A/N: This was actually done several days ago. I just forgot to proofread it and upload it. I have the next chapter already completed. Just have to proofread it before I upload it. So expect another upload tomorrow for all you great people. Remember, stay safe, healthy and have a great night. (I say night because it's night where I live when I'm uploading this)
Tridon walked through the school after one of his classes and overheard some underclassmen talking. Tridon stood by the corner of the hallway and listened in.
"That new girl is kinda good looking huh?" One of them said, "I heard she left and she's back for her senior year."
"Yeah, but there's no way we can get her." Another added, "She's way out of our league."
Tridon watched them walk away while they continued to talk about the new student. Tridon sighed and nodded, "Alright..."
At PE, Tridon exited the boys' locker room and stretched a little. He looked at the other side of the gym and saw Monika with Sayori and a certain girl. Tridon crossed his arms while another boy walked up to him.
"Hey Tridon." The boy greeted.
Tridon turned to the boy and said, "'Sup Mitchell..." Tridon stared at the girl and he asked, "So the new girl all these underclassmen are talking about is Erica."
"Yup." The boy, Mitchell, confirmed, "What are you gonna do?"
"I don't know. I gotta find a way to work this out."
"What do you mean?"
"Look at her. She's with Monika and Sayori. They're also part of the literature club. Do you know what this means?!" Tridon grabbed Mitchell's shirt collar and yanked it. However, this earned the attention of everyone in the gym. Tridon looked around and nervously chuckled.
"Well since you like to talk and yell so much Mr. Pierce." The PE teacher began, "Why don't you take 5 laps around the gym."
"Yes sir." Tridon nodded. Tridon sighed and started on his laps. He ran by the 3 girls and he could see them laughing at him while he ran. He shook his head and focused on his laps.
During his laps, their PE teacher started, "Alright, so before we start our day, take notice that the school drama club will run through something today during our class. When they enter, I want everyone to relax for the rest of class."
"Drama Club?" Tridon questioned, "They're doing that stupid High School Musical thing. That's dumb." Tridon continued listening to the PE teacher while they continued.
"For now, we'll be doing a pickup basketball game. 3-on-3's. Choose your teammates."
"It's obvious those 3 are teaming." Tridon finished up his laps and brought his arms behind his head while he took deep breaths, "Who's gonna be mine..." He looked around and saw Mitchell giving him a thumbs up. Tridon walked over to him and nodded, "So who's our third?"
"I don't know."
Tridon looked around and noticed a certain purple-haired girl standing behind the bleachers, "Is that...?" Tridon was about to walk over, but Monika, Sayori, and Erica stopped him, "That's Yuri. Why is she on her own?"
"She can't participate." Monika answered, "She has asthma. Or that's what her doctor note said."
"She's forging notes?"
"Yeah," Sayori answered, "but let her sit out please? She's not very athletic and the last thing you want is to see is her... ta-ta's bouncing around. Especially during basketball."
"Right." Tridon turned to Erica and smiled, "And here you are."
"Here I am." Erica responded, "I was able to transfer from my other high school back to this one."
"Cool." Tridon looked around and scratched his head, "We still need a 3rd person."
"I can do it..." Yuri answered quietly from behind them, "Will you allow me?"
"But Yuri..." Tridon tried to say something, but Yuri shook her head, "If the Teach' will allow it, then I'm all for it."
"He's already given permission."
"Alright."
"Mr. Pierce," The PE teacher called out, "your team will be facing against theirs."
Tridon gave the thumbs up and signaled for a ball, "First to what Teach'?!" Tridon called out.
"First to 10 points wins Mr. Pierce."
"Gotcha'." Tridon nodded to Mitchell and Yuri who got in position. Mitchell was ready while Yuri was a little shy, "Yuri." Tridon called out. He made gesture with his hand to calm her down and she nodded.
She took a deep breath and got ready while both teams stared each other down. Tridon stared at Erica who stood across from him and he bounced the ball to her.
"Your call."
"Check." She bounced it back. Tridon chuckled and nodded, "Let's do it Tridon."
"Yeah." Tridon passed the ball to Mitchell immediately and ran past Erica.
"Monika. Get him!" Erica ordered while chasing after Tridon.
Mitchell dribbled to the other goal and tried to pass to Tridon, but he wasn't open. He saw Yuri open and shrugged his shoulders. Mitchell passed the ball through Monika's legs and Yuri caught it. She dribbled a little bit while Sayori guarded her.
Yuri dribbled for second before hitting Sayori with a quick crossover. She dribbled to the goal and performed a lay up and easily made a shot.
"Whoa..." Everyone in the gym were shocked at Yuri. She looked around and shyly waved.
Monika caught the ball and was shocked too. However, she quickly recovered and passed the ball to Sayori. Tridon nodded and gave Yuri a thumbs up before running to guard Erica. Yuri sighed in relief and followed through with the game
After their game, they were huffing and puffing over by the bleachers. Tridon stretched and high-fived Mitchell, "That was a good game." Tridon commented, "Close too..."
"But you 3 came out on top." Monika huffed, "You're really athletic Tridon, but I'm more surprised with Yuri."
"Yeah Yuri." Sayori started, "You are awesome at basketball!"
"No..." Yuri twirled her hair shyly and smiled, "I just copy what I see online."
"That's talent." Mitchell added, "Why aren't you on the basketball team?"
"Guys," Erica interrupted, "look at her. Would she do something like that in front of large crowds of people." Everyone took a moment think and eventually nodded in agreement.
