Me and Josh meet up at his house after today's match. I greeted his mom and she was seriously a great mom and always laughing despite working overtime for her family. She had that positive energy. I could see where Josh got that from. He lived in a humble but warm home.
"This is some seriously good footage." I praise him while he scrolls through on his computer.
Josh is actually the one who actually gave me this idea and inspired me when I was talking to him about youtube and things. He casually gave me advice to post my highlights on social media which can help me be scouted if I ever decided to go professional and it could also be something that attracts and helps my branding.
Dude has some great digital design skills and the equipment and software to really make them shine. He is already used to doing small gigs like editing for low budget music videos and helping students in our school with making reels. For just $50 and visible credit wherever I post them he's agreed to film my games himself and then edit the videos. He said it was his responsibility as my manager as well.
"I know right! Especially this clip right here." He's talking about my super dunk on that 6'7" dude. It's super cool seeing it for myself. "I'm guessing you'll want a version of this for both of the highlights?"
"Definitely for this game and maybe for the compilation. I might have better feats later but this one is important. How long do you think this game's video will take?"
"For a thirty second video? With some special effects? Thinking two days max." He shrugs before switching to the software he uses. We have still not recorded the songs for the youtube. I was waiting for the Sunday to come.
"I'll send you a copy of the original video too."
"Thanks bro."
"Of course man."
I stand behind him while he works for a little bit, offering some comments here and there when he asks. Another person might have been bored but this is a learning experience for me and he's doing me a huge favor.
One might wonder as to what we're doing or perhaps why. Well the answer has multiple facets to it. From what I've seen so far, I will qualify for enough academic scholarship after my result from SATs, which I was pretty confident about and that I wouldn't even need an athletic scholarship. Which was my initial reason to even play the game.
So you could say basketball is more to get my foot in the door than to pay for college which wouldn't be far off from my original thinking. The whole idea behind joining the school team had been to pad my resume; good grades, good test scores, and being a good athlete should have made getting into college and getting scholarships easier. But now it seems I don't necessarily need the athlete part.
However, I have started to like the sport and I've enjoyed being part of a team. Furthermore, I've realized that my ability is super broken and that I'm very much capable of becoming a great player in basically no time compared to other players who started in their adolescent years. And I can totally be a college athlete without harming my academics so if I'm willing to put in the time then there's no real reason why I shouldn't pursue collegiate athletics. And I actually liked the thrill that I get from scoring and people cheering my name. I am still on the high of today's win.
So the desire is there along with the capability, what's left to talk about? I'll tell you.
I've already admitted that I want to be rich, like everyone else, so the logical next step to my thought process was professional basketball where even the benchwarmers get paid a million per year. Assuming I could get into the league as more than an extra, I could be looking at millions of dollars doing something I enjoy. No one can tell me that's not a good deal.
So although I'm not declaring the NBA as my goal, I want to leave that door open just in case. And since that opportunity largely relies on college ball, I have to take the steps to get onto a team in the first place. One of those being reaching out to the coaches of the schools I'm applying to and expressing interest in playing for them while getting them interested in me. Part of that includes highlight films which is where George comes in.
It is actually great PR for my game company as well. It will definitely boost my downloads and people will play my games and I will be a sort of brand for the company.
Talking about Josh. He's a talented friend and I trust him. I can't film myself while playing so I needed someone to do that. I can definitely level up my own editing skills but videos take time and a good computer; I have the second but not the first thing that is time.
That's why I have decided to relegate the things that I don't want to do. And quite frankly, dude has the vision. I'm learning but for now he can take my general 'make it cool,' prompts and spin them into something worthwhile. The cool ones will be posted to my new Instagram while the one for the coaches will be more professional and consist of scenes from multiple games.
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A few days pass by, and things in school have definitely changed a lot. There are perks to being a rising star on the basketball team. Recognition is the biggest one. People now know who I am—guys nod or slap my hand in the hallways, and girls give me cutesy hellos that I have to awkwardly ignore in front of Alex. I do my best not to let it all go to my head, but honestly, it feels good to be popular. Sometimes, anyway.
After I posted the reel highlights of my game, my new Instagram account—set up by Josh for professional reasons—blew up. Two thousand followers in just a few days. My original account is still private, just close friends and family, and I want it to stay that way. Now, it feels like half the school follows me. Josh gets plenty of recognition too, since every video has his tag and I always credit him. He's picked up two more players from the team who want their own highlight reels, but they don't get the same friendly discount I do.
My phone isn't as dry as it used to be. The team group chat is a constant stream of memes, jokes, and post-game trash talk. When I find something good, I make sure to send it over. Just guys being guys. But on the flip side, my contacts list is suddenly full of girls who find creative reasons to have my number even when I tell them 'I have a girlfriend'. Suddenly all these girls only want to be me friend's with me. It's flattering, but honestly, it's getting annoying. I don't want to be rude, so I just let them give me their numbers and then ignore the messages on insta, hoping they get the hint.
Alex noticed. At first, she tried to play it cool, but I could tell she was bothered. She started acting distant—shorter replies, less enthusiasm, even dodging my calls a couple of times. One afternoon, as we sat together in the library, she finally spoke up.
"Lucas, can I ask you something?" she said, her voice quiet but serious.
"Of course," I replied, closing my laptop.
She hesitated, chewing her lip. "I know you're getting a lot of attention lately. From… girls. And I trust you, I do, but it's a lot. I just… I don't want to feel like I'm competing for your attention."
I took a deep breath, pulled out my phone, unlocked it, and handed it to her. "Here. Check whatever you want. Messages, DMs, everything. I have nothing to hide." I wanted to nip it in the bud, thanks to my WIS.
She looked at me, surprised. "Are you sure?"
I nodded. "I want you to trust me. And I want you to know you're the only one I care about. All the attention is just noise."
She was hesitant at first but later she carefully probed through my phone. She scrolled through my messages, her brow furrowed in concentration. The genes of Claire Dunphy were heavy in this one.
After a few minutes, she handed my phone back, her shoulders relaxing a little. "Sorry. I just… I guess I got a little jealous. I've never had to deal with this before."
I reached for her hand. "Me neither. But I don't want this—us—to get messed up because of some random texts. If you ever feel weird about something, just talk to me, okay?"
She smiled, squeezing my hand.
"Okay. And for the record, I will go full psycho on those bitches if they try anything—then you will be my target."
I laughed—until I saw her eyes: serious and smiling at the same time.
The laughter faded for a moment, replaced by something deeper. Then she laughed, and I joined in, the tension slipping away.
"Deal. And trust me, I'd pay to see that."
We both laughed again.
And just like that, everything felt right.
Trust—it's the real MVP in any relationship.
______________
That evening, just as I was settling in to relax, my phone rang. Leonard's name popped up, and before I could even say hello, he screamed through the speaker, "1600!!! DUDE!!!"
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