Rebound: A 2nd Chance

The bell rang as first period came to an end. Jason got up from his chair and was about to wait for the rest of the guys outside the room.

But Ms. Yuller called out for him "One moment Jaya, if it's okay I would like to have a word with you."

Samantha and Kyle were looking at Jason worriedly along with Matt and the others. Without a change in his expression Jason just gave them a peace sign.

"It's cool, I'm sure it's nothing more than just a talk. You guys head out without me. I'll catch up after I'm done talking with Ms. Yuller."

They nodded their heads before reluctantly leaving. Jason turned to Ms. Yuller "So what did my favorite English teacher want to talk about?"

Ms. Yuller wanted to have a serious expression but after hearing what Jason said she couldn't help but shake her head while smiling.

She looked at Jason "Thank you for ruining my attempt at a serious conversation monsieur Yang." Jason shrugged his shoulders.

"You could look at it like that. But on the Brightside I think that lighthearted and playful dialogue is much more suited for the two of us.

Don't you agree Ms. Yuller?" She simply rolled her eyes before taking a seat on the edge of her desk.

"Be that as it may, I still have a responsibility to know and understand what goes on in my class. And although no one wanted to speak up earlier I just can't shake the feeling that something is being hidden."

Jason sat on one of the desks in the front row before putting his hands up "Beats me, I didn't see anything happen."

She stared him right in the eyes "Jason, I am asking you seriously. I know that kids your age do not like reporting things to teachers like me.

But I am not asking you to 'Snitch' I just want to know if something happened so that I can help. I'm not just asking you so that someone can get in trouble."

Jason sat silently for a few seconds as he thought about what she had just said. He began to rub the back of his neck with his right hand.

"Ms. Yuller, I mean this with no disrespect but you're really asking the wrong person. It's not that I don't want to snitch.

I just don't like to talk when it's not my story to be telling. If you really want to find out what happened then I suggest you ask Karla the next time you see her.

Now if you don't have anything else to talk about I think I should be heading out now. Don't want to be late for my next class."

Jason hopped off the desk and snatched his backpack off of the ground. Ms. Yuller wanted to stop him but she knew that she wouldn't get anything else out of Jaya today.

After stepping outside of the classroom Jason was about to book it to his next class when he felt a hand grab his arm.

He turned his head and saw Karla "What are you still doing here? You're going to be late for your next class."

Karla blushed a bit as she let go of Jason's arm "I- I know, but it didn't feel right to just head to second period and like like nothing happened."

She took a breath "Thank you Jaya. I just wanted to say thanks. Thanks for being such a good person and standing up for me."

Jason sighed "Yeah well, even if you did lie to me and trick me into hugging you in the hallway I didn't think that you deserved to be treated like that.

Especially considering that you did try to take responsibility for what you did by posting that video. I guess I just didn't want you to get punished even more for doing the right thing.

If you're a bad person and you do bad things then you deserve to have bad things happen to you. But that should also work when you flip things around."

He then tried to walk away but Karla asked "Does that mean that you forgive me?" Jason stopped in his tracks and turned back around.

"Honestly Karla you were right before. Even if I didn't want to believe it I was angry at you for lying to me and I was hurt.

But you've done what you can to try and fix the situation and I don't have anymore negative feelings for you. But it doesn't mean that I've forgiven you.

Sorry if that answer doesn't make any sense but I don't know any other way to describe how I feel about you right now.

But I'm hoping that you stick to being a good person that does good things, that would probably increase the chances of me forgiving you."

Karla didn't try to stop Jason from leaving as she felt satisfied by his answer. The two of them went their separate ways as they rushed to their second class of the day.

- - -

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully as word of what had happened in Ms. Yuller's class spread like wildfire between all of the kids at Jefferson.

So although a bunch of the kids wanted to bully and tease Karla the threat of having to deal with Jason kept them in check.

After school Kyle was late for practice as he skated home as fast as he could to get his package from Japan.

He then used his cellphone to call for a ride back to the school using one of the ride sharing apps that he had downloaded.

After handing the package to Samantha and Karla he ran to the gym in order to join practice. Samantha and Karla were standing in the back of the indoor auditorium with Kyle's box.

Samantha saw the contents of Kyle's box as Karla was digging through it and rolled her eyes "Tell me again why I have to help you?"

Karla continued to look through the box "I mean, technically you don't have to help me. But this is a nice thing that we're doing for Jaya and the other boys on the team.

