November 19th, early morning.
Tremaine's mind was overdue for a reset.
He dealt with his own problems yesterday by sleeping all afternoon, and grappling with his emotions, and demons by night.
Oh. He also had to fake sleep his way through an intense sexual session between his two friends Deshaun and Emily…
So, here he was, at the entrance of their own practice facility, wanting nothing more than to hold some balls…
However, the unthinkable awaited him inside the facility.
The lights were out, but the sound of furious dribbling could be heard loudly.
Whoever this was must have unfinished business with something.
Tremaine entered the facility while stretching his arms. He was not that interested in whoever's dribbling.
He just wants to hold a ball.
After all, yesterday had been a wild ride, not only for him, but also for everyone in the men's team.
There was no practice yesterday, as it was considered a rest day. Considering that tomorrow is another game day, Coach Roughan mandated that today's practice would only be from 9 AM until lunchtime. The routines also would be light, to avoid unnecessary injuries, and most of the time would be spent on the strategy meetings.
Yesterday, Tremaine didn't even take a single step inside the facility. He doubts half of them even did, with all the jet lag and fatigue. It was hard taking in the death of someone after all.
Deshaun lamented the fact that they travelled all around the country in less than a day. From Illinois, to Boston, and to the capital city of New Mexico, and back.
How these sex fiends managed to do it after all that was beyond his celibate mind's understanding.
He wasted most of his night trying, and failing, to distract himself from his surging emotions. At the very least, he succeeded in hiding it from the two with him.
Why does my own death bother me now when it didn't before?
What about the people I've left behind?
Why am I even given another chance in life?
Is this like a parallel universe where I could live the life I always wanted?
Does every single person in the world that had died also reincarnate in a world where they could live the dreams they truly desired?
His thoughts were running wild.
He even reached some bullshit like, "If I get hit by a truck, will I reincarnate in another world?"
And something like, "What if I actually gained a superpower and I just don't know it yet?"
At some point during the night, an answer to his biggest question naturally came to him.
"Is this the exact same world as my past life?"
Tremaine thought deep into the bottom of his consciousness. However, deep inside him, he'd always known the answer.
It was the same, exact world of my 17 year old self when I arrived.
But once his more mature life choices started affecting the world around him in different ways… this world started divulging from the one in his memories.
And a whole lot had changed in the last few months for him.
The entire season schedule had been modified too, from a tame one to one of the most demonic schedules in the country.
His relationship with the members of the team had changed dramatically too, from an outsider, to a close, trustworthy relationship.
His grades had also changed for the better.
In his first life, he never even made it to the 15 man roster, much less play in an actual game. It was even the third game of the season!
That was the answer he came up with, after spending most of his night grappling with his head, and sorting out his mind's computer.
It was not perfect. He still had lingering sentiments, and he still wanted a mental reset, but… it will do for now.
Everything would have to wait until the game against Chicago State is over.
Tremaine lapsed into the present and unconsciously raised his lowered head to catch a glimpse of the beautiful figure dribbling the ball…
His jaws gaped.
'Who's this angel on earth?'
Tremaine shook his head crazily, and even made sure his contact lenses were fine. Upon giving it a second look, his mood plunged.
Sofia Kuznetsov.
He's not a violent person by any means, but once he remembered how much he got toyed with by this woman who's almost two decades his junior mentally, emotionally, and financially… the veins in his head bulged to a breaking point.
Calm down, Tremaine. Violence against women has no place in the world, just slap yourself or something…
And slap himself he did.
A thunderous hand meets face noise from the direction of the entrance compelled Sofia to look over there.
Sofia almost dropped her dribble once she saw Tremaine standing there dumbly in pain because of his own slap.
"What are you doing, Tre, you dumbass?" Sofia's smile could kill anyone with a faint heart. "Wanna spar?"
Tremaine was muddle headed now. He tried his best not to look at anything below her glowing face. He's a 37 year old bachelor and should not be tainted by worldly desires in his pursuit of the ultimate glory.
"Sorry, just spacing out there. I need to wake the fuck up!"
"Wanna play and lose to me again?" Sofia snickered, and quickly made her way towards Tremaine.
Tremaine imagined that Sofia was a human with a fully cyborg body, to delude himself into thinking that he's winning against his battle with his personal virtues. In truth, he could feel the blood about to gush out of his nose.
'Concentrate, Tremaine. Avoid sin!' Tremaine entered a deep state of calm, his mind becoming as fortified as fortresses of pure steel, impenetrable by conventional logic.
"Hmph! I will not fall to my knees this time! I'll dominate you!" If Tremaine had any lewd thoughts in mind, then this could be taken another way, but his dense, thick shield had it covered. "I'll beat you to submission with this ball!"
Sofia was stunned. His crappy wording sent shivers down her exposed abdomen. Although, she could see that her fellow freshman was avoiding any sort of eye contact with her.
All of a sudden, everything became awkward…
Sofia's always been a confident woman, but why is she blushing right now!
The two stood there like awkward oafs, until two familiar faces laughed at them for looking like fools.
"Who asked the other out?" Ryan Brown's left hand was holding Hannah Roughan's right hand while his free hand pointed at both of them.
"I tell you babe, they are a perfect fit for each other!" Hannah giggled like a lovestruck woman.
Who knew these two were a couple?
Upon seeing both rookies' faces widen in shock, Ryan remained silent, however Hannah told them one little thing.
"Please don't tell my father!"
"If this gets out, you're banned from both our parlors." Ryan threatened Tremaine.
How did things escalate to this point?
I just want an emotional release!
***
Extras:
Tremaine finally managed to breathe a sigh of relief after the professor allowed him to take his seat.
His answer to the question was two words. "Uhhh… Jefferson?"
It's not completely right, but it's not completely wrong either.
The professor let the varsity member sit down afterwards.
However, after sitting down, the professor once again spoke. "You got half of it right. It's Jefferson Davis. But oh well, you're close enough anyway."
Tremaine couldn't believe it. He thought it was Thomas Jefferson!
"You should study more." A sweet sounding voice entered his ears.
Tremaine looked to his right and was immediately blown away by the light. The girl beside him was literally his type.
"Have you gotten your ID card back?" The orange-haired lady asked.
"Wh-what ID card?" Tremaine was wondering how did this person know that he lost his ID card a while back.
"You bumped into me after the midterm results came out, and I fell." The girl gazed through Tremaine's unsure, restless eyes and smiled. "The picture I remember looked like you, and I was right. It's in the lost and found."
"Oh…it's you! I really apologize for that. I was in a hurry… and I spaced out…" Tremaine was panicking about the sudden interaction with a gorgeous woman. He couldn't bear to tell her that he had a new ID card with the help of his head coach. "I'll get it after class!"
"You're really interesting, Tremaine Mills."
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