Anthony sat with his left leg on the bed wrapping his aching ankle. He was worried sick about his mother. Unable to handle the idea of her inevitable emotional breakdown due to his departure, he choose to block the images from his mind. Instead he replaced them with delightful thoughts of his father panicking. The dam that held the reservoir for his gambling escapades crumbled leaving the water free to flow to more promising seas. Whether a residency at Open Roads was a good idea, only time would tell.

The 8:00 bell rang as Anthony finished his wrapping. He winced as he stood to his feet and shuffled around to get used to the pain. He quickly slipped on a plain black sweater but took years trying to push through the left pant leg of his jeans. His solid black high tops were even worse. After taking what seemed like forever to dress he was finally off to the dining hall. Since he arrived the day before the one thing that he enjoyed most was that not a soul knew his name. Sure he still got looks, abnormally tall people often do, but nothing like back home. None of those forceful attention seeking greetings. "[i]I can get used to this.[/i]" Anthony thought flashing a brief and rare crooked smile as he entered the dining hall. 

While waiting in line Anthony thought about his team back home. They were surely heartbroken. He always remained humble regarding his ability, but he also realized without him the team was doomed to fall short of the championship. “[i]It's just a game. It's supposed to be fun. I hope they understand.[/i]” he thought to himself as he had repeatedly since he ran.

He snapped back as a tray was thrust in front of him in a vaguely confrontational manner. He looked down to see a measly breakfast especially for someone of his size. “Thanks.” He uttered, shaking his head as he began to search for a table. He found one, completely empty, and limped over. As he settled he listened in on the people around him, talking about their lives and Open Roads, and soon after came a revelation. Anthony had no clue what he was doing. He sighed, “Like I'm back on the court, trying to make something out of nothing.”