Aaron was in the hotel room with his gaze fixed on the ceiling and his hand firmly extended with a new cold compress that relieved the pain and swelling his wrist had at that precise moment.
Now that the game had come to an end and the adrenaline of the moment had worn off, Aaron began to feel the persistent pain in his left wrist even more, which he tried by all means not to move in order to avoid any discomfort and so the swelling would subside enough for tomorrow's game.
Omar, who was in the other bed next to Aaron, looked at his friend who was simply lying there doing nothing with a lost gaze. "Want to go out?" Omar suddenly asked, breaking the silence within the room in an attempt to cheer up his teammate.
"No, thanks," said Aaron, still without taking his eyes off the ceiling, as if what was up there were more interesting than the mere idea of leaving the room.
"Come on, friend, I heard the coach ordered pizza," said Omar, tempting Aaron with a juicy and tasty pizza, especially after a demanding game in the morning in which both played almost every minute.
"If you go, bring me a few slices," said Aaron toward Omar, knowing that his roommate was a food addict, especially after having finished all the snacks that were in the mini-fridge on the first night they spent here in Binghamton.
Standing up and heading toward the door, Omar couldn't help but turn to give another look at Aaron, who still hadn't moved an inch. "Are you sure you don't want to come?" he asked once more, hoping Aaron would say yes and they could go down together to spend time with the rest of the team.
"I'll be fine," responded Aaron while he raised his right hand and made a gesture for him to go without even turning around, until he heard how the door closed and Omar's footsteps receding down the hallway.
A sigh escaped Aaron's mouth as he reflected on how the last few hours had been after the match and the injury he had just suffered in that same game.
The rival for tomorrow had already been decided: they would play against the Boys and Girls Kangaroos, a team from Brooklyn that Coach Arbitello was not indifferent to, having played against them last season.
Despite the fact that last season the Royals team lost against them, it was by a very close score in which the Kangaroos won only by a 3-point basket in the last second, being one of the few teams that defeated them.
Perhaps it was because of Aaron's injury and the fact that the team's mood wasn't the best, but Coach Arbitello didn't go into much detail about the key players and the rival team's style of play, so they simply took the bus and returned to the hotel where they were now.
The good news they received was that Gardner was penalized for the serious foul committed against Aaron in the final minutes of the 4th quarter, being penalized by missing the match the Bulldogs would play tomorrow.
Despite the best efforts of the coach and the rest of the team to appeal against the tournament committee, their decision along with the referee's was inflexible because it was a clearly intentional foul, due to the fact that the game was already decided anyway.
So now the Bulldogs must play their next game without their strongest player in the paint—something that wouldn't stop giving the team's coach gray hairs, as he regretted giving Gardner that signal.
"Karma exists, I guess," Aaron muttered toward the ceiling without receiving a response from anyone except the silence that filled the entire room.
In moments like these, Aaron missed apps like TikTok and Instagram where he could be killing time watching short videos of silly dances or photos and memes that would have made him laugh right now.
Without having either of the two at hand, Aaron resorted to the only social media option that existed currently: Facebook. So, picking up his cell phone which was resting on his nightstand, he opened the application with the blue background and a white 'f' in the middle.
The moment he opened the application, he scrolled quickly through the screen seeing posts from known people and others until one in particular caught his attention under the title "The next big thing." Under that title, a video attachment was seen, which Aaron didn't hesitate to open.
The video looked like it had been taken by a cell phone since the image wasn't so clear and the recording shook as if the mobile wasn't held well, but what mattered most at that moment was the play taking place.
The video seemed to have been recorded by a spectator who had gone to see the Royals' game against the Bulldogs.
The video showed Aaron who was in possession of the ball and advancing in the middle of the court under Gardner's marking, who stood like a wall trying to prevent him from moving forward based on his physical strength.
But at that moment, Aaron, taking advantage of the contact with Gardner and being locked in against him, threw a pass over both of their heads toward Omar, who was on the left wing of the court at that moment, and the moment he got the ball in his hands, he began to drive with it.
Through dribbles and accelerations, Omar managed to break away down the entire left sideline until reaching the edge of it, at which point he was immediately marked with no possibility of cutting inside.
Omar, completely surrounded, didn't panic; instead, with his gaze, he quickly looked for a raised hand in the center of the opposing team's paint, knowing and trusting that he would be there.
And Omar's intuition hadn't failed him, as he quickly located Aaron, who was in the middle of the paint surrounded by Bulldogs players who were looking to push him out of there or at least make him feel uncomfortable in that position.
Without wasting time or hesitating, Omar immediately passed the ball into that zone, trusting that Aaron could receive the ball and score it without any problem against the rival team's hoop.
Jumping as high as he could with the strength of his legs, Aaron rose before the rest of the players surrounding him and caught the ball, protecting it firmly against his chest, holding it with both hands while extending his elbows outward and protecting his position.
Immediately after, Aaron began to move as if he were shaking from right to left, causing the players tasked with marking him to feel briefly disoriented without knowing in which direction he was going to move.
