The Pointe Of The Game

Chapter 1

Charlie Williams

"I'm going to miss you so much!" Holly, my mom's closest friend, cries. We've been waiting for the last 45 minutes for my mom to finally say goodbye so we can get out of this wretched place I used to call home.

I'd already said goodbye to the guys on my basketball team and my other so-called friends. They really aren't and never were my friends, not since 8th grade. I guess I always thought I would graduate with them and become lifelong best friends like my mom and Holly. But those kinds of friendships really do only come 1 in a thousand. I look out the window of the car to see my mom finally walking toward our car and Holly going back inside her house. My mom gets in the car and shifts in her seat so she can look at me and my sister Gwen.

"Charlie, Gwen, do you have anyone else you want to say goodbye to before we get on the road? Last chance."
I know I definitely don't have anyone to say goodbye to. My sister though? She probably had a list a mile long. Everyone loved my sister. She was always the talk of the town, "Did you hear what Gwen Williams did for the children's shelter? Did you see the Williams' daughter picking up trash in the park last week?" She is pretty much the icon of our town, if you came to Chicago you would know who Gwen Williams is in an hour.

Even though I have countless basketball articles featuring me you would never know I even lived in this town. And I'm happy about that. Ever since freshman year, all I have been trying to do is make a new name for myself.

Ever since my best friend from kindergarten, Cameron decided he wanted to have my girl. Things have pretty much gone to the trash. I had been dating this girl Kimberly for about 2 months and I thought we were in a good healthy relationship when I walked in on them making out in my bedroom while we were all hanging out. Then they accused it of true love and said I was keeping them from being together and I should just back off and let them develop their true feelings for each other. Whatever that means.

"No I'm just ready to get out of here" I replied

"I guess we can go, I can text anyone who I didn't get to say goodbye too. I'll be back in a few days anyway."

And with that we get on the road. Finally. I start to pet my dog Bella, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who we got earlier this year. She has a blackish brown coat with caramel brown all splattered over her face and paws and I absolutely love her. Next I open up my phone and look at my social media. The first thing that pops up is a picture of Cameron and Kimberly all cozied up together next to a Christmas tree. I guess that's what happens when you log out and make a random account. They both kept spam texting me on my account even after I blocked them, they somehow still found a way. So that led me to creating a new account under a fake name so they'd stop contacting me. I was tired of hearing their apologies and explanations. They deserve each other even if they have their twisted ways of getting there.

Exiting out of the app I decided to focus on what's ahead of me instead. We're moving to Priest River, Idaho because my dad's law firm is opening up a new location and wants someone who's actually skilled in winning cases to help get it up and running, and employees trained. Honestly, I'm so thrilled to be moving. I don't really care the reason that we're doing it.

My mom is going to try and open up her own dental practice now that she has a fresh start and isn't living in anyone's shadow. She has worked for her uncle Mark the whole time she's had her license to be a dentist. She was only supposed to work for him temporarily, but they ended up needing more dentists and my mom didn't have the heart to tell uncle Mark she was leaving, especially when she didn't have another office lined up. So she continued to take all my great uncle Mark's jobs that were a little more grueling and complicated, the ones he didn't want to do. But my uncle's not a bad guy, he just had a lot more on his agenda than she did. Plus, my mom liked the practice.

My sister Gwen is not as thrilled about this move as I am. I honestly don't know why she chose to come with us because she plays with the professional soccer team of Chicago Red Stars and they have mandatory winter training the day after Christmas. But I think she wanted to come see the house and help us unpack a little bit.

I'm starting the 2nd semester of Junior year in 2 weeks at LaManna High school, the only thing I'm excited about is the basketball team. It's the only place where I can actually do what I love and be myself. When I'm off the court, it feels like a piece of my soul is missing. It also felt that way when I found Cameron and Kimberly making out in my room. I'm hoping that I can have a complete restart at this school. Which is why I'm going to find GOOD friends, people who won't steal my girl and completely humiliate and blame me afterward.

I'm also excited to live in a small town again. We used to live in a smaller town in Illinois where I was born but we moved when I was almost 4 so I don't really remember it. I hope there's lots of kids and not just a bunch of old people everywhere. I hope our neighbors have a lot of kids so I can bake for them.

That's another thing I'm excited for. My parents had someone hired to take all of my baking and cooking supplies to our new house and put it where it goes. Probably because they want me to cook dinner for them when we get there.

Suckers. I'm not cooking dinner the first night we get there unless they're cool with dinner at ten o'clock.

I have to make sure I have a bed to sleep in before I start cooking.

The people also brought most of our essentials that we would need the first night, even though the moving truck is scheduled to be there tomorrow, nobody's going to want to unpack until we have a full day ahead of us.

Which is going to be Christmas day.

I get ready to settle down for the long car ride to Idaho and start to mentally say goodbye to my old life and hope that this new town won't end in such a disaster as the last one.