Beyond Average [COMPLETED]✔️

Chapter 33-

"Why are you all late-" Coach Brenner starts to yell, but stops short when he sees me.
"Asher Westman!"
He pats my shoulder.
"How have you been?!"
"Alright. I missed you all so much."
"We missed you." Coach says sincerely.
"Um coach?"
"Captain?"
I nearly spit out my water.
"You guys let Evan be captain?!"
"You better believe it!" Evan laughs.
"As I was saying, Ashy is subbing in for Vic. He got a little hurt this morning."
"Victor Victor...what will we ever do with him!"
Wow, coach is really going easy on freshie! If it were me who got hurt before a game like this, he would never stop busting my chomps about it!
"So Asher is subbing in."
Coach smiles.
"Good." Coach smiles at me.
"Can you do center? You're literally irreplaceable for starting player." Evan tells me.
"Aw stop it you!" I laugh in a funny tone.
"Of course I will. Man I am so excited to play again."
"You don't play in Ohio?"
"Nope. They wouldn't even let me try out because they suuuck!" I laugh as I start stretching.
"They don't matter. You'll see who gets the last laugh." Coach tells me.
That really resonates with me. Maybe they were scared to give me a chance because they're cowards who are afraid to get outshined. To me, it is not about being the best player on the team. It is about doing your own personal best, growing as a person, and connecting with your team.

I guess I'm the one who will get the real prize.

"WELCOME TO HOMETOWN SHOWDOWN!"
The announcers are getting ready. This is going  to be good!
"Get ready, Kid." Coach taps my shoulder.
I scrunch my eyes and hoist myself up. One last tic for good luck 😁
I say last because I hardly tic when I play.
"You got this, Westman." Jerry tells me as the team runs out.
"Thanks, Big Guy." I wink at him intentionally.
I look up at the stands for the first time in forever. This is so surreal...
"COME ON, FLASHES! LET'S GO FLASHERS!!"
I just keep smiling like an idiot.
Come on, Asher. Don't get too caught up in it, Asher.
Ok, usually pep talk with myself is complete...
EEEK!!! The ref blows the whistle.
I immediately jump up and swipe that ball to safety like it's second nature!
I'm dribbling harder than I ever have, and sprinting faster than I ever imagined I could.
I really learned not to take any of this for granted....
"East." Evan says softly. It is our code for me to pass it to him since it's the opposite of my last name. A bit less obvious.
I don't want to be a ball hog so I snake eye number 52 from the Coyotes and chest pass to Evan.
Some guy snatches it from Evan, so I run as fast as I could and snatch it back.
"Dunk it." Jerry whispers.
I raise my eyebrows at him.
He just nods vigorously. What the heck, I sprint down the court to their side and dunk that thing harder than I ever have before.
"THREE POINTER FOR THE FLASHES! 3-0 FLASHERS!"
Yesss!!!

Coyotes try to come back with all these crazy moves but they can't beat us!
It's now half time and we are winning 18-10!
"Asher!!"
I look up at the cheerleader approaching me.
"Mia! Heey!"
Her blonde hair is curled and she has on blue sparkly eyeshadow.
"You're back?! I can't believe it! And you're even better than ever on the court!" Mia squeals as she hugs me.
It's crazy how this is the life I always had. The cliché "popular" boy, star player, with the pretty and smart cheerleader girl all over him. But that's not me anymore. Of course I still love my friends and basketball, but I like just sticking to Aly. It takes a girl like Aly to really get me, even if she is mad at me...I can still like her even if she is mad at me, can't I? I may be all fun and outgoing with the boys, but I'm actually a little shy sometimes...
"Thank you." I say as I smile.
"You've got this, Asher!"
"Well it's not just on me. But thank you."
"No I mean..never mind."
"What?"
"I can't tell you! It's a surprise! Just keep playing hard, Asher! Whatever you've been doing keep it up!!" Mia cheers as she skips away.
Secret?
Is there something I don't know?
"Yo, Evan! Come here!" I call him over.
"Yeah man?"
"Mia came over and told me there is a surprise? And that I have to do something?"
"You're doing great."
"Evan, come back!"
"What?"
"Is there something going on."
"Don't worry about it. You know Mia. Surprises and fun to her is going to bake cookies at a pre-school."
Evan walks away.
Ugh! I need to know, my curiosity is getting the best of me! Focus, Asher. Just keep focusing on the game...
"ASH! The halftime show ended!" Coach calls to me.
I run back to the court.
"ASHER!" I hear from the crowd.
I look up.
Dad is here...
I wave to him . Wow. That makes me so happy when Dad takes the time to come see me play. Especially under these circumstances.
As soon as the half begins, the coyotes nearly have the ball for seconds before I snatch it from them. Mwahaha.
The game continues on, but all of a sudden the coyotes sub out. What the heck?!
"Yo..." Ev whispers as he elbows me.
I am face to face with some guy who is legit triple my size...
"Those bastards..."

