Airball

Chapter 16 - I Get A Chance

January 7, 2020.

"8...9...and 10," counted Coach Myers.

Coach Myers helped me lift the barbell back into position as I finished my set of bench pressing. It was early Tuesday morning, and I had come to the gym to get an early workout. Luckily, Coach Myers had been present to let me in and was also available to spot me as I bench pressed. I wasn't the strongest guy on the team, or the fastest or the tallest, but I was pretty good when it came to running and weight lifting. I could also jump fairly high, which gave me a good advantage when scoring from the paint in a game. So despite how my physical attributes might appear on a sheet of paper, I could work well with what I had and that was important.

I was determined to do well in the upcoming game today and so my concentration was on-point. I had gotten a good sleep, eaten a banana for breakfast, sprinted to the school, and had been working in the weight room for a good 30 minutes. I had been able to get in a lot of sets so far and since no one else was in the gym (other than Coach Myers), I had the whole place to myself, just like after practice. So overall it had been a great start to the day. I only hoped that it finished just as well.

Coach Myers rested the barbell back onto its holder as I grabbed a towel to wipe off my sweat. I was about to move to another exercise when there was a knock at the gym door and Myers stood up to go see who it was.

"Ah," he said, walking out of the weight room. "The rest of the gang has arrived."

I stood up to follow Myers, as I wasn't exactly sure what he meant by 'the rest of the gang'. Was the whole team coming?

But no. Coach Myers opened the door and in stepped Coach Hendrix and Jackson, with Maia tagged along behind them. I guess it made since that Hendrix's kids would come along with him, since they both had a hand in the team.

"Lose your key, Eric?" Myers asked.

Coach Hendrix shook his head. "It's down deep in my pockets, and I figured you'd be here." He glanced over at me. "And I see that Blake dropped by as well."

"Yes sir," I replied.

"Hey Blake," Maia waved at me.

"Alright, well I'll get settled in," Hendrix said, moving for his office. "You know where the briefcase with the control panel in it is right, Maia?"

"Yes," Maia said and followed Coach Hendrix into his office.

"Well, I'll go see that he settles in nicely," Myers decided, and he too made for Hendrix's office.

I looked over at Jackson, since we were the only two still in the main area of the gym. I thought it was going to be awkward—since I never really got to know Jackson—but he just walked over to me and nodded at me. "What have you been working on?" he asked. "Your game or weights?"

"I've been doing weights," I replied.

He nodded. "Well I can spot you if you'd like."

"Nah I've already been here for half an hour or more," I said. "I'll spot you."

Jackson smiled. "Deal, but we'll switch off every now and then."

"Works for me."

We went back into the weight room and I spotted Jackson as he warmed up. After awhile, we started switching back and forth and then working out simultaneously. After that, we decided to practice a little on the court by doing some two person drills—which I had never done with Jackson before—and played a quick game of one-on-one. Although Jackson won the game, it was pretty fun and I felt like I'd done well.