Cruel Me

Chapter 14: Lose Yourself (junior year)

(junior year)

"Get the nets."

"Both of 'em?"

"Hell yeah."

Two of the seniors grabbed the ladder and brought it to one side of the court. One of them climbed up the ladder, pulled out a knife, and started unhooking the net from the ring.

I checked my phone, still no word from Frisco who served as the lookout. He was at the parking lot outside, while another senior kept lookout by the door outside the covered court.

"We're clear," I called out to everyone. "Better hurry up, though."

We were currently at the basketball court. Only now, it didn't look much of a court. It looked more like a dump site. All kinds of garbage surrounded the floor, graffiti covered the walls, the bleachers, the tarps - Hell, even the balls had shit drawn on them.

It was payback time.

Seriously, it was a miracle we could do so much in the dark like this.Flashlights were our best friends tonight. It was a motherfucking piece of art.

When I told the crew about the call, Alfie convinced me to tell the others- mainly the seniors. After all, they were the most affected by the situation.

"You done vandalizing over there?"

"Yeah, let's hit the locker room next."

An excited Alfie hopped his way there, but then stopped. His shoulders sagged as he tried to push the door. He even tried pushing his arm against it before giving up.

"It's locked," he announced in an aggravated sing-song voice.

"Shit,"cursed Mike beside me, one of the seniors who came up with this plan. He was also Adam's best bud. He scratched his head, thinking.

I looked over my shoulder and pointed my flashlight at Kurt.

"You're up."

"No worries," said Kurt, raising his hands and stepping forward. "I got this." He pulled out two pieces of metal strings from his pocket, kneeling down in front of the key hole.

Coach's words only pushed us off the edge. We didn't have our official practice hours at the moment, but we still did runs to stay in shape. Having no equipment didn't stop us from playing some touch football, too.

It was fun. We were having fun, despite all the shit that had been happening.

But then Coach made an announcement while we sat at the bleachers the other night, crushing the little spirits we had left.

"All the gears, uniforms, and equipment won't be done until November."

"But, Coach," started Alfie. "By then, we won't be qualified to play State."

Coach only sighed. "I know, son." He took off his cap and rubbed the back of his head. "Our season is over." He looked at the seniors defeatedly, and added, "I'm sorry, boys."

Mike and I exchanged looks then. At that moment, we realized something. We didn't have to say it out loud. We both knew what had to be done.

We had nothing left to lose.

"Ka-boom!" howled Kurt, bringing me back to the present.

The doors opened, our anticipation eating us inside. This was were the real gems were at. In here, we'd get our real revenge. Sure, it was fucking petty compared to what they did to us, but we didn't really have time to prepare.

The lights suddenly turned on.

I instantly grew alert. My gut was screaming at me, telling me to run. Now. But I didn't. I stayed with my team, even if I had a bad feeling about this.