Chapter 87


    “Where are you heading to, President Reed?” the driver asked once Sonia got into the car. She ced


    her walking


    stick aside as she replied to him. “Bring me to City Stadium, please.”


    “Okay.” The driver started the car. The trip from Paradigm Co. to City Stadium was a 1-hour long car


    drive. The


    stadium was known for being one of the most congested areas in Seafield as it was close to the city’s


    airport, so


    Sonia found herself caught in a jam. Time continued to tick, and the clock struck 4.00 p.m. while they


    were still


    on the road.


    Meanwhile, Tyler was dressed in a ck jersey with the number ‘8’ printed on it. He was warming up


    on the court


    while ncing at the audience seats. A disappointed look formed on his rather pale face when he saw


    that the two spaces that he had pre-booked were empty. What’s up with them? Why did neither of them


    come?!


    “Hey, Fuller, what’s up?” One of Tyler’s team members came over and tapped him on the shoulder.


    Tyler shook his head. “Nothing,” he muttered in a rather dispirited tone.


    “Well, you should rush over if nothing’s up. The coach is asking us to gather.” The teammate pulled his


    hand back


    and strode toward the rest area that was prepared for the yers. After taking a final nce at the


    audience


    seats, Tyler turned and went after his teammate.


    Beep! The yers officially got into their rows after the whistle blew, and the match began after each


    party


    shook their opponents’ hands. Tyler was the small forward and also the star yer of the team. Once


    the person


    in the center passed the ball to Tyler, Tyler would begin to travel with the ball. His actions were swift,


    and it only


    took him a single dodge to avoid the opponents’ attacks. Without much effort, he brought the ball past


    the free throw line and tossed it into the ring. He scored! The audience cheered for them, and Tyler


    gave his teammates celebratory high-fives. “You’re amazing, Fuller. It’s only the start of the game, and


    you’ve already shown them


    who’s king,” one of the teammates said.


    —


    “That’s right. If we go on like this, we’re definitely going to win” someone added.


    “Let’s go, Fuller!” His teammates cheered him on and tapped him on the shoulder. Tyler nodded while


    throwing a


    nce at the same spots in the audience seats. The two spots he had saved were still empty. At that


    moment,


    he could feel tears forming in his eyes as he felt sorry for himself. He put in so much effort to get two


    tickets for the best spots in the stadium, in hopes that they woulde and watch him during the


    competition. Yet, neither


    one of them showed up to support him! He had been looking forward to seeing them!


    Tyler raised his arm to rub his eyes before returning to his spot with his head hung low. He was waiting


    to get the ball. Soon enough, his members sent the ball into his hands, and he dribbled it while


    preparing to score. The other team already knew that he was a formidable opponent, so three yers


    stepped forward to y defense while he attacked; they wanted to stop him from scoring. Tyler’s heart


    sank when he realized that three yers were surrounding him, for he had understood that he was


    their main target. The game was going to be a hard


    one for him!


    Sonia finally arrived at the stadium at 4.30 p.m. “I’ll wait for you in the car, President Reed” the driver


    said after


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    he helped Sonia out of the car.


    “Okay.” Sonia nodded before she hobbled toward the entrance of the stadium with her walking stick as


    support.


    She heard a series of sighsing from the crowd the moment she walked into the stadium. When


    she looked over at the audience’s faces and saw the looks of disappointment on them, she couldn’t


    help but wonder what had happened during the match. She soon found her answer when she shifted


    her gaze to the scoreboard-the


    OV


    ces


    scores were at 20-40, with Team Kosovo leading by 20 points ahead of their national basketball team. I


    can’t


    believe our team is a full 20 points behind the opponents! We’re ying from our home court, and most


    of the audience are people from our country, so they must feel disappointed to see their national team


    losing to Team


    Kosovo by so many points.


    “Excuse me. Excuse me!” Sonia got the crowd to give her space so that she could make her way to her


    seat. By


    the time she finally arrived at her spot, she caught sight of someone walking toward her. She froze


    when she


    exchanged nces with the other person-it was Toby!


