The morning of the girl's basketball team tryouts had finally come, revealing truths that I had hardly considered- sports were way overrated. More girls than who had come to basketball conditioning came to basketball tryouts, expecting great positions such as starting 5 or center. Coach gave me a knowing glance as I entered the gymnasium and to the locker room.
Hardly to my surprise, Emma was already in there. She sat with her group of friends and I tried my best to ignore. Despite my efforts, I heard her say, "Cody is so amazing I love him so much!" I slammed my locker shut as she uttered the words, glared at her, and exited the locker room.
As I entered the court, the pressure was on. I took a deep breath and then began my try out.
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The results from tryouts had yet to be announced and I continued my day with much anxiety paining my every breath. Even in homeroom I felt like I had little interest in the class as I wrote in my journal. My handwriting looked messier than usual as I tensely wrote each line of text. “Basketball tryouts, Cody sucks, blahblahblah,” I muttered under my breath as the ink smeared across the page.
Honestly, the end of the day could not come soon enough. At promptly 3:30 I got to see whether or not I could win my best friend back or if I would be exiled into a life as a nerd forever. The sharp noise of the bell pierced through the early morning air, making me jump.
I grabbed my backpack and journal before rushing out into the crowded halls of the middle school. I stopped by my locker to pick up my materials for Home Ec, and quickly sat down in my seat. Today I needed to get close to Fawn. If I had somehow managed to score a spot on the basketball team, a little popularity couldn’t hurt.
I nervously looked down at my feet, catching a glimpse of my ancient black Converse. I had washed out skinny jeans on and a shirt with a daisy on it. It was the closest thing I came to being “trendy”, and I knew even looking a little bit nicer than usual would make an impact on Fawn.
As she walked into the classroom, I nervously ran my hands though my hair. She’s just a person, I reminded myself. It’s not like years from now I would remember an encounter with her, even if it were a lousy one. I could do this… I had to.
Fawn walked by my desk, a scent of jasmine trailing her.
“I, uh, like your blouse, Fawn,” I stumbled over my words. It was the best I could come up with at the time, and it wasn’t exactly a lie. She had a nice, flowing pastel pink top on that really brought out the tan she had managed to bake into over the summer.
Instead of a, “Thanks”, or even verbal acknowledgement, Fawn shot me a look. Her look said, “Yeah, I know.”
After her condescending look that seemed to last for eternity, Fawn made her way to her seat and I just rubbed my temple and shook my head. Nice going, I thought miserably.
God, why couldn’t it be 3:30 yet?
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
I tapped my pencil impatiently as the last few minutes of my school day passed by. I reflected on the day, as the hands on the clock seemed to tauntingly tick on.
After humiliating myself in Home Economics, I managed to waste away my language arts period by thinking of all the many ways I should have approached Fawn. In PE I avoided all contact with Cody possible. I didn’t make eye contact with him and made it very clear that he had messed up. Not that he seemed to mind, though. All through the class he talked with some newfound guy friends about upcoming basketball games.
Then came lunch. I had no idea whether or not Cody would be there at our usual table. He wasn’t. It was our small original group of friends, but I invited Charmaine who got along really well with Zack, Selena, and Amy. To be honest, I was growing apart with those three. The five of us (Cody, me, Zack, Selena, and Amy) had been inseparable at one point, but I had lost Cody and found good, solid friendship with Charmaine. I didn’t know whom I should consider a real friend anymore.
At last, the final bell of the day rang. I hopped out of my seat quickly and booked down the aisles of the school to the gymnasium. Despite my pace, I was actually one of the last girls to arrive at the bulletin displaying the team positions. As I approached the crowd, Emma stormed out of the heart of it.
She gave me a dirty scowl as she exited. If looks could kill…
Have fun with your boyfriend, snob, I thought to myself.
The crowd dispersed as confused murmurs filled the air. Fawn stood staring confusedly at the tryout sheet. I mean, Fawn was no genius but I felt a basketball team position chart was pretty straightforward.
I moved closer to the bulletin and looked at the positions.
“TEAM CAPTAIN: Natalie Fuller.”
“Who is that?” some girl whispered.
In a stage of shock, I mumbled, “Me… That’s me!”
A/N Merry Christmas! HO!HO!HO! Just kidding, it's July. After 9 months of anxious waiting, I am pleased to present the edited chapter 5!
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When a Nerd Tries to be a Jock
Novela Juvenil(I WROTE THIS IN SEVENTH GRADE, SO IT'S PRETTY AWFUL. THOUGH, I WON'T DELETE IT.) The tale doesn't happen the way you assume- even the jock has to start off somewhere. After being betrayed by her best friend and secret crush, Natalie is left confuse...
