Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason was in his house as he took a nap on the couch in the living room of the apartment. Ever since he had gone back in time this had turned into one of his habits.

During his free time Jason would take a nap in the living room instead of his bedroom. He liked hearing the sound of his mom and dad in the house.

Whether it was the sound of their voices or just the sound of them moving around the apartment and doing things.

Just being able to hear traces of them being around was relaxing to Jason. In his past life Jason had gotten into an argument with his mom and gotten kicked out of the house.

In America most people would move out as soon as their were financial able to. But in Asian culture it's common to live with your parents even after you get married.

Jason had just finished college and was still living with his parents when his mom finally asked him to give up on basketball.

She got tired of seeing her son abuse his body time and time again to no avail. Jason's mom grew tired of seeing her son go to the hospital from different injuries.

But Jason was still in the prime of his youth and felt like he had a chance to make it as a pro so he couldn't just give up.

This lead to them arguing until Jason's mom kicked him out. Although she apologized the next day and said that she had just said what she had said out of frustration Jason still moved out.

He realized that he was being selfish forcing his mom to see all of his suffering. It wasn't until years later that he would eventually put his pursue of basketball on the side and focus on getting a real job.

So Jason was happy to be able to hear his parents' voices again and to feel their presence on a daily basis.

Jason was woken up from his nap by a tapping on his shoulder. He then heard his mom's voice "There's some people here to see you Jaya."

Jason rubbed his eyes and saw his mom smiling over him. He smiled "Okay mom, thanks." Jason got up and went to the front of the apartment complex.

He opened the door and saw Kyle, Samantha, and Shania all standing there. He yawned before scratching his head.

"Sup guys. So why didn't you call?" Samantha rolled her eyes before looking over to Kyle "Oh gee I wonder why didn't we call. You want to tell him?"

Kyle laughed before pulling out his cellphone. He then showed his call log to Jason "We tried calling you bro. But your phone is dead."

Jason pulled out his phone and found out that it was indeed out of battery. He chuckled before putting it back into his pocket.

"Hehe my bad. So what's the plan? You guys trying to hang out today?" Shania laughed as she looked at Kyle.

"Haha I told you he would forget about it. Don't you remember Jaya? We agreed last week that we would go shopping today.

We need to buy you guys outfits for your end of the year talent show. You can't put on a concert in just anything." 

Jason facepalmed after realizing that he did agree to that "My bad guys. I just forgot because I've been busy. Gimme a sec."

Jason went back into the apartment and asked his mom if it was okay for him to go out with his friends.

His mom said okay and asked if he wanted her to give them a ride. He told her that they would be taking the bus and that they would be okay.

He then changed out of his white shirt and house shorts into a pair of black joggers and a gray athletic shirt.

As he stepped out of his apartment he put on a pair of gray and black high top sneakers that had a picture of a lion breathing fire on the tongues. 

Jason stepped back out of the apartment complex and saw Kyle, Samantha, and Shania taking goofy pictures.

He laughed "Glad to see you guys were having fun while I was gone. Let's go?" The four of them left as they walked to the nearest bus stop.

After waiting for a few minutes a bus arrived. The four of them scanned their bus passes before taking a seat in the back.

Shania sat down next to Samantha while Kyle and Jason sat in the row right behind them. Shania turned around and smiled at the two boys.

"Congrats on the win last night. I wasn't able to go but my uncle told me that some of the guys from Newberry went. And they said you guys were cookin em them the whole game."

Kyle was smiling from ear to ear after hearing that "Did they really? Haha yeah we had a pretty good game last night. Especially Jaya man.

The game before that he had set a record for the most points scored during the tournament by dropping 50.

But he broke that record again last night after dropping 56 points. And it's not like he was just focused on scoring too because he had like 6 assist and 3 steals for the night."

Kyle wrapped his arm over Jason's neck and ruffled his hair "This dude is such a beast. Now the only thing missing from his game are some nice dunks."

Jason cracked a smile after hearing Kyle's light jab at him. He then rolled his eyes "Hey I'm making progress okay? I'll have you know that I've grown an inch since school started."

Jason was pretty proud of being 5'5 as he puffed out his chest a bit but this only cause the others to laugh even harder.

They chatted and laughed as the bus made its way to the mall. They talked about Shania's new school and how she was doing.

Even though she couldn't play for her school's middle school team because of her transfer status she was still working out with the team so that she would be in shape and ready for the high school season next year.

Shania giggled "You wouldn't believe how many of the girls on the team are talking about Jaya. They would probably go crazy if they knew that I was hanging out with him like this.

They're either talking about his appearances on Through the Hoops or about his games at Jefferson."

Kyle laughed before going "Aye that's my bro." He then extended his fist out as him and Jason fist bumped with smiles on their faces.

Samantha on the other hand didn't seem to pleases as she just grumbled under her breathe. Shania playfully elbowed her as she laughed.

Jason chuckled "I hope they're not saying anything bad about me. With all the negative media attention I've been getting I wouldn't be surprised if people actually thought I was an asshole."

Shania answered "Nah those girls are always talking about going to one of your games and asking for an autograph and taking pictures with you.

Speaking of the media. I'm surprised that the blonde bitch that been doggin you been real quiet lately."

Kyle smiled as added "I wouldn't be surprised about that. After she talked all of that shit about coach Swendel and Jason she took some heat online too.

The news station said that she's taking some time off because of family reasons but I'm sure that she's trying to lay low so that things can blow over."

Jason scowled "That's still too good for the bitch. She should get her bum ass fired. Every time I think about her my blood starts boiling."

After about fifteen minutes the bus reached the mall as the four of them got their things and stepped off the bus.

Kyle and Jason followed Samantha and Shania into their favorite store The Dirty Ditch. As they were walking they had to stop as occasionally Jason would get random people that wanted to take a picture with him.

Jason happily agreed as he posed for a few photos. One person even went into a sports store just to buy a basketball for Jason to sign.

Some of the people also recognized Kyle as they asked him to join them in the photos. Kyle was surprised by the request but he smiled as he nodded his head.

After dealing with a few more fans they were finally able to get back to walking. Samantha nudged Jason in the side as she smiled.

"Look at Mr. Hollywood over here. I didn't know that you were doing a fan event at the mall. Got any tips on how to get famous?"

Jason teased "Haha Sammy. That was hilarious. If you really want to get famous you should take a shot at stand up."

Just as they were making their way past the food court Jason and Kyle heard a familiar voice "God damn brats. Who the hell pours ketchup on the floor like this?"