Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason went to sleep thinking about Tyreek's refusal to be on the show 'Why would he say no to being on the show? He would get paid and get great exposure. I just don't understand.'

Jason woke up and brushed his teeth. As he was getting dressed he was still thinking about Tyreek. He sent him a text before getting ready for school.

As Jason was eating breakfast he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out to check and saw that he had gotten a text from Giorgio saying that the crew was there.

Jason told his parents before going out to let the filming crew into the apartment. Although calling them a crew is a little generous. There were only two people. One camera guy and an interviewer.

The guy holding the camera had a tan and was on the heavier side. He had long brown hair tied into a ponytail and he was dressed in a red t-shirt and cargo shorts.

The interviewer was fairly good looking. he had smooth brown skin and his short black hair was neatly styled.

He was dressed in a white long sleeve shirt that had the sleeves folded around the elbows and a nice pair of jeans.

The interviewer smiled as he walked into the apartment and saw Jason's parents "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Yang.

I'm Javier and this is Greg. I'll be in charge of interviewing and asking questions during our shoots as well as acting as a liaison for Giorgio.

If you or Jason ever need anything just go ahead and contact me. It doesn't matter what time it is please feel free to call or text me.

Greg will be in charge of recording and handling the material that we get. If we happen to catch something that you would rather not be shared just let us know.

But part of the appeal of our show is showing the real and gritty parts of our athlete's lives as well as their athletics so please keep that in mind. "

Javier turned to Jason and then to his parents "So are we ready to do a quick interview? Just a short one with the whole family."

Jason and his parents agreed. Javier and Greg moved around some of the furniture so that they could film the interview in the living room.

Javier asked some generic questions to Jason and his parents. He would sometimes throw in a more interesting question to mix things up.

The interview lasted about ten minutes. After the interview Javier and Greg moved the furniture back to the way it was before.

Javier talked with Jason before he left for school and they agreed to record his practice today after school.

- - -

Jason was sitting in English class but he seemed to be daydreaming. He was pulled back to reality when he felt something bump into his arm. He looked down and saw a small paper ball.

He unfolded the ball and saw that there was a small note written inside 'What's up? You look like you have something on your mind.'

Jason turned to Samantha who quickly turned her head away. Jason smiled before ripping a small piece of paper from his notebook and writing his own note.

'I'm good. Thanks for asking Sammy. How about you?' Jason crumpled up the note into a small paper ball and rolled it to Samantha.

Jason pretended to look away but he was watching Samantha in the corner of his eye. Samantha quickly grabbed the paper and read it.

After she read the note she smiled before ripping out another small piece of paper from her notebook.

She started writing a note but then she erased everything and started writing again. She did this three more times before she just crumpled the paper and threw it away.

Jason chuckled as he watched Samantha. She turned to Jason and leaned in to whisper "I'm doing good but I'm gonna be so bored today after school. All of my other friends have plans and none of them include me."

Jason looked at Samantha before whispering back "Dang that's gonna suck. Hopefully you find something to do."

Samantha lightly kicked him under the table "You're such a dick. This is the part where you're supposed to go 'I'm sorry to hear that Sammy. How about you hang out with me so you don't get bored.'

Not just ditch me and wish me luck. What kind of friend are you? Don't you care about my impending boredom?"

Jason rolled his eyes "Impending boredom? Doesn't exactly sound all that dire if you ask me. Maybe you can take this chance to study or read."

Samantha stuck her tongue out at Jason before pouting "You are such a meanie. If you were the one asking me I would totally be down to hang out. You're probably busy with practice again huh?"

Jason laughed "Of course you would be down to hang out. You're always down to hang. I do have practice today but I need to take care of something first."

Samantha's curiosity was tingling 'What could be so important to make this basketball freak prioritize it over practice?'

Samantha smiled as a lock of her curly red hair fell to her face "And what's so important that it's got our Mr. Basketball so worked up?"

Jason was about to answer but he stopped as he saw Ms. Yuller turn to the class for a moment. After she turned back towards the whiteboard he started talking.

"It's nothing crazy. I just need to go to Newberry High School really quick to talk to a friend about something."

Samantha's eyes widened in excitement. She grabbed the sleeve of Jason's hoodie and started shaking his arm "Can I go!? Can I go!? Can I go!? Please let me go!"

Jason was startled but Samantha's outburst. He looked to Ms. Yuller and thankfully she hadn't noticed yet.

Jason moved closer to Samantha and started shushing her "Hey! Shut up! You're gonna get us in trouble with Ms. Yuller!"

Samantha either couldn't hear him over the sound of her own noise or she was ignoring him because she continued to do what she was doing.

Jason couldn't take it anymore as he caved in "Alright you can go! Just please shut up." Samantha immediately became quiet.

Jason couldn't help but facepalm. He checked on Ms. Yuller again and saw that she was continuing class as usual.

He sighed in relief. Samantha laughed as she saw Jason's relieved expression. She leaned in again to whisper "Thanks. It's going to be fun. You'll see."

The day passed by quickly and uneventfully. By the time the last bell rang to signal the end of school all Jason could think about was what he was going to say to Tyreek.

Kyle walked up to Jason "Hey Jason. You ready for practice today? You went at it pretty hard yesterday. I hope you're okay."

Jason looked up at Kyle "Yeah I'm doing good. A good night's rest is all I needed. I have something I need to do real quick before practice. Tell Coach that I'm going to be late but I'll definitely be there."

Jason had used the Recovery Boost function last night and it worked great. When Jason woke up this morning he felt refreshed and energized. He didn't feel any lingering soreness from yesterday.

Jason patted Kyle on the back before heading to the front of the school. Jason texted Javier and told him that he was going to be late to practice. Javier texted back saying that it was no problem.

As Jason was walking he felt someone bump into him from behind. He turned around and saw Samantha's grinning face.

She slapped him on the back "You weren't thinking of sneaking off without me were you?" Jason guiltily chuckled "Hehe of course not. I would never."

Samantha looked at Jason suspiciously for a second before pulling out her phone "Whatever. So should I call victor to give us a ride?"

Jason rushed to stop Samantha "No! I mean there's no need for that. We can just take the bus. Newberry high school isn't that far."

Jason didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. Newberry high school was in the rougher part of Riverside. So showing up in a limousine probably wasn't the best idea.

Samantha blushed 'He's holding my hand.' She then put away her phone "Okay. This is a great chance to test out my bus pass. I've never used it before."

The two of them walked for a few minutes until they reached a bus stop. After a little bit of waiting the bus arrived and the two of them got on.

Samantha was amazed as she watched the scenery change outside her window. She was surprised by how much of a difference ten minutes makes.

She saw things that she had never seen in real life before. She saw stores with graffiti all over the side, cars on cinderblocks missing their tires, and a homeless man relieving himself in public.

Samantha embarrassedly looked away as soon as she saw the last one. Jason laughed at her reaction "Never been to this part of Riverside huh?"

Samantha shook her head "Even when I lived with my mom we were fairly well off. I've never seen the world like this except for on TV."

Jason responded "Well this is what real life is like for some people. Some of the kids at our school are used to seeing stuff like this.

They just got lucky with how the zoning works for the school districts that ended up letting them go to Jefferson. Trell will probably go to Newberry after he passes Middle school. That is unless somethings change."

After a few more minutes Jason tapped Samantha on the shoulder as he looked out the window "Looks like we're here. Newberry High School."