Furthest Thing...

Two

Alternative Spring Break had to be the worse plan that Ryann had ever made and done. She kept reminding herself that it was all for service. The first day they were there, they had to paint a youth center. The second day they worked in a soup kitchen and then went back to the youth center. Their fourth day was spent planting flowers around the center. They started day five at the center and had finished it up visiting a senior citizen home. As soon as they got into the apartment, Ryann plopped down on the couch. Taraneh went straight to the bathroom. Jakobe, Mya, and Mr. Jones were the last in the apartment.

"Who knew old people could be so tiring?" Mya said. Jakobe went into the kitchen and grabbed water for everybody. Ryann thanked him as she quickly opened it up. Taraneh came out and sat right next to her.

"Any plans for tonight?" Mr. Jones asked them. None of them had any plans. Ryann wanted to shower and go straight to bed. She didn't even care it was only three in the afternoon. Mr. Jones jumped up and clapped his hands.

"No? Good? Because we have one more thing to do today. We're going to chaperone a field trip to a Memphis Grizzlies basketball game."

The group all spit out complaints. Mr. Jones held his hands up to quiet them.

"If we do this then you get tomorrow off!" he said. They only had three days left. While they had been promised the chance to do what they want, it hadn't really happened. They were usually so tired from the service projects; they never went too far from the apartment.

Three hours later, the group was walking towards the FedEXForum Arena. After making it through security, Mr. Jones led them over to a large group of kids. All the kids were hype. They were all talking over one another. There was one older lady standing with them. She saw them and a look of gratitude came over her face.

"Quincy! Thank you so much for agreeing to this!" she said hugging him. The woman looked to be in her forties. She smiled at Ryann, Mya, and Jakobe. Mr. Jones stepped back and introduced his students to her.

"Mya, Ryann, Jakobe, Taraneh this lovely lady is a very dear friend of mine. She's the one you can thank for your awesome assignments," he said stepping to her side "This is Mrs. Robinson. She works with a youth foundation here in Memphis."

"Thank you again so much. I was told about this event last minute. And none of my staff could come down and help me. Really all you have to do is take a group of four kids and keep an eye on them."

"Sounds easy," Mr. Jones said. "Lead the way."

Mrs. Robinson introduced all the kids and once everyone had their group, they headed in the arena. She led them down a hall and to Ryann's surprise she led the kids straight to the floor. The home team was standing around shooting. The kids all started talking to one another. Mya perked up as they walked closer.

"And you wanted to wear sweats," Taraneh whispered to Ryann. Ryann bumped into her and followed her group towards the hardwood. Ryann wanted to be comfortable but Taraneh insisted she couldn't wear her sweats. Instead she had on a pair of dark blue jeans, black Timberland boots, a long sleeve shirt and faux fur black vest. Taraneh had dark blue jeans, a white long sleeve shirt and had a flannel shirt tied around her waist. On her feet was a pair of wheat Timberland boots. Mya looked slightly out of place with her stilettos on but her jeans and short sleeve shirt was cute. Jakobe and Mr. Jones didn't put much effort into their outfits of course. As soon as they stepped out onto the floor, the kids all ran towards their favorite players.

Ryann phone started to vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw her dad's face flashing on the screen. Since her group was occupied with players, she stepped away and answered the call.