Clearly perceiving the hesitation from the Bulldogs players, Aaron immediately took the opportunity to make a cut to the left, allowing him a valuable one-second advantage which he didn't waste, launching a mid-range shot that went cleanly through the net, scoring more points for the Royals team.
After that, the video could be seen blurrier because it seemed the person got carried away by the emotion in the stadium, where they were celebrating the play Aaron had made despite being heavily marked by the opposing team.
Below the video was a brief comment from the person who had published it: "I just saw the best performance in a high school game that I will never forget." That was the final comment, followed by comments from characters who had seen the video and were sharing it with their friends.
"Holy heaven, it's real," was the first comment Aaron read, which was from a guy who was probably in disbelief thinking the video wasn't real or was made up.
"His movements in the post are insane," was another comment from a user who was more amazed by Aaron's movements in the low post than anything else.
"His connection with his team's shooting guard is also very good," said another, paying more attention to the part where Aaron passed the ball to Omar, who drove down the sideline and returned the pass to the low post.
"We are witnessing the arrival of a new superstar," was another comment that caused a furor in the post, in which they cited and predicted that Aaron would reach the NBA.
Before Aaron could continue checking the comments on the posts, a message from Drew broke Aaron's concentration, making him open his messaging.
"Drew: Friend, you're viral," was the message Drew wrote while quickly sending him screenshots from his phone of other posts talking about the same thing: Aaron's performance and who the kid in the posts was at that moment.
"Drew: I also found this one," was Drew's next message, in which he attached a link to a video that Aaron didn't need to know what it was about, seeing the exact moment Gardner knocked him down from behind, committing a flagrant foul.
Scrolling his finger quickly down, Aaron couldn't help but read the comments in which netizens and people who saw the game labeled Gardner's play as dirty and unsportsmanlike, making Aaron not want to be in his shoes at this moment.
"Drew: How's your hand?" was Drew's next question, being more worried about his friend's situation than the negative comments against the one who committed the foul in the last game.
"Aaron: I'll live :)," was Aaron's simple response, already being a bit tired of everyone asking him the same question.
Needing to talk to someone who wouldn't ask him about his injury and wanting to forget that, Aaron scrolled his thumb across the phone screen until a particular number caught Aaron's full attention, so without hesitating, he hit the call button.
"Aaron?" asked the voice behind the phone, slightly surprised to receive the call.
"Hi Hannah," said Aaron quickly, instinctively smiling at pronouncing the name of the other person.
"Did something happen?" Hannah asked curiously upon receiving Aaron's call.
"I just wanted to hear your voice," was Aaron's simple response, causing Hannah to be left slightly speechless and a silence to settle between them on the telephone line.
"How's the tournament going?" Hannah asked after a few seconds in which neither said anything.
"Tomorrow is the final," Aaron responded quickly to Hannah's question, knowing she was just trying to make conversation.
He could already imagine her adjusting the glasses that were sliding down her nose, with a book on her lap.
"Can I ask you a question?" Aaron suddenly asked, wishing to have an answer from someone with a different opinion, and by interpreting Hannah's silence as a silent affirmation, he asked: "If you knew you could win a game at the cost of worsening an injury, would you do it?" Aaron asked, eager to know Hannah's answer.
"Well, health comes first," Hannah began, giving her impartial point of view. "But if it's something that really matters to me, I'd give my all despite the consequences," Hannah finished saying, and Aaron could already imagine her saying that with her characteristic blush on her face.
"Thanks, I needed to hear something like that," Aaron said with an even wider smile on his face.
After that, they continued talking about other topics, leaving basketball aside until Aaron heard the door latch unlock, signaling someone was entering. It was Omar, entering the room with some slices of pizza in his hand.
"Hey, I have to go," said Aaron, somewhat reluctant to hang up the call.
"Who were you talking to?" Omar asked curiously, seeing how Aaron's mood had completely changed after that call.
"A friend," said Aaron with a smile as he stood up and quickly grabbed one of the pizza slices from Omar's plate, satisfying his hunger and forgetting, for the first time in the night, about tomorrow's game. While he mentally wondered how to play now that his use of his left hand was limited, but despite the inconvenience that supposed, a smile appeared on his face—ready to accept that challenge with open arms without letting it limit him in tomorrow's game.
Authors thought's
What did you think of today's chapter? Give me your opinions and thoughts.
Sorry for the lack of a chapter on Monday! It's been a hectic few days at work and I just didn't have the time. However, I took that time to read your comments and reread the fic, and I have to agree with you—the pace is too slow. So, as I already informed my Patreon subscribers, from chapter 65 onwards, there will be a massive timeskip to the college years! If you have a specific team in mind for Wyatt, let me know in the comments.
Don't forget to subscribe to my Patreon to get more than 10 chapters in advance! https://www.patreon.com/c/merchant17
For everyone subscribing to my Patreon: if you're using an Apple device, avoid doing it through the app! Apple charges a commission, and you'll end up paying more. It's better to subscribe through the website instead.