Ileana was keeping her books in the locker she was for the first time using.

"Hey, we can show you around if you like." She turned to her new acquaintances, Nelly and Charlotte. They spoke to her this morning and they were friendlier than she expected. Charlotte gleamed, caressing the end of her blonde hair, "Do you even know who that gorgeous inspector was?"

Ileana smiled knowingly, "James Torres. Listed in the top ten richest and most successful CEOs by Forbes. He owns the best educational and healthcare institutions around the world. He's self-driven, committed, passionate and absolutely a good leader. I can go on but I'll stop here!"

Nelly coughed, "What the hell? How do you even know all that?"

Ileana blushed, "It's not my fault. He's all over the news and the net all the time. He's my kind of celebrity."

Charlotte was still dazzled, "Wow... so you're a hardcore fan?"

Ileana bit her lips, feeling uncomfortable now, "Nah. Haha. It's just... I always wanted to attend one of these high schools."

Nelly chuckled, "Then, here you are! It's rather odd that you transferred at this time though."

She just felt lucky she stumbled upon these two. She was happy they were so approachable. It was easy to befriend them and they just wanted to make her feel at ease as she was new here.

The cheerleading group passed behind them, laughing loudly and Charlotte exclaimed as it struck her, "Oh God, Nel...we have to get the best seats!" Nelly was suddenly agitated. She clasped both their hands and dragged them, "Shoot, shoot, shoot! I totally forgot about that!"

Ileana was a bit awed at how aggressively energetic Nelly suddenly became, "Eh, what's it all about?"

"The damn match, girl! It's gonna be crowded today!" They dragged her to the gymnasium. It was spectacularly packed. What was happening? Why was everyone here? She felt a rush of excitement within her!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Back at the staffroom, Sierra used the coffee machine and waited for it. It wasn't pouring down anything. She really wanted one right now. That conversation with James Torres turned out to be pretty bad. What did she think she was doing when she told him about Jace's impulsive behavior? She could see on his face that he wasn't that pleased with her.

Henry Stone, the literature teacher she met yesterday approached her with a sweet smile and asked, "It's fried again? When that baby isn't crying, you just give her a tight slap." He banged his fist on the coffee machine and the coffee dropped magically in her cup, leaving a little foam too in the process.

"Oh wow. Thanks!" Sierra lifted her cup and drank it slowly, savoring the drops. She smiled at him and asked, "What's up?"

"The ceiling?"

She laughed, "No, how are you?"

He waved, "Ah, I'm always bloody fit and fine."

The philosophy teacher shot from behind his table as he overheard him, "Is that why you refused to join in the match?"

"You shut up, Arnold."

The man in his late forties mocked, "Quit flirting with the lady, Henry. She's smart."

Sierra giggled, "Wait. What match?" Arnold answered in a disinterested tone, "Just a mediocre semester Teachers versus Students basketball play."

Her eyes lit up in curiosity, "Oh I want to see that."

"Ah forget these creatures, Sierra. Let's go and watch the real men." The French teacher with her strong American accent commented as she hooked her arm around hers and started to drag her away.

Henry exclaimed, "Hey, not fair. Florence. I was with her first!"

Arnold teased, "Quit flirting, Henry. Quit flirting."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jace wore his short, slid on his jersey and entered the basketball court, bouncing the ball as the other players followed, students cheering for them loudly as if they were stars. He was the captain of the team and today they were playing against the sports teachers of the school. The team already defeated players from other high schools in the past and still, they knew what they would be facing today was on a totally different level.

These educators...right there, hell, they were absolute pros in their domain. His father hired excellent PE teachers and it was quite impossible to beat them, especially with the arrival of the monster Cobe Adams, a PE teacher who joined this year as from the first semester. The bloody fact that this man was insanely tall and strong only made it more difficult to meet up the challenge.

The PE teachers entered, three men, two women, all five as dangerously good at the game as ever but as much as he hated defeats, he didn't mind losing against them. In fact, it was a learning opportunity and it just made him want to be better than them.

And there the principal was, acting as a referee like always. Good old principal Keaton. Always excited for these matches. He would probably be reminiscing about his younger days. The rules were slightly bent because the match had to be short. A total length of forty minutes. To make the game more interesting, the losers had to buy pizza for the winning team and it was always the teachers who had been getting pizza each semester now.

Sam joked as he shook both his hands for a warm up, "Can already say bye to my dollars."

Jace firmly said to his other four friends, "Time to show em guys. Let's give it our best."

The cheerleaders made their customary entrance, Quincy in the lead as they performed stunning acrobatics movements, cheering for the student team, getting the crowd in the mood. There were whistles and shout outs to both teams...and when the girls bowed and exited the court as magnificently as they had entered, the principal spoke in his microphone, demanding silence as he made them recall the rules of fair play and ended with a mighty, "May the best team win."

