ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ
𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭
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🏀

Hampton University
Tue. Dec. 3rd, 4:05pm
"Stronger Simpler"

It was day two of tryouts. From hell. What started off with twenty boys ended only with five left. Danny Adams was not surprised that fifteen boys were gone. He always made the first day the most extreme to test one's ability to take on the intenseness for the rest of the season. There was normally a good thirteen boys here but he was fine with five. At least cuts would be much more simple for him.

However, there was one he was keeping his eye. And that was the young man who was the only one breezing though suicides. Shai touched the opposite baseline then ran back fast, ending his twenty-fifth lap of suicides. He kept running until he slammed himself right into the blue mats on the wall, making a loud smacking sound. He slowly made his way to the floor while everyone else finished up. He laid on his stomach, trying to find his breath that left him soon as tryouts began.

Danny Adams blew his whistle to get everyone's attention. "Aight, let's run our power play. I need my starting five to come out here and run it first. Everyone else stand on the line and watch them closely. You'll be getting on afterward." Danny Adams exclaimed, blowing his whistle again.

Taylor, Bo, Ameer, Elijah, and Skeeter made their way to the middle of the court. Danny Adams tossed the ball to Taylor then look back at the other boys. The four of them stood on the baseline to watch while Shai laid on the floor still. He was struggling to breathe properly at the moment which explained why he haven't gotten up. His head was spinning, his eye sight was barely there, and his mouth was dry. He was about to pass out.

"Carter!" Danny Adams shouted since he haven't moved. "Carter! Let's go!"

Shai slowly raised his hand then raised his upper body. "Hold-" he took a deep breath, his head spinning.

"Let's go!" Danny Adams shouted again.

"Coach, he can't breath." Taylor spoke up, Danny Adams looking in his direction. "Give him a second."

Danny Adams glanced back at Shai who was laying down again. He sigh, slightly annoyed that he had to wait for him. But, he refused to have a student pass out on his watch. It just wasn't happening no matter how hard he could be on his team.

"Alright, we'll take a five minute-"

Elijah smacked his lips. "Man, coach come on!" He interrupted, tossing his arms up. "This is tryouts. They're trying out for the team, right? If he can't handle it then he gotta go. You always tell us to work hard and play even harder. This is basketball man."

Taylor glanced back at Bo, the two of them sharing a look. They knew Elijah was just talking to talk since he wasn't over the fight. He's been ranting about since it happened. Taylor and Bo were over it hearing it.

"He got a point though." Ameer agreed, placing his hands on his hips. "We don't have time to waste."

"The nigga cannot breath and y'all want him-"

"I'm good." Shai finally said something. Everyone turned to look at him seeing he was finally on his two feet. Shai slowly made his way to the baseline and stood beside Gavin.

"You good?" Gavin asked, Shai nodded his head and leaning over a bit. He felt himself about to throw up but held it in.

Danny Adams stared at him just to make sure he was good. To know that he was still standing strong said a lot about Shai's character. Danny Adams hummed to himself, leaving his comments to himself. He'll say everything he needed to on Friday. Boy, he couldn't wait until Friday.

"He said he's good. So, show me power. I wanna see y'all moving and passing the ball. One shot only!" Danny Adams yelled, blowing his whistle soon after.

Taylor nodded his head and jogged to the side. He smacked the ball causing the other four boys to move. Danny Adams look back to see if Shai and others were paying attention. Gavin was good. So was Julian, Micheal, and Parker. Shai, on the hand, was back on the floor. Sitting this time. His eyes shut but his ears open. Though he wasn't watching the boys, the sounds of their sneakers squeaking against the floor and their talking on the court was all he needed to get into the groove.

Or to stop him from passing him.

Whichever one came first.

🏀

I want you, I want you
To turn up on me every night when I see you

Recognize by PartyNextDoor came from his dorm room. What was supposed to be a date night out quickly tuned to a night in. Dess hummed along to the song, finishing the braid she was doing in Shai's head. Once tryouts was over, he was unable to do any other activity. He still wasn't used to Adams and his form of training. His old basketball coach was hard but not as hard as Danny. Shai couldn't feel his leg, his arms were sore, and his breath was barely there.

It was until he got back to his room, took a cold shower, and plopped on his bed that he knew this was draining him. But, he wasn't going to quit. He would say his momma didn't raise a quitter but his mother didn't raise him at all for that to be true. It wasn't like he cared anyways. He's been sleep for two hours now.

Dess grabbed her comb and parted his hair again. She grabbed a piece, put gel on his scalp then began braiding from the root. She didn't have anything to do, so she didn't mind staying in his room and enjoying his presence. Even if that meant doing his hair while he rested in between her legs.

