Thanks to all my reviewers, but special thanks to my die-hard reviewers! Thanks for all the ideas, and don't be surprised if you see your somewhere in a story, whether it be this one or one down the road. I'm happy you guys like this so much. I think I might end this one (when it's time) and start the next when Mack and Calum go to high school. Tell me what you think.
On to chapter 21!
"Chad, this is for you. Front desk said to give it to you." Coach Bolton handed Chad a small envelope. All it said on the front was: Chad Danforth, East High Wildcats Basketball Team. It didn't have a stamp or return address. He turned it around and on the very bottom it said in small, familiar handwriting: Open it when everyone is gone.
Chad looked up at Coach Bolton, who had a small smile on his face that was barely visible.
"What is it Chad?"
"Yeah, open it!"
Chad stuffed it in his pocket and looked up. "Later guys, I'm hungry." The team rolled their eyes and headed out the door to get some food, none noticing Chad didn't move.
As soon as the players had left through the rotating doors of the hotel, Chad ripped the envelope open and grabbed the letter out. The note was scribbled on an index card: Turn around. Chad turned with so much force he almost fell over.
"This is a first, Chad Danforth skips breakfast. Front page by tomorrow."
Chad ran across the lobby and flew through the air before tackling his best friend. They stayed on the floor of the lobby laughing for what seemed like an eternity. The two boys stood up and dusted themselves off.
Chad was the first to speak. "You have no idea what your dad looked like when your mom called him. We were all in there and his face dropped. We thought you died!"
"Nope, still alive. Doesn't upset you too much, does it?"
They both chuckled and started to walk to the restaurant the team had gone to. "You guys put my jersey on a chair during the game?"
"Yeah, so you were there, sort of. How did vacation go without me?"
"A vacation without Chad...it was very quiet."
They were silent for a minute before Chad broke the silence. "So, what was it like?"
Troy took a deep breath. "It was pretty scary. To tell you the truth, I thought I was going to die. I just woke up and it started to go really fast." Troy looked down at his feet.
"I thought you said your parents didn't want you coming?"
"They didn't. My mom just had a sudden change of opinion. I didn't even know about it until this morning. But, I guess that's what she called about, tell Dad we were coming and about my little...incident."
"You can't play right?"
Troy shook his head, silently telling Chad that he couldn't play in the tournament. The two opened the door to the restaurant and walked inside. The team turned around to look at Troy and every single one smiled. They had been told he couldn't play, but just having him around made them feel better.
"Welcome back, Captain," Chad said smiling, happy his friend was back.
"You mean Co-Captain," Troy said. "I'm not the only captain anymore." Troy flashed Chad a grin and Chad's eyes widened. He knew exactly what Troy was getting at. Chad looked at his coach and his team, who were all nodding in approval. "When I was in the hospital, we voted for a new captain, just in case I didn't make it. We knew it would unanimous, so we just didn't tell you. We wanted it to be a surprise. Congrats!"
hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm
Troy sat in the locker room as the other guys got ready for the big game. He looked at his apparel. It was so different from his team's. He had jeans and his white wildcat jacket on. "You guys are slower than Sharpay!" Chad shouted.
Troy laughed, this was his team. Making fun of each other.
"And how would you know that Chad?"
"Oh, shut up Jason!"
"How you feeling buddy?" Troy turned his head from his team to look at his dad. Coach Bolton sat next to him. "You sure want to sit on the bench? Mack can be pretty loud."
"Yeah, she got a technical last game," one of the juniors on the team said.
"I think I can handle her."
Coach Bolton ruffled his hair and stood up. The doors to the locker room opened and a voice could be heard. "Is everyone decent in here?"
"Mack," Chad shouted to her, "everyone in here's shirtless."
Mack's face appeared, "oh, in that case." She walked in and sat on Troy's lap. "Goon."
"Troy, catch." Zeke threw Troy his jersey.
"What's this for?"
"You're still part of the team," Zeke said.
"If you want sit on our bench," Jason continued, "you're going to wear your jersey."
"Yeah, put it on Troy," Mack said smiling. "You haven't worn it for a long time."
Troy looked at the jersey apprehensively. The memory of him collapsing on the gym floor flashed before his eyes. The memory of the scariest few days of his life appeared before him. He remembered being attached to machines he had never seen and looking into the faces of people he didn't know. He remembered hearing his parents' conversation -when they had thought he had been asleep- about him. He saw his mother crying and wondering aloud why this had happened to him. But he found himself sliding out of the jacket and pulling the jersey on.
Putting the jersey on would be the first step in his healing process.
Hope you liked it! Sorry it was so short, but I thought it needed to end like that. Next chapter the team comes back to Albuquerque, so there will be a lot more Calum. Review!
