LS: The Beginning (12 page)

“I’ll be given a private audition, if I may call it that, with the coach.
T
hanks to Derrick over there,” I answered.

“That’s good,” she said, halfheartedly looking at him. “He is pretty good, you know,” she added, lifting a huge amount of
weight.

“Yeah, I heard,” I replied. “Please, could you stop this?” I pointed at the
weight she was holding.

“And why is that?” she demanded.

I collected the weight from her with ease.

“You’ll raise suspicions when people see a girl carrying such weight,” I
explained.

As Lisa and I worked out, I heard Derrick in another room talking to a man who
I assumed was the coach about a new kid who can fill the point guard
position.
What was his cut in all this?
I wondered. I thought it was
Lisa at that moment, but his thoughts about Lisa didn’t involve me.
Was he just being nice?

“He’s talking to the coach now,” Lisa announced.

“Yeah, I can hear them.”

I stared at Lisa, noticing the
gloomy look.

“What’s the problem, dear?”

“I have been giving my parents and my
younger brother flimsy excuses why I don’t eat. I really don't know what to do anymore. Right now, I’m glad they haven’t
noticed I don’t sleep as well.”

“I believe you should open up to them very soon. It wouldn’t be nice if they find out another way,” I said.

Lisa nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Meanwhile, the conversation between Derrick and the coach became
fruitful; the coach said,
“Tell him to come see me,
ASAP
.”

“He’s presently in the gym,” Derrick said.

“Then go get him. I have a meeting to attend in the next thirty minutes.”

“Oh thanks, Coach. I won’t let you down,” he promised.

“Are you ready
for the tryouts now?” Lisa asked. She must have heard the conclusion of their conversation.

“I’m not so sure. I’m not as good as Derrick thinks,
” I said in a low voice.

“You’ll do just fine,” Lisa encouraged.

“Thanks, I hope so.”

Just then, Derrick barged in looking happy, about to tell me the good news. He
paused as he saw Lisa and I together. His focus diverted to her, but she didn’t look
at him.

Finally, he turned to look at me. “The coach wants to meet you. He’s in the basketball
court waiting.”

“Thank you so much. You won’t regret this,” I assured him. My sudden interest in sports was a bit weird, but I followed my heart.

Derrick ignored everything I said because of the gorgeous girl beside me. He was lost in her beauty as he stood in front of us staring at her.

Lisa leaned forward to whisper into my ear.

“Can I come with you? I want to see you play.”

“Okay, but promise you won’t laugh,” I warned her.

"I won't," she said.

Luckily, the tryout went well. The coach, Derrick and Lisa went crazy seeing me play. I was told to do ten lay-ups and not miss a basket, shoot ten free throws and not miss any. My reflexes were unbelievable; the lay-ups and free throws were perfectly executed. I
was at each end of the court in seconds, and it certainly wasn't because of my long legs.

“Woo!” Derrick exclaimed after I made the last basket.

My eyes were wide open throughout the audition. I couldn't understand how my body could exhibit such skills. Well, I was a good basketball player back in Nigeria, but the momentum in which I used to move the ball was unbelievable.

“Welcome to the team, boy,” the coach said as I made the last basket.

Lisa jumped up from her seat, which was
far from where the coach and I stood.

“Looks like your girlfriend already knows you're on the team,” the coach stated.

“She’s not my girlfriend. We’re just classmates.” I couldn’t
even classify Lisa as a friend, because I knew she was on the other line,
listening to the conversation. “Thank you very much, sir. I won’t let you down,” I said.

“I know you won’t." He looked at his wristwatch. "We have training every Wednesday and Saturday
,
but skip tomorrow if you wish; I won’t be available,” the coach replied.

Lisa was a few steps away, walking to celebrate with me for
my position on the team

“Congrats, Steph, you were really good,” she said.

“Oh no, that was my special ability playing, not the real me. It made me move so
fast, flexible, and damn, really high.”

“Whatever! It was impressive,” she said.

“Thank you,” I replied.

Derrick strolled toward us. “You killed it, man,” he said.

