Noah talked a bit longer with Cam, catching up after a year of being away from the court. All the while he kept his eyes on the basketball court, waiting for someone to leave for the locker room briefly.
"Well, I didn't think there was a place for me here… especially after how my tryout went," Noah explained while watching Josh.
He silently hoped that the shooting guard left for the locker room soon, but instead, the dark-skinned boy joined the casual shooting. Noah cursed under his breath, nodding absentmindedly to whatever Cam was saying.
Then he noticed one of the players leaving the court and walking down to the bleachers. It was Neil, the sophomore point guard with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Noah clenched his fist; this was his chance.
"Uhhh, Cam, I gotta use the bathroom," he lied, "Is coach coming back soon?"
"You got about five minutes," Cam said, looking at his watch.
Noah turned immediately and headed down the bleachers and into the tunnel that Neil took, the yellow fluorescent lights warming his pale skin. He let out a breath and turned into the locker room.
It was just rows of red lockers and showers and toilets in the back. Neil was standing at his locker and a bit wide-eyed.
"What are you looking for?" Neil asked tightly.
"Just want to use the bathroom," Noah responded, still standing there.
Neil's jaw tightened with irritation; he looked away and went back into his locker where he was doing something with his bag.
"Do whatever you want, dumbass, don't just stand there. And close the fucking door, will you?"
Noah closed the door and quickly walked into the bathroom, opened a stall to sit down on one of the toilets.
Outside the bathroom, Neil glanced at the stalls, confused.
"Did that idiot just walk into a toilet just to take a piss?" he murmured, getting back to his bag, watching the door more carefully.
Inside the toilet, Noah was preparing himself to leave his body. He took a couple deep breaths to calm himself, then relaxed and closed the toilet seat so he wouldn't fall in.
Then almost too naturally he walked out of his body.
His spirit body rose over his now slumped, lifeless physical body. His head had a crown of black flames with two white circles for eyes and a single line for the mouth. He was of course wearing the same clothes that he wore when he left the body.
Not the Void Ice evolution form?
Maybe it only activated when he commanded it.
He took off his shoes, then became intangible, walking through the stall door and onto the cold tiles of the bathroom. It was uncomfortable, but he needed to be quiet.
His feet were still visible, leaving footprints in the slightly damp floor as he circled Neil's locker. He hadn't figured out how to make them intangible without falling through the floor yet.
Once he was sure the guy wasn't paying attention, he entered Neil's body, instantly possessing him. Neil's blue eyes flashed green for a second before they returned to normal blue.
Immediately he started going through Neil's memories of basketball, which proved a lot more than he expected. The boy had begun playing from eight years old and began serious training when he was ten.
The memories of those cold nights spent shooting with his dad, of his grandfather berating his laziness, of the more unsavory methods they used to instill discipline into Neil.
It felt too personal. All Noah needed was Neil's memories of training to use for the tryouts, but everything in Neil's life was distinctly tied to playing basketball.
After a torturous three minutes, he got everything he needed and left the body, walking back through the locker room as Neil blinked rapidly.
"What was I just doing?" he wondered, looking into the bag he had been rummaging through. The appetite passed him, so he closed the bag, locked his locker, and then left the room in a hurry.
Noah repossessed his body, gasping as he came back to life. He rose to his feet slowly, flexing his fingers and toes.
He had the memories; they weren't experience yet, but with these memories and some practice, he would grow very quickly as a basketball player.
He ran back through the tunnel and got to court just as the coach arrived. The man gave Noah a sharp look then prompted him to get into line. As the only sophomore tryout, he got a lot of attention and snickers.
The coach's gaze silenced it all; his stormy grey eyes seemed to pierce their physical façade and peer into their souls, measuring them each. He was tall and broad-shouldered, but his body somewhat faded after years of retirement.
His grey hair was well-styled and kept, and he wore a white polo and blue tracksuit.
When the coach was done observing them, his voice rolled out, heavy and rough like gravel.
"Well, I'm glad to see you gentlemen joining us for a new year, both old and new. You're all welcome. I am Coach Lester."
"Thank you, sir," the team resounded. The tryouts followed their lead, voices lagging behind and disordered.
"That's it. That's the one thing I hope you all take from the game," Coach Lester said calmly. "Respect. For the game, for your teammates, and most importantly for yourselves. Basketball is a game of respect, so I hope you all continue to respect where you see hard work, despite any differences you might have."
"Yes sir," they all said at once this time. Noah felt himself start to grow excited. He had only been here to spite Leeroy, but now he wanted to play.
"The first thing we do to respect the game is we prepare our minds," Lester announced. "All practices, even tryouts, start with meditation. I want you to visualize the things you want to do today, then we start physical conditioning. Ten minutes, eyes closed, and if I hear a single voice you leave the gym. Now start."
Noah shut his eyes, allowing darkness and silence to swallow his mind. In the meantime, he went through the memories that he took from Neil's head, imagining himself performing the moves.
Neil had an array of moves and options to take at any instance, and Noah decided to start at the simplest to help his body get used to the moves.
His focus was tight after years spent in high-stakes situations and lonely, quiet nights.
The ten minutes were over before he knew it. Coach Lester clapped, drawing everyone's attention.
"Okay, boys. Stretching, then we start suicides. First man to drop leaves the gym."