Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason and all the boys were excited beyond belief after hearing Coach Swendel say that. Last year one of the biggest problems that they had was their short roster.

Now not only did they not have to worry about not having enough players they even had enough applications to form a junior varsity team.

Jason looked over at Coach Swendel with a slight smile on his face "That means less work for us right? That means we don't have to do anything for club rush."

Coach Swendel and all the other boys started to laugh after hearing Jason say that. Coach Swendel shook his head as he looked at Jason.

"Yeah. You guys lucked out this year. We don't have to go through the hassle of making posters and setting up a table in the pavilion.

But that isn't even the end of the good news. Principal Morris just recently got an offer from Nike and they want to endorse the team.

Obviously they can't just give the school a bunch of money but they did offer to upgrade all of our equipment and will even be responsible for producing our jerseys."

Jason was the only one who didn't seem effected by the news as Kyle and all the other boys were stunned after hearing that.

Kyle asked "Nike is going to make our jerseys?" Coach Swendel smiled "Yup. And I heard that they want the sole rights to produce and sell them too.

With the jersey sales the school will be getting a small cut from Nike. That means more funding for the basketball team and the school as a whole."

Jason joined the rest of the boys as they began to clap their hands and cheer after hearing the amazing news.

Coach Swendel waved his hand "Alright alright. That's it in terms of everything that I had to talk to you guys about.

I sent you guys the emails telling you to come to school early so that I could give you guys the news in person.

But I also just wanted to see you guys. Now that I know that you're all doing good I can relax a little haha. Go over to the administrations building and pick up your schedules for the school year.

I'll see you guys after school. We have a whole bunch of people trying out for the team and I need to show them what kind of standard they have to match up to."

All of the guys smiled as they patted him on the back, punched him playfully on the shoulder, and fist bumped him as they left the gym.

As their group walked through the grounds of the school they could feel the eyes of everyone watching them.

"Check it out. It's the basketball team." "Whoa! They look even cooler in person." "Oh my god. How tall is that guy? Are you sure he's still a middle schooler?"

The chattering and whispers that followed them wherever they walked instilled a mixture of different emotions in all of the guys.

Some of them felt nervous, excited, happy, and pumped up. Even though they had risen in popularity last year because of their excellent play this was the first time where they felt like the center of attention everywhere they went.

Jason was looking at the class schedule in his hand "First period is English with Ms. Yuller. Wow, I didn't think that I would have her again."

Kyle smiled "I have her for first period too!" Vince looked at the two of them with a smile on his face "Same here."

Nick, Matt, and DJ all joined in as they told the others that they all had the same class for first period.

Jason asked "Let me see your guys' schedules real quick." After taking a look at all of the guys' schedules Jason chuckled.

"Looks like Principal Morris hooked us up. All of our schedules are the same." Kyle and the rest of the boys cheered after hearing that.

DJ was all smiles "Man, this is the best start to a school year that I've ever seen." Vince nodded his head "Hell yeah bro!

First we get the good news from Coach, then we find out that we have the same class schedule. Shit couldn't get any better haha."

Jason chuckled "Alright guys. That's enough messing around. Let's take a quick walk to make sure we know where all the rooms are and then head to first period. We only have like fifteen minutes."

After walking around the school and making sure that they knew where all their classes were they just had enough time to get to first period on time.

As Jason and the other boys walked through the doors of the classroom all eyes were on them. Jason looked over and smiled "Morning Ms. Yuller."

"Bonjour monsieur Jaya." She then turned and looked at Kyle and the rest of the boys "Bonjour to you as well monsieur Kyle and the rest of the gentlemen from the basketball team.

I hope you all had an enjoyable summer. Go ahead and find a seat. We still have three minutes so we'll be waiting for any stragglers."

Jason and the rest of the boys took the seats at the back of the class. Originally there had been a few boys sitting there but after seeing Jason and the rest of the guys approaching they all changed seats to different tables without them even saying anything.

Jason just shrugged his shoulders as he took a seat. Kyle took a seat next to Jason on his left while the others sat down at the surrounding tables.

As Jason was taking out a piece of paper from his backpack a pleasant voice called out "So you're Mr. Superstar I take it."

Jason looked up and saw a girl standing to his left. She looked to be about 5'4 (1.62m) with dark brown hair that went down to her shoulders.

Her complexion was slightly tanned and she was wearing a pair of distressed denim jeans with a white top that showed a bit of her midriff.

Jason thought 'Is that something a girl in middle school should be wearing?' But he kept his thoughts to himself as he nodded his head.

"I guess, if that's want you want to call me. But my name is Jason." She smiled as she reached out "Nice to meet you Jason. My name is Karla. I just transferred here." 

