I Want To Fly, Can You Take Me Far Away?

[GameMaker*]

((PREGAME START- JJ Sturn)

JJ looked inside the gymnasium. No one there, at least not yet. He had brought his gym clothes with him from home, along with his own basketball. Shorts and a wife beater; He changed into them quickly in the changing room, making sure to check to see if anyone else was there. No one in here either, good, meant he'd have at least a few moments of peace before it got flooded with other people looking to workout or shoot some hoops. He was cutting his last class, but eh, fuck it. He'd already gotten into college, and as long as he just graduated, his scholarship wouldn't care if he had a 66 average.

That was him, classic overachiever. Skating by through highschool with a solid C average... by the time he'd decided he'd actually try taking school seriously, he realized that the teachers had already gotten their own preconcieved notion of JJ as a student. And suffice to say, it wasn't a good one. He couldn't blame them either; between sleeping in class, cursing off a few of his teachers, and just generally putting in minimal effort, he had really taken the cake for being a hard working, motivated student. And the classes were hard for him now, partly because even when he tried to focus, he just couldn't find a reason for motivation. What the fuck did he care why Shakespeare wrote this scene a particular way? Why did he care that finding the sin of an angle and the other two side lengths let you figure out the area of a triangle? In the grand scheme of his life, what the fuck did these things matter to him?

He wasn't good at it, and he didn't like it. He had never liked things he wasn't good at. There were braniacs in his class, kids who fucking ate up this school shit, but he wasn't one of them. It was all too abstract, and when he had his own thoughts and concerns filling up most of his time, he just couldn't find any way to stay focused. Plus most of his classmates, like the teachers, wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire, let alone help him out in class. But he couldn't blame them for that; if some kid had done the same shit he had done in class, he wouldn't help them out either.

But basketball wasn't school. Basketball was something he was good at. He could drain shots, he could break peoples ankles, and most of all, the last two years he had discovered he could dunk. This was something he could still be the best at, and when he played it, he was in the fucking zone. It was his game, where he still ruled as the champ. He had fucked him self over in the social aspect, he was lower than the lowest, and gradeswise he was skirting along as a bottomfeeder, but sports were, and always had been his forte.

He took the ball, and practiced some dribbles. Imagined playing in the NBA, with the knowledge that with his height and size he'd never make it. But still, he could dream, couldn't he? There were fans cheering for him, they filled up the court in his mind, and he took the ball. He was on a fast break, he had the ball, and the game was tied, five seconds left. It was his chance to take it, to win it... he ran past the foul shot line, dribbling the ball in one hand, his eyes fixed on the net, and he grabbed it and jumped. He slammed the ball through the rim, and in his mind, he heard the cheers, he heard everyone chanting his name. Everyone loved him, he was the hero of the school, and he had just won the big game.

The ball hit the floor, bounced, and rolled away. And now the reality came back to him. He was alone in the gymnasium, and more than that, he knew it was much better that he was alone. He didn't want to even think of what it would be like in the gym, people whispering about him as they watched him, thinking all the worst things about him. But wasn't it what he deserved? Wasn't it the reputation he had spent his whole life creating? He had wanted to be the king of the school, and he had made his way up the social ladder, and taken his throne. And he had only found out too late what a lonely place the throne really was.

Fuck everything, but JJ wished so badly he could start it all over.

[Slayer*]

David entered the gymnasium, bumping this thread.

(To be edited tomorrow, I need to sleep; classes start in the morning!)