Chapter 72 – Basketball match

The girls from both basketball teams came out a little later than him, only to be met with silence from the spectators. The difference in treatment between him and the rest of the players couldn't be more blatant. The game had not yet started and Benjamin could already feel very intense gazes on him and his exposed arms and legs. Once everyone was on the basketball court, a female teacher came to act as a referee, glancing at him for a moment, and the match immediately started. Time was limited since lunch break was barely long enough to go through one game.

Contrarily to what one could think when watching replays of basketball games, the sport was very team-oriented. It was to the point that trying to score by oneself would only set one for doom, and it was also very badly seen. Well aware of this, Benjamin didn't try to show off, focusing on the contrary on passing the ball quickly and precisely to well-positioned teammates. He had played basketball a lot during elementary and middle school and the sport had no secret to him. The other players looked very surprised by his quiet but accurate passes and he was soon marked as a dangerous element by the other team players, one girl following at all times to stop him from being too free of movement.

Benjamin soon enjoyed the game, which was balanced, neither team taking too large of an advantage. He didn't think for a second to use the fact of being a boy to get any sort of advantage and only focused on winning the game with skills. His serious countenance, focus, and good teamplay sent the girls in the audience in a frenzy and he could hear them cheering loudly about whatever he was doing. Whenever there was a small break in the game, he looked around, checking the situation in the gymnasium. He couldn't help noticing that there were more and more students spectating, to the point that it was getting overcrowded. One time, he waved to his friends who were still watching the game from the bleachers and the reaction of the students around was amusing, to say the least. One girl, who was barely in the same direction as Julian and Nathan, exclaimed loudly.

"Oh my God, he waved at me!"

"No, at me!"

"Benjamin, look here!"

"Damn, look at his legs and arms. What a hunk."

"No, check his ass. The way it moves is amazing."

"His whole body is a piece of art. If only he was my boyfriend. I would worship it every night."

"He is sweating a lot. I so much want to lick it all until he is clean."

"He is way too sexy. Ugh, sorry, I need to go to the toilet quickly."

"M-me too."

The game continued and the members of his team had learned that, far from a drag, he was a good asset to the team. They started to play more around him, sometimes allowing him to score. Whenever that happened, the cheering in the audience became thunderous, the high-pitched squeals almost loud enough to damage eardrums.

There was now only a minute left of the game and Benjamin's team was one point behind. They had the ball, though, and everyone was very tensed, sensing that this might be the decisive action of the game. They passed the ball around until one girl noticed Benjamin being well positioned for a potential shot. She passed him the ball and he initiated the last shot of the game. Three of the other team girls hurriedly jumped in front of him to block him. However, just before shooting, he stopped his movement and passed the ball back to the same girl he had received it from. There was a second of lull where everybody was taken aback by the sudden change, including the girl who received the ball. She was now unmarked, though, since he had three girls from the opposing team on him and simply dribbled to the hoot to easily score the victory point, just in time before the referee whistled the end of the game. The spectators went crazy witnessing this last action and they started a standing ovation.

"Benjamin! Benjamin! I love you! Benjamin! Benjamin! Marry me! Benjamin! Benjamin!"

There were some weird shouts mixed in but he chose to ignore them and went to high-five with his teammates, everyone gleeful at the last-minute victory. They all congratulated him for the last action and happily thanked him for his participation.

Now that the game had finished, he took the time to look around the gymnasium one last time. Every centimeter of space that was not the court was now taken, except for one place. He looked in that direction and saw Nova, the only person who had space around her, the other students very careful not to approach her too much. He soon understood why, looking at her face. It was yet again a weird mix, this time half scowling and half proud, making her appear quite scary indeed. If he had to guess, she was not happy about him exposing himself like this and receiving so much attention, while she was still proud of him for his good match. Amused, he waved at her and she hesitated a second, returning a very minute wave of the hand before turning around and leaving the premise altogether.

The audience was still very excited and he decided to smile at them and thank them for the support, waving at them.

"Everyone, thank you for the cheering!"

He could swear he saw a girl faint in the bleachers' back rows.

"Benjamin, you were amazing!"

"You're the best! The last move was genius!"

"I love you, marry me!"

"I need to go to the toilet again."

"Don't bother, I just went there and there were at least thirty people already waiting in a queue to enter the bathroom."

"Everyone, did you like what you saw? By the way, I have this small blog of mine..."

"I am so wet that my seat is ruined."

"Perhaps I should use diapers for the soccer match."

"No, if you put large enough clothes on your legs while sitting, you can discretely take care of your business without needing to go to the toilet!"

"What a genius idea!"

He thought he heard Sarai's voice in the middle but decided to ignore it and went back to the changing room for a quick shower before classes restarted.