It was a chilly Friday morning, me and my  friend John were playing basketball.  The sky was cloudy and I could feel drops of water on my nose. The cream colored college buildings were behind us, the sun rising above them. I could hear the lawnmower rumble in the distance. I sat on the bench watching John shooting around. All of his shots went in, swish after swish after swish. “Come on Gus! Take a shot!” John hollered walking towards me.

I couldn’t not after what had happened “It's ok, you can keep on playing.” I said trying to change the subject.

“Whats wrong? You were great last season. I haven’t seen you touch the ball since then.” John said. No I couldn’t do it not after what happened. What does he know about this. I stood up in anger walking away from John. “We’re friends, we can talk to each other. Right?” John called after me. I looked back at him in a sigh. If only he knew. I walked through the breezeway my head down. For a moment I stopped and looked at the poster advertising the basketball tryouts. I was  imagining my time with John last year, winning the state championship in high school, all of the game rewinded through my head. Then suddenly I started thinking about the incident. I turned away from the poster, I felt like I lost control of myself. Tears rushed down my cheeks, and I tried to brush them away and I slowly walked on to my first period class.
First and second period went by as a breeze, at brunch I went to the snack line, got some chips and sat on a bench and ate them. My friend, Tim walked up to me with chicken burger on his plate. Tim loved burgers. He sat by me, and I knew he  wanted to strike a conversation with me, but he restrained. John came by acknowledging Tim with a nod. Finally Tim said “Hey Gus ” I Didn't reply not wanting to talk.
“Gus, are you going to try out for the basketball team? The coach knows how good you are, you will make it.” John asked suddenly with energy.

I quietly said “No” I said staring towards the table in front of me. I could smell the strong scent of the barbecue sauce in John's burger. I was trying to find a way to distract myself from the topic of basketball.

“Why not, you are a really good  player?And what was that back at the court?” John exclaimed, while shuffling his feet, and staring at the ants on the ground.

“ I just don't feel like trying out, anyways I’m not that good” I replied quickly, trying to go away from the topic.

“Fine, but what had happened you were really good?” John replied, with a frown on his face. I could see the crows dancing in the air. I was trying not to look at them.
“Hey,  it's been a long time since we hanged out, how about we chill out tonight ” Tim said trying to change the mood of the talk.

“Okay, fine” I said though I knew they would drag me regardless of the answer.  He told me to meet them at the college dorm at 5:00. Brunch then ended and I went to my boring 3rd period biology class, after that the rest of my day went by fast.
I went to the college dorm in the evening  and I see Tim and John waiting there for me next to a car. I ask them “where we are going?”
“ To a restaurant” he replied. I sat in Tim’s 3 years old BMW, the color of the car was darkish grey and the seats were layered with lint. With a hesitant thought we buckled up and drove out of the college’s campus. The car ride was full of silence, and I could see John really trying to say something, but holding it. We finally pull up to my favorite restaurant Casa Azteca. The burgers there were delicious. We then entered and sat at a table. We ordered food, and John asked me if I wanted to join his fantasy league that he was starting. Initially I said no, but he finally persuaded me to join. He convinced Tim and a couple of his friends join. Then we started talking about basketball, and the local team, the Pelicans. “Hey are you watching the Pelicans, Warriors game tomorrow?” John asked.  It was the start of the NBA season, and you could feel the intensity in the city, when there was a Pelicans game.

“I might depending on what I have,” I replied. John was a huge Warriors fan, ever since he was born he loved the Warriors. He was so addicted to the Warriors, that he went to the bay area and bought tickets for the NBA finals. We kept on chatting about the Warriors, Pelicans game. John said how the Warriors were gonna beat the Pelicans, and we were debating back and forth about who would win. I remembered the time when their was the playoffs game, and everyone was wearing red, and then you see John in yellow and blue, standing out of the crowd. I started to smile, thinking about that. For once I was actually enjoying myself.

