Somewhere in Los Angeles
Friday October 19th, 2024
Ignoring the snickers and mugs from his teammates, more specifically his opponent for team captain, Pierce came to a halt back at half court.
Pierce was currently playing catch up, working individually with his coach while the rest of his teammates ran drills. Even a little out of shape, Pierce managed to outrun most of them with relative ease.
Coach blew his whistle, eliciting a high pitched noise from it to put a stop to the rest of the team's individual drills.
"Alright," Vincenzo addressed his team. "Good work today. I'm proud of the work you all have been putting in this season, I can tell you're dedicated to the game..."
"Some more than others." His teammate spoke. "Jailbird." Jared Connors snickered with his friend. He was a tall brown skinned senior with waves. He was good and he was dedicated too, but he wasn't Pierce.
Pierce peered up, making eye contact with Jared who was tapping his friend's shoulder discreetly so that the coach didn't notice as the two laughed.
Pierce understood where he was coming from. If one of his teammates had gone to jail, missed a whole week of practice, got suspended and came back, hadn't had nearly as much practice as him, and still was better than him, he would be pissed too.
Once their coach had finished his speech, Jared was still making comments. Some of his other teammates were agreeing as well. Pierce wasn't really tripping off it, however.
Niggas like Jared weren't worth the bullshit they came with. This nigga wanted the team to like him so badly that he had to use their mutual hatred for Pierce as a bonding point. Wasn't nobody tripping off that bitch ass nigga.
"Augustìn," his coach called. "Come back after you get water. You're not done."
___________________
Beads of sweat rolled down his face as he pushed himself through the 17th run he had to complete.
Pierce was staying late at practice, per the agreement he'd approached his coach with to make up for the time he had been missing.
"Two more, then break, Augustìn." Coach Vincenzo shouted, timing him as he ran.
Luckily for Pierce, he'd kept himself in pretty good shape while in the pen. He was tired, but he wasn't dead tired.
Honestly, he could run some more if he was asked. At this moment, however, he really was just trying to focus on something else so it would be over faster.
Maj had a game tonight and the whole group was popping out to go see it, including the babies who were being brought by Leora. Football was currently setting up, the group was currently watching the girls' Varsity basketball team finish off their workout, and Pierce's practice was supposed to have been over.
He had plans for the weekend. Important plans that couldn't wait. Like really important.
Snickers came from the bleachers for fortieth time since Pierce had started. Jared and his friends Kalan, Jace, Tarren, Jorday, and Harley were watching Pierce run and doing their damndest to piss him off.
"Alright." Vincenzo blew his whistle, sharply interrupting Pierce's run as he had gotten lost in his thoughts and did an extra lap. "Get a break, Augustìn."
Pierce was breathing heavily, buckets of sweat falling down from his face as he hunched over with his hands on his knees.
"Whoo!" Jace called loudly to the delight of his friends who were laughing extremely loudly. "Look alive, baby!"
