Ours Was A Basketball Love (Derrick Rose Fan-Fic)

Chapter One

Every time I came to the Berto Center I had the same routine.

I would walk in and old little Ms.Elena would look up at me from where she was squinting away in hopes of reading whatever she was typing on her mac book.

And then she'd ask me the same exact question every day. "Hey honey. How's the family?"

And I'd reply the same exact way, whether my family was fine or not. "Fine, thanks for asking. How's Cal?"

She'd hold out the binder with the check in sheets to me and I'd sign it with my name and the date. Then she'd hand me a hallway pass.

According to the routine, she'd frown at me, like just the notion of asking about her rebellious son was upsetting to her. "Oh, you know Cal. Such a troublemaker."

Except today she didn't.

Instead she smiled at me, and shook her head slightly. "Cal proposed to his longtime girlfriend Cindy yesterday. Not really my favorite girl ever, but she makes him happy. And that's what matters in the end, isn't it?"

And that was when I knew that this day wasn't going to be like any other day. Today was going to be different.

I put the hallway pass around my neck and strolled down the hallway. Then I met the second person who screwed up my routine even more.

"Joakim!" I yelled, jumping onto him. He caught me just in time.

"Jesus, sweetheart, you are not as small as you used to be," he admitted. I laughed.

"What are you doing here? Dad holding a late practice?" I asked him after he had lowered me to the ground.

"Naw. The rook, Derrick had his first practice with us. He's pretty damn good. I'm liking him."

I frowned a bit. "Derrick? I can't remember Dad talking about him."

Joakim laughed dryly. "I think he has. Derrick's been your dad's favorite toy since he was drafted. Are you sure that you listen?"

I shrugged. "That must be it. So will I see you tonight?" I asked, referencing to the annual party that my family held for the team.

Joakim nodded. "I'll see ya there, 7 sharp."

"How's school?" he asked.

"Fine," I replied, shifting my backpack from one shoulder to the other.

"Lots of homework?"

I shrugged. "No. Not really. Just some Social Studies stuff."

He leaned against the wall, a goofy grin forming on his face. "You must have been, what, 10 when I was drafted?" he asked, reminiscing.