The food then arrived and the it was great, the chicken wings had a nice barbecue flavor. I ordered a burger, which looked delicious, you could see the perfectly cooked chicken. The bun was covered with sesame seeds and the ketchup oozed out the sides, it looked like a hamburger an angel made. I asked them if they came here often, and they replied in unison and said “ sometimes”.
“ It's been a long time since we met again, so I wanted to do something special” Tim said. Tim was a really nice guy, ever since high school he has been my best buddy and we always did our Physics homework together. We slowly ate our food, enjoying every moment of it. After three hours, we exited the restaurant. I looked up and saw the sun’s red glare through the sky.  Tim and John also looked up I felt this weird feeling in me, I couldn’t tell what it was.
John abruptly said “ I know a really cool place we can go to.” John said abruptly said.

“Where?” I asked.

“You’ll know later” John commented I looked to our right and I saw a group of teenagers, they looked they were from our school . I squinted and I could tell one of them was Jason. He hated me. Jason  tripped on my foot in the beginning of school and made a big fool of himself, and hated me ever since then.  In the corner of my eye I saw him staring at me, looking to get revenge. I started shivering in fright. He was really strong and was the best wrestler in the school. Sadly he was in our path to the car so I would  have to talk to him. My body was really tense, my heart pumped as fast as a cheetah, sweat was dripping down my body. I didn’t know what to say or what do to him. John told us that he forgot his jacket in the restaurant. He also told us to get in the car and start the engine. Tim  walked over towards the car, I was  following close behind.
“Hey Gus, long time no see.” Jason yelled with an evil voice. I didn’t want to talk to him, but I knew he was going to make me.

“I'm sorry for tripping you that day.” I said with tension, not knowing what to say or do. I could see fire in Jason’s eyes, he looked like he was going to fight me at any second. Did I say the wrong thing?  Why did I remind him of the incident? I thought to myself. I felt like slapping myself on the head.

“ You better be.” He replied, his voice getting louder by the second. I could see Tim trying to interfere, but resisting knowing how strong Jason is.

“What do you want? I’ll give you anything.” I said, trying to make peace. Jason was about to say something, when I heard a voice in the distance.

“Leave him alone, John yelled from the entrance of the restaurant. He walked over to us and he told Jason to say sorry. He listened to John and did. We got in Tim’s car and we pulled out of the parking lot, and got on a highway. “ Have you changed your mind about trying out?” John asked.

“No I just didn’t feel like trying out.” I replied. I was trying to not let them know about what happened, but I had a feeling they already knew.

“ You do know that you are almost as good as me” John said. I didn’t reply to his comment. We were near the heart of the city, I could see the hospital to my right, I thought how I never had an injury in my life. We were passing my elementary and middle school. They were both clumped in the same area. I remembered how Tim used to look back then, he was a short kid who loved to play sports. He was one of the shortest people in the class, and sometimes I liked to use him as an armrest. He was one of the nicest kids I have ever met, he would help everyone when they needed it. I was in his class almost every year, and then I met John in my first year of middle school, we had 5 classes together. He sat next to me in two classes and we realized that we had many things in common. Both of us were on our middle school basketball team and we won the championships every year. “Hey John how did you control Jason back there?” I asked with interest.

“It’s a long story.” He replied “I did a big favor for him, and he didn’t want to make me mad, so he listened.”
I started staring out the window, many memories flew through my head. I remembered the time we went kayaking and while I was getting out of the kayak and I fell. I had to swim in the cold frigid water. We hit a speed bump, and I suddenly jumped out of my seat. I look outside, and I see this huge, steep mountain ahead of us. “ Hope you guys don’t get carsick” John said with a laugh. I hate going on windy roads, I said to myself, to make matters worse I was sitting in the back of the car. Suddenly all I could think about was my mom, it was the reason I quit basketball. My mom, had an incident during my last game, and I quitted basketball forever. That thought made water flow down from my eyes.

“ Hey so where are we going?” I asked John.

“To the peak,” He replied, making it seem like the answer was obvious.

“ You really don’t have to do this to make me try out.” I said. John whispered something to Tim, and we kept on driving. I looked at my watch and it was 8:00. It felt like we were in a car forever.  the road was so windy, and I felt like taking a nap, but I couldn’t. Finally we came to a parking lot at the top. There were no other cars there. My body started to shiver, and on the inside I was nervous, not knowing what to expect. “ Hey are you cold, because you can use my jacket if you want?” Tim asked kindly.

