Finding out what has been happening to Aria was a turn of events that I did not expect. I knew something was going on, obviously. Her being away for those years doesn't mean that I can't tell when my best friend is acting weird. But I sure as hell did not expect her to tell me she was basically being stalked/blackmailed by someone. By someone who threatened to spill secrets they have for this person's own gain. Like honestly, what do they get out of making someone else's life miserable? The only thing that eases my mind at all on the fact that I can't even help Aria through this is that she will on occasion update me, but it doesn't ease me enough when I know I still can't do anything to stop it.

As if my life needed to get more complicated though, Katie keeps calling and texting me. Apparently she's being pressured into getting me back to New Jersey and it just makes no sense why my "family" wants me there so badly. Was it not enough to disown me and then send a psychopath to try to persuade me to come back? Not in the slightest. So my best reaction at that point was to firmly tell her I wanted nothing to do with going back to New Jersey and to angrily tell her that I want nothing to do with this family before promptly blocking the numbers to everyone in that family of mine except for twk of the people who actually seem to care about me, Bobby and his mom.

Once that is all settled and I feel safe again weeks pass and now it's finally time for basketball season to officially start. We had tryouts a few days ago and made our final choices to who should be on the team. I know basketball will 100% keep my mind occupied about what this mystery person is doing to my friends, and help keep my mind relaxed about Katie harassing me. I feel like I've been waiting for this day forever. Sports is basically the only thing that can keep my mind at bay for distractions no matter what the issue is. So I'm hoping this helps with my constant fears.

After Biology class it's now my free period to do whatever I want. Normally I'd end up in the courtyard to relax, catch up with work or draw. Today though I'm heading to the lunchroom to help out for the dance-a-thon. Hanna and Spencer volunteered to be on the decoration committee and they asked the rest of us to join. I didn't bother to argue, mostly because whoever took the time to do this was dismissed from the rest of their classes for the day. So that was a win win. Even Hanna is doing a lot better, or well, physically anyway. She's back on her feet but still shook up from not knowing who ran her over. Which I completely understand.

Walking down the hallway I see people here and there passing me, some even giving me weird looks. I'm not sure why but I keep my head down, not needing any type of drama today. As I keep going I hear more voices, gossiping it seems as my ears perk up to something being said in particular. "I heard that Fitz is having a fling with a student."

My heart drops a bit, turning my head to the side to see who was talking about this. It happened to be Riley and Naomi, Mona's friends outside of me, Hanna and the boys. Their faces look amused when they see me, smirking my way as if they had seen me coming and said it on purpose.

"What did you say?" My voice is alarmed yet ready to spit out anger if needed.

They both laugh, shrugging as if they didn't care much before Naomi says, "Oh you know. Your friendly neighborhood hero seems to finally be acting on his pervy ways." A hint of snarkiness to her voice.

"You wouldn't happen to know who it is, would you Jessie?" Riley adds with a bigger smirk, knowing damn well that they think it's me.

My face goes from a split second of fuming to a soft smile, not wanting to give them the satisfaction of getting under my skin. They always hated that I became popular in high school from sports, and it got worse when Mona declared me one of her best friends. "No. I have no idea who he's dating if he is. But we all damn well know that he isn't seeing anyone outside of his age group." I put a bigger smile, "So I'd suggest that you fuck off and mind your own business."

Their faces drop to my bravery, snarling softly before we get interrupted with my name being called down the hallway.

For a second I think someone heard what I said, my heart racing and I'm prepared to get into trouble as I turn to the sound of my name and smile when I see Aunt Ella tracking me down. When her and Uncle Byron separated she started taking time to do things she loved again, painting being her usual aspect, but another passion she had was teaching. When she graduated college she didn't get to continue what she majored for because she got married to Uncle Byron and eventually got pregnant. This tampered a bit with her dreams. Now she's a substitute teacher for Rosewood High. She became one just before the SATs and now she's basically on full sub duty these days. She's almost always here.

I smile over at her as she gets closer, the footsteps to Naomi and Riley leaving behind me. I don't bother to react when they call me a loser, my focus still on Aunt Ella and who I notice has a young dirty-blond woman walking beside her. For a second I don't notice who it is, and then my eyes wide. "Oh my God! Simone." I walk closer to them now, a smile on my face.

