Rebound: A 2nd Chance

As soon as Karla saw Jason and Kyle walk in she turned her body in her chair and smiled at the two of them.

She began waving at them "Sup guys. How was practice?" Jason and Kyle walked toward the table before hanging their backpacks on the back of their chairs as they took a seat.

They then put their skateboards under their feet. Kyle took the chair next to Karla while Jason sat next to Samantha.

Although he had done it subconsciously and didn't think much of it Samantha turned to Karla and gave her a grin.

Kyle answered "Practice was practice. As long as Jaya's there you know it's going to be tough haha." Jason chuckled.

"Says the guy who was having the most fun. How many lobs did I hook you up with again?" Kyle smiled as he shook his head.

"Five? Or maybe six? But that's not the point bro. You were making me work for every dunk. Think you can aim a little lower next time?

I thought I was going to dislocate a shoulder or something with how much I had to stretch out just to catch the ball."

Jason replied "I know how much bounce you got bro. Trust me, I was throwing the ball right where it needed to be."

Karla jumped in "I know what you mean Jaya. I say the same thing to the girls all the time. My passes go right where I know it needs to go."

She then began to talk about the girl's soccer team and their season so far. She also asked Jason and Kyle questions about practice and their physical training.

Samantha was silent as she didn't really have much to add to the conversation and she didn't want to say something just for the sake of having something to say.

'I would just look desperate trying to hop into a conversation without having anything real to add to it. I might even trip up and say something stupid.

If that happens I know there's no way in hell that bitch would just let it fly.' After a few minutes passed Karla turned her eyes to Samantha and grinned.

Her gaze seemed to contain a hidden message 'How do you like that you red haired punk reject? This is the difference between you and me.

I can connect with Jaya in a way that you will never be able to understand.' One of the waitresses came by the table with their drink orders.

Jason got a glass of water to go with his extra large strawberry milkshake while Kyle got a cookies and cream milkshake.

As Samantha was sipping on her sweet iced tea Karla looked at Jason "Hey Jaya, I know this might sound weird but could I see your hands real quick?"

Jason had a bit of a confused expression on his face as he tilted his head slightly "Uh.... Sure I guess.."

He stretched his arms forward as he presented his hands to Karla. Samantha raised her brow as she looked at Karla with a interrogative gaze.

Karla reached out and began to touch Jason's hands as she inspected them "Oh wow, so these are the hands of the best middle school basketball player in the county huh?"

She ran her fingers all along his hands with a smile on her face. Kyle's eyes opened wide as he sipped on his milkshake.

'Daaaamn! This girl is not shy! Jaya ain't ever have to deal with a girl this aggressive before. I wonder how he's going to take it?'

He turned his eyes to Jason hoping to see an interesting reaction but to his disappointment he still had the same deadpan look on his face that he usually had.

Kyle's head drooped a bit 'Come on Jaya, you could at least pretend to be a normal dude. You're acting like one of the prettiest girls at the school isn't holding your hands right now.'

Jason couldn't see it because his attention was still on Karla but at his side the corner of Samantha's eye began to twitch as she fought to keep her composure.

Karla smiled brightly at Jason "You can really tell that you're a serious athlete. All these scars and callouses are something that normal people wouldn't have.

It's kind of like how wrestlers get cauliflower ears and how gymnast have callouses on their fingers right?"

She was still smiling brightly as she caressed Jason's hands. Jason didn't seem to understand just what it was that she was doing.

"Does that mean you have messed up feet?" His tone deaf words and the casual sound of his voice when he said that instantly killed the vibe that Karla was trying to create.

Kyle instantly began to cough as his laughing made him choke on the milkshake that he was just drinking.

He turned to the side as he laughed while being in pain "Hahahaha! Oh god, I think I just blasted a chunk of Oreo out of my nose hahaha!"

Samantha also began to laugh as she gave Jason a thumbs up "Hahahaha! That was too good Jaya!" He turned to look at the two of them "Huh? Did I say something stupid?"

He wondered to himself if he had said anything wrong 'Did I say something stupid again? I was just following her logic?'

Karla had to force herself to fix the awkward look on her face. She coughed to clear her throat before once again smiling.

"Haha, you're funny Jaya. Fortunately my feet aren't messed up or anything like that." Jason then turned to her "Oh, cool."

After hearing his short reply Kyle and Samantha once again began to laugh. With the awkward feeling of having her advance fall short just now Karla didn't continue to put any more moves on Jason.

As they continued to talk and chat Samantha couldn't help but sneak a grin at Karla 'How was that? You just made yourself look like a fool haha.'

A few minutes later and their waitress came back with all of their food. Jason's order was by far the most eye catching as his plate had two double cheeseburgers on a single plate and another plate filled with just fries.

As they ate they began to do some work as they discussed what book they should pick to do their project on.

Kyle took a bite out of his chicken wrap before saying "I think we can do the Percy Jackson series. Rick Riordan is a legend in the young adult fiction genre."

Karla replied "If we're going to do a presentation talking about young adult fiction why don't we choose Harry Potter? It was pretty impactful in that genre right?"

Samantha rolled her eyes "Because JK Rowling is kinda problematic? Don't you know about the messed up stuff that she's said?"

As they continued to talk about their project they found that they had finished all of their food and had yet to come to an agreement.

Kyle rubbed his face as he leaned back and sighed "I don't think we'll ever get this project done. Is it too early to ask Ms. Yuller for an extension?"

Samantha laughed "Uh yeah, I think it is Kyle. It's only been like two days. The project is due in two weeks. We got plenty of time."

Jason picked up the last french fry that was on his plate and flicked it toward his mouth. He caught it and started chewing.

"As long as we have a book chosen by the end of this week I think we'll be okay. We can finish doing all the research in the last week as long as we split the work up right."

Jason and Kyle both felt their cellphones vibrate in their pockets as they pulled them out at the exact same time.

Karla asked "Something up?" Jason shook his head before putting his cellphone back into his pocket "Nah, it was just Coach Swendel. He sent a text to all the guys on the team."

Kyle nodded his head "We're going to be watching film tomorrow. It's for our next game this Friday."

Samantha smiled "You guys got this. There isn't a team in the county that can hang with you guys. I don't think you'll have any real competition until the state tournament."

Jason shrugged his shoulders "Yeah, you're probably right Sammy. I feel the same way. But you can never be too careful.

Bad things tend to happen when you take your foot off the gas or underestimate your opponent. Orlando was famous for always winning game 1s in the playoffs against way better teams because their opponents would think that they had an easy win."

Kyle laughed "I heard that game 1 Magic were just as good as the US Olympic team haha. At least from everything that Jaya's been saying."

Jason chuckled "Yeah, so if you don't want to end up like the Bucks and get destroyed by a way weaker team you better take things seriously Kyle.

If we lose our perfect record Ima start calling you the NEET Freak Kyle."