Chapter 430. Soul Exchange. (2/7)

I rose to my feet and sized up the tree again.

“I’ll come down now.”

“Don’t, I refuse to let a tree beat me.”

Seeing it somehow brought back memories of the players on defense raising their hands up high in the air in front of me. 

“It’s just a tree, what’s the big deal if you lose to a tree?”

“It’s not a big deal, but I just always hated to lose back then. The bitter feeling of defeat was frustrating.”

“Losing to who?”

“The developmental team lost to every other team they played against.”

“Seriously? You didn’t win once?”

“No. Not even once.”

“What position did you play?”

“The forward positions and point guard.”

“Oh, doesn’t that mean you were good at scoring?”

“If it was one-on-one, yes. But in official games, it was completely different.”

I started climbing while I continued to talk.

“Be careful.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“If you say so.” Rosa looked up from the ground and continued to swing her feet back and forth while staring into the distance while I continued with my story.

“Haaaah. Whenever I passed the ball to teammates back then... they’d never be able to score despite being wide open with no one even close to them. We could gain the lead in the beginning if I forgot about teamwork and focused on scoring myself, but when the other team realized I was the only one who could score points, they’d double or triple-team me. It sucked.”

I made it to the first branch, reached out, and grabbed it without losing my grip on the belt this time.

“Our team couldn’t even execute a proper pick and roll when I called for it. As for any plays after that, it was a mess. Nobody even tried. Everyone would slack off and no one pulled their weight. If there was a breakaway, I would be the only one who’d run full speed with everything I had to catch up and play defense or score. I’d often find myself guarding multiple players at once because none of my teammates could keep up. There was no chemistry at all, but I guess my personality didn’t help much with that.”

I climbed one branch after another as I recounted all the shitty experiences I had with basketball in middle school. 

“At some point, I started questioning what I was even trying so hard for. What was the point? When my second year in middle school came around, I was put on the developmental team again so I quit. I wasn’t going to go through that a second time.”

“You stopped playing altogether after that?” Rosa asked while still staring straight ahead into the distance.

“No, not completely. After that, I just stuck to playing by myself, mindlessly practicing shooting or doing layups over and over again whenever there was free time during P.E. classes. Sometimes, other students would play me in one-on-ones thinking they’d show off how good they were in front of girls, but they’d end up suffering an embarrassing loss. I was naturally disliked by a lot of guys.”

“Wait, but if you were good at basketball, shouldn’t there at least be a few girls who might have taken an interest in you?” She tilted her head to the side, seemingly puzzled.

“No. I was just seen and treated as a weird misfit who didn’t belong. In the end, I stopped playing basketball altogether after middle school. I haven’t touched a basketball since.”

When she heard the branch beside her move, she finally looked down my way and smiled. “Hehe, you finally made it up here, huh?”

Rosa held her hand out to me.

“Yeah.”

I grabbed it and she pulled me up.

“Not bad for your first tree climbed.”

“I still fell twice.”

“I fell more the first time I tried when I was a kid. My dad had to catch me every time. He always looked so anxious and on edge when staring up at me from the ground.”

The image of a younger version of Rosa climbing a tree popped into my mind and I couldn’t help but think that she’d look cute.

I slowly inhaled the cool fresh air amidst the foliage as I took in the view. From our vantage point about sixty feet off the ground, we could see a highway between two darkened fields. Farthest away was the starry night sky with the moon just short of being fully visible. A few tree branches carved out a frame around it all making it feel as if we were looking at a scenic picture drawn by a skilled painter. It was a simplistic description that didn’t do the view justice.

“The view’s pretty nice from up here, don’t you think?” Rosa asked.

“Yeah, but it’s only so nice because you’re here with me.”

“Hmm~ is that so?”

“Yeah.”

“So what made you want to climb up here so bad?”

“You being here.”

I pulled the burger she cooked out from my side pocket.

“You brought it with you?”

“Yeah.”

