Ruby

Life returned back to normal after Mom went back to Mistral.

"Tyrian Callows and Clover Ebi are getting tangled up in the middle of the game!" The commentator roared into his microphone. From the loud ruckus in the background, the home team's basketball fans were jeering from the side. "Callows took a swing, but missed! They both went down to the floor and — Whoa, my goodness! He is now putting Ebi in a chokehold! Both teams' benches are trying to break them up. It looks like not only will Callows get ejected from tonight's game, but he will also be suspended for the remaining of this season's playoffs!"

"You should be walking face forward or else you might run into another pole." Coming from behind, Yang scuffled my hair in which I tried to shake off. "Whatcha watching, Ruby?"

She peeked over my shoulder to look at the video playing from my phone. It was midseason for the playoffs: Mistral Stingers versus Vale Aces.

"Tyrian Callows got into a tussle with Clover Ebi in last night's game," I jabbered excitedly, keeping my face glued to the screen as I walked to my first morning class.

"No way!" Yang tried to move my head to get a better look at the video. "Holy smokes! Did Callows just push the referee?!"

"Tyrian Callows also earned a technical foul for his team!" The commentator shouted in exclamation. "Looks like the Stingers are not happy about this…"

"Oh, no way, he did!"

"That guy is a total nutcase."

"Hey Ruby! Hey Yang!" I heard Sun's greeting from behind as he jogged up to us. Following on his heels, Jaune casually made his way with a basketball tucked underneath his arms. He opted for a wave to say hello.

"Did you see last night's game?" I paused my video and asked them.

"With Tyrian? Heck yeah I did!" Sun clamored in excitement. "It was so sick. You should've seen Clover's face when Tyrian was trying to whoop his butt."

"Sun won't shut up about it," Jaune rolled his eyes. "That's all he has been talking about."

"Come on, man. When do you ever see Tyrian throw down? That guy will mad dog you but never swing a fist."

"Not until yesterday," Yang smirked.

"Speaking of basketball games…" Sun halted in his track which prompted all of us to stop walking altogether.

"What?" I said when I found him staring intently at me for some reason.

"There's a three versus three match after school against Beacon High. A girl needs to be on both teams. You in?"

"Beacon High?" I knitted my brows. It was against Weiss' school.

"You know when the basketball crashed into the window and nailed you in the face?" Jaune tried to put some context into it. When he brought that up, I winced at the memory. I had a ball smack me on the face and my heart broken. All in one day. "Yeah, so long story short, we bumped into those same guys again, had a small scuffle — "

"Not the one like Tyrian and Clover!" Sun said defensively.

"— and we made a bet," Jaune concluded.

"A bet?" Yang and I shared a glance.

"Losers apologizes," Jaune kept it short and simple. "A blow to one's pride. Soo… Are you in?"

"Hello? How about me?" Yang pointed at herself like she mattered.

"It's three versus three, not four versus three."

"No substitutes?"

"No subbing players out," Jaune clarified.

Yang gave him a thumbs down and booed.

"Hm," I cupped my chin and contemplated my choices. If I were to join their team, that meant I wouldn't be able to walk home with Weiss after school. But if I were to walk home with Weiss, I wouldn't be able to see the guys groveling on their knees to apologize. Decisions, decisions. "Alright, I'm in."

"Yes!" The boys gave each other high fives.

I'll text Weiss later and tell her I wouldn't be able to meet up with her today.


I just realized I might be way past the half point of finishing this story.