“Nah, I'm fine” I replied.

“ You sure?” He said trying to make me wear the jacket.            

“Tim you are the nicest person I’ve met, you care about others more than yourself.” I said with a smile on my face. He didn’t reply.  John was eating his granola bar the whole time listening to us.  “ Ready to go?” he asked. I nodded my head, and we started walking to the trailhead. I could see some birds on a branch, staring at us with their little eyes. There was only one light in the parking lot, and it looked like a scene in a horror movie. I tried not to think about it but it, but it just kept coming back to me. We arrived at the trailhead and it said “Black Hill Cliff 0.5 miles” and on another sign it said something about wild animals. I was going to take a closer look, but  John and Tim dragged me on.  John was carrying a backpack, and I could hear the noise of chips and other snacks jumbling in his bag. I also smelled this strong scent in his bag. The birds above us suddenly started chirping, and the wind was howling. I was confused, and I left like something bad was gonna happen. I started moving a little bit closer to the other guys. I was scared of many things. I wondered how Tim and John didn’t mind  everything around them.
In the dark I could see John’s orange neon shoes shining brightly when I shined my flashlight on them. He loved wearing neon shoes, and he wore them since middle school. On the first day of school he wore neon green shoes, and he kept on buying neon shoes ever since then. I never got knew why he was so addicted to shoes. My eyes wandered to the scenery around us, the trees soaring above us and the music of the birds chirping above us. I was too busy looking up, that I tripped on a stone, and almost fell. “ Hey are you okay?” Tim asked.

“Yah, I’m fine” I replied feeling embarrassed. I kept looking down, not wanting to trip again. We came to a fork in the path and  John stopped for a second. Then he chose a path and started walking again. John started to pick up the pace and we followed. We had been walking for 8 minutes, and ahead I could see a clearing of trees. I was pretty sure we were gonna stop there. We kept going closer to the clearing. When we came to the clearing, which happened to be a beautiful cliff. The moon rose majestically, and the city lights shined brightly below me. I could see the towering mountains to our right and left. My heart skipped a beat. All of us stared at the view for minutes. Then John finally spoke. “ Was this worth the drive?” he asked. We just nodded our heads, still staring at the view. The view was impossible to describe. You could see the small city of cherryville below us, and in the distance you could see the city of New Orleans. It reminded me of the time when me of the view from Mt. Stevenson. It looked as if the city lights were forming words. “ Do you come here often?” I asked after staring at the view for ages.
“ I come here when I’m free, or when I feel like everything is going wrong for me.” He replied. I had never seen this side of him. John never showed any negative emotions he had. He kept all of them inside. I felt like telling them why I didn’t want to try, but I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth. Tim reading my mind asked me if their was anything bothering me. “ No, I’m fine.” I replied.
“ I know there's something bothering you, just tell us what it is.” Tim asked kindly. I knew I couldn’t keep it inside forever. I told him how during my last basketball game my mom had a heart attack, and that she was never to be seen again. I also told them how I stopped basketball for her.
“I’m sorry” they said sadly.
“It's okay, you didn’t know.”
Suddenly it started to rain. John told us to get back to the car. We started walking back to the car. I could see Tim trying to say something to comfort me, but he couldn’t find any words to use. It started raining harder, and I could hear thunder in the distance. We started to walk faster, trying to get to our car.  The path was filled with small puddles, we were trying our best to not step in them. Then I hear some noise in the distance, I couldn’t tell what it was, I thought it might be the thunder. We started to run, not wanting to get wet. I heard the noise again, this time it was louder. I still couldn’t tell what it was. We came to the fork in the path, and Tim stopped running. “ Tim you, good?” I asked.
“Ya, I just need a little breather.” He replied. The strange noise came again, it sounded like a growl, the noise was louder than before. “ Hey, did anyone here that?” I asked.

“Yes, what is that?” Tim asked.

“I have a feeling, that's a bear.” John replied.

“Bears don’t live in this part of the state.” I replied loudly. We just ignored the sound, and started to run again. I was trying to be really careful not to trip on a rock. Suddenly John stopped running, and told us to be quiet.
“What happened?” I asked quietly.

