Chapter 11 is now here!

I own nothing. The Rodgers family, however, is mine. Drum roll, please!


I finished my shower and dressed up in my pajamas, still thinking about what is inside that box that Nawt slipped into my pocket. Despite that I want to look inside and see what he gave me, I refrained.

I trust Nawt's word and his intentions...

'But it's just so tempting! No fair!'

I shook my head and reprimanded myself for being so selfish. I knew I had to wait until the time was right, so I finished drying my hair and took off downstairs. Hale was downstairs watching the television. At first I didn't know what he was watching until I walked up behind him from the sofa.

"Hey, Hale. What's going on?"

Hale glanced at me with a worried expression. "It's the news. Listen to this!"

He boosted up the volume as the newscaster came on with the headline: 'Basketball Season: Canceled'

My mind seemed to have blow into a million pieces right there. We listened as the newscaster describing that after getting X-rays, MRI's, EKG's, and a variety of medical treatments, nothing seemed to cure the NBA players of their current states. As a final statement, the newscaster then announced that according to public officials that until they could guarantee the health and safety of their players, that there would be no more basketball this season.

Hale turned off the TV as they switched crew members. He then threw his hands up and shouted in frustration.

"Can you believe this? Now there won't be anymore basketball this season!"

I couldn't believe it either. My brother and I are big time basketball fans and we used to play non stop before we were crammed with constant studying and not to mention Hale's soccer practice and my singing lessons.

Hale buried his head in his hands. "Now what are we gonna do, Kari? What's gonna happen to basketball now?"

I opened my mouth, but closed it again. I couldn't form any words that could help to console my dear brother, let alone myself.

'I wish I knew the answer, Hale. Trust me. I'm just as worried and destroyed as you are..'

Thinking quickly, I tried to see if I was able to switch the subject.
"Hey, what did Mr. Folles say about the extra tickets? Did you explain to him about our basketball game that we have on the very same day?"

Hale lifted his head up and looked at me, sorrow still lingering in his eyes.

"Yeah. He said it was a surprise that we needed that many, but he's cool with it. The more people, the merrier. As for the game, he was slightly concerned about it cutting into our rehearsal time, but I told him that we will manage practice sessions for our part on the weekends, including Friday until the day of the game and the talent show. He agreed and then simply said he'll give us the extra tickets this weekend when we see him for rehearsal."

For some particular reason, I felt hope shimmering in my heart. Somehow, I felt that everything will manage out alright.

Hale seems to have caught on to that too from just looking at me.

"Kari?"

I blinked and then smiled at him. "Don't worry, Hale. I believe that somehow, we can get things back to how they once were."

His eyes grew a bit wide. "How can you say that? Are you sure?"

"Well," I took his hand and gripped it, "I can't exactly say that they will be a hundred percent the same as they were before, but what I mean is.. that we can't give up. If we help the Tunes win this game, then surely things should go back to how they were for the NBA and for us too. We may not be able to just forget all this, but we gotta try to make the most of it. You know?"

Just knowing how Hale is and his personality makes me so happy and lucky that he's my brother. He gripped my hand back with a winner's smirk plastered across his face. "You're right. We can do this!"

He got up and for the first time in a while, embraced me in a hug. An awkward hug, but a hug nonetheless.

"Thanks, Kari. You always seem to be a light for everyone when things go down and dark."

I patted his back. "It's nothing, really."


Later that evening after Hale finished his shower, mom came home with some Chinese take out like she promised in her note. Hale and I took the liberty of putting away our laundry and Hale spent a good hour and a half cleaning out his entire room. I glanced a peek at his room after we finished dinner and I helped our mom put away groceries, and my jaw almost hit the floor.

'Sweet merciful Aphrodite, it's actually CLEAN!' I carefully walked into my room, not making a sound so as to not have Hale jump at me for staring obliviously at his now impeccable domain.

Dad came home late, saying that some of his workers were slacking off and he had extra paperwork to file. It was not long after until mom and dad decided to turn in for the night, leaving me and Hale awake in the house, though exhausted and beat from the minimal chores we just accomplished.

Hale walked over to my doorway and leaned against the door frame.

"So we have two weeks, huh?"

I stared up at my ceiling in thought. "Yep. Two weeks until the show.. and the game."

He nodded. "Kari, no matter what, we can't lose. We have to try our best and like you said, make the most of it."

I sat up and nodded at him. "I know. The Tunes are counting on us."

With that being said, Hale bid me goodnight and left into his room, closing the door behind him. I got up and closed my door. Sighing, I turned around and glanced at the rose sitting in the vase on my vanity.

'Hale's right, we can't hold back either, even if it means going all the way. This had better work.. for the sake of the NBA, the Tunes, and ourselves.'

I sauntered over to my bed and tucked myself underneath the covers. Switching off my night table lamp, I closed my eyes, hoping that a miracle somehow works out in all of this madness.


