Maybe it was your childhood, which had been full of studying dinosaurs and watching Jurassic Park, but something about the strange little rock drew you in. The six year old hidden deep in your mind demanded that you buy it.
Sighing in defeat, you checked the price. Exactly five dollars, precisely the amount you had on you. It seemed like it was meant to be.
"Well, alright. What harm could it do?" you said as you grabbed the stone and took out the five bucks to pay for it.
~
Several weeks passed as you completely forgot about the rock and it remained hidden underneath piles of dirty clothes. You didn't have time to be interested in it, as you were far more preoccupied by what was happening in school.
The start of summer was fast approaching and schoolwork turned into a mad scramble to get things down before the end of the year. Your schedule was crammed with studying and projects, all of which you had to pass if you planned on staying on the track team next year. You'd be pretty worried due to being a poor student if it weren't for your ace in the hole.
The girl next door, Jenny, had offered to help you with your studying on the condition that you'd lend her a hand with her own problems. She and you were pretty much opposites. While you were good at sports, she excelled in academics. You were relatively muscular and developed whereas she hadn't really been visited by puberty other than her whooping six foot tall height. Plus you hadn't really spoken to her since before grade school so it came as odd to you when approached with a proposition.
"I need to learn how to play basketball."
"What?" you asked in a dumbfounded manner halfway between eating your sandwich.
"You heard me, I need to learn how to play before the summer starts."
"Erm, not that I wish to offend Jenny, but why me? I mean I'm a runner, not a basketball player. Why not ask one of the guys on the team?"
"Because they're all jerks. You're the only jock that I know that doesn't like to make an ass of himself. Plus, if the rumors are true you need some help with your exams."
"So...?"
"I'll make you a deal, you give me lessons on what you know with sports and I'll help you study. Sound fair?"
You took her up on her offer, as ridiculous as it sounded. You weren't sure why Jenny had the sudden interest in basketball, sure she was tall enough for it but you had never seen her do exceedingly well at it during gym. But it really wasn't any business of yours so long as you were getting the help you desperately needed.
That was the situation you found yourself in that Sunday night. Jenny had already come over after dinner and you two spent several hours in the park shooting hoops until it got dark out. It had already been a week of your training and she still wasn't doing any better yet. Despite her being taller than you, she wasn't being aggressive enough in her playing. You pretty much could walk all over her whenever she had the ball.
"I suck," she muttered to herself as she organized her flashcards on the floor of your bedroom.
"You don't suck, you just lack confidence. You keep letting me get the ball from you."
"That's because I suck." she held out the first flashcard with a word from chemistry to memorize.
You sighed and tried to think of the definition. "If you are so down on yourself for trying, why are you even interested in playing basketball? It's a pretty rough sport when people get serious."
"I can't tell you."
You shrugged. "Then I can't really help you, and I have no idea what the definition is."
Jenny gave an agitated groan and chucked the card at you. "Kinetic energy! Energy due to an object in motion! Jees, John you suck at this, this was a word we had to learn in September!"
You had to give a laugh. "I guess we both suck at what we're trying to do. I'm not giving up though."
She grinned back. "Neither am I, let's see if I can find an easier one for you. Though I doubt it."
This was how it had been for the past week on and off, studying and training with no real progress. Little did the both of you know, your antics were about to take a drastic turn towards an adventure when... | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
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