I haven't seen her in a few years since she graduated high school. She had been Aria's and Mike's babysitter growing up so I almost always saw her when I was there. She hasn't changed a bit as she smiles back at me and pulls me into a hug, "My goodness you've gotten so big."

I half laugh, squeezing the hug for a minute before pulling away. "Sixteen now. Tends to happen."

She just laughs and shakes her head, just barely taller than me now. "Still have that same sense of humor."

"I say the same thing." Aunt Ella adds with a laugh, "I love it."

I laugh and smile more, "It's a gift." I say in a joking tone and shrug my shoulders a bit playfully, making them both smile more. Then I continue, "Has Mikey or Aria seen you yet?"

She shakes her head, "No, no. I was just on my way to the lunchroom with Ella to surprise her."

"Simone is in town to visit her parents and I managed to get her to tag along to talk to my classes."

I smile and laugh, "A lecture on how to stay in school I see."

Simone and Aunt Ella both laugh now, "In a way, yeah." She says.

"She's also a published author now." Aunt Ella adds

My eyebrows go up and my eyes brighten, "No way! You always wanted to be a writer."

She blushes and nods, "It was in the cards for me."

I smile bright, and then look at Aunt Ella before back to Simone. "You HAVE to meet Ezra. He just graduated college not too long ago and is an inspiring writer."

"Now that's a good idea." Aunt Ella nods in agreement. "I can introduce you, he's a teacher here."

"Oh man you'll love him. He's an awesome writer and teacher."

"Have a crush on him do you?" She says with a sly smirk, "Calling him by his first name."

I rub my head a bit in embarrassment, "Oh no." I laugh nervously, not needing people to think more highly of this rumor. "He's just a really good friend I met last year in town." She's been away for so long she probably didn't hear about the accident, and I rather not bring it up.

After a little more chatting we all head to the lunchroom. I get ushered off by Hanna almost right away to help Sean set up some of the life-sized cardboard cutouts of Barack Obama while Aunt Ella ushers Simone over to the DJ section where Aria is setting stuff up. Her face is pretty priceless when she notices her old babysitter.

...

Now the day is over and I practically race to the locker room, change into my practice clothes and then go to the gym. I walk inside and onto the basketball court, looking around I take in the fact that this is my domain. This is where all the stress outside of basketball leaves me and I can't help but smile. It's good to be back.

"Ready for an amazing year?"

I turn my head to the voice and smile as Mark Brooks (aka coach, aka Biology teacher, aka old friend/babysitter) walks over from the teacher's office on the other side of the gym. I'm the first one here, and he does not seem surprised. "I'm so ready. I've been waiting for the official start to the season for what feels like ever."

He just smiles, passing me a basketball and points to the hoop. "Then by all means, start practicing. Everyone will be here soon. You are the captain now, so you'll be helping a lot more this year with decision making."

"No pressure." I laugh and back peddle to the hoop nearby.

"Captain work. What can I tell you?" He smiles and then shoots a ball into the hoop from where he's standing. He makes it in with ease as it hits nothing but net and the sound of the swish echoes. "Now that's how I want my team to reach the championships this season."

When he makes that shot I take that as a challenge as girls start to pile into the gym from the locker room. I shoot the ball behind the three point line and come to the same result as he did when he shot the ball. "We got this in the bag." I tell him with a smirk.

He smiles back at me before he turns his head to the girls walking our way, his friendly face turning into coach mode and tells them all to get onto the line in the middle of the court. I follow his lead and stand beside him, staring at the people here. When they all tried out there were a lot of unknown faces and some familiar ones. It's the same concept now. Some I know because they are my friends and were on the team last year, these girls smile at me quickly before turning back to Mark, while others are new faces and look scared.

"Okay, ladies. Stretch it out until my timer goes off, and then partner up for layups." He points to me without taking his eyes off of them, "Jessie will be helping me keep an eye on who needs the most help. So don't be shy to ask."

After 10 minutes of stretching they each grab themselves a partner, myself pointing over at Luna to be my partner. On occasion I'd switch to a different person and swap myself in to be their partner instead. This goes on for 20 minutes total, 10 minutes of layups and another 10 of shooting from the foul line. While practicing I notice that there's a few girls struggling to keep up, one girl in particular who I remembered doing very well at tryouts seems to be nervous this time around as she keeps missing the foul shot.

