Chapter 87 Basketball Game
"Where to, President Raines?" the driver asked after Sydney got in the car.
Sydney put her crutches to the side. "Downtown Stadium."
"Aye," the driver replied and started the car.
Skylight Corporation was about an hour's drive from the stadium.
However, it was close to the airport and a place notorious for its traffic jam in Port City.
At this time, Sydney was stuck on the road.
Time ticked by the second as Sydney was stuck in the jam, and it was already 4 pm.
In the stadium, Jayden was standing on the court warming up in his number eight black jersey. He looked toward the audience on their side as he warmed up.
When he saw that there was no one in the two seats that he had reserved, his youthful face was written with disappointment and gloom.
What happened to them?
Neither of them came!
"Hey, Jay, what are you doing?" At this time, a teammate came over and tapped Julien's shoulder.
Julien shook his head and responded somewhat sullenly, "I'm fine."
"If you're fine, then hurry up and go over. The coach wants us to gather." The teammate finished speaking, withdrew his hand, and walked toward the players' rest area. Jayden took another glance at the audience before he followed.
Beep!
After a whistle, the players officially lined up. The game began after players from both sides shook hands with each other.
As the small forward and ace of the team, Jayden got the ball grabbed by the center and then started to run.
He was fast and avoided the opponent's block, easily bringing the ball inside the free-throw line. Then, he took a jump and tossed it.
The ball went in!
Loud cheers erupted from the audience.
Jayden and his teammates high-fived happily.
"That was amazing, Jay. You started with a bang."
"Yep, if we keep playing like this, we'll definitely win!"
"Way to go, Jay!"
His teammates patted Jayden's shoulders and encouraged him.
While Jayden nodded in response, he looked toward the audience again. The two seats were still empty.
For a moment, Jayden's eyes grew a little red, and his heart felt even more aggrieved.
He went through so much effort to get two tickets with perfect seats, hoping that they would come to watch him play. However, neither of them came!
To think he had been looking forward to it so much!
Jayden raised his arm to wipe his eyes and returned to his position with a slight sulk, waiting to steal the ball.
Soon, his teammates passed the ball to him again. He dribbled it and got ready to attack.
However, the other team already knew that he was not easy to deal with. When he attacked, three players went up to defend together, making it impossible for him to break free. Jayden's heart sank when he saw the three players marking him. He knew that he was being targeted.
This game would not be easy!
At 4:30 pm, Sydney finally arrived at the stadium.
"I'll wait for you in the car, President Raines," the driver said after helping Sydney out of the car.
"Okay." Sydney nodded and slowly walked toward the entrance of the stadium with her crutches.
When she walked into the stadium, she heard sighs coming from the audience.
Sydney looked toward the audience and saw the disappointed faces of the spectators. She could not help but wonder what was happening.
It was not until she looked at the scoreboard in the air that she understood why the audience was disappointed.
The score of the national team versus the Kingthene team was 20-40.
They were twenty points behind Kingthene.
Moreover, this was the home field, so the majority of the audience was Medianans. How could they not be disappointed when they saw the national team was so many points behind Kingthene's team? "Make way, make way!" Sydney asked everyone to give way while she walked toward her seat.
When she finally reached her seat, a person came from the opposite side.
Sydney froze when their eyes met.
It was Julien Flint!
Julien was also very surprised to see Sydney here. He nodded slightly, then his eyes fell on the ticket in her hand. "Jayden gave it to you?"
When Jayden gave him the ticket yesterday morning, he saw that Jayden had another ticket in his hand.
The seat number just so happened to be the one before his.
He originally thought that Jayden would give it to his other friends, but he did not expect it to be given to Sydney.
Sydney hummed and sat down. "He did."
If she had known that Jayden also gave a ticket to Julien, she would not have come.
However, now that she was here, there was nothing she could do.
When Julien saw Sydney sitting down, he followed suit so as not to block the audience in the back row.
"Are you interested in basketball?" he suddenly asked as he looked at the court.
Sydney frowned. "Are you talking to me?"
"Who else?" Julien's handsome face darkened.
They were the only ones who knew each other here. If he was not talking to her, did she think that he was talking to himself instead?
"Sorry, I didn't expect you to take the initiative to talk to me." Sydney also turned her gaze to the court. "I'm not interested in basketball. I only came to this game because I didn't want to waste the ticket."
"I see." Julien's thin lips moved. He spoke two words and no longer said anything else.
Sydney also did not want to pay attention to him and quietly watched the game.
Julien turned his head slightly until his gaze fell on her delicate profile. No one knew what he was thinking.
At that moment, the surrounding audience suddenly complained.
"Sh*t, what the hell is this? The opening was so good and I thought that the game was a sure-win, but they're being suppressed by Kingthene."
"That's right. It's only the second quarter but they're already so many points behind. Won't Kingthene triple our score by the fourth quarter?"
"Forget it, I'm not watching this anymore. It's just making me angry. I saw the opening and thought it was worth paying the price of the ticket, but this is what they show us."
All of a sudden, many spectators lost their expectations and enthusiasm. They dropped the cheering sticks in their hands, got up, and left.
Sydney looked at the audience leaving and then at Jayden, who was standing on the court with his hands on his knees, panting heavily. "It seems they're going to lose." Julien narrowed his eyes and did not answer.
Beep!
The whistle blew again and the second quarter of the game ended. The two teams went back to the rest area
to rest.
The coach caught Jayden and scolded him. "What's wrong with you? You started so well. Why are you choking like this mid-game? Is this really the best you can do?" Jayden lowered his head and did not respond.
His teammates saw this and put down their towels, saying, "Coach, forget it. The Kingthene team is targeting Jay. Three to four players team up against him together. He can't do anything about it..."
"He can't do anything about it? Don't you guys usually team up against him together as well when training during practice? If he could break through then, why can't he break through now? I think that he's simply not using his full strength!" The coach's chest heaved violently.
This time, Jayden's teammates could not speak up for him anymore.
After all, the coach was right.
"I'm going to the washroom." Jayden took off the towel on the back of his neck and stood up, walking in the direction of the washroom.
Julien saw this, pursed his lips, and stood up as well.
Sydney's lips curled slightly. "You're going to look for him?"
Julien nodded slightly. "There's something wrong with Jayden's condition. I'm worried, so I'll go check
up on him. Are you coming?"
He did not know why he asked her.
Sydney pointed to her feet. "Do you think I can walk around? Besides, I don't want to see him. This is the last time I'm getting involved with the Flint family. When this competition is over, everything about your family will have nothing to do with me."
Then, she picked up her bottle from the side, unscrewed the lid, and tilted her head to drink.
Julien looked at her fixedly for a while and left the audience.