Chapter Twelve
"Hey." Alan's voice rang on his phone as he waited inside an empty classroom. "I was wondering if I could stay at school a little longer," Alan muttered the last part, unsure how Charlie would take it. There was silence on the other end of the phone, making Alan more nervous as he waited. "Charlie?"
"Yes, yes. I'm here." Charlie cleared his throat before another silence swept over the phone. "You can stay… I'm wondering why though."
"There are after-school sports and some of my friends play in them." Alan paced. "I was just gonna watch and hang out with them after. Maybe I can walk back to the house." Alan threw out the idea of walking back, hoping to get away with walking to school for the rest of the year.
"Walk back? Are you ready for that?" Charlie asked skeptically. "Do you remember the directions and stuff? Is your phone fully charged?" Charlie began to question Alan like a scared parent, awaiting their child to fail.
"Yeah, I remember the directions, and my phone is fully charged. If you want, I will text you when I leave the school. It will only take 30 minutes to walk back." Alan appealed to Charlie's inner parent as he answered all of Charlie's questions in a heartbeat.
"Okay, just be safe," Charlie muttered into the phone. "Let me know if anything goes wrong, okay?"
"Okay." Alan felt like a balloon just expanded in his chest as relief flooded his body and a smile crossed his lips. "Bye." Alan hung up the phone as he stopped pacing, excited to see how his friends played basketball.
Alan walked out of the room as he spotted Anthony waiting in the hallway with two new faces.
"Alan, I want you to meet my best friends. This is Home," Anthony pointed to a large boy, around 5'9 with spiky brown hair and glistening in his eyes as he dabbed Alan up. "He's 15. And this is Kia, 18." Kia was tall, almost taller than the school door. His brown eyes glowed as he looked at Alan with slight sup before looking back at his phone. Both boys wore the same uniform that Anthony had slung over his shoulder earlier that day, but both boys seemed odd fits to play basketball. "Guys, this is Alan, he's a Junior. Just started a couple of days ago." Anthony snickered. "MayMay has taken a liking to him, so I thought I should introduce y'all."
Alan was confused, everyone knew MayMay like they were best of friends. But MayMay never once showed that she cared for anyone. Both of the boys scoffed with smiles as they looked Alan up and down, sizing him like he was to be sold by the inch.
"Ain't you a pick." Home mumbled as he circled Alan like prey. "She must be losing her touch."
"Home, butt out of it." Kia snapped out without looking up from his phone. "Mind your own business." Kia looked up and smiled at Alan. "Home can be soar when you first meet him, but you will learn to like him once he leeches on you." The home looked embarrassed as Alan smirked with a slight chuckle.
"Is your name Home?" Alan asked, curious about the answer.
"No, it's a nickname I got for always being at home instead of practice." The home looked more embarrassed than ever as Anthony laughed until he got a pink glow on the very top of his ears as he wheezed.
"Very interesting," Alan muttered.
"Speaking of being late." Kia coughed. "We are about to be severely late if we don't start walking fast."
Alan followed the three boys as they walked further into the school, unaware of how much they made Alan feel as he thought of the boys as his friends. Something he hadn't done since he met Pipe when they were placed in the same foster home.
Once they walked through different quarter-doors, they emerged into the Gym. All at once, Alan was filled with different smells and noises as he walked in, being bombarded by the horrid smell of sweat and stale socks and the loud screeches of rubber against the shiny floors. Alan looked around, aware of all the kids that were filled with life and energy as they ran up and down the court. Alan's heart began to beat faster, his mind began to race. A surge of energy exploded within as he soaked in his surroundings. He never felt any lighter, he was alive once more.
"Alan?" Max appeared from the bench as he jogged toward them. "You came!" Excitement filled his voice as he patted Alan's shoulder without noticing Alan's slight flinch away. "You ready to see me mop up the court with Anthony's face or what?!" Max was barely holding still as he bounced up and down with flawless energy pumping through him.
