Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason and Kyle turned their heads in the direction of the voice. As soon as Kyle saw the familiar figure he ran toward him.

As soon as Kyle reached him he grabbed him up into a huge hug "Coach! It's been forever!" Coach Swendel was taken by surprise.

"Who the hell!? Kyle!?" Coach Swendel was surprised as he looked up and saw that the one that was hugging him was Kyle.

Coach Swendel was dressed in a gray janitor's uniform. Jason made his way over as he watched Coach Swendel get swung around by Kyle.

He laughed "Haha I know you're happy Kyle but why don't you put Coach down? He looks like he's gonna yak."

Kyle stopped swinging Coach Swendel around as he gently place him back on the floor. Coach Swendel fixed up his uniform before looking at Jason and Kyle with a big smile on his face.

"It's good to see that you haven't gotten weaker while I was gone Kyle. Then again it's only been a few days.

It's also great to see you Jason. You boys have been doing great without me. You guys didn't miss a beat."

Jason walked up to Coach Swendel and hugged him from the side "Thanks Coach. For everything. Everyone on the team misses you."

Coach Swendel was touched by Jason's response to seeing him. He smiled as he patted him on the head.

"Alright alright. That's enough of the mooshy gooshy stuff. You guys should probably getting so close to me.

My uniform is pretty dirty." Only after hearing Coach Swendel say that did Jason and Kyle realize that he was dressed up as a janitor.

Kyle looked at Coach Swendel sadly "Why are doing this Coach? You were the coach for the number one team in the county. You're too good to be cleaning up other peoples messes."

Coach Swendel patted Kyle on the shoulder "There is no such thing as being too good for a job Kyle.

As long as it's clean and honest work there's nothing to be embarrassed about. Besides, I might have found my hidden talent. Even when I was your guys' coach I was in charge of cleaning up your messes haha."

Coach Swendel suddenly remembered something as he pulled out his cellphone. He started playing a video of Jefferson's previous game.

"You see this Kyle? You stepped up too late on the rotation. You already knew that there was a cutter approaching the paint but you still stuck to your man.

With your wingspan and your ability to jump off the floor in a hurry you could have contained both of them.

But because you gave the cutter too much space he was able to get the floater off on you. But still this was a good defensive possession. You just need to keep that in mind the next time you're in a situation like that."

Coach Swenel continued to talk to Kyle about the things that he could improve in his game. Seeing this Jason was happy to see Coach Swendel's growth.

In the beginning when Jason had first met him Coach Swendel had a very basic understanding of the game and his coaching ability matched that.

But after a few months of picking at Jason's brain and having in depth discussions about Xs and Os Coach Swendel's understanding of the game improved.

Although Jason still had a better understanding of the game because of his years of experience playing at a high level Coach Swendel had made huge leaps compared to where he was at the beginning of the season.

Instead of just being in charge of menial tasks such as Pumping the basketballs and cleaning the equipment Coach Swendel was able to help Jason coach the others during practice so that they could train effectively.

Now not only did they have to take care of the maintenance work themselves. Jason had to spend more time coaching the other guys by himself.

Jason asked "You have a degree right Coach? Why don't you get a job as a personal trainer?"

Coached Swendel answered "I put in my applications Jason don't worry. I just took this job because I wanted to make sure I was making money instead of just sitting on my but waiting for a call that might not come in.

But that doesn't mean that I've given up. As soon as I get a call telling me that they are ready to hire me I'll drop this janitor job.

Now you kids better get on your way. We should give it a few weeks for things to blow over. If you're caught talking to me you don't know what kind of bs the news stations can come up with.

Tell the rest of the guys on the team that I might not be able to go to the games in person but I am cheering you guys on."

Jason and Kyle were a little sad as they waved goodbye to Coach Swendel but they understood that it was for the best that they distance themselves for a while.

Jason and Kyle walked back over to Samantha and Shania. After meeting back up they continued on their way.

As they were walking Samantha looked over at Jason and Kyle "Seems like you guys really liked Coach Swendel."

Jason shook his head "It's hard to explain. When I first met him I thought that the guy was pretty flakey and unreliable.

But after a while he kinda grew on me. He showed that he was willing to learn and that he wanted to do what was best for his players."

Kyle nodded his head in agreement "Coach Swendel would be the one to pump all the basketballs, clean all the equipment, and he always made sure that we were stocked up on sports drinks.

I didn't know until he was gone but Coach Swendel was the one paying for all the supplements out of his own pocket."

After a few minutes of walking the four of them eventually reached The Dirty Ditch. As they stepped through the entrance Samantha waved one of the people in the store.

"Hey Larry. Me and my friends have a show next week. I hope you saved the good stuff for us."

Larry looked to be a sixteen to seventeen year old high schooler. His shoulder length black hair had streaks of neon blue and his nostril had a small piercing.

He was dressed in black skinny jeans that were ripped at the knees and a black Asking Alexandria shirt.

Larry looked up from the shelves of shirts that he was restocking and smiled at Samantha "Well if it isn't Little Red. Nice to see you and your friends.

We got a fresh shipment of skinny jeans in different shades of black and a few more classic band shirts. 

I haven't put them out on display yet. They're over in the usual spot so help yourselves." He then went back to restocking the shelves.

Jason and Kyle followed Samantha as they went deeper into the store. The decorations consisted of fake spider webs and cracked tombstones.

The store was dimly lit to give it a bit of a spooky vibe. Samantha grabbed on to Shania's hand before turning around to the boys.

"We're going to go get some stuff for you guys to try on. You can wait for us here." The two girls slowly disappeared as they went deeper into the store.

Jason his head to Kyle "If they're looking for stuff for us to try on shouldn't we have gone with them?"

Kyle smiled as he shook his head "If my mom has taught me anything it's that you don't argue with a lady when you're out shopping Jaya."

Jason thought about it for a second "I guess you're right. When I go shopping with my mom I usually follow her lead."

Jason and Kyle pulled out their phones as they waited for the girls to come back. After a few minutes they heard some new voices as more customers walked into the store.

"Yo Livin Legend Larry. How's it hanging bro? Me and Skeets are just gonna look around okay?"

Jason then heard Larry's voice "Alright Luke but make sure you guys don't light up while you're in here.

And keep the Monsters closed okay? Last time you spilled a can all over the new chains and I had to spend the whole afternoon cleaning them up."

Jason then saw two figures walking in their direction. The two of them were tall and skinny. They looked to be about 5'11 (1.8m) and 140lbs (63.5kg).

They were dressed up in ripped up blue jeans and they were both wearing black hoodies and Vans.

They were both holding skateboards as they approached Jason and Kyle "Yo Skeet check it out. There are some normies at the Ditch."

Skeet opened up his can of Monster Energy drink and took a sip. After he was done he looked over at Jason and Kyle "Yo Luke I think you're right. What are normies doing over here?"