· CHAPTER 4 ·
The traffic on the road back to school was really bad. By the time Emily dropped Mel off at school, practice was starting.
Mel had to rush to get dressed. Coach Arnold shot her an annoyed look when she ran into the gym.
Mel hurried to grab a basketball and start shooting lay-ups. Then she saw Felicia looking at her and whispering to another girl.
After warming up as a big group, the freshman, JV, and varsity teams split up to practice separately. Mel started to go with the rest of the freshmen.
“Mel, wrong team!” Coach Arnold shouted. “You’re on JV now, remember?”
“Oh, whoops!” Mel said. She turned back to her new team so fast that she almost tripped over her own feet. As she joined the group, she heard someone laughing. She tried to ignore it.
The block of ice from her visit to Leslie was still heavy in the pit of her stomach. Because she was shy and still new at school, Mel knew the faces and some of the names of her new teammates, but not much else. They were all sophomores and juniors, so Mel didn’t even have classes with any of them.
“Hey, Mel!” said one of the girls. Her name was Katie, and Mel knew that she was a sophomore. Katie said, “Welcome to the JV team!” The rest of the older girls clapped and cheered.
Mel smiled. Everyone was looking at her. She could feel her face heating up.
“We’re glad to have Mel on the team,” Coach Arnold said. “Everyone, we have a lot of work to do today, so let’s get going!” She clapped her hands, and the rest of the team ran to the end of the court.
Mel followed Katie. All of the older girls got started right away, forming three lines near the basket.
Oh, great, Mel thought. Everyone knows what’s going on except me. The block of ice in Mel’s stomach grew bigger.
The first drill was a three-person weave. Okay, Mel thought. I know this one. I’ve done this a million times. I can do this.
The girls finished forming the three lines. Mel was in the middle line, holding the ball. She passed the ball to Katie, who was on her right. Then she ran behind Katie and sped as fast as she could up the court.
Katie passed to Sara, the girl in the third line. Mel waited for the pass. Once she had the ball, she’d shoot a lay-up.
Sara passed the ball, and it fell into Mel’s hands. Mel aimed and shot. But the ball bounced off the rim.
She looked up just in time to see the entire freshman team watching her. Her face got hot again.
“It’s okay, Mel!” Katie called. But Mel didn’t feel like it was. From the other end of the gym, she heard Felicia laughing.
Later, Mel stood next to Katie while the JV and freshman teams watched the varsity team run through a play. Once the varsity players finished, the JV team would practice the play.
“I don’t get this play,” Mel whispered.
Katie started to explain it to Mel, but Coach Arnold saw them talking. “Mel and Katie, show some respect and pay attention!” she yelled.
“Sorry, Coach,” Katie and Mel said together.
Before Mel had time to learn how to run the play, the varsity coach called, “Mel, get in for Jill!”
Jill passed Mel the ball. Mel jogged over to Jill’s starting position.
As soon as the play began, it was clear that Mel didn’t know what to do. She passed the ball to the wrong person. Then she didn’t move to the right spot.
Nothing worked right, and it was all because Mel didn’t know what to do. She knew everyone would realize she hadn’t been prepared.
The varsity coach blew her whistle. “This isn’t working,” she said. “Mel, you need to watch and learn what Jill does. Next time, know the plays, okay?”
“Okay, Coach,” Mel said. She felt her face heating up. When she saw that the freshman players were all making fun of her, she felt even worse.
“Having fun, Mel?” Felicia asked, rolling her eyes. “Seems like the team would be better off without you. Leslie could play better with a broken leg than you can right now!”
Mel felt like crying. It was the worst practice ever.