August 13, 2013
I woke up and took a while to adjust to my surroundings. I figured out that I was not at home, then remembered that I had 6 days until my first day of college...We got our schedules today, and I had elected not to take any classes after 2 pm on any days, and I only had one Friday class. I glanced down and saw that my roommate, Pete, was still sleeping. I crept down the stairs of our bunk bed and started to get ready for the Tuesday ahead of us. I put on an all-white outfit: my T-shirt, basketball shorts, socks, and shoes were all white (I did have on black compression shorts, though). I made sure not to wake up Pete as I did all of this. He did wake up on his own pretty quickly, though. Pete got dressed and we headed down to the dining hall for breakfast. I had waffles, eggs, sausage, and orange juice, while Pete had pancakes, bacon, and milk.
After we ate, we went down to the campus recreational center to play some basketball. It was just us for a while, so we played one-on-one. I could make longer shots than Pete could, but he was stronger and bigger than me, so the advantages balanced out to an even game. I was winning when a few more people started to come into the gym. They all watched us finish our game. I was winning 17-14 when Pete got on a roll and blocked two of my shots, scoring each time to pull ahead by one. I immediately took the ball, faked a shot from 3, and drove for an easy layup. With a 19-18 lead, I let Pete drive me to the hoop and score. Again I took the ball at the 3-point line, but this time I let it fly. The shot bounced off the backboard perfectly, and looked like it was going in, but it rimmed out at the last second. Pete grabbed the rebound and cleared it by dribbling to the 3-point line. I hung back in the paint in case he drove, but Pete pulled up at the elbow for a jump shot, which he banked in. “Good game,” I told him. We both hung around to see who all had showed up. I recognized Carter, who was wearing a gray tank top and black shorts, and Jaxon, who was wearing a red T-shirt and shorts. One taller guy came in and started working, and I found out that he was the star player, Brandon Edwards. There were also a couple other guys that came in. One looked stuck-up and was wearing expensive-looking clothes and sunglasses. The other had tattoos from his shoulders to his elbows, and was in tattered workout clothes. I worked out with Pete and Carter for a while, as Jaxon practiced on a side basket, and Edwards noticed us and came over. “You guys are pretty good, who are you?” he asked. “I’m Simon Young, the tall one is Pete Grossman, and we’re both on the basketball team here,” I said. Carter introduced himself as well, but said he was not on the team yet. “Well, I think we should get a game going here. Should we do two-on-two or grab those guys and go three-on-three?” he asked as he pointed toward Jaxon and the tattooed dude. Carter went and talked to Jaxon, and I walked over to the tattoo guy to ask if he wanted to play. He was very quiet, and didn’t want to talk much, but he said his name was Conor Neal and that he “guessed he could play if we needed him”. I brought him over to the group and we divided into teams. “How about myself, Simon, and this guy-“ “-Conor-“ “okay, me, Simon, and Conor against you three,” Pete suggested. Everyone agreed that those teams were fair and we started playing. Conor got on a roll to start the game, making several three-pointers in a row. But Brandon dominated inside, and made a nice pass to Jaxon for an assist. We were playing to 21, and had to win by 2, with the current score at 15 to 14, our team in the lead. I got the ball, and passed to Conor. Everyone expected him to shoot, but I cut to the basket, he passed to me, and I scored on an easy layup. Carter and Jaxon hung out in the backcourt, passing back and forth aimlessly, and then suddenly fired a pass to Brandon, who leaped up, caught the ball, and slam-dunked it. We tried the same strategy, but I was covered, and Conor had to pass to Pete. I ran back outside and Pete passed to me, then went into the post. I lobbed a pass for him, and he tried to back Brandon down. He could not, and decided to try a spin move, which worked. Pete set his feet and put up a left-handed jump shot from about 12 feet, which sank through the net. In desperation, Carter “shot” a three, which had no chance of going in. I got the rebound and dribbled out to the perimeter. Pete came and set a screen for me, and as I went around him, Conor got open from the three-point line. I faked a pass to Pete, and dished the ball to Conor. He caught, set, and lobbed up a fake shot. Pete caught it in the air, and dunked it, winning the game for us.
Jaxon’s mouth hung open. “You did all of that on the spot?” he asked. “Yep,” I said excitedly as I went to congratulate my teammates. Brandon, Carter, and Jaxon all left, leaving just Pete, Conor, myself, and the snobby kid who was still just watching us. Pete mumbled to Conor something about going for a walk or going back to our room, and Conor pointed at the snobby guy and said that was his roommate. I walked over to try and talk to him. “I’m Simon, what’s your name?” I asked as I extended my hand for a shake. “I’m Rich, and I’m rich,” he said with a smirk. “Are you Conor’s roommate?” I asked. “Yeah, I guess, but you can take him if you want, or whatever,” he said. “Do you play basketball?” I asked him, wondering why else he would be in the gym. “Nah, not really, I was pretty good in middle school, but I had to stop playing.” “So why are you here?” I asked. He got defensive, and raised his voice, saying “Because I want to. You got a problem with that?” “N-No, I don’t, just wondering...” My voice trailed off and was replaced by Conor’s. “Well, if you don’t mind, Rich, I would like to go hang out with these two.” “I don’t care,” he said dismissively.
