Wow…hiatus for over a year and my story is still receiving hits, reviews, and PMs. You have no idea how much this means to me and how grateful I am. That has definitely encouraged me to continue and finish this story as soon as I can.

Sorry I can't mention the pennames in this chapter because I'm a bit confused as to who did what, but I'd like to thank all those who've read and reviewed the last chapter. And apologizes if I did miss your name last chapter.

Just a couple of notes before I continue:

Now that I'm in high school basketball, I have a better feeling and understanding of the sport so I can hopefully make my descriptions more detailed. Before I was merely playing street basketball and just knew a few of the rules.

I also learned that the scoreboard doesn't really go to 102 like in the Gundalian's game. It only goes to the double-digits. And speaking of the Gundalian's game, I should've made it more realistic and allowed the Brawlers to score a few points. I'll try to work on being more realistic and to keep an eye out for factual errors throughout the story.

Enjoy!

Saturday…

"Watch the screen!" cried Shun as Fabia ran up next to Runo and planted her feet firmly to the ground with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Joe, who was dribbling the ball, ran past Fabia, using her body as a shield when Runo tried to chase after him.

"Switch!" Runo cried as Shun took over defending Joe while Runo took on Fabia. Unfortunately, Joe did a quick crossover dribble, squared himself up to the basket, and scored two points for his team.

"Nice one," said Dan as he and Joe high-fived.

The Brawlers were at Joe's place again since Jen's band had cancelled their practice. After their huge loss against the Gundalians, the Brawlers wanted to practice every minute they could.

"Hey, has anyone seen Julie?" asked Billy. "She said she would come over for a bit."

The rest of the team shrugged, but Shun merely pointed towards the street with his hawk eyes. "She's on her way."

And sure enough, she was. Heaving and panting, she ran up to the Brawlers with her usual cheery mood. "Sorry guys! I totally forgot about cheer practice, but now that it's done and over with, I have exciting news!"

"What's up?" asked Joe, twirling the ball on his index finger.

"We're getting a new student starting Monday!" Julie squealed.

"Is it a girl or a boy?" asked Chan.

"It's a guy. Karla told me after practice."

"How'd she know?" asked Alice.

Julie shrugs. "Who knows? I think her parents are involved with the district or something, but anyway, I hope he's cute!"

Billy cleared his throat to remind Julie that she still had a boyfriend.

"Oh don't worry, no one can be as cute as you," said Julie, pecking him on the cheek. Billy grinned.

"Okay, since it looks like we're already on a break, grab water before we continue," ordered Dan.

"Oh, sorry for interrupting your practice," said Julie.

"Don't sweat it," replied Dan, giving her his signature thumbs up.

~Basketball Brawlers~

Monday…

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

A loud scream rang through the hallways of Vestal Academy. Students walking towards school either plugged their ears or ran inside to see what was wrong. As the double doors opened, a peculiar scene awaited.

"YOU'RE the new kid?" Dan demanded, pointing a finger at the new student.

"Got a problem with that?" asked Ren with his arms folded. "I didn't ask for this okay? I'm about as happy as this as you are."

"Gah, WORST MONDAY EVER!"

"Tch, still annoying as always." Ren walked right past Dan and headed towards the office.

"Hey, get back here! I'm not through with you yet!" Ren ignored him and walked inside the room.

"Okay, show's over, move along people!" exclaimed Runo as she walked up to Dan with Shun and Marucho. Runo, for once, didn't call her boyfriend an idiot and let the other guys to all the talking.

"That was unnecessary," said Shun.

"I can understand why you're upset but there was no need to blow up like that," added Marucho.

Dan was still seething. "The bell's gonna ring soon," he mumbled as he walked off towards his classroom.

Huh, I wonder if Fabia knows…thought Runo.

~Basketball Brawlers~

Fabia was busily starting her third paragraph of her timed writing when the door opened. She didn't want to risk losing her train of thought by looking up, but she couldn't resist when other students gasped. Fabia's mouth dropped slightly as Ren walked through the door and handed a note to the teacher. She watched the two converse for a few moments until the Mrs. Heather pointed to a seat in the corner for Ren to take. Ren nodded and walked through the aisle. As he passed Fabia, he lingered for a moment as their eyes met. Fabia suddenly remembered she only had seven minutes left to finish her essay and immediately looked back down on her paper to continue writing.

"Time's up!" called Mrs. Heather. "Please pass up your essays."

