A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is a day late, my internet was out yesterday so I couldn't upload anything. Anyway here it is now so enjoy...
Chapter 13: Beginner's luck.
Humphrey's POV:
The rest of my first day passed fairly quickly and I had to admit it went well. As it turned out Kate was in all four of my main subjects which I was happy about since it meant I would get to see her for the majority of my school week. After English I had automotive engineering, which I was looking forwards to despite the fact that Kate wasn't in that class. There had always been something about cars that relaxed me, although since my father had died it was bittersweet since he was originally the one who taught me about them. At lunchtime I met my homeroom teacher to have her assign me a locker which didn't take long before heading to the cafeteria with Chris, Rob and Barry, my group members for Automotive Engineering or AE as they called it. They were a little odd but seemed like good guys and were very accepting, leading us to becoming friends despite it only having been a little over two hours. As it turned out the table they usually sat at was shared with Abby and the others from earlier.
They all greeted me as I approached and I baulked for a moment as I struggled to remember all their names but after a second it came to me. There was Abby and Brittany, both of whom were brunettes but Abby was skinny whereas Brittany had a curvy figure and was in excellent shape being one of the school's cheerleaders. The other half were the twins, Angel and Samantha, or Sam. They were identical except for the fact that Angel was a natural blonde and Sam dyed her hair bright purple, which I was amazed the school allowed. I was surprised but pleased when Kate came over and joined them, as it happens they were all close friends.
I found out as we were leaving the cafeteria from Rob that though they sat at the same table, there was never any conversation between the two groups. I nodded upon hearing this as it explained why things had been a little awkward at first despite them regularly sitting at the same table. Things had slowly relaxed into a pleasant atmosphere however and we'd all joked and had fun. I was also surprised to learn that, amongst the boys in our years, Kate's group was the most popular and most were scared to approach them. This had led to some incredulous looks from Chris, Barry and Rob at the table when it'd come out that I knew them all despite it being my first day to which I'd shrugged and joked about beginner's luck, getting a few laughs.
Basketball training took place immediately after school so once Social Studies had let out I'd run to my car, grabbing the bag containing my sportswear before running for the gym. I'd had to leave it there this morning since I didn't get a locker until lunch and in all that had happened I'd forgotten to transfer it. Thankfully I made good time as I ran into the change room and swapped into some more suitable clothes. I noticed that some of the others were sizing me up as they walked past but realised that they knew why I was here when one had slapped my shoulder and wished me good luck. In the end I was only about thirty seconds behind them as I jogged out into the gym, tossing my bag near the others and joining the other nine in the semi-circle around Charlie.
"Ah Humphrey, there you are." She said, nodding to me before turning to the others. "So as you might've guessed Humphrey here is going to be trying out to join us."
She explained which led to a few comments from them. "Looks alright." "Probably a shooter." "What position is he?" I ignored what they were saying as I smiled, lowering my head a little in greeting.
"It's nice to meet you all. I'm looking forwards to working together."
Charlie's POV:
Charlie waited for Humphrey to finish introducing himself before clapping her hands to get their attention once more.
"Pass the tryout first, there'll be time for chatter later." She said to him before turning back to the team to give them their instructions.
"Alright Hutch, you'll be with me. I need you to help with the tryout. The rest of you will do our usual warm up followed by shooting drills. The last half will be a practice game, as usual." She said, rattling out the instructions before clapping once more and waving them away. She knew that they'd probably slack off a little without her there but it couldn't be helped, besides which they were all fairly serious about basketball so hopefully they'd be motivated enough.
"As for you two, we'll be using court three since court two is taken." She said, gesturing towards the other courts. She saw Humphrey look that way as well and couldn't help but smile to herself as he gave a surprised reaction to the cheerleaders on court two. 'Must not have noticed them.' Charlie thought to herself as she turned her attention to Hutch.
"Can you take some cones and a few balls over there? Set the cones for a dribble drill." She said, to which he nodded and headed off to do as requested.
"So Humphrey, what position do you play?" She asked, slightly amused as she realised he'd been looking over at the cheerleaders the whole time. He didn't answer her immediately, gently scratching the scar on his jaw as he thought.
"Well... I'm not really sure. I like to shoot threes. For defence I've just done one to one." He said slowly. This time it was her turn to fall into thought. 'Maybe shooting guard? Or small forward?' She thought to herself before something about what he'd said hit her and she had to ask.
"Humphrey, you've played on a team before right?" She waited for his answer a little nervously as she eyed him.
Humphrey's POV:
I gave a slight shrug before answering Charlie's question, "Yes and no. I mean I've always played five against five but it was never really a team per say." I thought this would answer the question but she looked even more concerned than before as she followed up with another question.
"Humphrey, tell me what your past experience with basketball is." She said now in a firm tone that surprised me. Things had suddenly turned from friendly to accusing and I had no idea why.
"When I travelled through the States I would play basketball whenever I could. There were plenty of games on all the time and I'd join in." I explained, before continuing with a laugh as I remembered my first few games.
"I was hopeless as first but the father of one of the families I stayed with was a coach of some kind and he taught me how to play." I concluded. As I finished Charlie let out a large sigh and dropped her head for a moment.
"I understand now. No wonder you don't know your position. Well let's go and we'll see what you've got." She said after a moment, gesturing to the other court where Hutch had just finished arranging the cones. I nodded and followed her over to the court, pausing for a moment when we got there as I looked at the ring down the other end.
"Char-... I mean, Ms. Imnriss? Is it alright if I warm up a bit first?" I asked, gesturing to the other ring. "I err... haven't played in a little while after all." I added, laughing a little.
Charlie's expression was completely blank as she thought for a minute before nodding, grabbing a ball from the bin nearby and tossing it to me. I caught it and walked to half court, placing it down to the side and beginning to run suicides to warm up. It didn't take long as I'd already run from the car park to the gym so after three cycles I figured I was ready. 'Wonder what they're talking about.' I thought to myself as I picked up the ball, looking over to where Charlie was saying something to Hutch, who was nodding his understanding. Shrugging it off I began to dribble the ball a little, smiling in satisfaction as I realised that I wasn't too out of practice. I moved on to some lay ups, mixing in some crossovers and such as I quickly regained my rhythm from before. After ten or so I figured that was good enough and stepped away a little, taking a deep breath before launching a shot from mid range. My first few shots were abysmal but after a few I found the correct form, the shot just missing, bouncing on the ring twice before falling out. I clicked my tongue in annoyance but I was pleased that it was coming back to me as I collected the ball, shooting a mixture of mid-range twos and threes from around the court, the results far better than before.