Never Give Up
Written By: Kris

"Hey Carter! Where ya been? Practice started an hour ago!" "Sorry Coach. Something came up." "What? Another audition? Look Carter, you're never going to make anything of yourself if you keep wasting time with that music and acting stuff. Stick to what you're good at: Basketball. Son, you could play pro if ya wanted to. You could get a scholarship with your talents," Coach told Nick. "I know Coach Emerson. It's just..." Coach interrupted him. "Go switch with Reyes. He's dying out there. And, Carter. We have a game Wednesday. It's against our rivals, Oakridge. And you're my number one scorer. I need you at your best. So get your head out of the clouds and on the court. Now go play with your heart." "Yes sir, you bet I will. I'll make ya proud Coach." And with that, Nick ran onto the court.

"Okay guys. Today was the last practice before our game on Wednesday. That gives you one day of rest so you'll be ready the day after tomorrow. Keep yourself chilled and don't work too hard okay? Now, break and hit the showers," Coach announced to the sweaty guys as they sat on the crowded bench.

After they'd all got their showers, Nick walked to his truck in the deserted school parking lot. He attempted to crank it up. It failed. He attempted again. Once again, it failed. "No, don't do this to me now. I'm already late for another audition. Please not now." Nick said outloud to his car. On the fourth try, Nick got extremely frustrated. He picked up his green cell phone and dialed the number for AAA. He then sat there in the lot for an hour before the tow-man got there. Later on, he got a ride home from him.

As soon as Nick walked into his house, the phone on his computer desk rang. "What's up?" Nick asked as he answered the phone. "Nick, where ya been buddy?" His good friend, AJ McLean, said on the other end of the phone. "You don't even want to know how bad my day has been. I was an hour late for basketball practice 'cause I went to an audition for a new commercial. To add on to that, I didn't get the part. Then, I was on my way to another audition this afternoon, and my truck broke down in the lot. I waited for an hour before the towtruck got there. I just got home. I'm having a bad day." Nick complained. "Yo, me and Howie went to that audition this afternoon. We got parts. I'm playing Roger, this sweet guy and I end up falling in love with my co-star, Sarah Michelle Gellar. She's pretty nice. And hot. And intellegent. Howie plays my little brother. Can you imagine that? For once I get to boss him around. His character is called Chuck. You missed it man, it rocked. Well, remember, tomorrow there's an audition at 10 am for a lead in the new DeNiro film, Strikeliner. You'll nail it, I'm sureof it! I'll check ya later man. Good luck tomorrow." AJ said. "Yeah thanks. Congratulations on the part AJ." "Thanks." And with that, the conversation ended.

Nick set his alarm clock for 7:30AM and then changed into his boxers. When he finished changing, he headed straight to bed. The night seemed to pass quickly. Before he knew it, his alarm clock was singing a song called "Genie In a Bottle". He reached over and turned it off. Nick debated going back to sleep for another five minutes but chose not to for fear of missing his auditions that morning. Just as he sat up and put his feet over the edge of the bed, his phone rang. "Hello?" Nick asked groggily. "Yo Nick what's up?" The caller replied from the other end. "AJ! What do you want at this time of the morning?" Nick asked loudly. "Tsk, tsk. Grumpy, grumpy. Anyhow, it came to me in a revelation last night man. I dreamt about it." "What? Another one of those mystery girls that you can't figure out who they are, but you think fate is meant for you and her to be together? That's nothing new AJ. Maybe you should stop drinking caffeine late at night. That could help." "No! Not those dreams. Stop interrupting me. I know what me and you and Howie need to do. We need to start a band. I think we could go somewhere with it. Or, we could at least have some great fun with it." AJ said excitedly. "Are you crazy? Have you gone nuts?" Nick asked. "No. Why?" "Why?, he asks. Sheesh...we're actors AJ. Not singers. We've never even sang together before." "I know, but you have a great voice. So does Howie. And not to brag, but I don't think I have such a bad one myself. We could get somewhere with this. I think so at least. What do ya say buddy?" AJ asked. "I still say you're crazy. You've gone nuts. You're now one fry short of a happy meal. I have too much going on in my life to be in a band. I mean, There's basketball now, baseball season is coming soon, schoolwork, acting, and the list goes on. There's too much to do." Nick repeated. "Come on bud, it couldn't hurt ya. It's not like we plan on being famous or anything." "Look AJ, I have a BIG basketball game tomorrow and I need to practice before I go out there and make a fool out of myself. It's already 7:45, I gotta go.", Nick said, obviously agitated. "Bye." they said to each other.

To relieve some tension, Nick took his basketball out and shot some hoops for about an hour and a half. He was getting pretty mad at himself. Out of the twelve shots he'd attempted, he'd made four. This was very unusual for Nick. He was used to making at least nine. Nick sat down on the ground to take a break before he got too hot. Just when he had decided to get up and leave, he felt a shadow fall over him. He looked up to see his ex-girlfriend, Jasmine. "What are you doing here?" He asked, full of snide. "I just came to see how you were doing.", she replied. "I'm great. Why wouldn't I be okay?" Nick said non-chalantly. "Because we broke up just two weeks ago. I thought you'd be at least a little bit sad. I guess you didn't love me as much as you thought huh?" Jasmine said."Oh, no babe. You got it backwards. After all the times you told me you loved me you turn around and tell me that you don't want to see me anymore? What kind of crap is that Jasmine?" Nick said, getting frustrated. "You know that I had my reasons for our break-up." Jasmine replied. "Oh, really. Yeah, now that you mention it, I do. You told me, remember? Let's see, your exact words were 'Nick, I can't see you anymore. I just can't deal with your crazy ambitions to be this and that. You'll never make it.' Jasmine, how do you think that made me feel? I have feelings, too, ya know. After a three year relationship you think you know the person but I guess I didn't. Cause I guess if I'd known you, I'd never have been so blind as to actually love you. And I think I never would have dated you. You are a snobby, conceited, slut. You make me sick." Nick said, getting more and more angry. "Nick, what's happened to us? When we broke up, we promised to always be friends. To be here for each other. What changed?" Jasmine asked. "Jasmine, I'm under a lot of stress right now. But as far as I am concerned, we'll never be friends. I won't be mean to you but we can NEVER be close friends. NEVER." "Okay, Nick. If that's how you want it, you can have it that way. Goodbye.", Jasmine said as she turned and briskly walked away.