    Toby was just as shocked to see Sonia in the stadium. He gave her a slight nod before he nced at


    the ticket


    she held in her hand. “Did Tyler give you this?” When Tyler handed him the ticket the morning before,


    he noticed that Tyler had another ticket in his hand. The seating number was the one next to the


    seating number on Toby’s ticket. Before this, Toby assumed that Tyler would give the ticket to his


    friend, but Toby was surprised that Tyler


    had given it to Sonia.


    Sonia mumbled a response as she sat down in her seat. “Yeah, he gave it to me.” If she knew that


    Tyler had given


    another ticket to Toby, she would’ve never agreed toe. However, she had no choice but to stay


    since she had


    already arrived.


    Seeing that Sonia had already settled down in her seat, Toby did the same, for he didn’t want to block


    the audience at the back. “Are you interested in basketball?” Toby asked, with his gaze still fixed on the


    court.


    “Are you talking to me?” Sonia frowned.


    “Who else would I be talking to?” Toby’s handsome face darkened as he spoke. We are the only two


    people we know in the crowd. Who else does she think I’m talking to? Could I be talking to myself?


    “I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect you to start a conversation with me.” Sonia’s gaze fell upon the court as


    she spoke. “I’m not interested in basketball. I’m only here to watch thepetition because I didn’t


    want the ticket to go to


    waste.”


    “I see.” Toby’s lips twitched a little before he muttered a short reply and went silent. Sonia wasn’t in the


    mood to


    care about him, so she watched the tournament in silence as well. After a while, Toby carefully turned


    his head a little to peek at Sonia’s sharp and well-defined side profile. He gazed at her thoughtfully.


    Right then, the crowd around them began to voice theirints. “Sh*t. What sort of nonsense is


    this? Our


    opening was so good, and I thought our national team would definitely win this round. I can’t believe


    Team Kosovo is getting the upper hand.”


    “Exactly! We‘re only in the second period, and we’re already losing by so much. Team Kosovo is


    probably going to beat us by triple the number of points by the end of the game, huh?” someone


    added.


    “Forget it! The more I watch this match, the more furious I get. I thought I’d get my money’s worth when


    I saw the


    opening of the match, but I can’t believe this is what I’m watching right now.” The audience was losing


    their passion and hope for the national team, and many of them began to throw their cheering sticks


    away before getting up and leaving the stadium.


    Sonia nced at the departing crowds before turning toward Tyler, who had his hands pressed against


    his knees


    for support while he panted on the court. “It looks like they’re really losing,” she uttered. Toby narrowed


    his eyes, but he didn’t reply to her words.


    Beep! The whistle indicated the end of the second quarter, and both teams returned to their own resting


    areas to


    get some rest. The coach began to shout at Tyler the moment he got hold of Tyler. “What’s up with


    you? You


    were doing so well at the start. What happened toward the middle of the game? Do you really think


    you’re ying


    up to your own standards?”


    Tyler lowered his head without saying anything. The rest of the teammates dropped their towels and


    voiced out


    when they saw this happening. “Forget it, coach. The other team was attacking Fuller. Three or four of


    their yers would block Fuller, and he couldn’t manage-”


    “What do you mean he couldn’t manage?! Didn’t all of you block him during our training? Didn’t he


    always


    manage to find a way to slip past you guys? Why can’t he do that now? It just looks like he’s not putting


    in his full effort!” The coach’s chest was heaving with anger.


    Even the teammates who had spoken up for Tyler were afraid to say anything else at that point. The


    coach wasn’t wrong, after all. “I need to use the bathroom.” Tyler lowered the towel that had been


    hanging by his neck


    before he strode toward the bathrooms. Toby pressed his lips together and got to his feet when he saw


    his


    brother walking off.


    “Are you going to look for him?” Sonia curled her lips upward.


    Toby gave her a faint nod. “Tyler doesn’t seem to be in good condition today, and I want to take a look


    because


    I’m worried about him. Do you want toe along?” Toby didn’t understand why he felt the need to ask


    her that


    question.


    Sonia pointed at her own leg. “Do you think I can stroll around easily? On top of that, I don’t want to


    see him because this will be myst time doing anything rted to the Fuller Family. Once this


    Toby fixed his gaze on her for a while before he turned to leave the crowd.