"Wow there Max, I invited him. "Anthony cut in. "He's here to support me." Anthony wasn't threatening, but rather a jokingly way of displaying hate towards Max.
"I will support both of you from the stands so it's far." Alan cut in right before Max was about to say something that would cause a scene.
"What's going on over here?" A deeper voice broke through Max and Anthony's staredown as it caused them to look towards the new voice. Alan looked to see an older man standing next to him, age not having mercy on the poor human as he suffered through wrinkles and gray hair entangled into his short brown hair. The man was handsome otherwise, someone you wouldn't see in a school but a business suit. Alan had thought the coach would be the Gym teacher but this man was far from the fat guy who just yelled for an hour. This man was fit, even as age caught up with him. He still looked better than anyone his age, if the age that Alan was using was correct.
"Coach!" All the boys said at once. "Glad you could show. I expected more from you two than for you to follow Home's example." The coach's voice was deep but it was light as he jokingly pushed Anthony with his side as he referred to Home.
"Sorry." Anthony smiled. "This is Alan. He's known here. We wanted to show him the team and stuff." The coach looked at Alan with a raised eyebrow as he stuck out his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Alan." The coach said as he shook Alan's hand with a firm grip. "Have we met before?" Alan felt like he was having Deja-vu as he stared into the coach's blue eyes.
"What was your name?" Alan questioned as he tilted his head in a haze.
"Duke, Coach Duke." Alan nodded as memories flowed through his brain, all he could think was the cop. Instantly, Alan knew where they had first met. Alan nodded as he let go of Coach Duke's hand.
"Sorry," Alan muttered as he glanced at Anthony to see him looking just as baffled. "I don't recognize you. But it was good meeting you."
"Do you like to play, son?" Coach Duke placed his hand on Alan's shoulder as he led him towards the court, fully dropping the subject beforehand.
"I'm here to watch and just hang out for a bit. I don't play sports." Instantly MayMay was beside him as Alan sat down on the bleachers behind the team's bench.
"That's too bad, we could have used your height." Coach Duke joked before patting Alan on the back and leaving him to coach.
"You don't play?" MayMay sat down beside him as she looked at Coach Duke. "Very interesting. From the way I see it," She muttered as she let her head roll to the side, facing Alan as she stared into his eyes. "You are one of the best players in this Gym right now." Alan smiled as he looked down at his lap before watching his friend run laps.
"What you saw was a fluke. It's not a game nor talent." Alan watched as Anthony and Max passed a ball as they raced each other. "Besides, I have to focus on school. Sports aren't my thing."
"You know, there is a thing everyone does when they lie. It's called a Tell, unique to everyone." MayMay hummed as a smile graced her face. "Your tale is that you don't make eye contact." Alan didn't know how to respond, so he didn't. He just looked at MayMay with surprise and curiosity.
"You're very interesting MayMay, I will give you that." Alan smugly said.
"And you're a bad liar." MayMay turned back to the team as they began to be placed on teams. Alan watched as one side took off their shirts while the other side talked amongst themselves. "Wouldn't you like to be part of that? A team of friends? A team?" MayMay whispered as she leaned closer.
"Are you trying to sell me something?" Alan whispered back as he too leaned closer to her. "Because I ain't buying." Alan snickered at his little comeback as MayMay's smile grew.
"All I'm saying is that you have talent, don't waste it." MayMay hummed as she regained her normal sitting position. "We should play sometime."
"You play?" Alan asked in surprise.
"Sometimes," MayMay stood up as she looked down at Alan. "When you're on a team you have to play." Alan watched as MayMay walked towards the team before joining the shirt team. At first, she was in the background. But as time progressed, she quickly became closer until she stole the ball from a boy that Alan didn't recognize. MayMay began to run across the court as both teams trailed behind her as if they were just tagalongs. She was fast, faster than most of the boys on the court. She wasn't running, she was flying. The ball was under her control at all times, and as Alan watched. He too was under MayMay's control, but he didn't mind at all.