In My Head

Pick ~ Jake

"Please put your book away and line up for recess," the teacher says. I put my book into my empty desk. Kaden rips a piece of paper out of his notepad and slides it onto my desk.

It's my nametag. Wow, he finished it already?

"Wow, that's awesome!" I push it to the top of my desk. It's got to be the coolest thing anybody has ever made for me.

Kaden turns to a clean page and starts a new drawing. Everyone is already gone, out to recess. I stand, but Kaden doesn't notice.

"You coming?" I ask.

He glances over then shakes his head at his notebook.

"Why not?"

He shrugs.

"You in trouble?"

"No." He drops his pencil on the notebook. "I just . . . like to stay in."

Stay in at recess? That's crazy! Well, I'm not staying in, but I don't want to go alone either. "Hey, we're friends, right?"

Kaden turns and looks up at me, his eyes wide and his mouth open. "Yeah." He smiles.

"Then come outside with me."

"Okay." He gets up. "I'm going outside, Mrs. Becker."

The teacher looks up from her work at her desk and smiles big at us. "I'm glad to hear it. Have fun."

I follow Kaden out of the classroom and down the hallway. We go through a door to get outside. The playground is big and full of lots of equipment. Kaden hangs back, like he's not sure where to go.

"Where do you usually go?" I ask.

Kaden shrugs. He must not come out very much at all. I spot a basketball court with a couple balls lined up on the side.

"Let's go play basketball." I point over.

". . . I'm not good at sports," Kaden says.

"It's okay, I pick you to be on my team."

Kaden smiles and nods. We run over to the court. I pick up a basketball and try it out. It's really bouncy. Perfect.

"Here, let's practice shooting." I bounce the ball to Kaden. He catches it and turns to the net, a super short hoop that's low enough for first graders but still too high for us to dunk. Kaden hesitates. "Aim for the back of the hoop," I suggest. He nods. The ball goes up . . . and bounces in. "You're good at this," I tell him. He smiles at me. I pass to him again. He catches and dribbles a little, then shoots again. Hey, he shot like a lefty. Cool. His shot swishes through the extra wide hoop.

I take the ball out to the three point line, aim and shoot, but it misses and bounces down the court. "I got it." I run after the ball, which is bouncing to the end of the court toward the swings. It rolls off the pavement and finally stops at the wood chips.

I pick it up and spin around to go back. Two boys from another class are walking over to Kaden. I run back to them and reach Kaden just as they do. They just stand there, so I pass the ball to Kaden.

"Hey, Kade, what are you doing out here?" The kid has brown hair and brown skin, like Kaden's.

"Nothing." Kaden looks down at the pavement and glances over at me.

"Who's this?" the brown kid asks.

"I'm Jake. I just moved here from Washington." I smile at the brown kid, but he doesn't even look like he was listening.

"He's my friend," Kaden says. He glares at the kid.

"Play a game with us, Special K," the other boy says. He has brown hair too, but white skin and freckles. I get the feeling Special K isn't a nice nickname. He walks up to Kaden and grabs the ball. Kaden lets him take it.