We literally start triple teaming the kid! They can't complain, we are losing players over this stupid giant!

Shoot, with all the triple teaming we lost our defense and they keep scoring!
"Ash...it's ok. It's not your fault." Nick tells me as we run to defense.
"Are you just going to give up like that?!" I exclaim.
I attempt to snatch the ball, but we are already tied and there is thirty seconds left in the game.
"Forget it, Asher. They blindsided us.."
I shake my head.
Evan attempts to take the ball but they snake eye him and score...
That's the game, there's seven seconds left..

Eeeeeeek!!!!
"FOUL!" The ref yells.
What did we...wait that's them! They fouled!!!
Evan, Nick, Jerry, and Jake immediately run toward me.
"Who is shooting? Who is shooting?" Jerry says frantically.
Evan turns toward me.
"Guys, you don't need to give it to me. We want to win."
"Are you kidding? That's the only way we can win!" Jack says.
I've never been under this much pressure to score in my life...actually never this much pressure for anything...

I sprint over and stand there and dribble like a wuss for like a minute.
"LET'S GO FLASHES!!!" I hear.
I could have sworn someone screamed Asher instead of Flashes though...
"C'mon, Ash...."
Here goes nothing....
I smoothly throw the ball.
Shoot, it's one of those edge of your seat moments where it spins around the rim for what feels like a century.
I lean my hands on my knees.
Cmon cmon cmon.....
I look up at the stands and there's this guy studying me intently. But for some reason it feels like a good thing. It feels hopeful..

BOOM!!!
"AND THE FLASHES WIN BACK THE LEAD WITH SEVEN SECONDS ON THE CLOCK!!!"
I grab the rebound and just run out the clock!
THIS IS AMAZING!!! I actually cannot believe I scored!!!!
"YEAH ASHER!!!" Mia cheers.

"Are we going to do our usual locker room party?" I ask.
It's a tradition for us to scream and act crazy in the locker room after a big win. We usually go out and do something fun afterward too.
"Asher, there's something even better than that." Evan tells me.
"Well...there is something we kind of need to tell you..." Nick explains.
"Yeah?"
"Victor isn't actually hurt. It was all staged for you to play."
"Me? You guys..." I sigh. "You didn't have to do that."
"We didn't want to tell you why because we didn't want to put the pressure on you. But you have so much potential, Ash!" Jerry tells me.
"I know..." I look down.
"But my career is finished. Trust me, it was fun playing that last game with you but my baske-"
"Congratulations on your win, boys..." A very tall man approaches us as he puts on a Villanova cap.
This is the guy who was watching me as I scored...
"You must be Asher Westman."
"Yes sir." I say as I extend my hand.
"You guys probably knew all week the rumor that I would be coming to this game. But in case you did not, I am the head recruiter for Villanova University. I was very impressed with how you play, Asher..."
Oh.
My.
Gosh.....
I think I am going to pass out.
"R-really?..."
"Yes. I'd like to schedule an appointment with you in the near future to discuss possible contracts..I would really love for you to play for Villanova's D1 Men's basketball team. Have you ever thought of playing for Nova?"
"My whole life...." I say softly.
"I'm very happy to hear that. You've got some great support in this town. A few anonymous members of the community recommended I look out for ya.."

"You guys!!" I beam with excitement.
"This is a dream come true. I can't thank you enough ."
"Don't just thank us, thank your dad."