Rebound: A 2nd Chance

Back at Jason's apartment. While everyone else was getting upset by what Logan had said on TV Jason on the other hand was stuffing himself with another cheeseburger.

Udonis spoke out in an annoyed tone "Damn bro. How is it that the one dude who ain't never played ball in his life is the one talking smack about Jaya and the team?"

Kyle nodded his head in agreement "You can tell that the guy probably never played any kind of sports outside of P.E. class."

Trell turned and looked at Jason "How the hell can you just keep on eating bro? Don't this shit bother you?"

Jason washed down the food in his mouth with a sip of the chocolate milkshake that was sitting in front of him.

"I mean it does bother me a little bit. But what do you want me to do? It's not like the guy was lying.

He had the numbers right there in front of him. Everything that he said was technically facts." Jason then took another bite out of the cheeseburger.

Trell replied "I mean I guess it was facts. But just because the numbers say something don't mean that it's true.

I mean, how the hell could anyone say that you ain't clutch? You been making big time plays in damn near all of our games lately."

Kyle sighed helplessly as he patted Trell on the back "Forget it bro. You know how Jaya is. You'll end up getting more upset over this than he his."

Udonis laughed "Kyle's right. I can't believe we still get surprised over how chill this dude is. The only things that get him excited are food and basketball."

Jason wiped the grease off of his mouth with a napkin before complaining "Hey! I'll have you know that I take offense to that.

There are plenty of things that catch my attention other than basketball and food. And it's not like I'm eating all of this because I'm a glutton.

The reason why I eat so much is because I'm trying to grow. I don't know if you guys have noticed but despite all the food I eat I just can't seem to put on weight."

In Jason's past life he was somewhat of a foodie but he never ate food to the extent that he was doing now.

Back when he played basketball in college one of Jason's favorite pastimes was to visit the popular local food spots in whatever town they would play in.

The reason why Jason put so much attention to his diet was because he knew how much he struggled in high school and at the college level because of his lean frame.

Udonis laughed "Oh yeah? You got hobbies outside of hoopin and eating? Go ahead and name em."

Jason was surprised by Udonis putting him on the spot like that "Um.... You know.... Oh! Lately Kyle's gotten me hooked to this new game.

What was it called? Sparkling wings? Wings of the sun?" Kyled sighed "It's called Solar Wings: Glory of the Stars.

And technically the game has been out in Japan for over three years. It's just recently that it got ported over to the US with an English version."

Jason pointed at Kyle "Whatever he said. See? I have hobbies outside of basketball and food.

Not only that Kyle has gotten me into anime too. There are a couple shows that I'm watching right now."

Kyle laughed after hearing what Jason said "I don't know if that counts Jaya. All of the anime that you watch are basketball related."

All of the guys busted out into laughter after hearing Kyle say that. They spent the next few hours eating and cracking jokes.

Eventually as the sun began to set everyone started to split up as they made their ways home.

All of the guys had helped clean up a bit before they left but Jason told them not to mind it. He would never admit it but he enjoyed cleaning up after a gathering like this.

In his past life Jason didn't really have that many friends. He always got along with the guys on his team but that was the extent of it.

His only real friends were Tory and Devin. This second chance at life was the first time that Jason got to experience having so many friends and having them over so often.

With each cup that Jason picked up and with each section of the living room that he cleaned he recalled some of the moments that had just happened.

'Why is the table so sticky? Oh yeah, Udonis accidentally spat some out after hearing Kyle joke about him being fat.

And all these crumbs on the floor were from Nick and Vince trying to toss onion rings into their mouths.' 

Jason took a look at the now clean living room. Even though he was alone in the apartment he felt a strange sense of happiness.

'Mom and dad have been working late days more often now. I guess they have to make up for all the off time that they take to watch my games.

But at least they know that I have friends now. They don't need to worry about me being alone anymore.'

- - -

Over the next two days Jason would spend most of his time relaxing at home and chilling with his parents.

Jason wanted to practice but he knew that if he did then all of the guys would feel pressured to do the same.

And he wanted them to use this time to rest up as much as they could before their next game against High Bridge Middle School.

After his mom would go to work Jason would follow his dad to the diner. He didn't like the idea of just sitting at home doing nothing and thought that helping out at the diner would be a good way to relax while still doing something.

Jason helped out the servers as he took over a small section of the restaurant. All of the workers there were familiar with Jason.

Most of the servers were high schoolers or college students. Jason's dad made it a point to try and hire students as much as possible because he knew how hard it was for young people to get a job sometimes.

Jason remembered one of the talks that he had with his dad one time "It's crazy how hard it is for some young people to get a job if they don't have any connections.

Job ads will say that they are entry level and yet they want working experience from the applicants. What kind of working experience is a 16 year old supposed to have?"

His had also liked hiring college students because he knew how hard it was to find a job that would accommodate their schedules. 

"We are really blessed Jason. Your dad was lucky to have a small savings that he could use to provide for him and mommy.

Because without that savings we would have never survived until daddy found a job to support him and mommy while the two of us went school."

Jason was dressed in a white collared tee shirt with a red apron over it and black pants along with a white cloth hat.

His dad was a big fan of the whole 1950s diner aesthetic. He knew that those times weren't the friendliest for people of color like him but he loved the style nonetheless.

Jason was dressed the same as all of the other waiters and servers as he handled his own small section.

A lot of the female servers found Jason cute in his little uniform as they asked him to take some quick pictures whenever they had the chance.

The guys servers also asked to take pictures with Jason but that was because they were fans of him as a basketball player and not because they found him cute.

Or at least that's what Jason told himself in order to feel more comfortable about it. Jason had just finished bringing all of the food to a table when he felt his phone vibrating inside of his pocket.

He pulled out his phone and saw that Samantha was trying to video call him. He looked around to make sure that his tables were all taken care of.

After seeing that all of his tables were doing good Jason moved to the corner of the diner to answer the call.

"Yo, what's up Sammy?" Samantha was smiling as Jason answered the call but after she saw what he was wearing she couldn't help but start laughing hard.

"Oh my god Jaya! What are you wearing?! I thought Halloween was way behind us hahaha!" Jason rolled his eyes "Haha real funny Sammy.

I'm wearing this because I'm helping out at my dad's diner. I'm pretty sure you've seen all of our workers dressed like this before."

Samantha wiped a tear from her eye "Duh, I've seen the workers wear that uniform tons of times before.

I was just surprised by how adorable you look in it. It's like watching a little kid dress up as an adult haha."

After some more laughing she finally calmed down "You said you were helping out at your dad's diner right? I'll be right over."

Samantha hanged up the call right after saying that. Jason chuckled to himself 'It's nice having a friend as goofy as her.

But something tells me that she might be coming over to stir up some trouble.'