A/N: It's been 3 weeks! I'm really sorry, i just had some personal stuff going on. This chapter isnt about the party. just some intro. Pls bear with me and enjoy.
Love,
xx annie93 xx
Part Thirteen
Alexi
My name was the first on the list. I let out a whoop as I found out I was still the captain and shooting guard. There were a few blank spots, I guess not everyone had worked so hard at improving their grades as I had; but a PS at the end informed that those spots were open to the public for auditions, as long as they met the minimum academic requirements and could play impressively well enough in the Championships.
I opened the door to Coach Brian’s office and found him sitting at his table. His mood seemed to have to have improved from the last time I saw him, but he still looked tired.
“Good afternoon, Coach,” I greeted him.
“Alexi,” he said, acknowledging me, “Close the door behind you.”
I did as he asked and took the seat in front of him.
“So, Coach, I saw the list and I made captain again.”
He nodded, “That’s good.” He leaned forward and clasped his hands together on the table, “You deserve it. You were the only one who took the new restrictions seriously, and now you are on your way to being an A-student.”
I felt my mouth pulling at the corners, I was proud of myself. Anyway, there was still an issue that pressed on my mind. As much as I liked being tutored by Sam, I hoped I didn’t have to do intensive study anymore. I cleared my throat, “Coach, I hope this means I don’t have to go to intensive tutorials anymore?” I asked hopefully.
“You are free to do whatever you want, Alexi, as long as you keep up with the minimum requirement. Anyone who can’t keep up gets kicked off the team. I think it’s obvious from the new list that I can do whatever I like with my team.”
Yeah, I could see that. I didn’t understand what the Coach’s obsession with grades was though. And so, I asked him, “Coach, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s the deal with the new minimum requirements?”
Coach Brian smiled and looked more tired than ever, “you’ll understand soon enough, Alexi.”
I nodded, but he continued, “You see this town, Alexi?” he asked and I nodded again.
“It’s a very small town.” He said, and I nodded yet again.
“Look around you, Alexi, and try to see. There are so few success stories, and I don’t plan on coaching yet another team of losers who go on from High School to become family men, with no thought of the future or the potentials they have.”
I completely agreed with Coach Brian. There were people who had money, like April, Shelley, Meredith, and a handful but there were still many more that had no hope of going to college without a scholarship. And the sad thing was they didn’t even have the brains. Except for Sam, Wong Chu, and her other friends plus the handful in upcoming generations, and the few before them, scholarships didn’t go around much here.
I nodded in agreement and the Coach continued, “Basketball may be a way of life but there is more to life than It. I hope you discover that, Alexi. You have real promise and I hope you don’t let it go to waste.”
*
I passed by the gym on my way out and saw April practising with her teammates. They probably had a cheer championship coming up soon. She raised a hand in greeting, and I nodded, smiling. Shelley, however, stared at me with an expressionless gaze that I was pretty sure masked hate or anger or both. I smirked at her wondering why she was sitting in on cheerleading practice since she wasn’t a cheerleader. She probably had the best friend privilege. I moved on to the tutor centre for what was likely to be my last peer-tutoring class. The place was packed, but I wasn’t surprised because it was a Monday and lots of students had their classes on Monday.
Sam was just getting through with a guy when I got there. The guy stood up and looked at me, looking for the entire world like he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Are you okay?” I asked, not entirely out of concern. He gasped and nodded shakily before rushing out.
“That was the most reaction I had gotten out of him all afternoon,” Sam said in an almost disbelieving voice.
“It’s the charm,” I joked, “It works all the time.” I smiled.
Sam smiled, “Cocky much, Mr Charming?” I shrugged in an exaggerated blasé manner.
Sam sighed as she supplied, “He was here for recommended peer counselling.”
“That one doesn’t look like he has issues.” I commented.
“Hopefully, I can prevent that if he starts talking. He doesn’t have issues yet, he’s just still troubled and rebellious. The ones with issues go to the guidance counsellor’s office. He didn’t seem to have any trouble with hero-worship now, did he?” She smiled knowingly.
“Obviously not,” I played along and there was that silence again.
“I have a Geography test on Wednesday,” I supplied.
“Good,” Sam replied, nodding. “You should be prepared if you study tonight and tomorrow. If there is any way I can help, please let me know.”
I nodded, hesitating to tell her about the team list that was out and the fact that I wouldn’t need her anymore. Over the past few weeks, I’ve started to enjoy her company a lot. I might not show it, or even acknowledge her help much, but she’s helped me develop a confidence in my abilities, so much that I feel I can do anything. I wish I could be her friend forever, but since we roll in different circles, and my friends would not even think of hanging out with her, that wish would be a bit tricky to fulfil.
