The Audi pulled out of the Velaris Crown parking lot behind the convoy of buses, the late-evening sky slowly darkening above the campus rooftops.
Despite having wasting some time talking with Mia, Stan caught up with the bus quite easily. Maybe it’s because it took sometime for everyone to enter making them waste time...
Ahead of them, the buses were pure chaos.
Windows were down. Players leaned halfway out of them, shouting at no one in particular, their voices carrying across the road. It was the unmistakable energy of a team that had just won a game everyone had told them they would lose.
Inside the Audi, the atmosphere was quieter, but no less alive.
Sophie was curled slightly sideways in the passenger seat, one hand resting comfortably on Stan’s forearm where it sat near the gear shift. Her head was tilted back against the headrest, a small smile lingering on her lips. After spending nearly two and a half hours screaming herself hoarse, this peaceful exhaustion felt wonderful.
Maya, seated behind Stan, had her phone out and was already scrolling through Twitter with the focused disbelief of someone watching an avalanche gain momentum in real time.
"Stan."
"Yes."
"You’re trending."
"On what?"
"Everything."
She continued scrolling.
"I’m following Zoey’s page from our Ghost Signal project. She posted the full video and a separate edit of the dunk. The dunk clip is already at four hundred thousand views."
Stan glanced at her through the rearview mirror.
"It’s only been online for eighteen minutes."
"That’s fast."
Maya looked offended.
"That’s not fast enough, Stan. You deserve better."
Fiona, seated behind Sophie, let out a small, stunned sound.
She had been quietly reviewing her camera roll, the color gradually returning to her cheeks as the post-game adrenaline faded. The reality of what she had captured was finally starting to sink in.
"My photos are..." She stared at the screen. "They’re going to be everywhere by tomorrow morning."
"Send them in tonight," Sophie said immediately. "Get them published before somebody else does. The school paper is going to thank you for the rest of the semester."
"I will. I will, I will."
Sophie smiled and turned her attention back to Stan. Her voice softened.
"You okay?"
"I’m okay."
"You played thirty-five minutes in your first-ever basketball game and you’re sitting there like you just went for a walk."
"It wasn’t that hard."
"Stan."
She squeezed his arm.
"It was a road game against the conference favorites. You scored thirty-one points."
"Marcus had eighteen."
"Marcus had eighteen because you got him eighteen."
"I just passed."
"Stan." She gave him a look that was somehow both serious and teasing. "Take the compliment."
For a moment, he simply smiled at the road ahead. Then he sighed dramatically. "Okay, okay. Don’t rush me."
His smile widened. "Alright. I’m taking it."
---
The drive home settled into the soft, easy rhythm that always followed a victory.
Ahead of them, the team buses continued their rolling celebration, occasional cheers and laughter drifting through open windows whenever traffic brought the vehicles closer together.
Inside the Audi, the atmosphere was calmer.
Then Zack appeared. One moment he was nowhere to be seen. The next, he had somehow managed to stick half his body out of a bus window.
"HEY GUYS!"
A thunderous response immediately erupted from the convoy.
"HEY ZACK!"
Zack grinned. "SO TELL ME; WHAT’S THE TIP OF A MOUNTAIN CALLED?!"
"PEAK!"
"WHAT’S THE TIP OF AN ICEBERG CALLED?!"
"PEAK!"
His grin widened. "WHAT DID WE TEACH VELARIS CROWN TODAY?!"
"THEY SHOULDN’T MESS WITH PEAK!"
"CAUSE?!"
"PEAK IS THE BEST!"
Zack cupped a hand around his ear. "I CAN’T HEAR YOU!"
The response came back even louder; "PEAK IS THE BEST!"
"AGAIN!"
"PEAK IS THE BEST!"
By that point, the crowd had completely abandoned any intention of letting Zack continue.
The students simply took over.
"PEAK!"
"PEAK!"
"PEAK!"
"PEAK!"
The chant rolled from bus to bus like a wave, dozens of voices joining together until the entire convoy seemed to vibrate with it.
Inside the Audi, Stan, Sophie, Maya, and Fiona watched the spectacle unfold through the windshield.