Jason's face didn't change as he shook her hand "Hopefully you don't hate it here." She covered her mouth slightly with her hand as she laughed.

"Haha thanks I guess. I hope so too." Just as she was reaching to pull back the empty chair next to Jason a different hand beat her to the punch.

"Sorry. Seats already taken. There's a couple open spots over by the front though." Samantha had a smile on her face but the corner of her eye twitched as she looked at the girl.

Even though the voice was coming from behind him Jason easily recognized who it belonged to. Karla didn't move "Is it? Because it was empty when I walked up to it."

The tone of her voice didn't change but the smile had erased itself from Samantha's face "You might not know because you just transferred here but it's kind of a Jefferson thing.

Everyone knows about it if you want to ask them." Samantha didn't say anything else as she pulled the chair back and sat down.

Karla's gaze lingered on Samantha for a second before she shifted her attention to Jason. She smiled "I'll see you around Jason."

Jason just gave her a nod as she began to walk to the front of the class. Samantha huffed before cursing under her breathe "Bitch."

Jason looked over at Samantha "What did you say?" Samantha turned to him and smiled "Oh nothing, I was just wishing her luck.

Must be hard transferring in your last year of middle school you know?" Jason nodded his head "Yeah, that's true."

Samantha laughed before twisting around in her seat to look behind her "Wow. All of you guys have the same first period."

DJ laughed "More like we all have the same class schedule." Samantha whipped around and looked at Jason as her mouth was in the shape of an O.

"You guys all have the same schedule?" Jason chuckled as he shook his head "What can I say? I guess we all just got lucky."

Samantha laughed "Bullshit. If anything you guys have shit luck. Principal Morris must have hooked you guys up right?"

Jason shrugged his shoulders "I guess the world will never know." Samantha rolled her eyes at him. Ms. Yuller began to take attendance as she began the class.

- - -

The classes all went by uneventfully as Jason and the boys were in the crowded hallway making their way to fourth period.

DJ rubbed his stomach "Yo my stomach is killing me. I'm thankful for Principal Morris hooking us all up by giving us the same schedule.

But couldn't he have given us first lunch? Having to go through four classes before getting a chance to eat sucks."

Jason and all the other boys laughed as they heard him say that. Jason pulled out his phone and took a look at the time.

He then turned to face the others "We got five minutes before our next class. Ima head to the restroom and take a leak."

All of the boys nodded as they stayed out in the hallway to wait for him.

Jason walked into the restroom and was surprised to see that it was empty 'Man, my luck is really good today. I don't even need to wait in line.'

Jason walked up to the first urinal on the wall and began to relieve himself. After he was done he walked over to the sink and started to wash his hands.

Right as he was about to finish up he heard the door open and then a voice spoke out "Looks like Mr. Hometown Hero been enjoying his popularity."

Jason turned around and frowned after seeing 8 boys in the restroom 'These guys are all of Trell's old goons. What the fuck do they want?'

Jason sneered "What's wrong? You ass pirates lonely now that Trell ain't around? Oh my bad, Trell would hate it if I tried to associate him with limp dicks like you."

The boy who appeared to be in command scrunched up his face "Keep talking that shit pretty boy. Too bad for you Trell isn't around to protect your bitch ass anymore."

He then looked over at the other boys "Go fuck him up." As soon as he said that four of the other boys leaped into action while the rest went to keep the door shut.

Jason shifted his head to the left as he dodged a incoming punch. After slipping the punch he bent his knees slightly before exploding upward as he threw an uppercut.

Jason's fist connected squarely with the first kid's chin as he got sent reeling back. But before Jason could pull his fist back his head snapped to the right as the taste of iron began to spread through his mouth.

Even though he had managed to incapacitate one of the kids in a quick and efficient manner the other boys were able to get to him and start ganging up on him.

Jason put his hands up to guard against the punches that were coming at him from multiple directions but a few still managed to slip past his defenses.

Jason yelled out before throwing out a side kick that landed directly on one of the kid's solar plexus. He then threw all notions of defense away as he rushed towards a different kid and spear tackled him.

- - -

Kyle and the other guys were all waiting for Jason outside in the hallway. Before they even noticed it a crowd had formed around the bathroom.

With the door propped open none of them seemed to want to go inside but they all had their phones out as it looked like they were recording something.

Kyle and the other boys' hearts all sank as they immediately got a bad feeling about this. They rushed toward the bathroom and started pushing their way through the crowd.

"Get the fuck outta the way!" "Move you dipshit!" "Move to the side you dumbasses!" "Jaya! Jaya! You okay!?"

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