Regrets Part I

Brayden - October

It's finally here, the day I've been waiting for since the beginning of freshman year, basketball tryouts. I'm nervous but I've put so many hours of practice in, I know I've got this. This is a closed try out so I know there is no way she will be there to distract me. I've got to focus!

I get up that morning and do my usual morning routine. Stretch, go for a run, come back, shower, eat a lean breakfast and head to school. Maybe if I'm lucky, I won't see her at all today and can get my mind ready. No such luck... I walk in and she's the first thing I see. She glances over at me but I doubt she really notices me. Ugh, there goes my concentration for the day. That's ok, I think to myself, I have all day to get it back. I head to my locker, throw my gym back in and grab the books I need for my first couple of periods.

"Hey Brayden! You ready for this afternoon?" Jackson says as he comes up next to me, backpack in hand.

"Ready as ever!" I lied. I still have not told him about her yet. I really need to figure out her actual name. But that's not important, what's important now are basketball tryouts. Maybe I'll tell Jackson about her later. I need to focus now. Jackson isn't that into girls right now, he just had a nasty breakup with his girlfriend and I doubt he'll be ready to date any one any time soon. He wouldn't understand.

"You've seemed a little distracted lately, are you sure you're ok?" He asked with a look of concern on his face.

"Yeah man, it's just nerves, you know how that goes" another lie. He knows I don't get nervous about basketball, I've been shooting a ball since before I could walk.

I watch the clock as the day goes by. Every bell ring, ever tick of the minute hand gets me that much closer to afternoon tryouts. I need to get in the zone, focus, no time for anything else. Basketball. Think basketball.

"Mr. Black?" Oh no, she called on me. What was she saying? What class is this? Um, I have no idea what she just asked me.

"Yes?" I say nervously

"I just asked the class what they thought of the first chapter of 'The Lord of the Flies'?" I can feel the whole class staring at me. I read it, I really did. Why can't I bring it to memory now?

"Um," I reply, "it was interesting".

"Interesting how?" Then it clicks. My mind switches over and the answer comes flooding back.

"It clearly shows the need for leadership. How some people naturally take a role as leader and others as followers. It was interesting to see how, at such a young age, these boys naturally fell into that role." Whew.

"Very good Brayden, I see someone has been doing his reading", she looked surprised. I guess I'm focusing on the wrong thing at the moment. I try my hardest to concentrate through the rest of the class.

Eighth period bell rings. Finally! I jump out of my seat and sprint towards my locker. I grab my gym bag and head to the gym, head down hoping not to see her. I make it all the way down the hall and into the gym safely. Made it! Now to get into basketball mode. I walk into the gym and several boys are already in there shooting around. I had seen these guys before, some are even in my classes but never really spoke to them. I head to the locker room to change. Once I'm done, I grab a ball and walk onto the court.

"Hey! Are you here for basketball tryouts? I've never seen you on the court so I'm assuming you're a freshman, correct?"

"Yeah, I'm Brayden".

"Cool, I'm Tristan, grab a ball and come shoot around with us. Coach should be here in about 15 minutes."

"Great" I say as he passes the ball to me.

After we are all warmed up, Coach comes in and gets us all together.

"Alright, for those of you who were here last year, welcome back. For those newbies, I am Coach Whitterly. I look forward to seeing what all of you have and for a great season this year. We will start out with JV tryouts. If you are a freshman or a sophomore new to Evermore basketball, come stand over here" he says as he points to the other side of the court, "every one else, take a seat in the bleachers, you will be next".

I head over to the designated spot on the court and wait for Coach's instructions.

"Alright boys, let's get started. First I want you all to line up and take turns shooting from the free point line. After that we will do some drills, then a series of short 3v3 games. Teams will be posted out front tomorrow afternoon so you can check them to see if you made it. Regular practices will start in 2 weeks for all that made it. Make sure you fill out all your contact info so we know how to get in touch with you."

Practice starts. I'm feeling confident as it's my turn to shoot. I step up, square myself to the basket and shoot. Swoosh! The ball makes it in with no problems! Great start, I keep my head in the game and finish the rest of tryouts with ease.