Blocked |c.h.|

19:00

"I think I'm going to throw up." Calum said, swallowing the small lump of nervousness in his throat, only for it to resurface.

Delaney and Tai exchanged a look of panic and reached a hand to soothingly rub his back.

"Calum, it's okay. Just think about it as a game back home."

"Yeah, best friend, you good. Just think about it as one of those scrub games you usually play in." Tai added after Delaney, causing both said other girl and the nervous one to look at her in disbelief. Tai furrowed her brows. "What? Oh, also consider the fact that these shoes I have on are new." She raised her leg slightly and wiggled her sneakered foot.

Calum slowly blinked at the girl that he called his bestfriend. "Thanks, T." He snorted, shaking his head.

He loved the girl but sometimes she wasn't the best to consult in certain situations.

And though he knew she was most likely joking, this wasn't the time for it.

"I'm just trying to make the situation lighter." Tai said, putting her hands up defensively.

"By telling me to barf somewhere else other than your shoes?"

"Yes! I'd rather they stay clean and for you not to have to pay for them to get cleaned."

"Oh my g--"

"It worked, though, right?" Tai smirked as if she had found the cure to cancer but Calum was finding this less amusing as the seconds passed by. He knotted his bushy brows together and shook his head.

"No, Tai!" He said, frustrated with the whole situation.

He hated that he was so nervous.

He hated the girls felt the need to help him with his nervousness.

He hated that he couldn't just fix it himself.

He hated that at the last minute, not only was he a ball of anxiety, but his friendships were spiraling, though two of them have been mended.

He hated Mike wasn't there to help him get out of the funk he was currently in.

He just hated how everything wasn't as perfect as he envisioned it to be.

Maybe he was foolish to think that way but maybe not.

All he knew was this wasn't right and it sucked.

Delaney closed her eyes for a bit then sighed, looking in between the other two.

"Guys, please let's focus. It's not about where someone is going to throw up, we're," The darker girl pointed between her and the smaller one. "--trying to prevent that from happening at all." She explained, gaining a head nod from Tai, but when she turned her head, the smaller girl rolled her eyes.

The boy sighed and shook his head. "I don't think I can do this."

Delaney turned to Calum and rubbed his back, again, reassuringly. "Cal, you got this. You've set your entire basketball career up for this exact moment."

"Yeah, ever since middle school you've talked about playing with the big league." Tai put her two cents in, ones that were helpful this time.

Delaney glanced at the smaller girl then to Calum, smiling at the new found information on the boy, nodding.

The brown boy smiled small at the mention, remembering the eigth grade like it was yesterday.

From then on, he had this dream to one day play some of the greatest players.