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The third installment of The Human series. As always let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!

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Two weeks later I haven't really made any progress in making any new friends here in the "furry world". No one really feels too fond of talking to the human so I just kind of keep my head down and don't really talk much in any of my classes.

But I have made one friend (sort of). Remember that shy Dalmatian from earlier, Dustin? Well he doesn't really seem to talk much but after I told him I played basketball he seemed to be interested in me. He is a really quiet kid but he's pretty cool once he got to talking to me. He told me that the main reason he was quiet was because he was gay which I don't really have a problem with (I myself am not gay but if you are I don't really care). He said that when he came out a lot of people started to talk to him less and less so he doesn't really like to talk a lot.

He told me that he does in fact like sports and basketball is his favorite sport. He told me that he also isn't the best at it but he kinda follows the high school team from a distance.

I've learned a lot about our team as well. I feel that we have a lot of talent on our team this year and we have a chance to do a lot of damage. Jessie, the border collie and Brian the huskie were both the best players on the team outside of me. Jessie could really shoot and Brian could do it all really. Owen is pretty athletic for being 6'4" and he is a pretty solid post player and Kevin can score on the drive a lot too.

Our bench consists of three or maybe four guys that will come in and play. Almost always the first off the bench in Joe Richards , a 6'6" sophomore who is still developing his skills but is pretty solid. Payne is the backup point guard and Kyle the backup two guard. Ian Powell, a 6'3" fox is decent at best and can play pretty good defense.

Coach Keys told everyone to not talk to the media about how good I am, he wants it to be kept a secret for the game tonight against our crosstown rival, Limestone. It turns out that Keystone hasn't beaten Limestone in six years and everyone has grown tired of losing to them. Jessie explained to me that every game is always packed as it seems that everyone in town attends it.

At school I couldn't really focus, that's how it is for me every game day. I always seem to zone out and just think about basketball. As I was listening to my iPod by my locker before school I noticed that Dustin was walking over to talk to me.

"Hey C.J. how's it goin,?" He said in a cheery voice.

"Not too bad," I replied putting my iPod away. "Just waiting for this day to be over so we could play our game already," I replied.

"Yea pretty big game tonight," He said. "Are you gonna get to play a lot," Dustin asked with a curious look on his face.

"I don't know I guess that you'll have to go and find out for yourself. Come and cheer us on," I said.

"I normally don't go to basketball games because I don't have anyone to sit by in the student section and my parents don't normally wanna go but I suppose that I could ask them again." Dustin replied as the bell rang. "Well I gotta get going to class so I'll see ya around."

"Yeah see ya."

I went through the rest of the day not really talking to anyone as I still didn't really have any friends. Some of the guys on the team would occasionally say hi to me in the hallway but that would be it. They seem to be kinda shy around me.

A lot of people would ask me throughout the day why I was dressed up. When I told them that I was on the basketball team they always seemed to be confused. They didn't think that humans knew how to play basketball.

Anyway the day seemed to have dragged on but it finally ended and I headed home. I had a couple of hours to kill as the game didn't start til 7:30 so I took another look at our scouting report.

Last season Limestone went 21-4 and went to the state tournament as they lost in the semi-finals of the state tournament. This season they are ranked third in the pre-season rankings. They have four starters returning including Niko Pollum, a 6'3" wolf with black fur who was committed to Xavier, a really good division one basketball program. Coach Keys said that I would be guarding him most of the time I'm on the court.

Finally it was 6:00 so I made my way to Keystone as it was a home game for us. As I got to the parking lot it was half full with some early students there. I made my way into the locker room and Owen and Brian were there talking a little. I politely said hi and proceeded to put on my jersey and warm-up jacket.

Our jerseys were white with Knights written across the front in blue. On the back was our numbers. My number was the same as it's been since I've been eight years old, 15.

After listing to my pre-game playlist, which consists of Passion Pit, Two Door Cinema Club and Of Monsters and Men, it was finally 7:00 o'clock and coach went over his final pre-game plan. He stressed that we should be all over Niko and help when he drives to the basket. After he was done we made our way up to the gym.

