It was about 4:00 in the afternoon when Jack finally got up from his bed. As he looked out of the messy painted window, his light brown eyes shimmering in the sun. Quickly, he closed the curtains and looked through his drawer, Jack put on a black jersey with the number “7” printed on the back and put on his red shorts. Slowly, he walked to his mirrorless closet and put on a black leather jacket as he walked out of his room. Down the stairs and into the kitchen, where his computer was. He shoved it open and made an application to Stanford, closed the computer and opened the cabinet above the sink and pulled out a granola bar. He frantically looked at his watch, it said: 4:50pm.

“ Crap i'm going to be late for my basketball game!”, he said as he pulled out his Jordans off the top shelf.

He frantically tried to tie his laces, while he was grabbing his car keys from the sofa in the dining room table. Jack ran out the front door and into his car and expeditiously zoomed out of his driveway and onto the highway. Finally, he got to the school and ran through the gates of the school, and got into front of the glass gym doors. He stood there for a second looking at his reflection through the glass doors. While he was standing there he could see every flaw he had through out him. His eyes started to water, but he rubbed the tears away with his arm.

“Come on Jack! You have to be stronger, don’t let your teammates see you liked this!”, he said.

As he pulled the glass door open, he could see all his teammates groan when he came in.
“Ughhhh, why is he here coach? He's horrible at basketball, how did he even make the team, this team is to good for him”, they all said.
Jacks coach, Bob, glared at them and told them to shut it. Bob made a hand gesture that told Jack to come to him, Jack ran there with his  head hanging low.

Bob said, “ Hey, there's tons of room for you to get better. So, hang that head high of yours and go do your warm ups”

Jack finished all his warm ups right when Coach Bob blew his whistle for them to come, all of his teammates frantically ran to him and kneeled next to him. Coach
Bob said, “ I want you to believe in yourselves and not put any of your teammates down, and I want you to bring everything you got and show them you're capable of winning.” Jack's team mates all yelled out a yes while they were running to the middle of the basketball court. The other team, known as the “Broncos” was already there in the the center of the basketball court. We put our tallest player, Paul, in the center so he could get the ball for us. One of the Broncos teammates laughed and put their shortest person. The referee quickly explained the rules to us and threw the ball straight in the center of the court. Paul got the ball, but the shortest Broncos player grabbed it out of his hands as fast as lightning. They all smirked and glanced at us while they quickly passed the ball to each other. One of Broncos player, grabbed the ball from his team mate and shot a layup. They passed the ball back to us and laughed. One of Jack’s teammates, Neo, passed the ball to Jack, he held the ball standing there for a couple seconds because no one else was open to pass too.

Jack said, “ Should I shoot the ball, what if I miss, I would let all my teammates down. Whatever, I might as well take the shot”.

Right when he said that, he bounced the ball with his fingertips and shot it. As the ball went flying towards the net, Jack thought it was going to miss badly, but, it didn’t. The ball hit the backboard and made a clean swoosh as it went into the net. All of Jack’s teammates had their mouths wide open when the ball went in. They all nodded at Jack and gave the ball to the Broncos. Jack felt a burst of joy and energy coming over his body, he knew he couldn't celebrate soon because the game wasn’t even over. He focused his attention on the Broncos, and guarded one for the other team teammates who happened to have the ball. Jack tried to steal the ball from him, but since he was so short, he dodged everything and rushed to the 3 point line. Right when the short kid went to take the shot, Jack moved quicker than lightning and denied it without fouling him. Luckily, Jack didn’t lose his balance or focus, because if he did he probably wouldn’t have gotten there in time to deny the ball. Jack swiftly grabbed the ball and ran down to the Broncos side. He passed it to his teammate, Nick whom happened to be there at the right time. Nick had the ball in his hands and was driving to the basket to take a layup. Nick took the layup but he missed, Jack happened to me right next to the basket and the ball was coming his way so, he grabbed the ball and assisted Nick. Jack was beaming because Coach Bob told him that if he trained hard in practice or on his own he would see improvement, and he is seeing that improvement. Jack passed the ball back to the broncos. One of the Broncos player passed it to his team mate, and his team mate went to take a half court shot. The ball airballed so badly that Jack’s teammates had to look away at the sight. Both of the teams kept going back and forth with the ball and scoring so many points. Right when the 4 quarter was almost over, Jack knew it was going to go overtime because there was only five seconds on the clock and the teams were tied 65-65. Jack’s team mate stole the ball and passed it to Jack telling him to take a halfcourt shot because no one else was open.

Jack said to himself, “ I can’t make a half court shot! It’s impossible, although coach Bob did say he has been seeing improvement from me so I shouldn't airball it”.

He swiftly moved to the half-court circle and took the shot. He could see the ball flying towards the net. Jack didn’t look because he thought he would miss and make a fool of himself, he was wrong, the ball made a clean swoosh into the net. Jack opened his eyes right when the ball went into the net. All of his teammates cheered him, saying, “ Wait to go Jack!” The Broncos seemed disappointed that they let Jack’s team win, but they knew they gave it their all so, they smiled at them a little bit. Broncos and Jack’s team high-fived all of the Broncos players and went out the gym. Jack was the last one to go out of the gym because coach Bob wanted to see him.

Coach Bob told Jack, “ The reason you made the shot was because you were confident, hard working, and you sort of believed you could make it, which is why you did”

Jack said thanks and walked out of the gym's door. While Jack was outside his house, he opened his mail box. He pulled out a white piece of paper that said: Stanford. He quickly ripped it open and read the letter.

May 2244
Jack lee
window st. 7832001391 CA
Dear Jack,
It is my pleasure to offer you admission to Stanford’s of 2222. We know you will bring something extraordinary to our beloveded campus and  I look forward to seeing you in the community! Your high-knowledge on the test was incredible! You got all the answers right, which is why we are giving you a chance to come enjoy a wonderful journey at Stanford’s campus, but the choice is yours. Whenever you decide your decision please return the response card no later than May 43. I hope you share the news around your family and friends.
                                                                   Best wishes,
                                                                  Carlo E. lemon

Jack quickly answered yes and put it back into the mailbox with the the red card up to let the mailman that he needs to take the mail. Jack waited a few days and finally got something from Stanford saying he can go to their campus now.

He quickly called his mom saying, “ Mom, guess what? I got accepted to Stanford i'm packing my things right now!”. His mom said, “ That’s great! Call me when you get there”.

Jack said I will and hung up. He got all the clothes he wanted to bring and a suitcase. There was so many clothes, I didn’t know how he managed to stuff everything into that tiny suitcase. He quickly called a taxi while rolling the suitcase down the stairs carefully. Jack grabbed his slip on Vans and waited outside for the taxi to take him to the airport. The taxi finally arrived, he got into the car and drove off.