Me and Alex are in the back of my mom's van, heading to our first basketball game in Clearwater. It's about an hour and a half away. Alex's parents are meeting us there. We both have been listening to our "pump up music", but now we are actually talking to each other.
"Are you nervous?" he asks.
"I don't really get nervous. I am more... excited." I reply. "Are you?"
"Nah"
"What's Clearwater like? I am curious."
"They have a really fast point guard named Jake. They have a tall, strong post player named Matt. You'll probably be guarding their best shooter. He is small but can drain threes five feet behind the line. He sucks at free throws though."
"Ok."
"Oh, and they had a kid named Steve who was just all around amazing!"
"Had?"
"He broke his ankle this summer."
"Ow!" I say. "At least we don't have to worry about him."
"Yeah." Alex sighs. "Not to much of a problem."
About a half hour later, we arrive at Clearwater Middle School. We walk in and see Zach, Aiden, Max, and Trey warming up already. Coach sits at our bench with his stat book. Ready to fill it in. Braden, Camden, and dad all sit on the navy blue bleachers. I can smell Camden's popcorn from where I stand. My mouth waters. I haven't been able to have popcorn for a whole year because of my stupid braces.
"You must be lost." A deep voice says behind me. I spin around. "The little girls game is at the elementary school in an hour." It's one of Clearwater's big guys.
"I am not lost, thank you very much." I say with mock politeness.
"She's here to kick your little butt." Trey defends me. "Come on Linds." He says this loudly for all to hear. "Let's go warm up."
"That little princess is warming up with you guys? That's so cute. Are you like a water girl? 'When I grow up I want to be just like them!'" he mocks me with a high pitched voice.
"Sorry, I gotta warm up." I say.
"Geesh." Alex says. "What a loser."
"It's just trash talk." I say. "I am used to it."
"Into the locker room everyone!" coach calls. Let the game begin.
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RandomI am a girl. So what? Almost all of my friends are boys. Big deal. We are all friends, brought together by the game. My strength: ball handling. My weakness: I am small. Tall, but very skinny. Size really matters in this game. I am playing better th...