In that instant I decided I wouldn’t tell her about the list right now just to enjoy her company a bit longer.
I brought out a math textbook I had a freshman pull out of the library since I couldn’t risk going in there and ruining my reputation.
“I got you this,” I presented the text to Sam; “It is to help you with the math question you are so obsessed with.”
She smiled, accepting the textbook and browsing through it before returning it to me.
“I don’t think I’ll be needing that anymore.” She informed me.
It was unbelievable that she would have solved that complicated crazy question so soon. She must really be a genius. I couldn’t hide my incredulity, “You solved it already? I didn’t think that was possible.”
Sam laughed a bit softly, “ I think I’ve lost my motivation for trying to solve it in the first place. The more I try, the more difficult it seems to become. It is just impossible,” she finished.
Now that was something I really couldn’t believe. “For all your talk on mediocrity, you are giving up?” I asked her.
She sighed and looked down at her hands, “You cannot really say I didn’t try, and there are better things to do with my time than solve something that is inconsequential in the real world. I don’t need to solve that question to get an A, I need to focus on my other courses and my college applications,” she finished.
“College applications? Isn’t it a bit early for that right now?” I asked her. Yeah, it’s the big, bad future. As unlikely as it probably seems, I have been thinking seriously about the future recently and it all looks so mapped out to me, I’m not anticipating any problems.
“It might seem so, but the future is upon us even as we speak. I was actually thinking of applying early so that I’ll be able to assess my options, and make important cutthroat decisions. Besides, I need the time to get together a killer application.” Sam explained wistfully.
“Options? Killer Application? Sounds like hard work. Honestly, it also sounds like you are aiming a bit too high.” I tried to reason with her.
Sam nodded and frowned, “I was planning to apply to about twelve or thirteen colleges, Stanford, Harvard, Brown, Yale, UNC, Washington, maybe even Indiana.”
“Are you serious?” I asked her, disbelieving.
“Yeah, I am. I don’t think my SAT’s was that great and I have to try to get into as many colleges as possible so that I’ll be sure I will get into one. Am I making any sense?” She stopped rambling and looked at me.
I smiled a bit melancholically, “Not really, but I think I got the main idea. You are trying to apply into as many colleges as possible as a form of insurance, right?” I asked, trying to clarify.
“Right,” she nodded, smiling back.
I leaned on the table, “So, what exactly did you get on your not-too-great SAT’s?”
“2480,” she replied a bit hesitantly.
I sat up straighter in my seat, “What?!”
She fumbled self-consciously with the book in front of her, “I told you it wasn’t that good, even you can’t believe it. I don’t know what I was thinking. I didn’t prepare well enough for that exam. It was the week before the Finals for the North Carolina Mathlete Championship.”
“Whoa,” I exhaled noisily. “I can’t believe that,” I noticed Sam’s head droop down a bit, “but that’s because it’s too good to be true. I didn’t even know it was possible for someone to get such an high score. Congratulations.”
Sam perked up and smiled shyly and gratefully, “Thanks,” she said, “My mom told me the same thing but I found out that a girl from Dame Valley got a 2500.”
I still couldn’t believe it. I didn’t even know that such scores existed. I was ashamed of my own SAT’s and wished I had worked harder on it. “It’s only twenty points more than yours. Are you guys geniuses or what?”
“I really don’t think so,” Sam replied. “There are people with higher scores on the planet.”
“I seriously doubt that,” I told her truthfully, “and I really don’t think you should apply into so many schools.”
“Why?” she asked, suddenly self-conscious again.
“Because you are going to give yourself a whole lot of headache trying to figure out which of the schools to finally go to.” She should probably see a counsellor if she was so stumped about what schools to apply to. As for me, I didn’t have much choice; I was prepared to wait until college representatives started coming around to sign up new players.
“What about you?” Sam asked me, concerned.
“What about me?” I asked her. For all my mapped-out plan, It sounded to me as though I didn’t have any hope compared to her.
“Are you planning on applying soon, and to which schools?”
“I will apply,” I told her evasively, “but I’m waiting for the drafts first. College reps would start coming over in a few weeks.”
Sam frowned, “Do you think it’s advisable to wait for that? What if it doesn’t work out?”
I shook my head, “Failure is not an option. It will work out. I’ll practise the hardest I can and play the best I can. It has to.”
“It’s all good and admirable, but still, what if you don’t get drafted? You have great scores now, even though I know you can still improve on them, but they are good enough to get you into college, plus your basketball experience. You have hope, and you have options. Believe in yourself and make use of it.”
“Is this peer tutoring or peer counselling?” I joked.
“Both, I guess,” she replied, humouring me. “I think we should get to the tutoring part now though. We have extra ground to cover since I will not be able to make our Friday session.”
