Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason had his head held up to watch the ball as it flew toward the basket. But after seeing it fall through the net just as the clock buzzed he felt all the strength leave his body as he then rested his head.

All around him were the thunderous noises of the crowd as they clapped, cheered, and screamed in celebration.

But all he could hear was the beating of his own heart as he laid on the floor relaxed and content.

'We did it.... We did it Kyle. We're the new county champions. We brought Jefferson its very first banner.'

Just as he was about to get lost in his thoughts Jason felt his body being lifted up from the ground. He looked around and saw that it was Udonis and Trell pulling him to his feet.

Jason's man bun became undone as Udonis ruffled his hair "Hahah! What are you still doin on the floor bruh?

You got everyone hyped as fuck! It's only fair that you join in on the fun." Trell smiled and nodded his head before shouting out "Let's give it up to the hometown hero!"

Udonis and Trell lifted Jason up into the air. It was then that Jason realized that it wasn't just Trell and Udonis close by him.

The entire crowd had gone down the bleachers as they flooded the court. And they were all surrounding Jason.

Udonis and Trell passed Jason around as the he began to crowd surf. Jason could hear all of the cheers of support as he made his way around.

This was the first time that Jason had ever experienced something like this. The smiles of the people as they carried him across the room was something that Jason felt like he would never forget.

After a while Jason finally made it back to where he was in the beginning as Trell and Udonis helped put him down.

The referee and the principal asked for the people to clear out the court so that they could officially end the game with the end of game hand shake.

It took a few minutes but the crowd made their way back up to the bleachers as they all took a seat.

The two teams lined up. The players from Jefferson and Nashton Academy then began to shake each other's hands.

When Jason reached 3D he smiled as he stuck his hand out "That was a hell of a game bro. I got nothing but respect for your game."

3D had a serious expression on his face but he couldn't fight it as he ended up smiling. He shook his head.

"I wanted to be pissed at you. This was my last chance to try and get a county title. Oh well. Guess I'll have to wait until you're in high school to get my revenge.

That was a damn good game. I really thought I locked the win in after making that free throw.

Enjoy the win while you can. Cause when we meet at the high school level I'll be whoopin your ass.

Tell your big guy that it was a hell of a fight. He really gave me problems." Those were the last words that he said before he began to walk away.

The smile on his face disappeared as he thought about Kyle 'You hear that Kyle? You put up a hell of a fight.'

He was thinking of what he would say after seeing Kyle's face in the locker room. He was happy that he would be able to give him the good news.

But he didn't know how Kyle was feeling right now and he didn't know what kind of face he should have when he goes to see him.

But before Jason could make his way to the locker room he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

He turned around and saw a familiar face "Hello Jason. My name is Gloria Hernández and I am with the Riverside daily news station.

I know that you are probably very tired after such a hard fought win. But if you don't mind would it be possible to get a quick interview?"

It was the same news reporter that had interviewed Coach Swendel in the past. Honestly Jason was really tired and he just wanted to give Kyle the good news.

However since he had a good impression of the news reporter he decided to go ahead and let her do the interview.

He nodded his head "Sure." The news reporter smiled brightly after hearing Jason agree to the interview.

She straightened out her clothes and made sure that she was presentable as her camera man began to record.

"Hello Riverside This is Gloria Hernández bringing to you today's big story. Tonight is a special night as Jefferson Middle School has just earned their first county title in the school's history.

Tonight is also the first night in over 5 years that a middle school from Riverside City has actually won the tournament for Riverside County.

Here with me is one of the stars on Jefferson's team Jason Yang." The camera man turned to Jason as he smiled and waved.

Gloria continued "Thank you for giving us this interview Jason. I know that you and your team put in a lot of work for this season.

But it's often said that behind a great athlete is a great supporting cast. Is there anyone in particular that you would like to thank?"

Jason wiped the sweat off of his face with the bottom portion of his jersey before answering "That's true. I wouldn't be here today celebrating this wonderful moment if it weren't for the collective effort of all the people that supported me.

I want to take a moment to thank both my parents for dealing with all of the nonsense that I've put them through.

All the times that they've called off work or had to find someone to cover for them just so that they could come and watch our games.

I have to thank my close friend Tory for always being there to talk to me whenever things were tough.

As a star athlete herself she has been able to help guide me to deal with all the things that come with getting so much attention.

Obviously I need to thank my teammates because I wouldn't be here celebrating this win if it weren't for them.

I also need to thank all the fans for cheering for us and showing their support in every game.

Also I would like to give a big thanks to Coach Swendel for helping to shape the players that we are.

And a special thanks to Kyle. He played his heart out tonight and it's a real shame that he wasn't able to be out on the court with us at the last moment.

But he played just as a big a part as anyone else in getting us this county title. Thank you so much bro."

Gloria smiled as she added "I know that you just started playing basketball fairly recently so this is just the start of your journey.

But what does a moment like tonight mean to you? As one of the biggest pieces of Jefferson's first county title can you tell us how you're feeling right now?"

Jason didn't know what to say. He tried to think back to his past life to see if he had ever been asked a similar question.

And as he was going through all of his past memories tears began to flow down his face. He wasn't sobbing and he felt at peace. But the tears just kept on coming.

'It just hit me. I have never been in a situation like this. I've never played such a big part on a team.

My life is really changing. I'm not just the small piece in the machine that I was in my past life. I'm the star of the team. I'm important.'

Gloria was shocked by the sudden outflow of tears from Jason "I'm sorry, did I ask something I shouldn't have?"

Jason wiped the tears off of his face "No, you didn't do anything wrong. I just thought about your question.

You're right that I've only been playing for a few months. I guess that's why tonight meant so much to me. I feel like tonight is a night that will stick with me for the rest of my life.

When I think back to all the work that me and my team put in and how all of it finally paid off for tonight I couldn't help but cry a little.

Tonight was hours of practice, hours of working our bodies till they were tired, hours of not spending time with our friends and family, and we finally got to taste what it was for.

But this is just the beginning. I know that some people will want to count us out for the state tournament because of us losing Kyle.

But we're not thinking like that. The only thing on our minds is getting the next win." That was the last thing that Jason said before making his way to the locker room.

He walked in and saw the rest of the guys smiling and surrounding Kyle and his mom. The two of them were also smiling.

Jason walked up to Kyle before extending his fist toward him. Kyle saw this and laughed as he bumped his fist back.

Afterwards Jason gave him a bro hug from the side as tears once again began to run down his face "We did it Kyle. We got the win."