Sophie shook her head, laughing. Maya was already recording with a smile. Fiona looked equal parts amused and amazed.
The sheer amount of energy those students still had after the game was almost frightening.
The chant continued for another minute before finally beginning to fade into scattered cheers and laughter.
Sophie glanced over at Stan.
"You really carried the team today."
Stan kept his eyes on the road. "I wouldn’t say that."
"Stan."
"Marcus scored eighteen."
"And how many of those came from your passes?"
Stan didn’t answer, because while it wasn’t obvious, it’s really clear he carried the team. Maya leaned forward from the back seat.
"Your athleticism is actually ridiculous."
Fiona nodded immediately. "Seriously. That dunk didn’t look normal."
"It wasn’t just the dunk," Maya added. "You moved like someone who’s been playing for years."
For a moment, the only sound inside the car was the distant chanting from the buses ahead.
Stan considered the statement. Then he simply shrugged. There wasn’t much else to say. The others exchanged looks.
Of course that was his response. Outside, the chant started up again.
"PEAK!"
"PEAK!"
"PEAK!"
And the convoy rolled on into the evening.
Maya had appointed herself the official curator of the internet’s reaction and was scrolling through Twitter with increasing amusement.
Every few minutes she would read something aloud.
"Okay, here’s another one."
She cleared her throat dramatically.
"@BallIsLifeBro: ’WHY IS THE STUDENT TYCOON PLAYING BASKETBALL AT THIS LEVEL?’ Twenty-six thousand likes."
Nobody had a response to that.
Maya kept scrolling.
"@NeedANewKnee: ’I had to rewatch the dunk three times. He is six feet tall. Six feet. How did he get up that high?’ Eighteen thousand likes."
Sophie laughed.
"That’s actually a fair question."
"Here’s a good one."
Maya grinned.
"@P_DiddysHimself: ’Stan Harrison’s stat line tonight: 31, 6, 4, 3. His prior basketball experience: NONE.’ Fifty thousand likes."
Attached was a screenshot of Stan’s face immediately after the dunk.
His expression looked exactly as it always did.
Calm.
Mildly interested.
Almost suspiciously normal.
Maya snorted.
"Oh my God, this next one."
She practically folded over laughing.
"@DrakesNotPedo: ’Nah, Mr. Nonchalant gotta be studied. Bro threw down that dunk and had the exact same facial expression he has while ordering coffee. It’s actually annoying.’"
"Seventy thousand likes."
For several seconds nobody spoke. Then Sophie lost the battle and started laughing. Fiona followed a second later. Even Stan’s mouth twitched.
"God," Maya said, wiping a tear from one eye. "These usernames are incredible."
Sophie had moved on to her own phone.
"Oh."
"What?"
"He’s trending on TikTuk too."
Maya immediately sat upright. "Already?"
"There’s an edit of the dunk set to a Travis Scott song."
She checked the view count again. "It’s at two million views."
Maya’s eyes widened. "Two million? Really? That fast?"
Sophie looked up. "Yes. You’re severely underestimating the audience for basketball."
In the back seat, Fiona carefully adjusted the camera bag resting on her lap before returning to her photos.
"I have one of him mid-air during the dunk." Sayinh this she immediately zoomed in. "The angle is perfect. I even caught the rim shaking afterward."
A look of dawning realization crossed her face. "The school paper editor is going to lose his mind."
Stan let the conversation wash around him without contributing much. He drove and listened.
He watched the road and absorbed the absurdity of the situation without feeling any particular need to comment on it.
In its own strange way, this was the most ordinary outcome possible.
Of course the dunk had gone viral. Of course his name was trending. Of course Fiona’s photos would be everywhere by morning.
He had walked into a sport he had never played before and scored thirty-one points against the conference favorites in front of five thousand spectators.
An enthusiastic student section had spent the entire game recording, streaming, clipping, and posting everything to the internet in real time.
What else was supposed to happen?
He had simply done what Zack had asked him to do.
This was the aftermath. And if the reactions online were anything to judge by, his popularity was about to increase yet again.
’Crazy.’ Stan let out a quiet sigh and kept driving.