Too Many Secrets

Chapter 13

I walk through the hallway towards the gym. Bright blue lockers fill the sides of the hall and crumpled up pieces of paper are scattered on the floor. After about a minute of walking, I reach the entrance to the gym. Now that I think about it, I hope no one has a gym class now. I put my hand on the cold metal, twist the knob, and pull the heavy door open. A rush of warm air reaches my nostrils and the smell of teenage body odor makes me twitch my nose in disgust.

"Hey, Sky!" Xander yells from across the room. "I thought you were gonna chicken out, but you're here now."

"Yeah, I'm here. Are you ready to lose to a girl?" I challenge him. Maybe that was a little aggressive. Oh well.

"Look who's getting cocky. I think you might be the one to lose."

"I guess we have to see then." Well, now I have to beat him.

"Ladies first," he says while handing me the basketball.

"No way. I'll shoot for it. If it goes in I get the ball first." I inform him. There is no way I'm gonna let him go easy on me just because I am a girl.

"Fine, I'll play your way."

I stand at the free-throw line, make sure my form is correct, take a deep breath, and shoot. The ball glides through the air with a perfect person and makes a beautiful swish noise. Score!

"Well maybe you're not half bad," Xander says, impressed with my perfect basket.

He bounces the ball to me and takes a step back to defend me. I can do this. He may be a foot taller than me but I think I'm faster. I start dribbling the ball, fake left and go right. I run right past him and score my first layup. We start from the top again and he gives me the ball. He steps back again trying to defend the net. He probably thinks I'll go for the layup again. I back up a couple of steps, bend my knees, and the ball glides through the air straight into the hoop. He jumps up to try and block it, but he misses the ball by an inch.

I take another shot but miss. I tried to get my rebound but it was no use because of the height difference. He brings the ball to the top of the key, near half-court, he throws the ball up and scores.

This back and forth goes one or another twenty minutes. The game is close, but not close enough. The score is 20-17 and I am winning. We decide to call it a game when there are ten minutes left of class.

"Skylar, you are incredible. You are going to get on the team one hundred percent!" Xander says enthusiastically.

"Thanks," I say, wiping the sweat off my forehead.

"Anytime."

"And thank you for helping me practice."

"Of course. It was super fun."

"Well, I better go and get changed. Thanks again. Bye!" I say, waving him goodbye.

He grabs his bag, throws it over his shoulder, and exits the gym. I am still super nervous but Xander helped with my stress. There is no more pain in my stomach from how scared I am to fall on my face while dribbling in front of the whole team. Well, maybe a little, but I doubt that will happen.

I jog over to my backpack and grab my clothing for tryouts. I go to the locker room and change into my outfit. If I do make the team, I hope the girls are nice. Maybe they will think I'm weird for being a sophomore on a varsity team. I didn't even think of the option that I won't be on the varsity team. Honestly, I don't think I will mind that much if I only get on junior varsity, but obviously, I hope I make the varsity team. How cool would that be?