Hustle Vs Muscle

Chapter 14: The Jacket

I am woken up by the ringing of my alarm clock. I slam my hand down on the off button and get out of bed quickly. I brush my teeth and change into my uniform. I eat breakfast and Luke drives me to school. "You nervous, Chris?" says Luke. "Yes." I say. "Don't be nervous. You're fast. You'll do fine." he replies. When he drops me off I head to the gym. We jog for three minutes straight to warm up. We're scrimmaging again. This time we win against D'amato. The frustration on his face satisfies me. He may be taller than all of us, but I am faster than him.

"Ugggh!" says Christian, looking frustrated. "How are you so good?" When we start doing dribbling drills, I dribble around the cones faster than anybody else. Coach Anthony looks impressed. I watch as D'amato dribbles the ball. It bounces off the cone and rolls away. Tall people aren't usually the best at dribbling. And height alone means nothing without athleticism.

Then we get into the defensive drills. It's satisfying. I'm constantly slapping the ball out off people's hands and stealing the ball when they least expect it. By the time tryouts are over, I feel like I have a chance of making the team. After we change into our clothes, Coach Anthony announces the results.
"When I say your name, step forward to receive your jacket." he says. The basketball jackets are orange with small flames on the side because fire is our mascot. The orange colored jackets match our uniforms and have the players last name and number on their jersey. He starts listing names in alphabetical order by the first name. Aiden's name is announced and he grins as he slides. the jacket on. He continues announcing names. Chase gets a jacket too. Then Coach Anthony announces "Christina. Christina Perkins.".

I walk forward as if I'm in a dream. Coach Anthony hands me the orange jacket with my last name and the number 62 on it. My height is 62 in inches. It's such a coincidence. I slide it on, it feels too real to be a dream. "Good job." whispers Coach Anthony. After they finish handing out the last few jackets, including D'amato's jacket, everyone who didn't make it goes out one door and everyone who did make it goes out the other door.

"I told you you'd make it." says Chase. "You were right." I say. Right now I'm feeling good. Nothing can spoil my day now. As I walk into the classroom, Katrini asks "Did you make it?" "I made it!" I exclaim. "I got the jacket!" Everyone in the classroom starts cheering and clapping. MK and Ava hug me while Jada hops around like a gnome shrieking "I knew it! I knew it!" People clap me on the back. This has to be the best day of my life.