I'd never introduced people before, so now it was really unenviable to introduce the two.

“Hey, Lisa, meet Derrick. Derrick, meet Lisa,” I said, nodding at them after calling their names.

Derrick rapidly moved forward, reached for Lisa’s hand and kissed it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he said.

In disgust, Lisa wrongly replied withdrawing her hand from his grasp, “Thank you.” She
must have heard what he was thinking. If only he knew.

Shortly, Lisa and I left the sports hall and headed straight for her car.

“I guess today went well?” I indirectly asked.

“Please, speak for yourself," she said. "Throughout the gym session, I kept wondering what will happen when I tell my parents
about the whole thing. I can’t keep telling these lies.” She raised the
subject again.

Cheering Lisa up was the only thing on my mind; thus, I came up with a
plan. I'd never asked a girl like her out; so literally I was shaking as my pulse throbbed in suspense, and my hands
were crossed behind my back.

“Would you like to spend a day with me? So I could teach you how
to use and control your powers, at least to the stage I’m at. And maybe we could
go watch a movie, since restaurants would kick us out for paying and not eating,” I said.

She stared at me for a few minutes, smiling and thinking of what to say. The desire to
read her mind grew stronger,

as I bit my lower lip.

“First things first, what stage are you at?” she
asked.

I’d been practicing my ice powers, and learned how to
create ice without the use of my hands. So after she asked her question, an iced heart shaped Popsicle appeared on her right palm. Instantly, it started
melting due to the temperature of her skin.

“How did you do that?” she said. “And about your request, it's cool.”

“All right then. Would next Saturday be okay with you? I’ll teach you exactly how
to do that.”

“That’s a bit far, but it’s okay.”

I chose that day because I didn’t want to seem desperate. If the word ego didn't exist, I'd have probably asked her out for the following day. That was how much I needed to be with her.

“
I’ll be going
home now. Please, be safe.”

“I will,” she said.

Chapter Eight

An Anticipated Day

I arrived home and glanced at my wristwatch. It had taken me less than two minutes to arrive at my house on foot, due to my supersonic run. I'd begun to enjoy running instead of driving.        Stacey was seated in the living room waiting for me to spring up, but unlike a wife or parent, she waited until I took a bath before questioning me.

“What’s the topic of discussion?” I asked her as I entered the living room.

“It’s about Julie,” she said.

Trying to play along, I asked, “What about her? Is she okay? I saw
her in school today. She seemed fine.”

Stacey grimaced.

“Yeah, she is. It’s about your relationship with her.” She
adjusted her body as I came to sit down on the couch with her.

“What about it?”

“You already know what I’m
thinking, so why are you pretending?” she said. I saw the annoyance written all over her face.

“No, I don’t. Since you’re my dearest cousin, I try not to read your mind every time,” I explained.

“Okay, so why have you been ignoring her? We girls are very sensitive; these things hurt.”

“You won’t understand.”

Stacey inched closer. “Try me.”

“Julie’s a wonderful girl, but...”

“But?” she asked.

“I’m not interested," I replied shaking my head.

“Is it because of Lisa? You know, that girl’s trouble,” she blabbered.

I never believed Stacey could get me angry, however saying Lisa was trouble
made me doubt my belief.

“Never say, or even think about that again,” I said. My facial
expression had changed to a frown. Lisa hadn’t done anything to deserve such rebuke
from Stacey.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“If I did not shake her hand, she would still be with her boyfriend. If you want
to assign blame to someone, blame me.” I stood up after showing my disappointment, but couldn’t get angry
because in her twisted mind, Stacey wanted the best for her cousin. “And yes, she is the reason why I ignore Julie. For goodness sake, Julie’s
captivating and I can’t trust myself with her.”

“You do have feelings toward her,” Stacey said, grinning.

“I wish it was that easy.” I moved close to the flat screen.

She stood up and drew closer to me. “It is.”

“No, it isn’t. Words can’t describe how I feel about Lisa. If you care about me, you will
want this for me. No girl has ever made me feel the way she does. Not even
Julie,” I stated.