Coach wanted me to lead us onto the court for warm-ups and I jogged onto the court and saw a packed gym. There wasn't an empty seat in the gym and both sides were filled to the top with both Keystone and Limestone fans.

Our student section was doing a whiteout while the Limestone fans were doing a blackout. Both student sections were packed to the top of the rafters and it was loud when we entered the gym.

I felt myself being nervous, a lot more than usual for a game. When I was warming up I felt that all eyes were on me. You have to remember that 95% of the people in that gym have never seen a human before.

Once we were done warming up our team jogged our way over to the bench as the starters took off their warmup jackets and sat on the bench waiting for the starting lineups to be announced.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to tonight's varsity contest against the Limestone Rockets and your Keystone Knights," The P.A. Guy said over the gym's speakers.

"Now let's meet the starting lineups for tonight's game." The P.A. guy said as Kayne West's Power began to play throughout the gym. Starting at guard for the Limestone Rockets, a 6'3" senior, number 23 Niko Pollum." Niko jogged out to the center of the court as his named was announced. He was big, not fat but he was built. I could see why he was going to such a good college for basketball just from looking at him.

"And now starting at guard for your Keystone Knights, a 6'0" junior, number 15 C.J. Davis," I got up out of my chair and proceeded to high five my teammates as I made my way to center court. Our home crowd didn't really applaud or anything, they seemed to be shocked that I was starting. The Limestone fans booed my loud but I didn't seem to care.

I extended out a hand to Niko and shook it saying good luck. He weakly shook back and didn't say anything. The rest of the starting lineups were announced and the game was just about ready to tip off.

Our five starters huddled on the court before the game and I decided to give us a little motivation. "Hey I just wanted to let you guys know that from what I've seen in the past couple of weeks you guys are all really talented and we can beat anybody. Let's go out there and play our game of basketball and lets end this streak," I said as they all seemed to nod in agreement.

Both student sections began to "OOO" as the opening tip neared. It was loud, very loud. Niko was jumping for Limestone and they won the tip easily and got an easy layup off of it.

"Two point basket, Niko Pollum," The P.A. guy said.

2-0 Limestone. For some reason I was really nervous.

I took the inbound pass from Brian and jogged it down the court. Limestone came out in a 2-3 zone. I picked up my dribbled at the top of the key and passed it to Jessie on the wing to begin our zone motion offense. Brian came up and set a flex screen on the guy on the top of the key and Jessie skipped the ball over the top of the zone to me. I had a clean look for three and I let it launch. Swish.

"Three point basket C.J. Davis!" The P.A. guy announced with some authority.

3-2 Keystone as our home crowd seemed to be surprised that I made that shot. As I made my transition to defense I was all over Niko, not letting him catch the ball. He was doing everything to try and get open but I wasn't letting him. They launch a poor three and I got the long rebound and pushed the ball up the court. We had numbers.

I stopped at the free throw line and out of the corner of my I saw Jessie spotting up for three in the corner wide open. I made a quick pass out to him and he fired up a three. Swish

"Three point basket, Jessie Read!" The P.A. guy announced.

6-2 Keystone.

Niko took the ball up the court and called out their offense. He passed the ball and ran off two screens. Despite that I was still all over him and he took a tough fade-away and missed. Owen got the rebound and passed it out to me as I slowed it down.

They were still in their 2-3 zone and we went back into our zone offense. The flex screen wasn't there this time so when I caught the ball there was someone waiting for me. I took a hard crossover left and drove into the lane, no one really collapsed and I spun to my left for an layup past their post player.

"two point basket C.J. Davis!" The P.A. guy boomed over the system. Our student section responded with a loud DEFENSE chant as we took the early lead.

8-2 Keystone.

This time after the made basket Niko took the ball up the court where I met him at half. I was fournate enough to watch a lot of tape and notice he likes to go to his left a little too much. He did just that and I quickly swiped away the ball from him and had an clear path to the basket.

