Motivation

Next morning.

"These two rabbits just can't stop doing it, huh." Tremaine shook his head at the sight of his two naked best friends. He even put a blanket over the two of them. 

Yesterday was a great start for Tremaine, whose hard work and results did not go unnoticed by many of his teammates, showing off his composure and confidence on both ends of the floor. 

He might not be at his peak condition yet, but he was already feeling much better than he was at this point of his original life. 

Tremaine did his morning stretches, and grabbed a sports drink bottle, while stuffing a protein bar into his mouth. He then farted a couple of times, answered the call of nature, and took a massive dump that cleansed his mind.

Afterward, he changed into comfortable attire and started running…

"Holy shit, it's raining…"

Something like a little rain doesn't stop someone like Tremaine Mills.

"I guess I'll just run for a lap and then head straight for the practice facility." 

Tre started running on the rain soaked university avenue. Even if the visibility is low, since this was a pedestrian and bicycle only avenue, he didn't really care that much. 

Unless this was nighttime and some school rulebreakers went haywire from parties. 

The raindrops falling on his head were both refreshing and freezing cold. As he ran down the avenue with several other committed students jogging, he saw someone wearing nothing but cycling shorts and a sleeveless shirt…

"Seriously… this guy…"

He didn't have to confirm who it was, because from the height and the way he carried himself alone, he already knew who it was. 

Once he got close to him, he realized that the man was shivering uncontrollably like an idiot. He almost burst out laughing if only Jaylen didn't look at him while gritting his teeth. 

"The sudden downpour caught me…" Jaylen folded his arms together and then shivered. 

"What the fuck are you wearing in this weather, Jaylen?" Someone else ran beside Tremaine. He was sporting a hoodie jacket, with a baseball cap to add further rainfall protection, and a tight fitting jogging pants. "Are you drunk?"

Tremaine was now unable to hold back his laughter, after DJ Johnson asked a question that made a hell of a lot of sense to anyone that had seen and would see Jaylen today. 

"Man, you murdered our five star prospect!" Kristian Geis also pulled up behind the trio, surprising Tremaine. He was wearing the same style of running wear as DJ, but he had a watch that took note of his running mileage, calories burned, and the news bites ringing in his ears. 

"For the past month, it was just us two, right?" Tremaine talked to the freezing Jaylen. 

"And occasionally, some upperclassmen." Jaylen mumbled.

"Everyone can run in the morning, man." DJ answered afterward. "I realized yesterday, that I'm still very far from you guys. If I ever want to be worth anything, I have to put in the extra mile or so."

"Me too! What the two of you showed yesterday, opened my eyes!" Kristian meekly said. "I thought that our skill gaps were not that far from what I'd seen during the last month, since I'm also a four star prospect, but I can't even outshine a walk-on!"

The four closed in on the practice facility while making small, smack talk about what awaits them today. All four of them were nervous about what the coaching staff had concluded regarding the intra squad scrimmage yesterday. 

Drenched as they were, they continued running on the tree lined boulevard. Jaylen and Kristian jumped over the puddles of water forming, while DJ and Tremaine stepped on those puddles with aggressiveness. 

Tremaine, and the other three teenagers, thoroughly enjoyed their energizing, albeit chilly, morning jog.

Right up the backdoor garden steps of the practice facility, by the parking lot, they saw someone else from the team skipping on a rope, drenched at the same degree as them. 

However, unlike them, he's wearing nothing but jogging pants… and a silver necklace.

His glistening, six pack abs, accentuating his chiseled frame, a low temple fade hairstyle, and his dark skin stood out amid the greenery of the back garden. 

Well, his look was reserved for the grizzled veterans of college hoops, but to the four gentlemen here… he was their fellow freshman.

"Why the fuck are y'all weirdly dressed?" DJ was at his limits with his fellow freshmen. Tremaine was wrongly dressed, Jaylen was like a drunkard, and this guy right here was not wearing a top, like he's some monk training on the mountains.

Only him and Kristian were normal people! 

But wait, Kristian was wearing one of those pricey, sham watches!

Abdoulaye Eze stopped his fixed jump rope routine and fixed his eyes at his fellow freshmen players. "I mean, what's wrong with this? I'm at the back entrance, so no ordinary students usually come here, and if they see me, I also don't give a fuck."

Abdoulaye's straightforward answer stumped DJ. 

"That's what we call freedom, my fellow young forward." Jaylen put his arms over DJ's shoulder. 

Then they heard Kristian's watch sound the alarm… with a bland, robotic, sing-song voice… saying, "Get to the gym, Kristian, it's practice time. Get to the gym, Kristian, it's practice time..."

Within the next few moments, the spattering of rain on the patches of grass were the only sounds these five freshmen heard.

It was undeniably awkward after that…

"Ahem… it's time for me to practice…" Kristian evaded their questioning stares and rushed inside the facility…

"Am I really the only normal person here?!" Normal guy DJ can't help it anymore, shaking his wet bed hair and going in too, leaving the other three soaked, and confused.

"Do you guys… wanna go in?" Tremaine couldn't help but ask.

"I still have to finish my routine." Abdoulaye declined, and picked up his jumping rope like it's no big deal.

"Talk about dedication. Let's go, Tre, I'm freezing out here." Jaylen was going to enter the facility anyway. 

Abdoulaye was left there, his seven foot frame continued skipping on the rope, with a glint in his eyes.

His rope splashed puddles of cold, morning rainwater onto the grass clearing after every revolution, as he focused on whatever's running inside his mind.

"You guys showed me great motivation. It's time for me to improve by leaps and bounds too!" 

***

Tremaine was surprised at the lively atmosphere inside the practice facility this early in the morning.

"Tre, man!" Sean Nguyen grinned after drilling a practice free throw right as Tre opened the gym back door.

He saw six of his teammates mulling in and around the facility doing their own early morning routine, and working hard. 

Jaylen had already made a beeline to the locker room to take a bath, and he saw several of the women's basketball team also working on improving themselves. 

Ten of eighteen went here early today… a pretty good turnout, if Tremaine could say so himself. 

He's ready for Coach Roughan scathing remarks… after he takes a fine, warm bath.