Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Coach Swendel looked at Jason with a wry smile on his face "Okay.... Do you think you can explain things to me.... Normally?"

Jason shrugged his shoulders before sitting up properly in the chair "I mean we can, but that kinda takes all the fun out of it don't you think?"

Coach Swendel just looked at Jason while shaking his head with a smile on his face. Jason put his hands up "Alright, maybe I've just been watching too much anime with Kyle lately.

Anyways, what did you want to talk about? Why were you calling my phone so late last night?" Coach Swendel moved to the other side of his desk and sat down across from Jason.

He took a deep breathe before looking at Jason seriously "There are two reasons why I tried calling you last night.

The first one was because I was excited as hell. In just a few hours we managed to turn 500 dollars into 2,500 dollars.

But the second, and the biggest reason, was because my curiosity wouldn't let me sleep. How did you know that the Bulls were going to win last night?"

Jason chuckled as he looked at Coach Swendel's serious face "So you didn't trust my decision but you still listened and put 500 dollars on the Bulls?"

Coach Swendel began to blush as he tried to answer while being flustered "I-that's not what I meant-"

Jason put his hand up "I was just messing with you Coach. Don't take it so seriously haha. Honestly you did great.

And I want you to keep doing things exactly as you did them last night. Even if you're not sure about the teams that I want to bet on I need you to trust me and just follow as I say."

Coach Swendel nodded his head "Alright Jaya, I understand. But seriously, how did you know that the Bulls would win last night?

Is it.... Are you getting insider info?" Jason almost fell off the chair when he heard what Coach Swendel said.

He began to laugh wildly "Hahahaha good one Coach. Just one problem with your little hypothesis. How in the world is a 14 year old kid like me supposed to get info like that?"

Coach Swendel fell silent after hearing Jason's answer "You're right Jaya. Sorry about that." Jason shook his head.

"You don't need to apologize Coach. I know it was a crazy idea to bet on the Bulls last night. But whenever I bet on a team it means that I saw something that made me believe that they have what it takes to win.

So just trust me. This won't be the last time we bet on the underdog. And I need to know that you will follow my instructions without question."

Coach Swendel ran his hand through his hair "I get it Jaya, you won't have to worry about me. I mean, it's your money anyways.

You tell me the team and the terms and I'll place the bets. That was the easiest 250 dollars that I've ever earned."

After their talk Jason picked up his bag and left Coach Swendel's office. He met up with the rest of the guys who were waiting outside the gym.

Jason, Kyle, and the others then began to make their way to first period. Because Coach Swendel had ended practice early all of the boys actually made it to class before the bell rang.

The boys were a few minutes early to class as they walked through the doors. Ms. Yuller was evidently on a bathroom brake seeing as how she wasn't in the room yet.

As Jason was making his way to his seat in the back of the class he discretely scanned the room 'Looks like she's not here.'

Jason didn't know how to feel when he realized that Karla wasn't in class. As he sat down he turned to the side where Sammy was.

"Morning Sammy. Apparently something big happened last night." Samantha smiled as she nodded her head.

"Yeah, I saw the video. Honestly, even if she did deserve it seeing a girl cry like that still didn't feel good."

Jason looked at Karla's empty seat and sighed "Yeah, you got a point there. Seeing Karla like that didn't really help."

Samantha saw the look on Jason's face and her smile dimmed down a bit. She put her hand on his shoulder and asked.

"You okay Jaya? I might be a bit sorry for Karla but I'm more worried about you if I'm being honest." Jason chuckled "You're worried about me?

Don't even sweat it Sammy. I haven't lost any sleep over this. It's going to take a lot more than some middle school drama to get to me."

Samantha rolled her eyes "That's not what I heard. One of my little birds told me that someone stayed an extra two hours after practice just getting shots up in the gym."

Jason shook his head smiling "Is that little birdy of yours blonde with a surfer accent from the 2000s?"

Samantha giggled "Maybe, but a proper lady never tells her source. It's the only way you can get people to spill the tea."

Jason replied "Next time tell your little birdy to stop eating shit. I swear I saw that dude hit the pavement at least five times.

Just because he doesn't have much up their doesn't mean that he should tempt fate with all those hits to his head."

Samantha just laughed "Believe it or not Cody's been skating for way longer than you. Not to mention his experience surfing.

But I'll let him know that our little hometown hero was worried about him haha." Just as they were talking the room went silent as the door to the class opened.

At first they thought it was Ms. Yuller so everyone was quiet and pretending to behave. But after they saw who it was some of them changed.

Karla was looking down at her feet as she walked into the classroom. Some of the kids began to turn to each other.

"Hey, that's her right?" "Yeah, that's the girl that posted the video." "She actually showed up to school?" "I know right? Talk about having no shame."

"Can you believe how desperate she was?" "She must have no self respect if she was able to hug him in the halls like that."

None of the kids who were talking even bothered to control their volume as their words were easy to hear for everyone, including Karla.

She bit her bottom lip in frustration but didn't say a word as she silently shuffled to her regular spot.

But when she lifted her head she saw that there was someone already sitting there. Ms. Yuller didn't use a set seating chart but by now everyone had settled on their regular spots.

She turned her head to her friend "Evelyn?" In return she just shook her head "We can't sit next to each other anymore.

And the other girls asked me to tell you... to find a new spot at lunch." Those words hit her right in the heart as she felt as though her whole body was shaking.

Without saying anything Karla nodded her head weakly before walking away. There were more chairs than there were students so she began to look for another spot.

But each time she would approach an empty chair the kid sitting next to it would put their backpack or book down on top of it.

And while all of this was going on so did the chatter as the kids continued to mock and ridicule Karla.

Feeling frustrated, embarrassed, and sad Karla was on the verge of tears as she ground her teeth and clutched her fists.

"You shit heads are way too fuckin loud first thing in the morning!" Jason's voice instantly silenced the rest of the kids in the room.

They all turned their heads to the back where Jason was sitting. He slammed his hand on his desk before standing up.

"I just spent an hour running suicides so unless y'all want to piss me off even more shut the fuck up and let me get some fucking peace and quiet!"

Although the way he was acting was a bit tyrannical no one had the nerve to try and rebuke Jason. He walked over to where Karla was standing.

Seeing Jason approaching her she looked down, afraid to look him straight in the face. All she saw was his high top black and white sneakers as he stood in front of her.

She then felt a hand on her shoulder "Go sit over there." She finally worked up the courage to look up and saw Jason pointing to his regular spot.

She tried to talk but every time she thought that she knew what to say her brain would tell her to think of something else.

Seeing her standing there with her mouth opening and closing but with no words coming out Jason ruffled his hair out of frustration.

He then took Karla's backpack from her as he walked back over and hanged it off the back of the chair he was sitting in just moments ago.

He then picked up his backpack and walked over to one of the spots where Karla was just refused. He lifted up the backpack that was placed on the chair before tossing it to the boy who owned it.

Jason glared at him "You got a problem with me sitting here?" The boy didn't even bother complaining about having his backpack thrown at him as he nervously shook his head.

Jason sat down without even taking a second look at him "That's what I thought."