As he whistled, the match began. Intense as always with that bloody brute of Cobe Adams. Within the first few minutes, Cobe had already scored a basket. His height made it difficult for them to steal the ball from him. When he jumped, Jace only wanted to curse.

And there goes another basket as Cobe dumped the ball in the basket, sending him a mocking grin. At the corner of his eyes, he saw his father followed by his managers taking a place among the teachers who were watching. Hell, wasn't he supposed to be already gone?

He suddenly felt the pressure on his shoulders. He didn't want to be a loser in the eyes of his father. He so much wanted to show him how good he was at basketball. That was the occasion but with Cobe Adams, it was bloody impossible.

He ran, the ball bouncing as he had perfect control of it and when he made a clever pass to Sam, Cobe jumped in between, seizing the ball in a fierce movement, intimidating Sam with his awesome dribbling skills.

Ileana watched in awe as the robust PE teacher scored a third basket and claps followed, "That teacher is brutal."

Charlotte scowled, "Nah, he's hot-stuff. Look at those muscles."

Nelly sighed, munching on a cereal bar, "Those kids always lost since he joined the school. Look how pissed Jace look."

Ileana said firmly, "Duh, we should try to cheer for them."

Nelly grinned mischievously, "Should we?"

Charlotte said, cupping her hands around her mouth, "Well everyone's doing it! So...on the count of three. One...two...three!"

Ileana shouted at the top of her lungs, "Go, Jace! Go!"

Jace briefly looked at the rows, his eyes instantly falling on Ileana. She clamped her hands on her mouth, terribly embarrassed as she was the only one who actually said a thing while her friends laughed like idiots by her side.

He chuckled, briefly smirking at her before focusing back on the game.

The principal whistled as twenty minutes passed. The players used a five-minute break to drink some water and plan their strategy. There will be an exchange of side now.

Cobe Adams said as his colleagues looked at him distastefully, "I'm going to crash those babies once again. Haha. They can't even score a basket. Little losers they are."

"If I were you, I wouldn't be so sure." Cobe tossed a hateful glare at whoever dared say something so ridiculous. It was that intolerable CEO. He wiped his sweaty forehead with a towel, flung it around his neck and approached James who was seated in the front row.

He said, "With all due respect, sir, they won't score a damn basket because they are pathetic. They can't match a pro like me and they're little losers, that's it."

Cobe then mocked as he looked at his colleagues, "Guys, do you think this guy even knows a thing about basketball? Just because he wears a suit doesn't mean he can talk big." He then laughed, adding, "Because talking is all you can do, Torres."

The other teachers gave him a horrifying look. The principal hurried over to see what was going on and James jumped over the barrier separating them and neatly unbuttoned his coat, his eyes not leaving Cobe. He handed it over to the principal and said as he patted his shoulder, "Ensure it doesn't get dirty. I want to play with the students."

The principal panicked, "Sir, I don't think—"

James fired, "No one has the right to insult my students, Keaton. No one."

He pointed his finger at Cobe, "You win this game, your team gets ten thousand dollars. You lose, you're fired. Do you accept?"

The other teachers tried to dissuade Cobe but he hotly said, brushing them away, "Challenge accepted."

James turned to the principal who was startled, "You just witnessed a deal, Keaton."

He winced, "But sir—" Cobe put an arm around the principal's shoulders and said, "Let him on, big guy. This is going to be so good." James nodded once at Keaton and walked towards the boys who were drinking water.

Sierra wondered how James Torres could be so careless. They heard everything. Ten thousand was quite a sum. Florence, the French teacher commented, "Hmmm, I wonder if Torres will take off his shirt..."

Sierra coughed, "Jace?"

"Nah, silly. James. Jace's father. He sure is sexy as hell. But hotness aside, I doubt he knows a thing about the game though. He looks like a man who's better behind an office desk than on a basketball court."

"James..." She bit her lips, recalling how she had called him Tom at the interview.

James approached the boys and said, "I'm playing along with you, kids."

Jace gulped down a gorgeous amount of water and then wiped his mouth, "I heard the deal. Do you want to humiliate me?"

His father only laughed, "I think you humiliated yourself enough like that."

He grumbled, "Cobe Adams is effing good! You get that?"

James pretended he didn't know, "Damn, I had no idea?"

Jace groaned, "Someone please kill me. Fine. Not that I can say anything against the owner of the school. Danny, this man will replace you."

"Okay, bro."

James pulled them in a circle to discuss a quick strategy and he simply said, "I observed you enough to understand your strengths and weaknesses. We're changing tactics. You played an impressive game but now it's time to take it on another level."

Sam brightened as he heard the compliments, "Oh wow. Thanks sir."

Jace wasn't too sure about that. He closed his eyes and said slowly as if calming himself, "I can't believe you're doing that. You literally haven't touched a basketball in your life."

He messed with his hair, "I'm with you."

Jace rolled his eyes, "Talks aren't going to soothe the coming humiliation."

"Egocentric boy. Now listen..."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~