We left, and decided to just go on a walk around campus. By talking to him, I found out that Conor was studying music, with a business minor. “Oh, you like music?” I asked. “Yeah,” he said with a sheepish grin. “What kind?” “Well, I like rock, and some hip-hop.” “Really? Me too,” I said. “I love rock, what’s your favorite band?” Pete asked. “Well...I don’t know, I guess...” Conor got lost in thought. “Don’t have one?” “Yeah...yeah, sure, I don’t really have one.” “Well, that’s certainly okay. Mine’s the Beatles,” Pete replied. “So, are you just studying, like, music history or actually working on an instrument or voice?” I asked Conor. “Well, right now, I’m taking classes in voice and hip-hop - it’s kinda both, they teach you history and how to make hip-hop music,” he said. I changed the subject. “Cool. I noticed that you have a lot of tattoos,” I started. “Yeah, I like most forms of art, and tattoos were a way to express some of my personality visibly. Since I don’t really like talking much, my tattoos give people an idea of what I like before I say anything,” Conor said. “So, you like music, hockey, basketball, and skateboarding?” “Yeah,” Conor said, resuming his quiet tone. “I like to skateboard too, and obviously I play basketball. That’s cool that we have stuff in common like that. Want to come back to my room and chill?” I asked. “Sure,” he said.
We headed back to our room. “All we have right now is a bed, our bags, a TV, and a microwave,” Pete said. “That’s alright, I wasn’t expecting much. Rich brought a ton of stuff, though I almost don’t like it.” “What do you mean?” I asked. “Well, I don’t like that he just wants to show off and brag about how much money he has and stuff,” Conor said. “I got you,” I said. I turned on the TV, but couldn’t find anything good to watch. “Want to stay here with us, like for good?” “Sure, if our RA will let us,” Conor said. “I don’t think they’ll care, as long as we’re all in the dorm,” Pete told him. “I’ll go across the hall and grab my stuff, then, and leave a note,” Conor said.
A few minutes later, Conor walked back into the room with two bags. One, he said, was all his stuff, and the other had a sleeping bag and a pillow in it. “You don’t have to sleep on the floor,” I said. “No, I actually kinda like it,” he said. We got bored, and decided to go out again. I had brought my board, as had Conor, and we decided to go find a skate park and hang out there. Pete came with us, to keep us company, and we went down to find one. The closest spot was at Randol Mill Park, so we took the long walk up there. “We don’t have anything else to do, really, so why not?” I said.
We skated for almost five hours before heading back, just in time to hit Smiling Moose Deli for dinner. I got a hot ham sandwich, Pete got a turkey sandwich, and Conor got a vegetarian sub. After that, we all headed back to our one room to hang out. Nothing was going on, and we couldn’t even find anyone else, so we went ahead and took our showers in the bathroom we shared with Carter and Jaxon. I walked back in my yellow boxers, with cars on them, and put on red lounge pants. Pete came back in his plaid green boxers, and put on a white T-shirt to sleep in. Conor came back with his towel wrapped around him, and did a quick switch, slipping out of the towel and into his sleeping bag simultaneously. “What’s that about?” I asked him, not trying to offend him, just curiously wondering. “Well, I don’t have any clothes on,” he said. “What do you mean, like you sleep without anything on?” “Yeah, always have. I don’t really like it, but I just got so used to it...” We decided to send Pete to the store to get Conor a pair of underwear for the night. “Anything will be fine, whatever’s sold as just one, and whatever’s cheap,” he said. Pete came back 15 minutes later with a pair of white briefs for Conor, and a chocolate bar for us to all split. “By the way, are you vegetarian always or just didn’t want meat tonight?” I asked. “I’m vegetarian always,” he told us. We all fell asleep early, around 9:30.
_________________ Olive - she/they // NAPOLI FOR MVP // post count doesn't matter
yeah that log's dead too- i mean on hiatus (yes that one too) (seriously all of them now lol) (haha unless...?)
"All people are good for something. The important thing is finding what." - Tom
BrewersFuzz wrote: PEDs wrote: i think we banned him cause he was an idiot glad i never got banned for that
Second Member of the 10,000 Post Cult
|