Another Friday night

This game against Verde Gardens was Jason's lowest scoring game This season. As he finished with only 18 points.

During the game Jason spent most of his energy defending Danilo. But Jason also finished with 8 assist, 4 steals, and 3 rebounds.

- - -

Jason's small apartment was crowded as the team sat on the floor of the living room while the adults sat down on the couch.

Kyle's mom sat on the couch with a bowl of popcorn "Ooh lord that last game had me on the edge of my seat. Those twins were really good."

Jason's mom sat between Kyle's mom and her husband. She smiled "Tell me about it. I could feel my blood pressure getting high just from watching the game.

And when Jaya fell on the floor I almost ran down to the court haha. Luckily Henry is always cool headed and he managed to stop me."

Jason's dad laughed "Oh trust me I wanted to get down there just as much as anybody when I first saw Jason hit the floor.

But then I saw him smiling and it looked like he wasn't in any pain so I knew that he was alright." As they were chatting they heard a knock on the door before it swung open.

At the door was Tory and a middle aged man dressed in business casual, a pair of gray slacks and a white button up longsleeve with the sleeves folded up around the elbows.

He was around the same height as Jason's dad at 5'10 (1.77m) But unlike Jason's dad who was slim he had a bit of a gut and a thick upper body.

The muscles on his shoulders and his arms were visible even underneath his clothes. His hair was tied into a ponytail that reached the base of his neck.

He shook his head with a helpless smile "What's the point in knocking if you're just going to bust right in?"

Tory turned to the man and smiled "My bad dad." Then she turned back to the rest of the people "Hey Aunty hi Uncle. We just got back from my competition. We brought back a whole bunch of goodies!"

Tory and her dad put down the boxes that they were carrying on the kitchen counter before walking back into the living room.

Tory's dad shook hands with Jason's parents "Hey Henry, Naomi, sorry I missed another game. But Tory's meet ended up taking a little longer than we thought. She ended up getting first place again.

The sponsors gave us a bunch of energy drinks and health suppliments as a bonus prize. Feel free to help yourselves. We have four more boxes in the car haha."

Jason's dad laughed "That's alright Jin. We know that you have your hands full with your own little superstar.

Oh I don't think you guys have met yet. Let me introduce you to Veronica Robinson. She's Kyle's mom and the one who threw the wonderful party for Jason's first episode on TV."

Jason's dad then turned to Kyle's mom "Veronica this is Tory's dad Jinyoung Kim but everyone just calls him Jin."

Tory's dad extended his hand forward "Pleasure to meet you. I've only heard wonderful things. Mostly about how awesome your son is and how deliciously you cook."

Kyle's mom giggled "The pleasure is all mine. I've heard a lot about you as well but they never told me that you were in such great shape.

At least now I know where Tory gets her great genes from. Did you wrestle also?" Tory's dad laughed "Yeah I wrestled back in high school. But I can't take the credit for my little girl.

She's a way better athlete than I was. She's dominating on her school's wrestling team but she also does the same in Judo and in boxing. Sometimes I wonder where she gets all the energy to keep up with so many sports."

Kyle's mom laughed "I hear you. My boy has been spending way more time playin basketball but somehow still finds a way to get on his computer and watch all those cartoons." Tory's dad sat down next to Kyle's mom.

Tory went to go sit down next to Jason. The rest of the guys on the team had been chatting and joking around with Jason but as soon as they saw Tory walk in through the door they all got quiet.

Jason scooted to the side to make some space for Tory "So first place again huh? Maybe you're the one that needs to get their own TV show."

Tory smiled and put up a peace sign "Hehe you already know how you're noona gets to work. If I put my mind to it there's no one that can beat me."

Tory started flexing her muscles and goofing around as soon as she sat down next to Jason. Jason laughed before passing her the popcorn bowl.

Tory took the bowl from him and started ruffling his hair up "But enough about me. I heard that your game today was super duper close? And I heard that you played almost the whole game?"

Jason fixed his hair "Yeah this game ended up being a lot closer than we thought it was going to be.

The other team had a bad record but that was only because their best players missed their first few games because of transfer rules.

But those twins were something else. They were probably the toughest competition that we've played so far this season. I had to play a little more than usual because they were just that good."

They were chatting and laughing but as soon as they saw that the episode was starting they all went quiet as they focused on the TV.

- - -

The first athlete that they showed was Jerome Bonner. They showed a minute long clip of him at practice before showing some of his recent in game highlights.

While his highlights played there was a voice asking questions "So first you were the number one ranked freshman and now you're the number one ranked sophemore.

Do you ever think about next year? Do you think about where you'll be as a junior?"

Jerome's voice answered "I don't think about those types of things. I don't pay attention to the noise because one second they'll be throwing nothin but love your way. Next thing you know they throwin you unda the bus and ain't nothin you can do right."

The voice was slightly surprised "Oh? Are you perhaps talking about the mall incident from a while ago? Would you like to set things straight on record?"

The scene then changed to Jerome sitting on the bleachers at his school's gym. He was drenched in sweat.

Jerome smiled and shook his head "There's nothing for me to set straight. Jason took care of that pretty quick. Shout out to little dude.

I never expected to be pushed so hard playing against a middle schooler but he was legit. I would keep my eyes on him for sure."

The interviewer then asked "So if you don't pay attention to the noise then what does someone like Jerome Bonner , a top ranked athlete, pay attention to?"

Jerome thought for a second "Well to be honest it might seem a little boring but all I pay attention to is the game."

Jerome laughed "Basketball is the most honest and loyal thing that you can have in your life. If she were a girl you would have no problems haha.

If you pay attention to the game then you can see where you need to improve, you get to see where you're doing good, and you can even see other people that you can learn from. And if put in the work to get better then you get rewarded."

The interviewer smiled as he asked "So is it safe to say that basketball is your dream girl?" Jerome wiped his face with a towel and laughed "Most definitely. Too bad she just ain't a real girl."

After asking a few more questions they showed more clips of Jerome practicing. They asked him about the competition that he's face so far and they showed him volunteering in his community.

Jerome's segment of the show was about twenty minutes long. They showed two more athletes for ten minutes each before getting to Jason.

They showed highlights from Jason's first official game against Cider Grove including him draining the three-pointer just seconds after the game had started.

They then showed him stripping the ball away from one of their players before passing it to Trell for the fastbreak dunk.

After showing highlights from that game for a few minutes they then showed highlights from Jason's second and third games of the season.

They focused on highlighting Jason's on the court coaching as they showed him yelling and directing the team.

After a few more minutes of Jason's highlights the scene changed to him sitting on the floor of the gym.

Javier was standing in front of him with a big smile on his face "So it looks like someone's been busy since the last time he was on."