Kisses of Fire (boyxboy)

Chapter 2 - Speedy

Whenever Cooper says anything along the lines of 'um,' 'well,' that's part of his stutter.
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That night at dinner, Cooper's mom hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, congratulating him, "Congratulations on getting captain, honey!"

"He did really well, got a lot of compliments from the other coaches." His dad added with a proud smile.

Cooper smiled as well, pleased with his parents praise. Being an only child meant all his parent's attention was on him, and they loved showering him with love and affection. It got annoying sometimes, but deep down, he loved it and loved them more even though he hardly showed it.

There were a lot of things Cooper and his dad did to bond, but basketball was their main obsession. When he finally got to high school, his dad seemed to be more excited to work together and always talked about his plans for the season. "This season is going to be great," Cooper just had to remember that on the court, they were coach and player and not father and son. "But remember, you guys have to play your best now that there's a new school. You need to show them what you got. Intimidate them tomorrow." Tomorrow was the scrimmage, and Heights was scheduled to play against Concordia. It was going to be tough; he had caught a glimpse of their practice, and deep down, Cooper was nervous, but he tried not to show it.

"Don't freak him out, John. You're going to be just fine, Cooper." His mom reassured him, petting his light brown hair.

. . .

The next day, during Concordia's practice before the scrimmage, Miles, Jason, and Parker came up to Cooper with worry written all over their faces.

Jason was staring at the team, biting his nails. "Bro, not gonna lie—I'm kind of nervous."

Not paying attention, Cooper stretched and tried to cheer them up. "Come on, guys, it's nothing," He said, not stuttering. "It's just a scrimmage; we'll play our best and show them what we got. We know how we play, and we just have to help each other." He knew they were going to act like this, so he practiced this exact speech over and over in his head so he wouldn't stutter. Cooper didn't have a speech impediment; he could talk normal to people like his parents or friends, but when he was in the spotlight, it just happens, and he couldn't do anything to stop it.

"Yeah, man, but I'm so nervous that my hands are sweaty. I can't get called Butterfingers for the next four years!" Jason tended to be overly dramatic, but to be fair, he had been called Butterfingers many times before.

Rolling his eyes, Parker slapped him up the head, now loosening up. "Put them under the hand dryer and man up."

The whistle blew, and both teams went to their respective sides, huddling up. "Alright, so I have Parker, Miles..." his dad began naming who was starting, "Jason, Connor, and Cooper. I want you guys to give it all you got, alright? Show them what you can do; this is just a scrimmage, but don't treat it as one. Treat like it's a real game." Suddenly the buzzer went off, signaling it was time to start, and they disbanded, going to their positions. Cooper and Miles went to center court to shake hands with the other captains, and as the ref explained the rules, Cooper noticed that guy River from yesterday enter the gym. The two boys met eyes, and Cooper immediately averted his attention back on the ball getting. Once the whistle blew, the ref threw it up, and Cooper jumped, smacking the ball to his side. Miles caught it and waited for everyone to get in their positions on the other side of the court. Open, Cooper yelled for it and caught it as Miles passed it and dribbled until he saw his opportunity and aimed for the basket, making it in and scoring the first three points for his team.

The team cheered, and Cooper noticed his dad nodding and clapping his hands. "Way to go, Coop." Looking away, Cooper glanced at the bleachers, where he saw Concordia's lacrosse team sitting, and to his surprise, he caught River looking at him with an impressive smile and raised eyebrows.