261 Basketball (2/2)

I turned to my left and looked out at the clear blue sky and the almost mirror-like grand Oceanus Leshius that reflected underneath it. Waves crashed against the white sand beach and washed back down . There were the sound of seagulls as a soft breeze with the salty scent of the ocean blew by. Underneath the warm summer sun, the breeze was rather appreciated.

”Are you guys playing a game?” a familiar voice called out to us, causing us to direct our attention in that direction.

We all looked over, even the team of jocks, and I discovered that it was simply Irina, Muria, Erith, Luna, and Alvelyn. They were all dressed in swimsuits, and it would appear that they were intended on heading towards to the ocean. On Irina's and Luna's face, there were looks of excitement. On Muria's and Alvelyn's, there were simply bland looks of observation. As for Erith, she simply yawned as she scrolled on her phone and acted in a rather dispassionate manner.

”What is this, we got a cheerleader squad?” the lead jock smirked and commented.

”Hey,” another one of them whispered to the other. ”Isn't that Irina?”

”Woah,” the one responded. ”Is that really her?”

”I think it is! Should I ask for a signature?”

”Yeah,” Zaksus responded, smiling. ”We're playing a game.”

”Hey, let's watch!” Irina suggested to the others. ”There's bleachers over there as well.”

”Aren't we going swimming?” Erith asked without taking her eyes off her phone.

”The ocean isn't going anywhere,” Irina insisted. ”Please?”

Upon the mention of the world ”ocean”, I saw a concealed look of concern on Alvelyn's face. I can understand why because I also suffer from the same problem. I don't know how to swim, so she doesn't know how to swim as well.

”It'll be fun,” Luna joined in and tried to convince Erith.

”If Luna also wants to watch...” Erith frowned as her countenance softened. ”Fine.”

Irina and Luna appeared quite happy, while Muria simply kept her eyes trained on me for some reason and sat down quietly on the bleachers with the others.

”Are you guys doing a jump ball?” Irina then asked.

”Yeah,” Zaksus nodded. ”You want to toss it?”

”Sure,” Irina nodded and made her way over to the center court where Zaksus handed her the basketball. ”Good luck,” she said as she looked in our direction.

Then, as Zaksus, the tallest and most athletic person of our team, readied himself to face off against the jock's team's tallest player, Jock A, Irina lowered the ball and heaved it upwards. She quickly scurried out of the action as Zaksus and the jock he was facing off against both jumped at the same time for the ball.

Zaksus tapped the ball towards our half of the court, and the ball headed in Loyd's direction. Upon catching the ball, Loyd looked up at me and simply smiled. Just as I began jogging towards the Jock team's basket, Loyd passed the ball to me, catching me by surprise. I was perplexed as to why he passed the ball to me but not Zaksus, but whatever the situation is, it would appear that he just made me the play-maker.

”Let's go, Alevian!” I heard Irina cheering me on from the bleachers, which was somewhat embarrassing and made it rather difficult for me to focus.

I dribbled the ball up the court, keeping my head up as I surveyed the court. Each player on my team was tagged by a jock from the other, and the jock guarding me, let's call him Jock B, had a rather smug smile on his face. In his eyes, I was probably the easiest assignment out of everyone. Almost everyone would think that the laziest looking boy would be the easiest to guard.

”Those girls are with you guys, right?” Jock B asked in a superior voice. ”If we win, let us have some fun with them, huh?”

For some reason, his words made me feel rather irritated. No... rather mad. It's one thing to disrespect me, but don't drag other people into it. Especially them.

With an expression devoid of emotion, I gathered my dribble and pulled up for the three, taking the shot that I had so often shot in the past. As the ball made its arc through the air, it seemed to be in slow motion. However, I didn't even need to wait for the ball to go far to know that it will go in. This was a shot that I've taken so many times before when I would just shoot the ball in the basketball courts in the gym located in the underground floor of the building that I lived in.

”I want to see you try,” I said as I looked into Jock B's eyes.