"That's okay, try again." I tell the girl I see struggling, walking over to her and switching with her partner. "Release with a smooth let go." I show her my way of shooting, the way I relax my body as I bounce the ball a few times, bend my knees and stare back at the hoop with a slow-deep breath and then let the ball roll off my fingers gently when I shoot. We both watch it go into the net without the backboard or hitting the rim. "Don't need to chuck it across the room. It'll sail in with ease." I look at her with a smile and give the ball back. "Take a breath."

She slightly smiles, taking the ball from me before taking a deep breath to relax. Then she mimics what I showed her and the ball swished into the net without an issue.

"There you go. That was awesome." I nod with a smile, "Don't let your nerves get the best of you. You did great at tryouts" I hold up my hand for a high five and ask her her name.

"Kelly." She says returning the gesture, "Kelly Jones. I'm in the 9th grade."

I nod in a hello, making a mental note to watch her more because she has potential. "Well it's nice to meet you, Kelly. Keep up the good work."

I turn and head down the court to help Mark with the rest of the girls before he tells everyone to stand on the line once again. I'm included in this line up because this time he divides us into teams. This is the best part of practice for me. The opportunity to be the best me is when I'm playing the game and not just partnering up with my teammates.

Once we are divided it's smooth sailing. Everyone is doing a great job and I'm in the zone. That is except for the very loud and obnoxious words of, "Stop hogging the ball, Brant!" Every few minutes.

One of the girls who was on the team last year named Rachel Evans keeps yelling this at me for what feels like the millionth time since we started and is making it very hard not to get angry. Her annoying voice echoes my way and I look to the side and see that she's giving me a mean look while waving to pass it to her. The problem is that she is completely blocked. This girl has always been cocky and thinks it's all about her. She doesn't understand the concept of team work. The only reason why she's on the team at all is because she has a great layup shot and Mark insisted she'd help us win this year and that as the Captain I can help her with her teamwork skills. Doubtful, but I agreed.

I stand in my spot dribbling the ball as I try to play out a scenario in my head. There's plenty of people to pass the ball to besides her, but most of them including Rachel are completely blocked off. But she doesn't seem to grasp that I can't pass it to her as she yells. "Brant! Here!"

The only person I can see who reacted to her is Luna, because she's blocking me on the other team. She looks fed up and ready to knock her out. I just smile at her and half laugh, seeing the amusement on her face. Then I smirk, making her know that our connection as friends is about to be over before shaking off the moment of being distracted from Rachel and I quickly dribble the ball behind my back, faking Luna out in one smooth motion before shooting at the line.

"That a girl, Jessie!" Mark yells when I shoot in a second three pointer in the matter 15 minutes of playing.

I do a fist pump as I smile at Luna and then run back down the court, "I'm just getting warmed up!" I yell at Mark, slightly bumping into Rachel when she decides to stand in my way and give her a nice try type of look.

Luna comes over towards me to stand in her offense spot, me blocking her now. "Good shot." She whispers, running the other way and I follow.

"Thanks. I think Rachel has had it with me though." I bump her a bit since I'm on defense now.

Out of breath she says, "Doesn't help that you shouldered her on the way back to your position and gave her a cocky look either." The ball gets to her.

"I'm just giving her a piece of her own medicine." I swipe my hand to try to take the ball away.

"That may be true but it doesn't keep her from wanting to pound you." She turns to the side and pushes me a bit. I get knocked off balance from the shove and fall to the floor as she scores two points from the layup.

"Foul!" I yell from the ground, sitting up. "Coach, that was a cheap shot."

"Maybe, but that's the move that has helped us win games, kiddo."

Luna walks over to me and holds out her hand, a smirk on her face as I reach out to her. "Nice play." I say and grab her hand.

She smiles and helps me to my feet, "Thanks...bitch."

I try to hide a smile, "Jerk."

We both smile. This interaction is from our neutral liking of the show Supernatural. Then the whistle goes and we start to head over to the sideline to switch out with a new group and sit on the bench. I grab my water, out of breath and chug it before pouring a bit onto a towel and wiping my face.

