Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Nate could feel the beads of sweat forming on his forehead 'Why is she here? Last I heard she was still grounded for crashing her porsche.'

Chloe walked over to him and patted him on the head as he sat in his chair "You look uncomfortable NateNate.

What's the matter? Do you not like your cousin? I thought that stopping by to say hello would be a nice thing."

Nate shook his head "Of course not Chloe. You're family, I would never be unhappy to have you visit me. I was just surprised was all."

She smirked "Surprised? Why, because you thought that I would still be grounded for crashing my car?"

Nate hesitated for a moment but then nodded his head. Chloe chuckled before taking a step back "I won my last tennis match pretty convincingly so my dad decided to unground me.

But back to my question. Who were you talking to Nate? Someone you don't want me to find out about?"

Nate's heart began to race 'If it was literally anyone else this would have been so much easier to deal with.

Chloe has always been the type that could read people and she loves to make trouble. I can't let her find out about Jaya.

As soon as she finds out trouble will start following.' Nate sheepishly smiled "I was just talking to a friend. He recently got in to a new hobby so that's what we were talking about."

Chloe stared at him for a few seconds. Her gaze seemed to be peeking directly into his soul as a cold shiver ran down his spine.

Finally she shifted her gaze away "Alright Nate. Good to hear that you still have friends that want to talk to you.

I still have plans with my friends so I'll head out now." It wasn't until he saw her figure leave his room that he was able to relax.

Nate seemed to have lost all of his energy as he weakly slumped into his chair. He rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand 'I think I need to get big sis on this.

If Chloe starts sticking her nose into this she's the only one that can handle her. And maybe she'll have an idea for convincing dad to fly to Riverside.'

After making up his mind Nate stood up from his chair and left his room as he made his way over to his sister's room.

As he stood in front of the door Nate reached out to knock "Leslie. You busy? I have something to talk to you about."

After a second a gentle voice called out from the other side of the door "Come in." Nate opened the door and walked in.

His sister was wearing a pair of denim jeans and a comfy looking dark blue sweater as she sat at her desk.

She was fairly tall at 5'8 (1.72m) and her silky black hair was tied into a long ponytail that reached the middle of her back.

Her face was a little wide despite her thin frame but that just helped to reinforce the gentle air about her.

But despite her gentle looks and voice Nate couldn't help but be somewhat nervous. Ever since the two of them were little kids their mom and dad had always been busy with work.

The only time they ever really got to spend time with him was on the weekends and even that wasn't a surefire thing.

Because of that his sister who was only two years older than him had taken it upon herself to be the third parent.

Although she was kind and understanding she was also strict and determined. Especially when it came to things related to her little brother.

Nate took a seat on her bed as the two of them were now just a few feet apart. Nate's mouth opened and closed a few times but he couldn't get the words to come out.

Leslie smiled as she let out a giggle "It must be something pretty tough if it has you acting like this. Just tell your noona and she'll try her best to help out."

Nate took a deep breathe before steeling his resolve. He began to tell his sister all about Jason and how they had met during the summer.

He described how Jason was and what his personality was like as well as giving her a summery of everything that had happened to him up until now.

As the conversation went one Nate began to get more and more nervous as he could see his sister frowning more and more as he talked.

The conversation ended up being a little more than an hour long as Nate finished up by telling her about Chloe's sudden visit and inquiry.

All throughout the recap Leslie had remained silent as she didn't speak a single word. She simply nodded her head and listened.

Nate nervously looked at her "Uh, what do you think sis?" Her gaze became cold as she looked at him "Wall."

Even though she had said just one word Nate understood what she meant. He got up from her bed and kneeled in front of the wall of her room with his arms raised up and his fists closed.

He could hear her walking toward him from behind "What made you think to do all of that without even talking to anybody?"

Nate looked down at the floor "I was wrong." She continued "You didn't even know him and you followed him in a random van.

Do you know how stupid that sounds? What if he had wanted to do something bad to you." Nate weakly responded.

"There were a bunch of other kids in the van with him. I doubt he would do something bad with that many witnesses."

She lightly smacked the back of his head which prompted him to apologies "Sorry. I know I was in the wrong."

After a few moments of silence she let out a long sigh as she sat down on her bed "So what's the plan? You said you wanted to get dad to fly down to Riverside right?"

Nate turned around and smiled at his sister "Thanks sis! I knew I could count on you." She just face palmed in response.

"I'm helping you out because I want to make sure you do this right. Even though you were kind of reckless I know your heart was in the right place."

- - -

It had been a few days since Jason had called Nate. For some reason he hadn't been able to get in touch with him recently.

Jefferson had just played another dominant game of basketball as Jason was now being interviewed by Gloria.

"So Jason, you and the team have just crossed the halfway mark of the season and not only are you guys undefeated but you guys have been winning in decisive fashion.

Is this a result of the injection of new talent over the summer or just a sign of organic growth from you and the rest of the guys that have been on the team since last season?"

Jason wiped the sweat out of his eyes with his black skeleton arm band "I think that I would have to say that it's a combination of both.

Obviously we got two great starters in the Silva twins and we have a deeper roster now because of the new guys that joined the team this year.

But Kyle, Matt, DJ, Vince, and Nick have all shown tremendous growth over the summer. They have been great for us."

Gloria smiled "That's true. Both the new players as well as the team's older players have contributed greatly to your guys' success this season.

Recently there was a comment that Kawhi posted on one of your highlight videos. Because of that it seems like you've earned a new nickname.

But there have been a ton of different versions and variations of the nickname such as Lin Reaper, Gin Reaper, Nguyen Reaper, do you have a personal preference?"

Jason smiled "Those are all cool and funny but my favorite, at least from all the different ones that I've been seeing online, is just plain Reaper.

It goes well with the new gear that I've been rocking recently. And it has a serious tone that kinda matches my personality when I'm on the court."

Gloria continued to ask a few more questions before thanking Jason for his time. As he walked into the locker room all of the guys were in high spirits as they whistled and cheered for him.

Jason smiled as he high fived all of the guys on the way to his locker. After getting his towel and other things out he took a quick shower to wash off the dirt and sweat from his body.

After changing into a clean set of clothes Jason saw his phone ringing and vibrating inside of his locker. The caller id showed that it was Nate's number.

Jason smiled as he answered the call "Yo what's up Nate?" But to his surprise it wasn't Nate's voice that answered back.

A female voice spoke out "Jason Yang I'm assuming?"