THE RISE OF JAKE MILLER

chapter five

Chapter 5

The basketball game began and the people who are present at the court started showing support to the two teams.

There are two groups of people present, the male trainees which are divided into two teams, and the female cheerleaders that are cheering them on.

Jake, Saint, Santino and a group of other boys make up one team called Black Tigers while Arthur, Nathan and some others who are mostly bullies make up the other group called the Young Dragons.

Melissa, Daisy, Samantha and Most of the cheerleaders cheered on for the Young Dragons while a few cheered on for Black Tigers.

During the game, Arthur was playing rough in an attempt to please Melissa. His aggressive plays fueled the Young Dragons as the crowd cheered on.

After about an hour, the game finally came to an end with the Black Tigers losing to the Young Dragons.

Amidst the celebration, Jake was congratulating his friend when someone bumped him from behind.

“Hey fellas, rejoicing over a failure?” Arthur was shouting even though they were all standing real close.

"Nice try, loser. Your team was a joke. Were you guys trying to set a record for the worst basketball performance ever?" Donald, one of the opponents said.

"I'd say you guys should quit, but I'm not sure you ever started."

Ignoring the taunts, Jake responded, "We'll do better next time. Just wait.”

"Guess the court isn't your stage. Stick to something less challenging, like hopscotch." Another opponent said.

"Do you even know which side of the court is yours? It's okay, it happens to the best... and apparently, to you too.”

“Haha! They're rejoicing over a loss.” Arthur mocked again. He was enjoying the moment.

Saint-James, who had always been quick with comeback shouted too “Yes we are rejoicing but the thing is, even though you got a little win today, at least you still got a little wiener.”

The crowd let out laughter and mockery sounds.

Arthur became red in the face and was about to punch Saint when Santino with all his height and girth held him back and said “No, you would not do that, no school fights.” and laughed again.

“Okay, Saint and Santino, it's time to go.” Jake said and quickly intervened by removing Santino’s hand from Arthur's shoulder.

The look on Arthur's face was evident. He hated the fact that Jake just did that. “If poverty was a disease, you're full-blown.” He said and spat.

"Hey, that's not fair. Win or lose, everyone deserves a good meal. In fact, I'll treat everyone to dinner tonight. Consider it a celebration.” Katy said.

“Thank you Katy, me and my friends could use some alone time.” Jake lied. The Truth is he cannot stand another moment with Arthur and his friends. Every second is becoming unbearable.

“Running away so soon?” Arthur called after them. “You still wouldn’t join us for dinner? I guess poverty is incurable. Someone should start a GoFundMe for Jake's dinner date. Poor guy.”

"Haha, he probably doesn't even know which fork to use. What a joke.”

"Don't worry, Jake. I'll cover your dinner. No one should miss out on a meal just because of some empty pockets." Alex, one of Jake's teammates said. He was a very quiet person.

However, Arthur intervenes, "You're paying for him? You must be desperate to associate with losers. Think twice, or I might make your life even more miserable.”

“Hey… I called the shots, right? So I'm paying for everyone’s dinner tonight.” Katy interrupted.

“No! I insist Jake should do it. He has never hosted us before. So what do you say?” It was Arthur that said that.

“Sure, why not? Let's make it a feast!" Jake said sarcastically and smiled.

The whole crew burst into laughter, thinking Jake was merely bragging.

“Dinner with you? Are you going to serve instant noodles at your walk-in studio apartment?”

"Why waste time on him? He can't even afford a decent meal."

"Dinner with Mr. Penny Pincher? Hard pass. I'll invite my dog instead."

"Let's hope he doesn't bring a calculator to split the bill."

"You mean to tell me Jake is hosting dinner? That's ambitious. Does he even know what a restaurant looks like?"

"I bet he'll order water and claim it's a diet. Classic move."

The whole crowd burst out laughing.

Meanwhile, even his friends were worried about him. Saint and Santino tried to talk Jake out of it but his mind remained unchanged.

“You don't need to embarrass yourself, bro. Let's just go home.” Saint said.

“Yea, Saint is right. You don't need to do this. We all know you can't afford that restaurant and we understand why, so don't do this. We could all three of us go to a cheap restaurant later on and I will pay.” Santino said.

“I understand you guys, but I have got this. You just chill, and watch.” Jake said.

His friend thought that he was crazy.