I thought that you loved doing stuff for Jaya?" Samantha tapped her chin a few times with her finger as she thought about what Karla said.

"You might have a point there Princess. I do like doing nice things for Jaya." She then took another look inside the box.

She then pretended to gag "But yuck, no offense to Kyle but these are so not my style." Karla had a smile on her face as she imagined what it would be like later tonight at the game.

"What's wrong? Our Queen of Punk not happy with the clothes? Not enough skulls or holes in them?"

Samantha smiled at Karla "That's a lot of sass coming from someone who just got their pardon. If I were you I would take the forgiveness card and scram.

Jaya already told you that he's not holding what you did against you. Why don't you call it quits while you're still in the green?"

Karla rolled her eyes before turning to Samantha "Listen Sammy, I know that you hate me and that I've fucked up okay?

I won't ask you to forgive me like Jaya, but I'm not planning on giving up on him. He's the first guy that I've felt like this about.

So can you please just pretend that you don't hate my guts? At least when we're together with Jaya. I don't want him to feel uncomfortable seeing us butt heads."

Samantha chuckled before walking toward Karla. She came to a stop after the two of them were standing face to face with each other.

"Alright, sure thing. But right now Jaya isn't here so I hope you don't mind me being honest.

I don't just dislike you because you made up those rumors about you and Jaya. I dislike you because you acted without thinking and that ended up hurting Jaya.

And while he may have forgiven you, sorta, as his friend it's my job to make sure that he doesn't get hurt.

You already made me fail at my job once Princess. So I don't think that it's all that crazy that I'm worried about you doing it again.

Heck, you might not even mean to do it. You certainly didn't mean to do it the first time right? But stupid people do stupid things.

That's just how the world works. So if you want me to ease up on you then you're going to have to prove to me that you're not one of those stupid people. Got it?"

Karla took a deep breath "I understand. I messed up the trust that you guys gave me with the stupid rumors.

But you have to understand something Sammy, no one is perfect and we all make mistakes. And right now you need to give me a chance to show that I've learned from my mistakes."

The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds. Samantha was the first one to speak as she checked the time on her phone.

"Okay, I heard you loud and clear. We should probably get changed and head to the gym now unless you don't want a spot inside."

The two of them changed into the clothes that were in Kyle's box after finding the right size for them.

They were dressed as members of a Japanese cheer squad as they put on their black school uniforms with yellow buttons.

They also tied white headbands around their forehead that read 'Go Jefferson!' When they got to the gym there was already a long line of students and non students.

Luckily Samantha had made arrangements with Kyle beforehand so she and Karla were able to skip the line and go straight in.

After squeezing by a few people they finally managed to get to their seats. Karla looked over at Samantha.

"I know that we normally get a lot of attendance at our games but this feels different for some reason."

Samantha answered "Yeah, apparently the two teams that Jefferson was going to play against for their last games of the season got into a huge fight with each other during their game.

Things got so out of hand that one kid ended up having to get checked out at a hospital while a bunch of them got hurt.

The committee made a quick decision to give both teams suspensions. So Jefferson automatically got two Ws.

This is their last game before they start playing in tournaments and apparently Jaya got picked for some award.

They wanted to present it to him before the season ends so they ended up rushing things. It's not a proper ceremony but I don't think that Jaya will mind."

Just as they were talking Principal Morris called Jason to the center of the gym as his voice could be heard all throughout the room thanks to the speakers.

Karla and Samantha watched as Jason shook hands with Principal Morris before shaking hands with some middle-aged man in a grey suit.

"As the Principal of Jefferson Middle School it is an immense honor that one of our students be chosen for an award such as this one.

Jason Yang, because of your amazing performance last year not only in your sport but in your studies as well you have been chosen as this year's California Student Athlete of the year."

He then passed the mic to Jason. He looked at the medal that was hanged around his neck for a moment before taking it off.

He held it up in one hand while the other held the mic "I am honored by the fact that I was chosen for this year's award.

But I won't give a whole speech or get emotional, I hope you can all forgive me. But the reason for that is that me and the team have decided to hold off from any major celebrations until we lift that National trophy up just like how am holding this medal right now.

So if you're all ready then let's get this game started so that we can close out another perfect season for Jefferson's basketball team."

The whole gym erupted into cheers as Jason walked off the court and to the sidelines with the rest of his team.

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