“Why?” I asked her.
“Val and I are going shopping, we are attending a party Friday night.” She explained.
“Please, please, don’t tell me it’s the Meredith Campbell party,” I groaned.
“Oh, you know it?” Sam asked innocently, “Are you going?”
“How on earth did you land an invite? It was supposed to be exclusive.” I asked her, becoming very suspicious by the second.
Sam looked hurt, “Well, excuse me if I’m not exclusive enough for you.”
I looked up, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it the way it came out. I just wanted to know how you came to be invited when the invites were so scarce.”
She sighed, “Actually, Meredith came over to my lunch table and gave me one. My friends went back for theirs later.”
“It’s no wonder three of my teammates didn’t get invites. Your friends took the remaining ones. Why did Meredith ever invite you to her party?”
Sam shrugged, “I don’t know. She probably took pity on my lack of a social life, and decided to spice it up a bit.”
I didn’t think so. Something just didn’t sit right. I felt instantly that April had something to do with it but I couldn’t be sure since there was no apparent motive. “I would advise you not to go, but you obviously see this as a way to take part in the passage rites of High School, you should go. Something stinks, and I don’t know what it is. I still don’t think that Meredith knew anything about you before the weekend,” I said. I would ask April, but I still wasn’t sure how to go about it without seeming a bit presumptuous and suspicious.
“Thanks,” she said.
“Just be careful,” I warned, “teenage girls can be mean at times.”
“What do you mean?” Sam asked curiously and the only thing I could think about was April’s face when I used Sam as an excuse for not being able to attend the party.
“Just that. I think it’s something you say to someone after you’ve just given them advice.”
Sam nodded uncertainly, “Okay, cool, whatever.”
I nodded too and try to turn the conversation back to where it was before the party talk started, “So, I still think you shouldn’t give up on that crazy guy’s math question.” I advised her, “It’s the sort of thing that looks good on a college application.”
Sam nodded, “So also is drastically improved grades without the help of a few irrelevant-to-real-life touchdowns.”
I shook my head, easily falling into argument mode, “I think Math and Physics are more irrelevant to real life than basketball.”
“Think what you will,” Sam countered safely, “Let’s see which gets you a place on the Honours Engineering program.”
“Good point,” I said, still nodding in approval when her phone rang.
Sam glanced at the caller ID before picking up. Glancing apologetically at me and beaming from ear to ear.
“Hey, Josh,” she said. As much as I didn’t like eavesdropping on other people’s conversations, I couldn’t help this since I was sitting directly in front of her and she wasn’t making an effort to keep the conversation down.
Josh, I thought, would be the guy with her at the mall over the weekend. I wondered again if they were a couple.
I glanced at Sam again, and after saying ‘yes’ in response a few times, she said, ‘sorry I forgot’ once, and finished with a “See you in an hour.”
I tried not to get jealous, but I couldn’t help myself. I know I didn’t have any reason to be jealous of her boyfriend since I have not openly or even privately declared any feelings for her, but I still was. How come the new student came here and grabbed one of the smartest, most beautiful girls in school, while those who had always been there had only one of the most beautiful, who was missing the smart part.
It probably goes to show how shallow we all were at this school.
Sam put the phone in her bag and looked up apologetically again, “I’m really sorry about that, but I have to run in an hour.”
I nodded once, my face grim, “I couldn’t help overhearing that part. You are free to do whatever you like since you do not answer to me. You are only doing me a favour.”
She nodded once, and then looked closely at me, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I guess,” I replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You looked kinda pale before, but you are gaining your true colour back.”
“I’m fine,” I said curtly. “Let’s just get this over with now so you can go on your precious date.” Even to my ears, those words sounded totally weird, inappropriate and very jealous.
“It’s not really a date,” she tried to protest. “If you need me to help you study for your test on Wednesday, I’ll gladly cancel.”
“Oh, no, you don’t have to. I’m really sorry, I’m fine. I just felt weird for a moment there.”
“Okay, cool. Let’s go over some American History. Who was George Washington?” Sam asked.
“Oh, that guy was totally a movie star. Is he dead now?” I asked, jokingly trying to lighten the mood.
“Okay, so who is Tom Cruise?” Sam asked playing along.
“That one sounds like a President of some sorts. I’m pretty sure he’s still alive,” I finished.
“Right, that’s great. And now we can move you up to second grade. Congrats.” Sam said, laughing.
I laughed with her too before getting serious again. “I’ve come a long way, Sam, since I met you. There was a time when I couldn’t care less who the President of America or of Hollywood was. I think I’ve made a definite improvement. Thanks,” I said truthfully and sincerely.
Sam smiled as though she was pleased, “It’s great to know I’ve had so much impact.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.