Liam

“Mr. Thomas is absent today so you guys will have a free period now.” Ms. Ravel exited the classroom as everyone shouted in cheer.

“No Maths today!” Sho exclaimed in happiness as Yuna shook his head in disbelief.

“You still have to do today’s homework.”

“That can wait.” Sho smiled as she closed her books shut. She turned behind to find Yuna doing his homework. “Yah, close those books. My eyes can’t bear to see that.”

Yuna scoffed. “You know there is a thing known as ‘turning your head’.”

“I don’t care. Just close those books. We finally got a free period for fucks sake.” Sho pouted as Yuna continued to do his work.

Sho turned towards me, pouting. “Liam . . .”

“I can’t do anything.”

Sho groaned as cupped Yuna’s cheeks. She leaned closer, staring deeply into his eyes as Yuna stared back. They continued to stare at each other for a while before Yuna finally sighed deeply.

“Fine.”

“Yay!”

“What are we doing here?” I stared at both of them, currently standing in the middle of the basketball court.

“What do you think people do on the basketball court?” Sho spoke as she held the basketball in her hand.

“From what I have seen, anything other than basketball.”

“Then it’s time for you to see what is really done.”

Sho threw the ball to Yuna as he began to dribble the ball in his hand. The ball was perfectly coming back to his hand before coming in contact with the ground.

He ran a few steps, before perfectly throwing a two-pointer.

“Wow,” I stared at Yuna, eyes wide as he walked back with the ball.

“Now, you throw.” Yuna passed me the ball. I awkwardly held the ball as I stared at him.

“I can’t play basketball.”

“You can.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because he has seen you play before.” Sho said as I looked at the ball again.

“I used to play basketball?”

“Play? Dude you were the best!” Sho nudged Yuna. “Tell him!”

“She is not lying. You were really good at it.”

“Really?”

“Yup, you even played for our school and won.”

Sho smiled along with Yuna as I tried to dribble the ball. As if my body knew, my hands moved on their own, perfectly getting the ball back before touching the ground again.

“See?” I look up at Sho. “Now, try throwing the ball in the basket.”

I continued to dribble the ball in my hand, staring at the basket.

If I had done this before, why do I not remember playing it?

“I had heard that in some cases even when people have forgotten their memories, they are still able to do the things that they used to.”

“I am not sure.” I looked at my hands, which were still dribbling the ball. “I mean, I haven’t touched it for a long time.”

“You wouldn’t know until you do it.” Yuna said as he brought another ball and began to dribble it. “Your fear of failing to do it is stopping you. To overcome it, you just have to do it.”

Just do it?

Adrenaline was bumping furiously. My mind was to the point of blanking out. I can’t. This is overwhelming. Everything is starting to look blurry.

I give up—

“Liam.”

My feet ran, the ball dribbling in my hand as I jumped, throwing the ball. My eyes were glued on the ball. The time felt slow. The ball went perfectly through the basket. Upon reaching the ground, my leg tripped. My whole body fell backwards as I felt the ground underneath.

I did it . . .

I looked up at the sky, my eyes closed as I calmed my breath. The sun’s burning rays felt soft. Maybe this is how someone feels when they achieve something. This feeling is nice.

“That was good.” I opened my eyes and looked at Yuna. He gave me his hand which I accepted and rose up.

“I bet my muscles will get sore tomorrow.”

“Sorry not sorry.” All of us laughed together until we heard a voice.

“Yo.” We all turned towards the voice and saw two boys standing in front of us. One of them had white blonde hair while the other one was a red head.

“So, you’re Liam Abiko?”

“Yeah, that would be me.” I spoke as the two boys looked at me from top to bottom.

“Well, I would like to have a friendly match with you.” The red head said as he took a step forward. “Just you and me.”

“Well, um, I don’t know the rules that well . . .”

“That’s totally fine.” The red head removed his tie, loosening his shirt by opening the top two buttons. “The person who first gets the basket wins.”

I turned back to Yuna and Sho who gave me an approving nod. Somehow, behind their encouraging smiles, I had a sinister feeling.

“Okay.” I also removed my tie, opening only one button as I stood before the boy.

“I’ll start.” Sho took the ball from me and stood between us. “On the count of three. One . . . Two . . . Three!”

The ball went up, my eyes following it as a hand slammed it behind me. The red head had gotten to the ball first. He took the ball as he dribbled past me.

This is bad.

I ran behind him, trying to get the ball from him. His skills were no joke. He knew what he was doing. While a beginner like me was figuring out what to do. He rose on his feet, aiming for a two-pointer. I ran in front of him, jumping up as I stopped the ball mid-air.

I took the ball and quickly ran to my basket. My feet felt tired, slightly beginning to ache. Come on, don’t give up on me now. The red head was behind me, totally alert as he tried to snatch the ball from me.

“Come on, Samuel! Get the ball!” The white blonde yelled as Yuna and Sho began to cheer.

“Come on, Liam!”

“Go for the goal!”

My feet rose, positioning the ball perfectly in my hand. My eyes went to the basket and then the ball.

“Just go for it!”

I threw the ball, before even giving it a second thought. My heart dropped in the pit of my stomach.

What if the ball didn’t go in?

The red head then can easily take the ball.

The ball landed on the square box above the basket, hitting against the rim. The whole court fell silent. Everyone’s eyes were on the ball. One movement and it could either fall out of the basket or in.

My throat felt dry, my heartbeat audible to myself.

The ball moved, and went inside the basket.

“Fuck! Yes!” Sho and Yuna ran towards me, engulfing me in a hug. We pulled away after a while.

“That was a fucking three-pointer!” Sho yelled as I looked down at the spot I was standing. That really was a three-pointer.

“Fuck!” I turned towards the red head who was cussing to himself.

“Hey, it’s okay. You were great. That throw was just luck.”

“Don’t fucking lie!” The red head spat, making furious steps before holding me by the collar. “You are known for shooting many three-pointers! Don’t give me that ‘luck’ crap!”

“Hey, chill.” I tried to calm down the furious boy, but it only added oil to the fire.

“Chill?” The boy scoffed before pushing me on the ground.

“Hey!”

“This isn’t the last time we are facing off. Next time, I’ll fucking beat you and then you’ll know how it feels to lose.” The red head turned on his feet before leaving the court.

“Samuel, wait!” The white blonde guy bowed to us, muttering a sorry before running behind him.

“Tch, what a jerk.” Sho muttered under her breath as Yuna helped me up. “You okay, Liam?”

“Yeah,” I dusted my pants as I looked at the red head slowly disappearing from our sight. “Who was that boy anyway?”

“Samuel Marks.” My eyes widened as I turned towards Yuna in a flash.

“You mean Samuel Marks? The one whose parents work in that big company?”

“I guess that’s him.”

“He used to go to a different school before transferring to our school this year.” Sho explained. “Why is a rich kid like him attending our school?”

“I don’t know, but Samuel doesn’t give me good vibes.” Yuna spoke as he took the ball and began to dribble it. “I think he wanted to confirm whether you can still play basketball or not.”

“Well, he got his ass kicked because our Liam is still a basketball pro.”

“Although you can still shoot, you need to brush up on your skills.”

“Yeah, you totally need to join our basketball team.”

I rubbed my neck, embarrassed. “I don’t know.”

“I’ll help.” Yuna stopped dribbling the ball as he threw it to me. “That Samuel kid looks like he has been playing for a long time.”

Sho smirked. “Looks like you found competition.”

“Yeah, I guess I did.”