Then as if she wanted to piss people off, Rachel tries to cram herself in between me and the freshman Kelly, "Move, newbie." Rachel says.

"Dude." I say and block her attempt to squeeze in, "Leave Kelly alone. Find another spot."

"Screw off, Brant."

"Go sit with Brandy." Luna butts in with a fake sweet voice, "She seems to be the only one who can tolerate your rude ass."

"Luna." I whisper with a face mixed between scared and proud. Then I turn back to see that Kelly is starting to smile and I get her attention, shaking my head in warning so that Rachel won't start with her too.

"Excuse me?" Rachel says to Luna.

"You heard me." She says in an attitude, "The only one who is going to have any patience with you is her, because the others who could last season moved up to Varsity. So go get comfortable with your new BFF for the rest of the season."

Rachel stands there quietly for a second. Her face is a little sad at first but then it changes and seems to be debating whether she wants to get herself into trouble already. Then she makes up her mind and sits farther down the bench with Brandy. Sometimes it's hard to take Rachel seriously because she has the "I'm tough" attitude but then she doesn't always jump on her "wanting to kick your ass" instincts. She always runs her mouth but actually starting a fight doesn't usually happen unless she is around people who bring that side out of her, or really push her buttons enough to get her mean side.

"Did she look upset to you?" I say and turn back to Luna.

"Who cares?" She says.

"I'm just sayin'. I've never seen anyone hit a weak spot with her before."

"Don't get all mushy and sympathetic now."

I just laugh and shake my head, hands up in surrender. "Not my cup of tea to stick up for someone who deserves it."

...

Another 20 minutes pass and now practice is over. Mark says a few words, I chime in here and there and then he dismisses us. We all head off to the locker room and I hop in for a quick shower, feeling relieved and ready to lay down. When I'm done I head over back to my gym locker and I feel the exhaustion kicking in.

"Great work today, Tor." I say while grabbing my stuff from the locker. Tori is a Junior who was on the team last year with us as a backup. Now that most of the girls have moved up she has the potential to do more for the team.

She smiles at me from the locker across from mine. "Thanks, Jay. Think I'll get more play time this year?"

"I couldn't tell ya. But with the way you were playing today it should be a no-brainer to have a chance at it."

"Oh please." Rachel pokes her head around the other wall of lockers, "You played like there was something up your ass. You have no idea what you're doing, Jackson."

"She did great." I say and shoot Rachel a look, "I don't know what you were looking at."

"Right." She starts to laugh, "She could barely hold onto the ball when she got it, like she was afraid to catch it. I can't believe Coach even gave you a spot with no improvement from last year."

"Says the one who tripped over her own feet a good three times today." Luna says from the locker next to Tori, "Plus your blocking could use some work."

Rachel walks over to us now, throwing on a fresh Rosewood basketball shirt. "You have a bad attitude today Rouche.".

"Only when there's someone around I don't like." She replies.

Rachel starts to walk closer and I get in between her and Luna, "Stop." I say, "Can we go once without arguing? It's getting old."

She eyes me and smiles, "Aw, Brant. Your captain skills are kicking in. How cute."

"Walk away, Rachel." Now I eye her, a hint of anger seeping through.

She pushes closer to me and I'm knocked into Luna, who keeps me up. "You think because you're captain now it makes you tough?" She laughs in amusement, "Wow, you're full of it."

I look straight into her eyes, narrowing them a bit. "I have the same attitude whether as a captain or not. If you are messing with people I care about you'll hear it from me."

She smirks, not taking her eyes off me. "So loyal of you. But that will give you a black eye at the end."

"Maybe." I watch her carefully, "Now go home."

"Make me." She says with a hint of egging me on.

"You do realize I have more of a say in things now that I am the official captain." I smile darkly, "Don't you?"

Her eyes narrow in on me. But I see the hint of fear that flashed out for a second.

"I can talk Coach out of keeping you on this team with a snap of my finger."

Not only does her mouth start to drop but I see the eager look in most of the girl's eyes. They look like they're waiting for me to do exactly what I said, yet they have the look as if they are waiting for Rachel to freak. It's a pretty mind blowing moment for me to have everyone looking at me as someone in charge. It feels so weird. But before I know it, Rachel just backs up and walks away. It's a bit shocking to be honest. By her expression I was ready for her fist to my face.