After that conversation his family had with Coach Calipari, Aaron had already accepted that going to Kentucky would not be a bad option. Even so, he had not signed any letter of intent, nor had he mentioned his decision to anyone except for the members of his family and Hannah, who had been present that day and quickly tied the loose ends together.
That uncertainty about whether to go or not had made Aaron lately distracted and unfocused during the last few days, so much so that even at school, the teachers and classmates realized that something was not going well with him.
Once his punishment had come to an end and he spent an entire weekend with Mia—which he had to admit had not been as bad as he had foreseen—Aaron was finally free from his punishment and was able to go out normally again.
For that reason, he was currently at the community basketball court located in his community park, practicing free throws with the greatest possible concentration.
"Clank" was the sound of the ball hitting the rim and falling outside the basket, causing the frustration within Aaron to do nothing but increase.
"What the hell is going on?" Aaron could not help but think as he walked and picked up the ball in his hands, beginning to analyze it carefully, thinking that the problem was with the ball and not with his shooting mechanics.
But evaluating it over and over again, Aaron realized that the ball had nothing different about it, so he decided to try the shot again, only for it to end up, like the other times, bouncing against the rim and going out of bounds.
Before Aaron could even approach and pick up the ball, a person who had headed straight to the court picked up the ball and put it to spin on a finger on his hand. "Wow, I never thought I'd see you miss a shot," Drew's voice said jokingly while he still had the ball in his hands.
Immediately after, he attempted a shot from his distance which passed cleanly through the hoop, causing his smile to widen even more while Aaron's scowl became even deeper than it already was.
"What brings you here, Drew?" Aaron asked, since he did not remember having agreed on an outing with him or any plan in mind for his friend to have come to see him.
"Well, I want to know what is going on with my friend," Drew said while he picked up the ball before throwing it to Aaron, who caught it without any effort.
"Do you want to play a 1 vs 1?" Drew asked him with a friendly smile on his face, hoping that it could help Aaron tell him what was happening to him.
"Are you sure?" Aaron asked while he flexed his knees and put himself in position, ready to play.
"By the way you are playing, I think I have chances of beating you," Drew responded to him while he also put himself in game position.
Without saying another word, Aaron immediately began to run, followed quickly by the ball, seeking to penetrate from a corner and take Drew by surprise, to which Drew immediately harassed him, preventing him from penetrating easily and seeking to force him to take mid and long-distance shots, taking advantage of the fact that he had been failing lately.
Without any option and not wanting to play too roughly against his friend, Aaron immediately tried to do a Fadeaway, lifting his knee high to prevent Drew from getting close and causing the ball to trace a high parabola in the direction of the hoop.
But like the other times, the shot ended up bouncing and falling outside the limits of the court; therefore, the positions changed with Drew now on offense and with Aaron defending.
Concentrating completely, Aaron crouched under the hoop, prepared to defend and look for the opportunity to take the ball from Drew's hands, who, with a malicious smile, immediately tried a shot from outside the 3-point line.
Jumping high while carrying the ball over his head, Drew released the ball at the moment he reached the maximum height under the watchful gaze of Aaron, who tried with all his strength to prevent the shot but arrived a few seconds late and could only watch as the ball once again went through the hoop.
"You don't know how long I waited to do that," said an excited Drew while Aaron picked up the ball and passed it back to him, restarting the game.
"Come on, concentrate," Aaron scolded himself mentally, not willing to allow Drew to put in another point or his pride would be wounded.
Drew, on the other hand, knowing that the same trick would not work twice with Aaron, stayed briefly standing while he looked for any possible opening he could take advantage of at that moment.
Trying to cut to one side, he was immediately tackled by Aaron, who planted himself in front of him and extended his arms, completely preventing his passage.
Without any clear route, Drew attempted a feint in which he turned his body to the right only to turn back to the left, hoping to take Aaron by surprise, but knowing the playing habits of his friend, he did not fall for it and simply continued blocking his path.
In a desperate attempt, Drew collided against Aaron, seeking to destabilize him to then turn and attempt a mid-distance shot.
But even before the ball left his hand, Aaron's hand was faster by slamming it against the ball, causing it to go out of the limits of the court, it being now Aaron's turn to be on the offensive.
"Damn," Aaron could hear Drew mutter while he picked up the ball and put himself in position, ready to start the play.
Drew, although he was prepared, admitted grudgingly that he could not defend himself from his friend who practically was a head taller than him and, based on pure strength, headed straight to the hoop without Drew being able to do anything but watch.
Once he was close enough, Aaron turned suddenly in his spot and then jumped to slam the ball with force against the hoop, causing the score to change.
1-1 tied.
Without wasting time, Aaron picked up the ball and put himself back in position, ready to restart the game against a Drew who just realized that the game would not be as easy as he had thought it would be before and had a serious look on his face.