I looked back to make to notice that Niko gave up chase and there was no one around me. Now's probably a good time to mention I have a 38 inch vertical. I exploded off my left foot and dunked it home with my right hand.

"C.J. Davis with a dunk!." The P.A. guy roared.

10-2 Keystone. Timeout Limestone.

My dunk got all 1,000 people on our side of the gym on their feet and in a frenzy. It was LOUD.

When I play basketball I tend not to show any emotion so after my dunk I jogged back down the court with a even-keeled expression, high fiving teammates on the way to the huddle.

Out of the timeout they ran Niko off of three screens and this time I couldn't keep up. He drilled and he drilled a three.

They switched out of their zone and had Niko guard me and he was all over me, forcing me to pass a lot. Our scoring slowed down and theirs went up as they seemed to found an offense to work. The buzzer sounded to end the first quarter.

"At the end of the first quarter it's Keystone 17 Limestone 13" The P.A. guy said.

Coach Keys decided to give me a break to start the second quarter. I went back in with 6:23 left and played the rest of the quarter. My scoring slowed down a bit as I looked to facilate the offense more with Niko guarding me. We seemed to trade baskets back and forth in the second quarter.

At the half we had a narrow 35-32 lead on Limestone.

I had 14 points to go along with 4 assists heading into half.

In the locker room Coach Keys continued to stress playing better defense on Niko as he had 14 points. Other than that our offense was doing well.

To start the third quarter we kept our starters. I was harassing Niko on defense still and started to get upset.

"Dude are you gonna raping me all the time you human piece of shit," Niko said before the half even started. He seemed upset.

I didn't even say a word, I don't like to talk trash. Especially when that person is 6'3" and huge.

Niko took the inbound pass and once again I was all over him. As he began his drive he once again went left and I poked the ball away from him. The ball rolled off of his foot and I dove after it.

I grabbed the ball but as I turned I saw all of 6'3" Niko diving for it as well. He grabbed the ball and we were fighting for it. As the ref whistled for a jump ball he wrestled the ball out of my hands and elbowed me square in the nose hard and blood began to spurt out of it.

To my surprise Owen, Brian and Jessie all came rushing to my defense and got in Niko's face.

"Are y'all really defending a human right now?" Niko said defiantly.

"No, I'm defending a teammate," Jessie said. You could tell he was pissed off. But before he could get another word in the ref broke it up.

I slowly got up, holding my nose as the trainer came running out onto the court towels aplenty. She walked me out of the gym and on the way out I heard someone from the Limestone crowd yell out. "It looks like the human couldn't take any of the pressure." I turned around and caught a glimpse of a male Hyena with a smirk on his face.

On the way to the trainers room I could feel my nose begin to swell up. "Is it broke?" I asked the trainer.

"No, it's just a little off-set. I'll have to move it back into place and tape it up," The female gazelle said. "It's up to you but I don't really think that you should go back and play."

"Well just set it back into place and tape it up, I'm not done playing yet." I said. I meant that too.

After she was done taping up my nose I made my way back up into the gym to see that Limestone went on a 10-0 run and was up 38-31.

I didn't even bother telling coach Keys that I was okay. "Who am I going in for?" I asked as he told me to check in for Payne.

I entered the game with 2:18 left in the third quarter and we were down 43-34. My nose hurt really bad but I didn't really seem to care, I was pissed off. I assisted on a couple of passes but at the end of the third quarter we were down 49-41.

At the start of the fourth quarter we traded baskets again until Niko hit back to back threes to put Limestone up 55-42 with 5:48 left in the game.

As he hit his last three, Niko jogged back down the court pointing at me, taunting me.

Coach Keys called a timeout. "Guys, we are not out of this game. Get on a run, get some stops and let's make this thing interesting. We're switching into a press alright? Let's go."

Out of the timeout I brought the ball up the court with Niko guarding me again. Running through our offense I lost Niko through a couple of screens and was open in the corner for three and hit it.

