In My Head

The Jerk ~ Kaden

Alarm going off. I sit up with a jerk and smack my alarm clock. Stretch out my arms and yawn heavily.

Then I remember today's the first day of practice. I jump out of bed. I am so ready for this!

I grab my little Nerf basketball from my nightstand and spin toward the plastic hoop mounted on the wall. Before I can bring my arms up to shoot, it happens.

In the blink of an eye, my arms go straight and snap up, my head jerks forward, and my knees buckle underneath me. I hit the floor with an involuntary grunt right on my face.

"Kade?" Logan calls from downstairs.

I push myself up, sit back on my knees, and hold my arms tight against my chest, suddenly sick to my stomach.

It's never made me fall over before.

I hear Logan's feet on the stairs, and I jump to my feet. "Kade?" he says again as he steps into my doorway. "What was that?" He frowns at me, sincerely worried.

"Nothing." I can't look at him. "I dropped my backpack."

"You're a lousy liar."

"I just fell over," I say, wondering why I lied in the first place. Sure, it's embarrassing, but that doesn't mean I need to keep it a secret from my brother. Right?

Logan smirks at me. "Man, you're a klutz."

He just assumes it's because I'm clumsy. I take a breath to explain what happened and let it out without saying anything.

"It's still raining," Logan says as he leaves my room. "Why don't you let Mom take you to school today?"

"I run every day."

"I know, but if you get a cold from running in the rain, the seniors will never let you live it down."

"So I won't get a cold." I sound more than a little annoyed.

Logan shakes his head and goes back to his room. It's a quarter after. I grab a shirt and some Nike pants from my dresser, get dressed, and stuff my school clothes in my backpack along with something to wear to practice.

I sling my bag over my shoulders, hurry down the stairs, tie my shoes tight, check outside. Jake is already here, waiting on the front steps out of the rain. "I'm heading out!" I grab my ball and open the door.

"Take your time much?" Jake says.

"Don't even talk. You're the one waiting outside in the rain like a tool."

"What crawled up your butt and died?" Jake takes off down the driveway at a fast pace. I run after him, but for some reason, I can't make my legs move fast enough to keep up. He leaves me behind. "Move your feet!" he calls when he reaches the street. "I want time for a shower!" He tries out a fake spin move while he waits for me.

I duck my head against the rain and kick it up a notch. Jake makes me take the lead. I try to concentrate on moving my feet, but my legs feel bogged down. Stuck in the mud, like something zapped all my energy. I wipe the rain out of my eyes. My head is pounding. Then I remember that I landed right on my face when I fell.

I hold my ball against my side and rub my arms. They're tense, and I have a bad feeling it's not from the cold. What if it happens again? Right now? When I'm running? Or even worse, right in the middle of practice today, in front of the whole team?

Jake smacks my back, snapping me out of my head. "Hey what's wrong?" He pulls on me, slowing us both down. Then I realize the reason why I can't move. I'm afraid to run.

"I hate running in the rain," I mumble.

"What? We run in the rain all the time. Since when does it bother you?"