Grover wasn't hungry today. His mom had spent hours preparing his favorite meal, pot roast, yet he had hardly touched his food. His 2 sisters, Charlotte and Sierra were arguing about some reality TV show and His step dad was venting to his mom about work drama. He had enjoyed playing with Danny today. When they were younger they were practically inseparable. He was always at Danny's house playing Super Smash Bros, filming homemade movies, and playing basketball in the backyard with Danny's older brothers. He had never really liked basketball much mainly because he was slow and had poor reflexes. Instead of practicing and trying to improve he just sat behind the hoop, drawing the others and coming up with logos for imaginary teams. Danny had always been good at video games and especially sports. He was a quiet serious kid who never quite fit in but was popular nevertheless. Danny was always the tallest and one of the most handsome kids in the class while Grover was the shortest and not especially good looking.
In elementary school Danny started to excel at basketball and suddenly Grover started seeing less and less of him. Instead of playing together after school, Danny went to basketball practice, while Grover played Call of Duty and other first person shooter games. Danny started hanging out with the cool kids like Wesley and Derek and sat with them during lunch while Grover sat at the nerd table. Soon they hardly saw each other. Every once in awhile they had a class together, but they would ignore each other. Sometimes Danny would text Grover and they would play Call of Duty together. Grover was better than Danny, maybe one of the best gamers in the whole school, and while they played together they would have a blast and talk a lot, however those moments became few and far between. Grover's phone vibrated in his pants while he was eating dinner. "No texting during Dinner" his mom yelled. "Geeze Grover way to ruin the vibe" Sierra chimed in.
After dinner he grabbed an old basketball from his garage and walked towards Roger Bollingino's house. Roger was a foreign exchange student from the Netherlands who loved soccer and had moved into town at the beginning of the school year. Grover liked Roger a lot and thought he was super funny and cool. He was sure Roger was going to ditch him soon once he started meeting people at school. Grover was the first person Roger met at the bus stop and they would chill on the bus together and sometimes play video games after class. Grover didn't think Roger had enjoyed his American experience up until this point. The America he saw on TV was far different than this suburban hellscape. Also, Roger's assigned guardians were an elderly couple, and although they were very kind and polite, they made assimilating and making friends somewhat difficult.
"Why does everybody like this basketball in America?" Roger asked as he juggled the basketball 7 times like a soccer ball then kicked the ball into the backboard.
"I don't know" said Grover. "Around here basketball and football are super popular for some reason."
"You mean fake football. Futball is the most greatest thing ever invented. God himself blessed mankind with Futball. Ball. Is. Life." Roger said and kicked the basketball the length of the court and it careened onto the street and bounced into a biker. The biker picked up the ball and waved to Grover.
"Wassup Grove man. I don't think I've ever seen you out on the courts."
"Hey Georgie!" Said Grover "What happened to your car."
"Oh that old thing. It's in the shop. Gotta bike to work these days. You boys trying to play some pick up?"
Georgie was a good friend and drug dealer to Grover's older sister Charlotte. He was in his late 20's and had known Grover most of his life. Unlike Charlotte's other friends, Georgie was always really nice to Grover and would even play games with him sometimes. As Georgie taught Roger and Grover how to play basketball, Roger told Georgie about the Johnny Timberland jersey and how Grover had just given it away to a couple of suave jerks on the bus. In their limited time together, Grover noticed that Roger seemed to lookup to Georgie and seemed to respect him a lot more than Grover.
"Dude Grove man, You really gotta get that Jersey back. You know it could be worth thousands someday. Especially if Johnny rocket makes it" Georgie said.
Yeah Grove man." Said Roger "Why did you give that jersey to Wesley Lachance. I hate that dude so much. He's got a stupid face."
"Lachance, Eh? I wonder if that's Casie's little brother?"
"I didn't give it to him." Grover said annoyed. "I'm only letting him borrow it. He's gonna give it back at Derek's party on Friday."
"Yeah sure.. You're never gonna see that Jersey again. Or go to that party, right Georgie?" Roger said.
"Calm down boys" Said Georgie. "It seems like Wesley has the jersey for now.. For now" he repeated.
"But how about we teach that little twerp a lesson and get Grover back his prize." Georgie said as He swished a fade away three pointer cleanly through the net.
In elementary school Danny started to excel at basketball and suddenly Grover started seeing less and less of him. Instead of playing together after school, Danny went to basketball practice, while Grover played Call of Duty and other first person shooter games. Danny started hanging out with the cool kids like Wesley and Derek and sat with them during lunch while Grover sat at the nerd table. Soon they hardly saw each other. Every once in awhile they had a class together, but they would ignore each other. Sometimes Danny would text Grover and they would play Call of Duty together. Grover was better than Danny, maybe one of the best gamers in the whole school, and while they played together they would have a blast and talk a lot, however those moments became few and far between. Grover's phone vibrated in his pants while he was eating dinner. "No texting during Dinner" his mom yelled. "Geeze Grover way to ruin the vibe" Sierra chimed in.
After dinner he grabbed an old basketball from his garage and walked towards Roger Bollingino's house. Roger was a foreign exchange student from the Netherlands who loved soccer and had moved into town at the beginning of the school year. Grover liked Roger a lot and thought he was super funny and cool. He was sure Roger was going to ditch him soon once he started meeting people at school. Grover was the first person Roger met at the bus stop and they would chill on the bus together and sometimes play video games after class. Grover didn't think Roger had enjoyed his American experience up until this point. The America he saw on TV was far different than this suburban hellscape. Also, Roger's assigned guardians were an elderly couple, and although they were very kind and polite, they made assimilating and making friends somewhat difficult.
"Why does everybody like this basketball in America?" Roger asked as he juggled the basketball 7 times like a soccer ball then kicked the ball into the backboard.
"I don't know" said Grover. "Around here basketball and football are super popular for some reason."
"You mean fake football. Futball is the most greatest thing ever invented. God himself blessed mankind with Futball. Ball. Is. Life." Roger said and kicked the basketball the length of the court and it careened onto the street and bounced into a biker. The biker picked up the ball and waved to Grover.
"Wassup Grove man. I don't think I've ever seen you out on the courts."
"Hey Georgie!" Said Grover "What happened to your car."
"Oh that old thing. It's in the shop. Gotta bike to work these days. You boys trying to play some pick up?"
Georgie was a good friend and drug dealer to Grover's older sister Charlotte. He was in his late 20's and had known Grover most of his life. Unlike Charlotte's other friends, Georgie was always really nice to Grover and would even play games with him sometimes. As Georgie taught Roger and Grover how to play basketball, Roger told Georgie about the Johnny Timberland jersey and how Grover had just given it away to a couple of suave jerks on the bus. In their limited time together, Grover noticed that Roger seemed to lookup to Georgie and seemed to respect him a lot more than Grover.
"Dude Grove man, You really gotta get that Jersey back. You know it could be worth thousands someday. Especially if Johnny rocket makes it" Georgie said.
Yeah Grove man." Said Roger "Why did you give that jersey to Wesley Lachance. I hate that dude so much. He's got a stupid face."
"Lachance, Eh? I wonder if that's Casie's little brother?"
"I didn't give it to him." Grover said annoyed. "I'm only letting him borrow it. He's gonna give it back at Derek's party on Friday."
"Yeah sure.. You're never gonna see that Jersey again. Or go to that party, right Georgie?" Roger said.
"Calm down boys" Said Georgie. "It seems like Wesley has the jersey for now.. For now" he repeated.
"But how about we teach that little twerp a lesson and get Grover back his prize." Georgie said as He swished a fade away three pointer cleanly through the net.
