if he didn't keep up with them.

He was soaked in sweat as well, not something he had expected, but perhaps the climate was trying to make up for the summer vacation he should have spent with his little sister.

Belle was running closer, head down and eyes only occasionally flicking up to make sure that he was still standing where she thought. He waited for her to look, saw her eyes for a moment and then she was looking away. He jinked sharply to the right, shoes squeaking across the asphalt, and reached out low with his right arm to snag the ball. And he couldn't make contact. Belle had happily told him that she was out of shape, having focused more on worrying about him than playing over the summer. But she was smaller, and nimble enough to duck under his arm without slowing down.

He turned around and chased after her, but she was too far ahead and there was no time left to close the gap. A couple of seconds later he heard the clatter of chains that signalled the ball had passed through the hoop. A couple of bystanders laughed and poked fun at him for losing to a girl, but they were just people who'd happened to be standing next to the court at that moment; people whose opinion didn't matter at all.

"Nice shot," he said, forcing himself to suck in another breath.

"Eleven five," she answered, voice filled with disdain. "I couldn't come close. Did you give me those points out of pity?"

"I'm getting tired. Getting old. And you're improving."

"How would you know? You were always too busy to play once I started. Don't think you even made a single game when I was on the school team. Couldn't come watch your sister?"

"I was busy with college. And I watched you when you were on the cheer squad."

"Yeah, when you were the one getting the cheers. And then you quit the team. You know why I took up basketball?"

"I was never sure. But I thought it was some kind of family tradition thing. Like once I left, you wanted to show your friends that you could catch up to me."

"I wanted to impress you. You clearly didn't care about cheerleaders unless they were cheering for your game, I wanted to be good at something that you're into, so you'd be proud of me. I wanted you to be looking at me for once. You've been no fun since we grew up."

"I think you had to grow up a little too fast," he reached up with a towel to wipe away the sweat that was dripping down the side of her face, and then somehow a tissue appeared in his hand to clean away her tears. "I'm sorry Belle, I really am. I just did what seemed right at the time, and I wasn't understanding as much as I thought. But I've seen you play now, and you really are good. And I am proud of you, I always have been."

"Thanks," Belle tossed the ball from one hand to the other, and threw it against the railings around the court a few times. She still had a lot of energy, but she knew they would need to be moving soon. She couldn't express how much it meant that Dean had finally paid attention to some of her effort. "We should be on the road soon, shouldn't we? Toni said they were meeting for lunch, and it's at least an hour to Moistville."

"Responsible, too," he answered with a smile. "I guess you had to be, while I was off at college. Yeah, we said noon. But we can stay for another game or two if you want. I've already told you more than Toni and Britney know. I don't think it helps much to hear the same story twice, so we can show up a little later."

"Thanks. But it's not about that, is it? Hearing something from a different perspective can still be new, and I would have thought you'd want to be there in case they have questions about..." She paused to think for a while, and there was no sound but the rustling of dry leaves in the breeze and the rhythmic thump-thump-clang of a basketball bouncing between floor and railing.

"You don't want to be there, do you?" She said eventually. "You don't want to hear what Adi has to say."

"I do. But not now. There's some parts where I know she was fighting me, trying to make life harder while we were at the cottage. And I think she would be embarrassed to relate those parts honestly with me there. She might try to make it seem less serious, and I don't want her to have any inhibitions. I want her to tell her friends the whole truth, as much as she is comfortable with. And I can probably guess what she was thinking about me at those times, she's talked about it in vague terms. But I think it would be hard to accept on an emotional level, so I don't entirely trust myself not to say something stupid."

"Right. So, play on while they go over Adi's attempts to get out, or to call home. We'll grab lunch at the arcade café. And –" For a second, she considered telling him that there was a crane game in there, with a unicorn that she thought Lillibel would love. But even if they were reconnecting, that might be a little too strange.

"And we'll rejoin them a little later," Dean finished the sentence for her. "Ready to discuss why we were really in Kolechia, so we can tell you all what the original plan was. I know you wouldn't want to miss that."

Belle didn't answer, but started to back onto the court, and threw the ball to her big brother in a fast pass that he barely reacted fast enough for. She was curious what Adi was saying, of course. What details Dean could have missed out, whether through embarrassment or because there were things he really didn't know. But now was family bonding tim; and she was sure that soon enough, one of their friends would bring her up to speed on what Adi was preparing to tell her friends now.