Return the hope

Chapter 18. Jake. Angel or demon.

Wednesday

Jake had slept well and was in a good mood. He missed his work and was anxious to get started, so his feet led him to the school three hours before school started.

In an hour, Jake had corrected some of his physical education plans for the school year and decided to look out the window, which overlooked the porch and the green space, to stretch his eyes, and suddenly he saw a familiar back with blond hair below his shoulders. The guy had his arm around a small-sized girl, leaning his head toward her, and they were walking into the park.

"Hmm. Interesting. Classes are about to start. Is he decided to skip it?" - Jake thought, frowning, but he tried not to jump to any deeper conclusions, since he didn't know the guy too well yet.

Jake's classes started at 11:00. It was going well, according to his new scheme, and he could see that the students, who had looked at him suspiciously at first, were still asking him questions by the end of the class. Seeing the kids give back and love him was the highest good for a teacher, so Jake was in a good mood.

It was time for basketball practice. The man was looking forward to it, because it meant a meeting with Hope. Jake glanced eagerly at the incoming boys-his little boy was at the back of the line, and he looked depressed.

After blowing his whistle and gathering everyone, Jake gave a loud and confident opening speech, and then asked the captain to lead the initial warm-up for the team. For twenty-five minutes, the man kept his eyes on the boy: he was light in his movements, strong, and with considerable leadership ability, and everyone obeyed him without question.

"Hm. Good captain of our national team, but his cheeks are red, although he hasn't done anything special yet... I need to see him in the game... And how can I look into his eyes and smell him?".

After practicing ball possession techniques and counter-actions on defense, the second hour began with the game. 

"He's so good!" - exclaimed the coach to himself, looking at Hope's easy, smooth and sometimes sharp, depending on the situation. And in ball handling, and in the accuracy of shots, and in the vision of the situation on the court - everything was at the highest level. But, the guy hadn't looked at Jake once in two hours, unlike his teammates, which bothered him a lot:

"This isn't going to work, we've got to do something about this! Are you going to pretend you didn't recognize me?"

*Whistle*

A long whistle sounded, signifying the end of the game and all the athletes gathered around the coach:

"You will learn about the results of my observations and the main lineup for the game at the next practice. Thank you for the good work! Everyone is dismissed!... Except for the captain..."

After saying those words, Hope went numb with the ball in his hands, and then quickly asked:

"P'Jake, did you want to discuss tactics for the upcoming game?"

"No," Jake couldn't help himself and started to approach him, but stopped at arm's length. His breath caught and his cheeks, already pink from the game, flushed even more, and Jake's mind raced:

"Yes, that's him, that hair, that mouth, those eyes... Familiar, a little darker, but no less beautiful... I thought I'd never meet you again, but fate helped me to find you very quickly. Oh! Jake, say something!"

Eventually, along with a smile, this came out: "How about a little fun?"

"W-what...?" - The kid staggered and looked like he was afraid of something, so Jake grabbed the ball out of his hands and said cheerfully: "I haven't played in a long time! Keep me company!" and started pounding on the parquet.