Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Jason helped out at his father's diner for about another hour before walking to his father's office in the back of the diner.

He knocked on the door and immediately got a reply "Come in. " Jason opened the door and poked his head in ""Hey dad I think I feel liking heading home now."

Jason's dad smiled as he looked up from the papers that he was reading "Sure thing Jason. Did you want me to give you a ride?"

Jason stepped into the office before he shook his head "Nah that's okay dad. I know you have a ton of stuff to do. I'll just take the bus."

Jason's dad got up from his desk and walked toward his son. He then pulled him into a hug and gently rested his chin on the top of his head.

"Thanks for the help son. I wish you knew just how proud you make me every single day." Jason felt the sincerity in his father's voice.

He had to fight in order to keep his composure. Jason tried to play it off by chuckling "Hehe come on dad. I just helped out for a few hours. I didn't even really do much."

Jason's dad stopped the hug as he stared his son straight in the face while smiling warmly "That's not what I'm talking about.

Every day you show me just how amazing of a person you are. And it makes me so proud to think that I am helping to raise such a amazing individual.

You dedicate yourself to basketball, you get perfect marks in all of your classes, you're always thinking of how you can help your friends, and you always expect the most out of yourself.

But what makes me the most proud isn't the destinations that you've managed to reach. The journeys that you take in the process is what really lights up my days."

You've been through so much. I know that changing schools wasn't the easiest. So to see how much you put other people before yourself is-."

Jason was surprised by his father's sudden silence. He looked up and saw that tears were beginning to form in the corners of his father's eyes.

A tear dropped from his father's face on to his own as he was looking up to him. Jason's father smiled as he wiped the tear off of his son's face with his thumb.

"To see how much you put others before yourself despite all the things that you've had to go through shows me just how strong you are.

Everyday you work yourself until your tired as a dog. And yet no matter how tired you are you always make sure to ask how me and your mom are doing.

You always want to help cook dinner and help get the table ready even though you could easily lay down on the couch and just wait for everything to get done.

And look at today. You've been playing a crazy amount of minutes. And no matter how much you've been working on your conditioning I know that playing two whole games in a row couldn't have been easy.

But despite being tired and having the chance to just stay at home and sleep you come here to help out. This is why I'm so proud of you son."

Jason was feeling a mixture of emotions after hearing what his father had to say. On one hand he was touched that his father thought so highly of him.

On the other hand Jason also felt slightly guilty. His father's opinion of him was based on the thought that despite being tired he was willing to forego rest just in order to help.

But in actuality Jason wasn't really ever all that tired. Jason had been using the Recovery Boost function in the system every night when he went to sleep.

The amount of rest and recovery that Jason was able to do every night was three times the normal amount. He actually felt like he was in tip top shape.

Jason felt bad but he didn't want to ruin his dad's touching moment. Besides, it's not like he could explain why he wasn't tired despite playing so many minutes.

Jason hugged his dad back "Thanks dad. I don't know if I'm as great as you think I am but I will try my best to live up to the person that you see me as."

Jason's dad just laughed before ruffling his son's hair "Alright son. Go ahead and head home.

Your mom said that she'll be late again today because of work and I'll be late because I'll be in charge of closing tonight.

So go ahead and eat dinner out if you want to. You said you were going to see the Christmas lights at the Mission Inn tonight right? Stay safe and have fun with your friends."

Jason walked out of the office as he took some deep breathes in order to try and regain his composure.

As he was walking out of the diner he smiled and said goodbye to all of the other workers there.

Samantha was still working on her food when she saw Jason walking out toward the door "Mhmph fuph!"

Jason turned around from hearing her voice but he hadn't been able to understand what she had said because of the food in her mouth "What did you say?"

Samantha tried to wash down the food in her mouth with some water but she was in too much of a hurry as she ended up coughing violently after some of the water went down the wrong pipe.

" *Cough!* *Cough!* I said wait up." Samantha wiped her mouth hurriedly before pulling out a hundred dollar bill from her purse. 

She then left the money on the table before jumping to her feet and walking toward Jason "You're done helping out Jaya?"

Jason nodded his head "Yeah. I was just going to head home and play some games or watch some of Kyle's anime recommendations for a few hours. 

It's still to early to head out to see the Christmas lights over at the Mission Inn and I still need to call the guys to see if they're down."

Samantha nodded her head as she listened "I see. Well in that case would you- is it possible- do you think?-"

Jason rolled his eyes "Come on Sammy just spit it out. For someone that's normally as talkative as a podcast on replay you're being pretty bad at using words right now."

Samantha stomped her foot on the ground "I was going to ask if it was okay for me to hang out with you at your place until it's time to see the lights."

Jason chuckled "Is that it? I don't know why you had such a hard time saying that. You're acting like you haven't been over like a million times by now."

Samantha ground her teeth in frustration 'It's only hard because I know about all of my feelings. Unlike you.'

Jason thought that it would be awkward to walk back to his father's office to ask him for permission so he sent him a text instead.

'Sammy wants to know if it's okay for her to hang out at the apartment.' He immediately got a response 'Look behind you.'

Jason turned around and saw that the blinds to his father's office were pulled up. His dad was smiling brightly as he gave him a thumbs up.

Jason laughed before returning the gesture and giving his dad a thumbs up as well. Jason then turned back to Samantha "I guess that's a yes."

Samantha excitedly pumped her fist before shouting out "Alright!" She then pointed forward "Raise the anchor. Let us embark on our journey first mate Jaya."