261 Basketball (1/2)

The five of us exited from our room one after the other through the doorway and reentered the living room. There were no signs of the girls in the living room as all that was present were the furniture as well as the beautiful view of the blue ocean and white sand beach beyond the sliding glass door. Nearby, there was a medium sized kitchen that leaned somewhat on the smaller side that was also equipped with all the necessary cooking amenities one could ask for.

”Should we tell them we'll be heading out?” Zevin asked us as we went to the front exit and began slipping on our shoes.

”Maybe,” Noah nodded. ”Hey!” he then shouted. ”We're heading out. Zaksus wants to play basketball!”

As we continued to put on our shoes, there was the sound of footsteps approaching the stairway that led up to the second floor. There, Irina poked her head out from the side of the wall.

”Okay,” she said to us with a smile on her face. ”We'll be heading to the beach in a bit after this. You guys will be on the courts by the beach, right?”

”Yeah,” Zaksus responded with an excited gleam in his eyes.

”Have fun.”

We exited the house after hearing Irina's words, closing the door behind us and locking it just in case using the spare key that Loyd has. After that, the five of us walked down the beach-side sidewalk towards the basketball courts. In his hands, Zaksus twirled and played with the basketball, displaying great dexterity and proficiency with his large hands that I reckon grants him plenty of advantage in an actual game.

”You guys know how to play?” Zaksus asked us once we stepped foot on the court. As he waited for our response, he took a mid-range jumper, shooting the ball into the air with beautiful form and allowed the ball to make a perfect arc to the net.

”I think we all know how basketball works,” Loyd looked around and responded to him.

”What're we gonna be playing then?” Noah asked. ”Horse?”

”How bout we get a game,” Zaksus suggested.

”Alright then,” Noah nodded. ”Us four versus you.”

”H-hey!” Zaksus appeared rather surprised. ”That's not fair!”

”Says the top high school prospect,” Noah muttered back in a mocking manner. ”This is the only way it's gonna be'fair'. How else are we suppose to beat you?”

”You guys wanna run?” a voice approached us.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw that the voice belonged to a young man probably around our age or a year or two older. This young man was also accompanied by four other boys around his age as well, and judging off of their clothing, I can tell that they're like us, tourists to the beach. However, why they would come to the basketball courts instead to the beach, I do not know. Only basketball fanatics like Zaksus would do something like this.

”Sure,” Zaksus responded with a smile. ”Five on five?”

”Of course,” the young man smiled in a confident manner. ”First to thirty?”

”Ones and twos, or twos and threes?” Zaksus continued.

”Let's make it last longer,” his companion responded.

”Ones and twos it is then,” Zaksus nodded and smiled as he held the ball.

”Let's begin then,” the young man then said, gesturing towards the center of the court for a jump ball.

It would appear that our opinion does not matter as Zaksus had decided for all of us. Judging off of the fit physique this group of boys had, they are probably rather strong and athletic, what one would considered to be jocks. On their faces were looks of confidence, probably stemming from their belief that they would be able to steamroll us, as obviously, our physiques were rather lean compared to theirs with the only person comparable being Zaksus.

Although we all had slight looks of doubt on our faces, Zaksus appeared to be rather calm. On his face was a smile that only a true basketball fanatic can have. It was a dreamy look of excitement as he slapped the ball a few times, which was probably his pregame routine. Upon doing so, I can sense a change in aura from his end. No longer was he the Zaksus that gets into playful banters and gets mocked by Noah. Instead, he became the star player of the Nocsinis Imperial High's basketball team, the number one basketball prospect in the entire nation.

With the game in preparation, we chose our side of the court and went there in preparation for jump ball. It would appear that the team of jocks are discussing something, probably their game plan and assigning defensive assignments. We really don't have much thought on game plan and who's defending who, but I guess that's whatever.