55-45 Limestone.

Limestone broke our press and had an rather easy look for a three, he missed thankfully and we got the ball back.

I brought the ball up and called for a high ball screen at the top of the key. Niko went under the screen expecting me to drive, I didn't. I stepped back and launched up a three and hit it.

55-48 Limestone.

Out of the press Kevin deflected the inbounds pass right into Jessie's hands who passed it to Owen for the easy layup. 55-50 Limestone.

They broke the press this time and got it up court. Niko called for a high ball screen this time and we forced him to make a bad pass right into Kyle's hands, who was on the court for Brain because he fouled out.

Kyle brought the ball up the court and I lagged behind him, he made a quick pass to his right and I caught the ball. At the time I didn't realize how far out I was, all I knew was that I was open. I launched an NBA ranged three at the top of the key and hit it.

55-53. Timeout Limestone. 3:42 left

This, once again, brought our crowd back into the game and it was loud.

I normally don't show any emotion when I'm on the court but I couldn't help but yell out a "Let's go!" As I punched the air, fired up.

Out of the timeout we expected them to run a play for Niko, instead they ran a back screen off the right wing for an easy layup, tying the game.

The game remained tied as Brian hit a three and Limestone returned the favor with a three of their own.

With 43 seconds left in the game I blew by my defender at the top of the key and got to the basket where I was fouled hard. Two shots.

The Limestone fans were making as much noise as possible when I shot both my free throws. You could practaclly feel the floor shake from the noise. It worked to no avail however, as I sunk both free throws to give us a 63-61 lead.

Both student sections were going crazy, making as much noise as possible. Even some of the parents were on their paws, into the game.

Niko brought the ball up the court and ran some time off the clock. He called for a ball screen at the top of the key and instead of taking the shot he passed it to the lion who rolled off the screen he just set for Niko. Jessie collapsed into the lane to try and stop him. The lion made a nice pass to the corner where a wide open fox stood, open for three and he hit it.

64-63 Limestone 16 seconds left.

Coach Keys called a timeout. "Okay guys we are right here. C.J. you are going to take the ball up the court. I can personally guarantee that Niko will be guarding you. Take him, he's a lot more tired than you are. Go make a play for us" Coach Keys said with a confident look on his face as he looked me square in the eyes.

Everyone in the gym was on their paws, waiting in anticipation for the last 16 seconds. I took the inbounds pass and brought it up the court.

There waited was Niko at the top of the key, all 6'3" of his frame, his dark fur waiting for me. He looked at me with a confident smirk on his face.

I looked up at the clock, 8 seconds left. I looked Niko square into his yellow eyes and began to drive to my left. I hesitated and crossed back over right. I got him on the back of his heels, he was at my mercy.

4 seconds left and I took a hard dribble to my left and picked up my dribble. Niko was behind me and all he could do was lunge at me as I began my shot.

I fired up my elbow jumper with 2 seconds left on the clock. The ball seemed to float in the air in slow motion. I heard the buzzer sound and the ball hit the front of the rim and graciously fell in the basket. We just won.

You could hear this enormous roar from the Keystone crowd. I stood there at the elbow, unable to move. Then it just sunk in that I hit the game winner. Jessie was the first to get to me and jumped on top of me. I was proceeded to get mobbed by my teammates and before I knew it our entire student section was on the court, celebrating the huge win.

Furries that wouldn't even look at me, let alone talk to me were giving me high fives and hugs, congratulating me on my game and the huge win. I could only smile and manage to give out thanks.

I finally made my way out of the huge mosh pit and made my way down to the locker room. I finished with 28 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds.

I got down to the locker room and the celebration didn't stop there, we continued to jump up and down and yell. Coach Keys came in and gave us a speech about how to move forward but celebrate the win tonight.

When I stepped out of the locker room I was stopped by some of the local media, asking me to do an interview.

"If we can beat these guys we can beat anybody in the state. It's going to be a real fun season," I said with a smile on my face. I meant every word of that too.