The Photograph (Eastbrook 1)

Chapter 2

Rachel glanced around the classroom during Spanish, her last class of the day. Her classmates were either asleep or passing notes while a video played, and the teacher sat at her desk in the corner and ignored them all. Rachel’s eyes glazed over as a cartoon fish spoke to her in Spanish. She felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and was handed a note from Jake. 

Party at my house tonight. Come in costume. 

Rachel folded the note and put it in her pocket. Even if it was Halloween, this was a Monday and the first day of basketball practice. There was no way her grandparents would let her go to a party. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to go anyway. She turned and looked at the clock in the back of the room. Another eleven minutes of listening to Dory in Spanish.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

The sound of the bell interrupted Rachel’s daydream. She grabbed her stack of books and hurried to the locker room. She wanted to start the season on time and prepared for practice. She was only a sophomore, but she was competing with a senior for the starting point-guard spot, a rare opportunity for an underclassman athlete at Eastbrook High School. With her 5’7” beanpole body frame, Rachel needed a starting spot this year if she hoped to achieve her dream of playing Division I college basketball. 

Rachel had picked up a basketball for the first time at age nine. She’d been with her Aunt Kate, who was in town visiting for a week that summer. Kate had been a basketball star in high school; she then attended Loyola University in Chicago on scholarship. After witnessing her niece’s natural athletic ability on the soccer field, Kate had decided to teach Rachel the sport of basketball. She took Rachel to a nearby park to teach her the basics. 

Maybe it was the feeling she got when she saw the ball go through the net, or maybe it was the connection to her aunt that caught her heart. Either way, Rachel was hooked. Her grandparents bought a new hoop a week later to replace the old rickety one in the driveway.

“Hey, Rachel,” Lillie said as she walked into the locker room. Lillie was one of Rachel’s few basketball friends. Rachel got along with all the girls on the team, but as a sophomore on the varsity team, she also felt like the odd girl out. So even though Lillie played on the junior varsity team, it was nice to have a friend around. Rachel threw her bag down next to Lillie and started changing into her practice clothes. 

“Ready for the season?” Rachel asked.

“Oh, I guess so,” Lillie said, “But I bet you are.”

“Yeah, I am. But I feel a little nervous today.”

“You have no reason to be nervous. You are a shoe-in for the starting point-guard spot,” Lillie said.

“I don’t know. Candace is a senior and started all of last season,” Rachel said.

“But she can’t play like you. And she doesn’t understand the game like you do. It’s no contest.” 

“I hope so.” 

Some of the other varsity girls walked into the locker room, including Candace. Rachel waved, but the older girls ignored her. 

“C’mon, Lillie, let’s go warm up.” Lillie and Rachel walked into the gym. 

“Hey, Coach Myers,” Rachel said. She picked up a basketball from the rack. “Ready to lose in the first game of PIG of the season?” 

Last season, Coach Myers and Rachel had played epic games of PIG in the ten to fifteen minutes before practice started. The games included bank shot three-pointers, left-handed three-pointers, and half-court shots. Rachel was one of the few girls who could beat Coach Myers in PIG, and she’d looked forward to those games at the beginning of practice every day.