Ascension by Christopher De Sousa Read Free Book Online Page B

her own reality, she‘d nearly flung the school’s front door backward into the face of her best friend.
    â€œHey girl, get your head out of the clouds,” Naomi snapped, as she nudged at Katherine’s shoulder from behind. “I called out at least three times for you to wait up.”
    â€œMorning Naomi, sorry about that,” she replied. “I’ve had a rough morning…and I’m not really all there.”
    She looked down at the sport jacket Naomi was wearing: from the gold laced sleeves, to the thick red fabric of the shirt, and the blank patch at the chest where one would expect a mascot or emblem normally to be.
    â€œWell what do you think?” Naomi asked.
    â€œI see that the boys have also decided to embrace this colour scheme,” said Katherine. “But they still don’t look quite right without the appropriate symbol...”
    Naomi groaned and tugged at the fabric about the chest. “You’re telling me. That is why you’d best hurry and come up with something to put there. Did you at least catch the game last night?”
    â€œI tried to, but I still couldn’t get excited over it,” she replied, but quickly regretting how she’d chosen to answer the question.
    â€œLook Katherine, I’ve lobbied the school for a while now and have finally succeeded in getting the school board to support you with the design of a new mascot,” Naomi grumbled, her nostrils flared. “You could at least feign interest in basketball. You know how important it is to me. Heck, even Justin is playing for the boys.”
    Rather shaken by Naomi’s abrupt outcry, Katherine immediately bowed her head and sought to apologize. As Naomi was the captain of the girls’ basketball team, Katherine had grown aware of how extremely passionate she felt for the game. Naomi was her best friend after all, and she recognised the need for her to be more supportive. She’d always admired Naomi’s enthusiasm, and she sensed her skills for the game were also remarkable, even if she considered herself the last person to possess the necessary knowledge to pass judgment. But when she had seen Naomi play, she thought Naomi resembled that of a martial artist; with the graceful motion of each limb and with both the poise and perception to react to her opponents every whim.
    â€œI promise to take it more seriously Naomi, and I do think I’m getting closer to coming up with something really worthwhile,” she vouched, retrieving a sketchpad from her backpack.
    Naomi persisted in sifting through its pages and to intently examine each sketch.
    â€œThese are just the preliminaries of course, but there’s something else I’ve only recently come up with.”
    â€œThat’s fantastic,” Naomi smiled, as she handed back the sketchpad. “I look forward to seeing more.”
    Although she found herself pleased with having mended any potential rift, Katherine eagerly sought to shift the subject of their conversation away from basketball and mascots.
    â€œHas there been any more news on Andy Mickelson’s condition?”
    â€œNot a lot more, only that he simply collapsed in the alleyway and remains in a coma at Anabasis Public,” said Naomi. “It’s pretty strange for someone so athletic to just collapse like that…With what you did manage to sit through, did it at least give you any ideas?”
    â€œDid what?”
    â€œThe game,” Naomi sighed, rolling her eyes.
    â€œA few…,” Katherine replied, as she gazed down the hallway and along the span of lockers.
    She watched as students shuffled about inside the corridor, fetching all they needed from their lockers for the day’s first period. But then her attention fixed on those whom remained to loiter, and on those who were huddled about within a circle. For a young man weaved his way through the surrounding group with an attractive blonde woman draped