Morning came fairly quick, and I was somewhat glad about it. I got up and decided to get dressed. I glanced at my clock. It read 7:13, which was pretty early in my opinion, considering we were on summer vacation.

I put on a pair of boot-cut jeans, a black shirt with five white stars on the front, some white ankle socks and my black converses. I quickly brushed out my short hair and placed my necklace on and then took my leave. As I opened my door, I noticed Hale was already awake since he wasn't in his room. I took a head start downstairs and saw him eating a bowl of cereal with an apple and some orange juice. His hair was naturally spiked up in his usual fashion and wore his navy blue Tony Hawk shirt, jeans, and his white Nike's.

Happily, I joined him with a banana I grabbed from the fruit bowl on the counter top and a bowl of Frosted Flakes with a glass of orange juice. We bid each other good morning and downed our breakfast as quickly as possible. He informed me that he already told mom and dad that we were going to go to the park again for more exercise.

"You know we have to tell them sooner or later, Hale. We can't keep our basketball meetings a secret from mom and dad forever."

He looked at me with acknowledgment. "I know. We'll tell them tonight, but we can't mention about the Tunes or the Monstars. At least, not right away."

"Okay." I knew where Hale was coming from and I don't blame him.

He grabbed his necklace and I grabbed mine as we got outside and locked our front door. Nodding in unison to one another, we grabbed the blue gems and in a flash, we disappeared.


We arrived to Looney Tune Land and right in front of the gymnasium, but with a notice on the gym doors.

Hale walked up to the door and took down the notice, reading it aloud.

"Kari and Hale,

Sorry if this seems out of proportion. Today's practice is canceled due to Daffy crashing into the bleachers and somehow caused the bleachers to fall apart. We are currently working on getting them repaired, so practice will have to be put off 'till next week Tuesday. Feel free to swing by anytime though!

From,

Bugs Bunny

P.S. There's an outside court you guys can still use if you want to shoot some hoops for your own satisfaction. Sorry for the inconvenience, docs!

"Is it me, or is everyone dissing us with notes?", Hale wondered out loud. I looked around 'till I caught sight of the outside court just a couple yards away.

"Hale! There's the court! Why don't we just take Bugs' word and just warm up ourselves? It'll at least help our boost of confidence when we get into the big game."

He glanced over where the court was and nodded. "M'kay. I still think everyone is just giving us notes for kicks."

'I may have to disagree with you on that matter. It's just you...'

We walked over to the court, setting down the basketball. "Well, I say we get started. Don't ya think so Kari?"

I agreed. We started off with some warm up stretching to flex our muscles and avoid cramping. After that, Hale was the first to shoot and from there, we passed the ball to one another, dribbling and taking turns for defense and offense moves. Little did both of us know that we were being watched.


Third Person POV:

From afar, the Monstars were watching Hale and Kari practice moves and shots. To say the least, all of them were very impressed, even Pound.

"Did you see that?", Bupkus said, completely astounded by their way of play.

"Yeah! Those kids are better than we thought!", erupted Bang, his eyes ogling from what he was seeing.

Nawt was shocked himself. He knew they were practicing and giving it their best, but now just seeing them merely practicing and by how both of them displayed their efforts so far made him speechless.

Blanko was just as astounded as the rest of them. He heard from Nawt that the girl was pretty cool, but he didn't expect her to be this good, and even the brother surprised him!

And after all this time, they thought he was a useless little shrimp!

Pound, out of all, was the most stunned. 'Since when did these two pipsqueaks become pros? How is this even possible?'

Snapping out of his stupor, he grinned a mischievous grin. "Come on, boys! Let's show those babies some REAL basketball moves!"

Bang and Bupkus glanced at Pound and smirked themselves. Blanko nodded but gave an unsure look towards Nawt, who seemed just as nervous. Nawt gave a nod, still worried about the outcome of his idea. He hoped deep down that Pound won't do something rash towards the kids.

"Well Kari, I think we deserve a little recess, don't you agree?" Hale asked his sister as they panted to catch some breath.

"I don't think so, little brat!" Pound's deep voice boomed right behind Hale, causing him to be startled, as well as Kari.

They turned about and saw before them the Monstars looming over them with cocky grins; all except Blanko and Nawt who gave them nervous looks.

"You're gonna be playing with the big boys now!", laughed Bang, pounding his fist into his hand. Bupkus chortled and Pound flashed his sharp teeth at them. Blanko stood there unsure of what to do or how to act.

Hale gave a look of determination; as if he was daring them to try him and his sister in a round of basketball.

Kari gave a worried glance towards Nawt, as if asking him, 'What are they doing here?'

Nawt gave her a similar look, all while wondering if he did the right thing by bringing them here.

Pound's grin grew with more devious intent. 'This is gonna be fun...'