Giving light bounces to the ball, Aaron from one moment to another accelerated quickly, taking Drew completely off guard, who tried to stop him with all his strength, but even so, he could not do much and could only try with all his strength to push him.
But Aaron, thanks to his greater strength, managed to throw a simple layup while Drew ended up on the ground and could only watch how the advantage he had had seconds before vanished.
Before he could get to his feet, a hand extended in his direction and, without hesitation, he took it to get to his feet.
"Are you okay?" Aaron asked, not wanting Drew to end up injured by the face-down fall he had suffered.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Drew said, downplaying it while he cleaned the dust from his pants and put himself back in position. "Let's continue," Drew said with conviction, ready to continue with the game.
On this occasion, Aaron decided that his previous approach was too rough and rude for a game between friends, the reason why he did not try runs or pushes again, opting to go through Drew based on dribbles and feints.
Drew, with his arms extended, did the best he could to block Aaron's advance, but it still cost him due to the long limbs of his friend.
At a given moment, Aaron was with his back to Drew and turned on his ankles, seeking to go through Drew, who, upon seeing that, leaned in the direction Aaron was turning, but immediately after, Aaron turned in another direction while he jumped and released the ball, but once again the ball ended up bouncing against the hoop to Aaron's frustration.
In that brief lapse in which Aaron became unfocused, Drew took advantage to take the ball, changing the roles once again.
"You know, it's rare that you miss so many shots," Drew said, finally confronting his friend about the problem he was having. "Are you okay?" he finally asked before even beginning with the new play.
"It's nothing," Aaron said, downplaying it.
"I'll act like I believe you for now," Drew said, not wanting to delve deeper into the subject yet.
With the ball now in his hands, Drew this time decided to play more calmly while he looked for an opening and prevented Aaron from taking the ball easily.
Bouncing between his legs, Drew little by little was shortening the distance that separated them, and when he was close enough, he immediately gave a pass back for a Step-back, giving him enough space to be able to shoot without Aaron being able to interrupt his shot and with the ball passing cleanly through the hoop again.
"2-1," Drew said with a smile while he returned to his position with the ball in his hands.
"Winning point?" Drew asked suddenly with a smile while Aaron simply nodded.
This time Drew played in a more aggressive way, looking for contact and maintaining control of the ball between his hands while he sought to throw Aaron off balance and finally beat him in a match.
With calm, without forcing anything, Drew from one moment to another managed to spot an opening, but what he did not know was that the opening had been put there on purpose by Aaron, who, as soon as he saw how Drew fell into it, immediately confronted him with the goal of taking the ball.
But Drew, based on all his strength, managed to go through Aaron to then jump and dunk the ball in the hoop, thus achieving the victory.
3-1 final score.
"Yess!!" was the shout that came out of Drew's mouth while he was still hanging from the hoop and began to celebrate as soon as his feet touched the ground.
Aaron simply stayed standing there as if he were still processing his defeat and why he had not been able to play as he had always done.
"Now will you tell me what's wrong with you?" asked Drew, who had finished celebrating and approached with the ball in his hands, waiting for his friend to tell him what had his head in the clouds.
With a sigh, Aaron knew that he could not continue hiding his situation and maybe the opinion of his friend could help him get out of the crossroads that was his head at that moment.
That was how Aaron ended up telling him everything about the possibility of him going to play for the Kentucky Wildcats team and the visit from Coach Calipari and other things that were going around his head, hoping that the opinion of his carefree friend would help him at that moment.
"To be honest, I don't understand what the problem is," Drew's first sentence left Aaron with his mind completely blank. "From what I've heard, you already made a decision, you just haven't accepted it yet," Drew continued telling him.
"Maybe you should just stop thinking so much and simply follow your instincts," was the last sentence his friend told him, causing Aaron to enter into a complete state of reflection.
"You know, sometimes you can say very wise things," Aaron told him, slightly impressed.
"I know," Drew said with self-sufficiency. "Just don't cry when I beat you in March Madness," Drew said, causing Aaron to roll his eyes at that.
"First make sure to get there," Aaron responded to him, and then both began to laugh and continued talking about other topics until Drew checked his phone.
"I have to go, I have a date with Sam." Standing up, Drew immediately said goodbye to Aaron with a fist bump.
Once Drew left, Aaron also took out his phone while he looked for the number he had seen several times and, without wasting time, hit the call button.
When the call connected, Aaron said quickly, "I'm in." That single sentence gladdened the voice that was on the other side of the line, who told him that he had made the right decision and that he was waiting for him in August.
With the call ended, Aaron immediately picked up the ball again and calmly threw it again; this time the ball went through the hoop cleanly.
With a smile, Aaron knew he had made his decision and decided to continue practicing for a while longer before returning to his house.
Authors thought's
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