“I think I saw a bear in the woods.” he whispered.

“WHAT!” Tim and I replied. “Bears don’t live here.” Tim said now yelling. We heard the noise again, and this time we could tell that it was a bear growling. I was starting to get scared, and we started to get closer to each other. The moon which was giving us light, hided behind the clouds, and it was pitch black. John reached in his bag and got out his flashlight. Tim told him not to turn it on, and he didn’t. The bear was out of sight, so we continued to walk. I accidentally stepped in a pool of water, and it made a big splash. “Be careful” John warned me. I looked into the forest, and I saw some motion. I was getting really creeped out. Luckily the rain stopped, but I could still hear the thunder in the distance John put his bag down and looked for his pocket knife. He took his pocket knife out, and he looked in the forest. Tim was going to say something, but John put his finger on his mouth, and Tim stopped. It seemed like this was a scene in a horror movie. John went backwards, checking for the bear. “ Don’t provoke it” Tim whispered. He took a step away from me.
Out of nowhere the bear sprung forward and grabbed the bag with its big sharp teeth. I was in its path, and It trampled over me. I yelled in pain, and the bear quickly scurried away into the woods. My head, arms, and knees were spurting with blood. Tim and John quickly came to me, and they took their shirt, and put it on me to stop the blood from exiting my body. I could see the worry in their faces. In the first aid class I took over the summer they told me that as long as the cut isn’t over an artery, you should be fine. I couldn’t tell if the cuts were over an artery or not. They were trying their best to stop the bleeding. Luckily, after 30 seconds it stopped. My knees still felt really bad. I couldn’t move them at all. I told them I was fine. They picked me up, and they carried me the rest of the way to the car. My knees were burning, and I was in misery. They put me in the car, and Tim quickly sped off toward the hospital. I told him that I was  fine, and that he should take his time, but he didn’t listen. John took the cars first aid kit and he applied bandages to my cuts. I couldn’t really remember the ride to the hospital. My legs were dead, and ever since I was born they were really weak. Surprisingly we arrived at the hospital in 30 minutes. The doctors then took me into a room, trying to comfort me and they gave me a pill to swallow. I then slept for hours.
My eyes open to see a nurse at my side. “Where am I, What's Happening?” I yelled, looking for answers.
“You’re okay” the nurse said with a soft voice, trying to comfort me. “ You were attacked by a bear, and you suffered a small knee injury.” I became calm, and the nurse gave me some food to eat. John and Tim then entered the room, and asked me how I was feeling.
“I’m fine” I replied. “Thank you for helping me so much, you two are the best friends anyone could have, how can I ever repay you?” I said, starting to sit up.

“ You don’t need to, if this ever happened to one of us, you would do the same thing.” Tim said with a smile as big as the sun. Tim told me exactly what happened last night.

“ I have something for you.” John said. My dad then entered the room, and John and Tim quietly walked out of the room, letting me talk with my dad privately.

“Gus how are you doing?” my dad asked.  I said I was fine,and he asked if he could do anything to make me feel better.

“No, I’m fine” I said, staring at his old face. I didn’t see him for a year. We looked at each other for minutes, not saying a word. “Son, why did you quit basketball?” my dad asked with a sad look.
“ It was my sacrifice, for mom.” I replied softly. “If I didn’t go to basketball, none of this would of happened.” I said with tears flowing from my eyes.

“Before your mom died, she made me promise, that you would keep on playing  basketball, and that she wouldn’t affect you.” My dad replied in a sad voice.

“Okay, but I have a slight injury” I replied, wiping the tears of my face. My dad told me that I would heal before the tryouts, but I would have to wear a knee brace. Me and my dad were just sitting there for minutes, just staring at the ground. My dad told me how lucky I was that my injury wasn’t fatal . My dad always kept his emotions to himself, and he never showed his emotions, but now he was letting all of his emotions out.
A week later, I was walking down the the narrow stone path. The cream colored college buildings were in front of us, the sun shining bright above us, and the green grass standing as straight as a ruler. I was standing next to John with Tim right behind us, walking towards the twenty year old gym.  We all had huge smiles on our face and our heads were up in the clouds, thinking that whatever happened last night happened for a reason.