"I gotta say though," Tridon started, "you were amazing Yuri."
"Thank you..."
Just a few moments later, the group sat at the bleachers watching other pickup games or relaxing after their game.
"Yo Mitchell," Tridon began, "is your club doing anything special for the festival?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"I heard from some of your club members talking about it. I wanna participate in it if you'll allow it."
"Sure thing. It's a professional wrestling match. Have you trained?"
"Yeah. 2 years now."
"Ha. You continue to surprise me." The two fist bumped just as Monika joined them, "Oh. I'll leave you two alone."
"What?" Tridon confusingly asked. Tridon turned around to see Monika smiling at him, "Hey Monika."
"Hey there Tridon."
"Is there a problem?"
"Well, you know what's this week?"
"Um..."
"The mid-terms idiot."
"Yeah. Are you worried about it?"
"Not entirely." Monika sighed and leaned back, "You're the number two and I'm the number one in our class."
"Are you worried I might take your top spot."
"No!" She yelled, "I mean. I was thinking that we could keep it interesting."
"I'm listening."
"So let's make a bet. If I can keep my number 1 spot, you and I have to go on a date. Like an official date."
"That's cheating." Tridon commented, "You know the other girls won't allow that."
"Nah, nah. Just wait. If you somehow take that number 1 spot, I will..."
"Let's make it this way." Tridon interrupted, " If I get number 1, I want you and the girls to help me with something next week. If you get number 1, I'll go on 1 date with you. Just 1."
"I can live with that."
"Good. Because if I officially start dating you, then that's gonna stir up some trouble in the club." Tridon looked at Yuri and asked, "Did you know Yuri was that good at basketball?"
"Not a clue." Monika responded, "There's no way she learned how to play that well by just watching."
"What if she used to play?" Tridon wondered, "I mean. I can't do half of what she did during our game. Half of what I did was because of my athleticism, but there's more to her."
"What are you thinking?"
"I'm not sure yet. I think Yuri is secretly athletic." He smirked and sighed, "We'll figure it out soon enough."
Midway through PE class, the drama club made their way into the gym dressed in their costumes for their play.
"Alright," Their PE teacher began, "go and dress out. Relax for the rest of class."
Tridon and Mitchell made their way to the locker room, but a basketball was accidentally thrown in their direction. Tridon quickly caught it and looked at where it came from. He saw one of the drama club members waving and mouthing 'Sorry' to them.
"I don't think they know how basketballs work." Tridon threw it back and sighed, "They're doing that one song from the movie."
"Getcha' Head In The Game?" Mitchell answered, "Do you know the song?"
"I mean, they played the movies a lot during elementary school. So it's pretty engraved into my head."
"Why don't you join in just because."
"What? That's stupid." Tridon looked over at the drama club as they began rehearsing. He sighed and followed Mitchell into the locker rooms.
While changing, Tridon asked Mitchell, "Hey dude, I always wondered what you thought about me when we first met."
"We first met in freshmen year. Uh," Mitchell scratched the back of his head and said, "I don't know. I thought you were a normal dude. I remembered you from middle school, but we didn't know each other during middle school."
"Yeah. I'm surprised we still know and talk to each other after all these years."
"Well, you needed someone who wasn't Sayori to talk to."
"True." Tridon put his uniform jacket back on and fist bumped Mitchell, "I'll see you out there dude."
"Same."
Tridon made his way out of the locker room and stretched for a second. He took a seat over by the girls and took out his phone. He checked his newest message that was from Tiffany. The message read as:
Robert Arias has no memory of Erica or his arranged marriage. However, he hasn't forgotten you and now he has a new wife that looks to help him take your powers.
Tridon sighed and responded:
I honestly don't care. Mid-terms start Wednesday and the school festival is next week. The last thing I want is for that dude to mess with me and my friends.
He sent it and waited for a response. She sent back:
I'll keep tabs on him. Just focus on school.
"What is she? My mom?"? Tridon sighed and put his phone away while turning to the girls and Mitchell joining with them. They conversed for a good moment before Yuri pulled Tridon alone.
"What's up Yuri?"
"I need some advice."
"Yeah?"
"The PE teacher wants me to try out for the girl's basketball team."
"Makes sense. You were great out there."
"But I can't do it." Yuri quickly refuted, "I can't play in front of a lot of people in games that actually matter. There's no way I could do that. I would have an anxiety attack the minute I step on that court."
"Yeah. That would be bad."
"What do I do?"
"Well, the last thing I would want is for you to pass out." Yuri was about to say something, but Tridon stopped her, "And don't let me be your personal coach or something. I barely know anything about basketball. Football yeah, but basketball is a complete enigma to me. I only played in middle school from what I saw on TV."
"So should I say that I won't join the team?"
"Yeah. Tell him why and I'm pretty... doubtful he'll understand."
A few moments later, the PE teacher responded, "I completely understand."
"That's the opposite of what I thought." Tridon crossed his arms and asked, "Why were you so easy to accept that?"
"Well, Yuri here reminds me of my own daughter. Shy and not really wanting to be the center of attention. I had my daughter do something that set off an anxiety attack for her and I made it my mission to make sure nobody else went through that."
"Oh." Yuri was rather shocked and smiled, "That's a good mission."
"I know. Now run along. Just relax until the end of class."
The two nodded and walked away, "Well," Tridon began, "that went well." Tridon and Yuri high-fived one another when they met back up with their group.
