Chapter 8
The next day saw the entire basketball club arrive at school, shivering and carrying bags. They were all preparing for a week in hell. Well I guess I should explain why it was such. Coach had sent a printed letter to everyone's houses informing the respective guardians about the training camp. Along with he sent the rules and themes of the training camp. This was what spooked all the members. But it wasn't the theme or the rules hat scared them as much as the given schedule. it was really tight and heavy. Most of us weren't expected to make up till noon.
So, the regular six, that's us, were now ready in our new regular uniforms, along with our numbers printed on our backs. We were standing beside coach, fingers in our ears. Coach was announcing the groups and individual challenges in the after noon for the day. He was doing so through a megaphone. It was loud.
The regular team had five open spots. These spots would be decided at the end of the training camp, based on how many points each person had. Top five would get these spots. There was also a lucrative offer for all non regular members. If someone managed to beat one us the nobles of the Empire at our own specialty they would immediately replace. So, we the Nobles would have to defend our positions with all our might.
Some challenges were decided by the coach, some were issued from one player to another. There were even team showdowns, and special conditions included.
The morning training was hell. There was no other way to describe. Coach drove us into the ground and drilled into our heads about the importance of basics and stamina. During brunch, I looked up the schedule for the showdowns of the day. There were seven in total, but two caught my eye. One was my own, the other was King's, the rest of the regulars like Shantz, Apollo, Zantek and BS, had games tomorrow. Mine was against someone called Jaque. King's game was against the unofficial leader of the 2nd years, Kaiser. Someone tapped me on the back. I turned around startled, it was King. He smiled and asked," Looks like your up first, then its me."(Yes we were talking normally now.)"Yeah that's true." I answered him.He just continued," Don't hold back, first one matters a lot. You better win."I answered really quickly and in a sharp manner," Wasn't planning on losing,Captain. Don't worry I won' hold back one bit, I'll set up the stage for you so you'd better win as well. You're just after me." He just nodded. He put his arm around my shoulder and we both began walking towards the courts. Soon, our test of whether we deserved to be on the team or not would be tested. Everything was on the line. Failure wasn't an option, but winning wasn't either. I had to win but it had to be big, real big.
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