Fabia sighed with relief of that fact that she finished just in time. After passing up her paper, she made eye contact with Alice and Julie and jerked her head near the corner where Ren was sitting.

Alice gave an apologetic smile while Julie merely grimaced and played nervously with her hair.

~Basketball Brawlers~

"All right kids, we're going to play basketball for the next unit!" exclaimed the P.E. teacher, Mr. Cook.

Everyone groaned for Joe was in this period and it was obvious that he was the best in the class.

Mr. Cook laughed, unaware of the situation. "C'mon, we're supposed to have fun in this class! Let's change our attitude people. Now, I want all of you to pay attention because I'm going to read out the teams and I'm only going to say it once. If you go into the incorrect team, you will be running." The class nodded as Mr. Cook read aloud from this clipboard, making sure to put Joe, Billy and Chan, who were also in the same period, on different teams.

"Okay, on court four we will have Chan's team against Jake's team. On court three we will have Billy's team against-oh hello, a little late are we?" Mr. Cook stopped reading aloud to address a student walking towards him.

"Sorry," replied Ren as he handed Mr. Cook a note. "I'm new so I got lost."

The class exchanged glances while Chan, Jake, Billy, and Joe gave each other wide eyes.

"That's all right, I'll let it go for today. But I need to put you on a team. Let's see…you can be on Victoria's team. You guys will be against Joe's team on court one."

The entire class except for Joe gasped. Joe and Ren made eye contact as if to take this as a personal challenge, even though it was just a P.E. class.

"I have a feeling this won't turn out well," said Chan to Jake and Billy.

"We can't worry about it now," said Jake, putting a strong arm on her shoulder. "Let's head to our court."

"Besides, it's just P.E.," reasoned Billy. "They shouldn't be treating this game like it's the championships or something."

Chan nodded and got into position on her court. But during her game, she couldn't resist looking back towards court one to see how things were going.

Joe was running towards the basket, getting ready for a layup. But just as he was about to tip the ball in the basket, Ren's hand came out of who-knows-where and BAM! The ball knocked out of Joe's hands and into Ren's who quickly passed to a teammate.

Growling quietly, Joe ran after him to make up for his loss.

"CHAN!"

Whoosh! The ball went past Chan's head, missing it by inches. "Sorry!" she exclaimed as she ran after it. But in her mind, she was just glad it wasn't a real game.

"Whoa, look at that!" exclaimed Jake, pointing to court one.

Chan forgot about the ball and whipped around to see the game. Joe and Ren were at half court, with Joe dribbling the ball and Ren trying to guard him. The two were so focused and were playing so intently that even their own teams stepped off the court to watch, not that it mattered to them. Eventually, all the other teams in the class crowded around court one to watch the one-on-one play. Even Mr. Cook thought it would be interesting to watch.

Joe finally shook off Ren and did a fast-break towards the basket but unfortunately, missed the layup. Ren grabbed the re-bound and dribbled towards his basket. But Joe was not about to have Ren show him up in front of his girlfriend. With a quick glance at Chan, Joe raced past Ren and planted his feet in front of him. In surprise and desperation, Ren shot the ball. Joe grabbed the re-bound and set off to his basket.

It went on like that for about another two minutes. Each side missed their shots and it was obvious that the two were getting both tired and frustrated. Never before had a simple P.E. game been so intense.

"I spoke too soon," whispered Billy to Chan and Jake.

Finally, Ren made a three-pointer and slumped down onto the ground, breathing heavily. Joe did the same while Chan ran after the ball. Few people from the crowd clapped, out of politeness. The only person who sincerely clapped was Mr. Cook.

"That was brilliant, Ren!" exclaimed Mr. Cook. "Say, have you ever considered joining the basketball team?"

Those were not the words Ren needed to hear right now. He glared at Mr. Cook.

"Right," mumbled Billy. "Mr. Cook's a new teacher. He doesn't know about the Gundalians."

But Mr. Cook wasn't bothered by Ren's glare. "I'll put in a recommendation for the basketball coach!"

"The season is already coming to a close," said Joe as Jake helped him up.

"Oh, there must be an exception for him!" There was no way Mr. Cook would change his mind. "I'll send something to the coach right now!"

The bell rang as Joe sighed and shook his head. He glanced at Ren who was already walking towards the boy locker rooms.

"Relax, Joe," said Chan. "It's like you said. There's no way Ren can join our team, not with the season already undergoing."

"Yeah…" said Joe. She's right…he thought. That should be against the rules. Then why am I feeling so anxious?