"And I'm done." Dess muttered once she finished the braid she was doing. She grabbed her phone and went to the camera, taking a quick video of his hair.

"You're so handsome." She said, rubbing her thumb against his cheek.

"And you're all mine!" She exclaimed, giggling after making her comment. Leaning over, she placed multiple kisses on his cheek in attempt to wake him up. She wanted to be all over him.

She got close to his ear. "Wake up sleepyhead." She whispered, tapping his cheek.

Nothing.

"Baby." She whispered again in his ear. "Wake up."

Still nothing. Dess tucked in her lips. She stared at him, thinking of a way to wake him up. She came up with something quickly, making her smile devilishly.

"If you wake up then I'll let you put the tip in. Raw too." She whispered in his ear, knowing that had him. Groaning in his sleep, Shai began moving a little as he awaken. Dess chuckled and leaned back on the wall.

"Ahh, yes, I knew that'll get you." She said, checking her nails while he continued moving.

Shai groaned again, turning on his back. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to wake himself up. Dess placed her hands on his face and began massaging it to help him wake up.

"Thank you." He responded. His voice deep and raspy just the way she liked. Shai let out a sigh, finally opening his eyes and staring at the ceiling.

"Tryouts taking you out?" She questioned, he nodded his head.

"Yeah. This shit is fucking crazy." He answered, finally sitting up on the bed. He wiped his face then turned to look at her. Dess gave him a smile and a small wave. He sigh, laying back on her head. Dess wrapping her arms around him, caressing his cheek.

"Adams really know how to work someone." She mentioned.

"Yup. My entire body is killing me right now. I honestly don't think I can do this anymore." Shai replied, thinking back to tryouts.

It was only the second day and he was tired. Basketball was just a sport he enjoyed playing. Going into the league was far from a dream of his at the moment and he didn't think that was going to change either. But, a part of him refused to give up. And that part outweighed his other side.

"You know if you're unable to handle it, you should stop. Don't kill yourself over a sport." Dess told him. She knew her statement was going to go in one ear and out the other for reasons. Shai couldn't give up basketball if his life depended on it. It was impossible.

"I can't stop." Shai replied, shaking his head. "I can't do that."

"More like you won't do it because you're trying to live up to a certain someone who we shall not name." She said, referencing her favorite movie series, Harry Potter. Shai caught on and shook his head.

"Giving Harry Porter, Lord Voldemort." He joked, Dess happily chuckling since he got it.

"I'm happy as hell you caught the reference."

"Of course, but regardless I can't quit." Shai went back to the conversation. He sat up again so he was able to look at her. "It'll be wrong of me to just give up because of some workouts. I mean I'm going to be dreaming of doing suicides but that's not going to make me dip. That's what I can't." he further explained.

Dess hummed lowly, nodding her head. "Okay. I mean I don't think you should quit, but I also don't want you to overwork yourself just to get on a team. There's a lot of things in life that's not really worth getting, if you get what I'm trying to say." She explained.

"I gotchu, but this..." Shai paused, staring into Dess eyes. "...this is important." he continued.

"Okay. You know I'll support you regardless. Just promise you that you'll take a load off you when you need to." Dess said, sticking her pinky out.

Shai did the same, connecting his pinky with hers. "I promise." He said back, leaning forward and pecking her lips. Dess smiled from ear to ear then rested her back on the wall again.

"Well, that made my night." She continued smiling while playing with her fingers.

"Yeah, I wanna apologize for not going to that event tonight. I just couldn't." He apologized.

The Preppy Lounge was hosting an all white party and everyone at school had popped out. The two of them figured they could stop by to see how things were. That didn't happen for obvious reasons. It was a last minute decision that Shai knew he had to make up for.

Dess waved him off, smacking her lips. "Oh, don't worry bout that. I'm happy we didn't go cause Freya and Ashley told me there were four fights and the lounge was shot up. They're safe in case you were wondering." She told him. Shai tucked in his lips hearing what went down. He was happy and lucky his muscles couldn't move or they would've been at the lounge too.

"Well, that's something. But, I'm still going to make up for it. Later this week, we'll do something." He said.

"Don't rush. You have a busy week already. I don't want to be the reason you mess up."

"You'll never be a reason for me doing anything bad. While we're speaking on something bad..." Shai paused, Dess knowing where this was heading. "What was that about the tip and raw?" Shai questioned, scratching the back of his head.

"I was waiting for you to mention that."

"So..." Shai dragged.

"So..." Dess dragged with him.

They stared at each other, a smile showing on their faces.

"Nah." They said at the same time.

🏀

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