“To eat up here?”

“No, to eat it together where you are. Apparently it tastes better that way.”

I took a bite out of it.

“Isn’t it cold by now though? Would it taste worse?”

“It’s still a little warm since you wrapped it in aluminum foil. It tastes really good. Here, have some too.” I held it up to her.

“I already ate mine while you were gone. It’s all yours, you don’t need to share.”

“Just help me eat it.”

“Did you get something to eat in the city with Dawn?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, tell me about it already.”

“Sure.”

As I recounted the day’s events after we split up, Rosa cutely opened her mouth and took a small bite out of the burger I held up to her.

I started with Dawn’s episode right after we split up and all the things I’d tried to get her to snap out of it.

As for her reaction to it, she burst out into a fit of laughter, “Hahahaha! Like seriously? You really tried all of that to get her to snap out of it?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t funny, you know. I felt completely defeated at the time.”

“So much so you simulated a kiss with your hand? You weirdo, just kiss her if you’re going to try that method.”

“I refuse to acknowledge that method. It’s utter nonsense.”

“And what if it really worked though?”

“I’d be very troubled if I’d done it and it worked.”

“Hehehe, but in the end, it worked a little while ago~ didn’t it~.” She poked my cheek playfully.

“That was completely different.”

“It wasn’t different at all.”

“It was.”

“Whatever, continue with your story.”

I continued from where I left off and went over what happened after we got to the city. How she suddenly snapped out of it on her own. What Dawn revealed about her family while we went for a short little walk around the city. How she enthusiastically gobbled up the food at Popeyes. When we bought the battery. And lastly, when we went to the hospital.

“Pfft! You seriously took her to a hospital?” Rosa held her gut as her smile widened and her eyebrows raised up in amusement.

“Yeah, it was really concerning, okay?”

“What happened at the hospital?”

“Well, I guess it’s the climax of the day’s events.”

“Oh, go on.”

“I think I saw Dawn’s mother there.”

“What? No way. As if, you probably just saw some pretty woman and wanted to chase after them.” Rosa leaned in closer to me and took another small bite out of the burger.

“I swear it really was her. Their eyes were too similar. Their hair color was even the same.”

“You’re sure?” She clarified while she chewed.

“Yeah, I am.”

Rosa swallowed and asked, “Did you tell Dawn about her?”

“No. I couldn’t confirm it. I ran after that woman and tried to catch up to her, but I was unable to due to something unexpected happening.”

“Something unexpected? What?”

“Try to guess who else I bumped into at the hospital on my way out the front exit to catch Dawn’s mother.”

Rosa raised her hands to her sides, shrugged, and joked, “How would I know? An even prettier woman you wanted to chase after?”

“No, so stop making me out to be some skirt chaser. It was Wisteria.”

“What? No way, really? You bumped into Wisteria there?” Rosa’s eyes lit up animatedly.

“You’re the one who told her where we were headed, weren’t you?”

“I mean… I did… but I didn’t think she’d really come running.” Her expression turned hesitant.

“Yeah, well she did. And now I have to go see a movie with her sometime while we’re here.”

“Haha, how’d that happen?” Rosa’s curiosity flared up once again.

“Haaaah. I got her to honey trap the doctor to blackmail him so we could get Dawn’s MRI done for free.”

“Pffthahahaha! Really? No way, you didn’t really go and do all that, did you?”

“We really did. I walked in on the doctor with his pants down right before he got to have his fun. Wisteria instantly switched to playing the damsel in distress being assaulted by an evil man abusing his authority and power.”

Rosa burst out into a bout of hysterical laughter, wheezing to catch her breath while imagining it. “I seriously… hahaha… can’t breathe. Hahahaha!” 

When I recounted the exchange that followed leading up to how he signed his soul away, Rosa almost fell out of the tree in tears.

“Please stop! I’m going to like seriously die here from laughing too hard! Hahahaha!” She leaned forward clutching at her stomach.