The announcer was very professional as he rattled off his commentary. âNumber 5 of the School of Financial Management, Richard Harper, has taken the ball. Oh, itâs in! A perfect dunk with a three-step!
Number 5âs jumping skills are jaw-dropping!
The School of Computer Science is now behind by two points. We can see that theyâve begun upping the ante. Look at Number 7 now. Number 7, Stanley Fletcher has gotten the ball and shot a five-pointer! And the ballâs in! The School of Computer Science has taken the lead by a point for now!â
The commentator got even more excited. âNumber 5 has possession of the ball. Number 7 is dogging him relentlessly. Oh, he nearly got it. The ball is still with Number 5. Keep it up, number 5! And Number 5 got rudely cut off by Number 7 while heâs about to dunk. Thatâs truly tragic!â
Sophia watched the tense tug-of-war between both teams, her heart slowly lightening as she did. Who would have thought that Stanley really had it in him? He was going toe-to-toe with Richard!
The half-time break began with a blow of the refereeâs whistle. Both teams retreated from the court.
The score was currently 23:20, with the School of Computer Science behind by three points. However, they would soon be able to make up for it later after the break.
Stanley had only just stepped off the court when Nathan came zooming down to him with some water.
The boyâs usual aloofness was nowhere to be seen. Right now, he was rather warm and receptive.
âHey, Nate!â Stanleyâs hands were dirty, so he didnât move to pat the boy. He simply took the bottle from Nathan and took a few sips before calling over his teammates to discuss strategy. All of a sudden, one of the players came hobbling over.
âCaptain, sorry about this, but my legâs injured. Iâll need to go to the infirmary.â
Stanley eyed the playerâs red and throbbing ankle. âGo ahead.â
The player hobbled off with someone helping him. Stanleyâs bag suddenly vibrated in his bag, indicating he had been Venmo-ed a huge sum of money.
Now that they were down a player, Stanley needed to hurry up and find a replacement. When he checked, however, he found out that none of the three substitutes were there for some reason. After some asking around, Stanley found out that the substitute players had left earlier due to emergencies.
One of them had stated that his girlfriend was throwing another fit, while another said that his father was in an accident. The last one had a sudden case of appendicitis and was currently undergoing surgery in hospital.
Seeing how his own team only had four players, Stanley hastily phoned everywhere looking for replacements. âHi, where are you, Sandy? What? Youâre back in your hometown and are currently lying on your bed?â
He tried his luck with another person. âRooster, where you at? Wait, what? Why are you at a motel during the day? And in some rural area too?â
âHey, Mitchâ¦â
He still wasnât able to find anyone after a round of phone calls. If they hadnât returned to their hometowns, they were out having fun during their vacation. Stanley had no other choice left. He had to go to the audience stands and just grab someone. Otherwise, they wouldnât be able to play with just the four of them.
âStanley, whatâs up?â Sophia asked when she realized that something was off.
Stanley explained the situation briefly as he went hunting for potential players. Sophia reflexively glanced at Richard to see that he was resting off to the side, slender fingers wrapped around his phone as he flashed a smile that screamed that victory was in his hands.
Something seemed to click for her.
Right then, Stanleyâs phone rang. He pulled it out to see that it was a name that he never expected to see. He accepted the call and left with a frown on his face.
Meanwhile, Richard put down his phone after he had transferred the money. Now that Stanleyâs team had too few players, Richard was going to watch just how they would be able to continue. The School of Computer Science was lacking in everything except for their abundance in losers, especially those who lacked money. The School of Financial Management, on the other hand, still wouldnât be lacking in hot guys and money even if everything else was taken away.
Richard took a sip of water and looked at Xyla in the stands before flicking his gaze over to Sophia, who was currently looking in the entranceâs direction.
Oh no. Her heart was racing again. She just had the feeling that something was about to happen!
The match was about to resume when Stanley quickly returned. He seemed to have found replacements, for trailing behind him were two men clad in down jackets. Stanley was grinning as he called those two in.
Sophia looked at the men before him in curiosity. She couldnât help but be dumbstruck when she caught a good look at their faces. Wait, isnât that Michael and his gay friend, Harry Winston? she thought.
Why were they here? Where did they get the guts to come sauntering to this place? Werenât they megastars? Werenât they celebrities? Werenât they supposed to have an entourage of bodyguards wherever they go? Werenât they worried about the number of people here? What if the fans couldnât control themselves from charging down and exposing them?
Still, those two megastars were just that gutsy. Not only had they sauntered in, they even hurried over to the changing rooms to change into the School of Computer Scienceâs basketball uniforms. Michael was Number 8 while Harry was Number 6. With Stanley being number 7, they formed a perfect trio.
Michael looked completely like a university student now that he was dressed in the sports uniform. He exuded a sunny and approachable aura, like a boy next door. There was no trace to be found of the majestic and blinding handsomeness that he had when the spotlights were trained on him. His bare face was bared to the world with no other adornments. There was even some scruff on his chin, as though it was the effect of makeup. With his unclean face, dirty sports uniform and the lack of spotlights around, he appeared to be simply a normal university student.
To top it off, his hair was currently a bright unnatural color. He looked absolutely the part of a young man who didnât conform to mainstream trends.
Harry was also dressed in a sports uniform, dirt all over his face.
From the looks of things, these two megastars intended to step up to the court and play.
Sophiaâs heart had hammered itself all the way up to her throat. Suddenly, she heard people begin to talk. âHey look. Donât those two look kinda like Taylor Murray and Ethan Winston?â
âYeah, they look eerily alike!â
âBut it seems that their auras canât compare to the actual Taylorâs. Look how dirty his face looks. How would Taylor actually go around looking like that?â
Sophia hurriedly added herself to the discussion. âHow can that guy be my bias? He just looks like him, thatâs all. Both Taylor and Ethan are abroad filming anyway! I even saw him post on Twitter this morning that he was in Moscov having dinner.â
Everyone was drawn in and believed her words. How could those two megastars possibly be here?
It had to be some really strong lookalikes! They should hurry up and snap some pics to show off to all their social media followers!
Countless phones were whipped out as everyone aimed them at these two megastar âlookalikesâ.
The two megastars swaggered onto the court just like that.
They were actors, and Oscar-winning ones to boot. They were the best when it came to acting and putting on a front. If they just stood a particular way and brushed on a little makeup, no one would suspect their true identities.
Richard was threatened by the sudden appearance of the School of Computer Scienceâs replacements.
His instincts told him that these two replacements werenât ordinary people. There was a high chance that they had been poached from the School of Athletics.
It wasnât surprising to look for players outside of their own schools. Some of the players on the School of Financial Managementâs team were from the School of Athletics.
Just where did those from the School of Computer Science find their extra players though? And why did they resemble two certain celebrities so muchâ¦
The match resumed with the whistle.
The battle in the second half was way more intense than it was in the first half. Both teams pulled out all the stops, entering a fierce battle right from the start. Sophia kept a hand on her thumping heart in the stands. She was so worked up that she nearly jumped from her seat like everyone else.
A star would never show all his cards. This was the true showdown between her ex-boyfriend and her current boyfriend! No, it was more precise to say that it was a showdown between her ex and her husband!