Stepping Out of Me

31

LANCE

Lance laid on his bed as he bounced the basketball on the ceiling. He felt like nothing could ruin his mood that day. Kiera wasn't upset with him anymore and he got her to agree to be his date for the school dance. Things felt like they were right on track.

Just then his phone went off next to him. He quickly answer as he realized it was from Dylan.

"Yo," Lance greeted him.

"Your friend Kyle is stressing me out, man."

Lance chuckled. "I thought he was your friend too."

"Yea when he's not trying to get me to give him Morgan's number," Dylan replied. "Anyway, my dad talked to one of his coworkers. They found a scholarship but the guy just has to see you play first. Uh, he said he'll be getting a couple of guys together to play Saturday morning. You can come by then we'll go there."

Lance mouthed a yes then said, "Thanks, really. Tell your dad I really appreciate it."

"Will do. Later."

With that, Lance hung up the phone and sighed. However, the moment of bliss didn't last long as his door forcefully opened. His dad walked in with an annoyed look on his face as usual.

"Didn't you hear me calling you?" He folded his arms.

"No," Lance replied and sat up immediately. "I was on the phone."

"I need you to collect a package at the Deluxe for me." He informed Lance. "Tomorrow. I need it by midday."

Lance was about to reply then he realized that tomorrow was Saturday. That's the day he needed to meet with the guy for the scholarship. He dared not say anything to his dad though as it was bound to start an argument.

"Okay," Lance said. He didn't know how he was going to do both of those things in the morning as it took a while to get to the city, but he definitely had to get to the recruiter first.

Lance waited for his dad to exit the room before he laid back down and breathed a sigh of relief. Saturday would surely be a stressful day that he was partially looking forward to.

* * *

When Lance got to the location with Dylan, there were other guys there around their age. It was a large number, more than enough to play a game against each other. He hoped he'd get to play early so he could be out of there and to the city as soon as possible.

As they walked in a guy came up to greet them. He wasn't the recruiter but showed them where Lance should go to fill in his name. After doing so they were all told to be seated. Another man soon came to the front and began speaking to them.

"Good morning," he said. "I'm Jeffrey Rennins. I'm a representative from Carste Lake University. As you all might know, and if you don't, we're offering two basketball scholarships this year." 

He took a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped his face. The heat of Berkton was already getting to him. 

"Today you'll play in three groups. Each person will be assigned to a team and which group they will play in. After that, I'll decide who the scholarship recipients are and contact you by email or phone. Good luck." He offered a smile and then walked towards the water coolers.

The guy from earlier came back out and started calling names for each team and group. Lance checked his phone and it was already twenty minutes past ten. To say he was stressed was an understatement. He really needed the extra time to get to the city and back but didn't anticipate the number of people that would be there.