Beaufort Academy | EDITING

Chapter Three: Game Changer

Alexis laughed, "Touché. Let's just go. I'll take you to the gym, Ria said she'll wait for you there. But let's drop off these papers at my office first."

They went to the student council room where Alexis had her own office. After that, Alexis led Wolf to the gym where Chandria was waiting. She was carrying a large paper bag that she handed to Wolf once he was close enough.

"Sorry I went through your luggage," Chandria said. "And thanks for the help, Lex."

"You're welcome. So mind filling me in on what happened while I was stuck in a boring meeting? Why is it noisy inside the gym? There's no game scheduled today," Alexis asked.

"Why don't you go change, Wolf?" Chandria pointed towards the empty locker room where Wolf could change.

When Wolf left, Chandria filled Alexis in on what just happened.

"They deny that they're brothers when they're both so arrogant," Alexis commented. "Stop worrying, Ria. We can't do anything about it. Just wish him good luck or something. He has guts after all. I mean, obviously I haven't seen him play and I know John's a great basketball player. But I'll admit, your best friend has guts."

"Thanks," Wolf said from behind her. He was wearing his old basketball jersey from when he played for his Australian high school team.

"I said you have guts but not the brains, Wolf," Alexis said. "John always has ways to get what he wants so you better be careful."

"Still better than having nothing, right?" Wolf smiled bitterly.

Alexis was taken aback because she was expecting a better comeback. Before she could say anything else, Chandria dragged them inside.

The gym was packed with people. Word got out fast that the Ford brothers were having a match and no one wanted to miss it.

John was practicing his shooting on one end of the court. On the borders, you can see the pep squad stretching but Elizabeth wasn't with them because she was talking to Alvin.

"So who are you rooting for to win?" Alvin asked Elizabeth.

"John," Elizabeth answered immediately.

"Still harboring a crush on him, I see," Alvin teased.

"Jealous?" Elizabeth teased back.

Alvin laughed. But what Elizabeth told him really stung. He had liked Elizabeth for a long time. However, Alvin was a shy kid back then and didn't know how to properly express his feelings.

So what he did was practice courting and getting along with girls that when high school came, he had the reputation of a Casanova.

When he finally had the guts to tell Elizabeth how he really felt, John was already dating her. And although their relationship didn't last long, Alvin knew that Elizabeth still liked his best friend. He knew because Elizabeth looked at John the same way he looked at her.

From the other side of the court, Wolf had started stretching.

"So you do play basketball?" Alexis asked.

"Used to," Wolf answered.

"He quit," Chandria chimed in. "Wouldn't even tell me why. Are you gonna be okay? Didn't you say you were tired?"

Alexis sighed and said, "Let's go, Ria. We're only distracting Wolf here."

A buzzer reverberated across the gym, signaling the match was about to start. Chandria, Wolf and Alexis walked to the other side of the court where John, Alvin, and the rest of the team were waiting. Alexis and Chandria walked over to the pep squad, so that it wouldn't look like Wolf had babysitters with him.

"So how do we do this?" Wolf said.

"There's only one rule: the first one who scores five points wins," Alvin said. "One basket equals one point."

John was smiling smugly. He extended his hand to Wolf and said, "May the best man win."

They shook hands, almost crushing each other's hand in the process.

The game started. The crowd was cheering along with the pep squad, with Elizabeth cheering the loudest for John. Chandria was too worried to even cheer for Wolf so she just watched.

Wolf scored two consecutive points first.

Then John was able to steal the ball and gain momentum, scoring three points.

But Wolf pulled through and soon enough, he was leading again with four points.

John was impressed with Wolf's abilities but he would never admit it. And he wasn't about to let Wolf win. He wouldn't let the person who he saw was wrecking his family to win.

John had possession but Wolf was blocking him too well. But John could see that Wolf was starting to get worn out already. Wolf was breathing hard even though they hadn't been playing that long. He was tired from his long flight after all.

John saw that and took advantage of it. John was able to run past him and dunk the ball. As he did so, his elbow knocked Wolf's face hard.

He heard the collective gasp of the audience and when John looked back, he saw Wolf sprawled on the floor. The blow was strong enough that Wolf blacked out. That and Wolf really was already very tired.

Alexis and Chandria ran to them, but Chandria ran past Wolf and charged at John.

Before she could control herself, she raised her hand and planted a resounding slap across John's cheek. She felt her hand stinging from the impact.

There was another collective gasp from the audience.

Despite his initial shock, John slowly turned his head to look at Chandria and said, "I didn't know you had that in you, Chandria."

"I could say the same to you," Chandria glared. They looked at each other for a moment, as if sizing each other up.

With one last look of disgust at John, she turned her back to him and ran back to Wolf.

John was shocked and pissed. But at the same time, he was slightly amused. It wasn't the first time a girl slapped him. But it was the first time somebody looked at him like he was a freaking leper. It made him uncomfortable. John was used to always getting his way, with girls always looking at him in admiration or fear like he was an actual demigod.

John saw Chandria worrying over his half-brother, her face the complete opposite of how she looked at him a few moments ago and his blood started to boil.

The game wasn't over. They were both tied and they both needed one last point.

And as John looked over at Chandria, he smiled his smug smile when he was sure he was going to win - win like he always did.

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