Hustle Vs Muscle

Chapter 9: One On One

I jog to the layup line. "Chris, how're you doing?" says Chase. "Well first I got shoved by D'amato. Then I got teased about my dead dad and I got a lunch detention for shoving him back so it's going great so far." Aiden, who is behind me, says "You good, Christina? You literally haven't smiled at all today." "I don't have a reason to." I say. "Come over to my house tomorrow after school and I'll give you a reason to smile." says Aiden, grinning. "I could use some one on one practice." Then he turns around. The boy who made the layup passes the ball to him. "Did he just ask you out?" Chase whispers as Aiden goes for the layup and makes it. "Apparently." I say. Aiden winks as he passes the ball to me. I catch the ball and make the layup. Then I pass to the next person and jog to the back of the line. We keep doing layups until Coach Anthony blows his whistle. "We're going to be doing some full court one-on-one. " he announces. "Here's how it works. I will say two names. Only after I say BOTH names, you will run for the ball in the middle of the court. You'll play for sixty seconds. Capisce?"
Everybody nods.

We stand in two even lines on either side of the court. The ball is in the middle of the court. Coach Anthony yells out two names. "Aiden Wachowski and David Gutierrez!" Aiden and Gutierrez run for the ball. Aiden gets there first and starts dribbling around Gutierrez. He goes for the layup and makes it. Gutierrez has the ball now. Gutierrez dribbles down the court and shoots. The ball bangs against the rim and Aiden gets the rebound and dribbles down the court.

He makes the shot and the buzzer rings. Aiden wins by four points. Aiden and Gutierrez get back in line. Coach Anthony calls out the next names. "Christina Perkins and Christian Slay!" As soon as I hear his name, I explode into a sprint. A tall, skinny, dark haired boy is also sprinting for the ball. I reach it first and start dribbling. I sprint. It's a fast break. I go for the layup, but Christian just deflects the ball with his hand. I'm so frustrated. So frustrated that when he dribbles down the court, shoots and misses, I am not afraid to literally rip the ball out of his hands.

I dribble as fast as I can and use the momentum to make a layup. The ball goes in. There are twenty seconds left now. Christian dribbles the ball down the court. I step in front of him, cutting off his path to the basket. But he does a head fake and spins away. I raise my hands, to try to block his shot, but he just shoots right over me. The ball bounces on the rim and I get the rebound. But as soon as I catch it, the buzzer sounds. In that small, one-minute, one-on-one scrimmage, I have won. I get back in line.

I watch as some of the other boys play. D'amato is literally dominating everyone because he's so tall. People think I can't dominate in basketball because of my height, but I dominate because of my speed. Then Coach Anthony calls out my name again. I hear him call out "Liam D'amato." and I sprint forward, reaching the ball a split second before him. D'amato tries to slap the ball out of my hands but I pivot and dribble forward. I go for the layup, but it misses. D'amato's hands claim the ball before I can even touch it, and I'm so angry that I sprint down the court as fast as I can, slapping at the ball. D'amato goes for the layup and I try to block him, but he's too tall and the ball goes in. All his friends cheer. I dribble down the court. I am at the half-court line when D'amato starts trying to steal the ball. I pick up the ball at the three-point line before realizing that I probably won't make the shot. But there's nothing to lose, so
I pump fake, pivot to face the basket and shoot. The ball goes in. "Ohhhhhhh!" the boys yell. I get back in line. "Nice shot." says Chase. "Thanks." I say. "You're going to make first cut, guaranteed." says Chase. "Minor problem." I say. "I'm kinda getting the impression that Coach Anthony only wants the tall, white boys on the team. And I'm the opposite of that. I'm short, black and I'm a girl.""Yeah but you're so good that if they don't have you on the team, everyone will be like "What? She should've made it." replies Chase.
"We'll see." I say, my stomach twisting nervously.