CHAPTER THREE
SHARKS AT HALF-COURT

Simone led Nina to the locker room. Two girls were still there. Simone nodded at the red-headed one. “This is Molly.” Then she pointed at Nina. “Meet our new classmate, Nina.”

Molly smiled at her. The girl next to her stood up and waved. “I’m Laney. Nice to meet you.”

Nina waved back. “You too.” She still felt worried about being the new kid, but her classmates’ friendliness made her feel better.

Nina changed and headed to the gym with the group.

“This is Jack Fuimaono,” said Simone, walking up to a black-haired boy. “He’s a shooting guard on the basketball team. He’ll be super helpful if you want to try out.”

Jack’s brown eyes lit up. “You want to try out? That’s awesome! It’s for a power forward.”

“I heard. That was my position on my school team back home!” said Nina. She bounced on her toes. Nina couldn’t wait until tryouts!

Jack spotted their teacher. “Hey! Coach Popov, check it out! Nina wants to try out for the team.” Jack swung back to her. “Our teacher’s also the coach.”

“That’s excellent!” Coach Popov smiled at Nina. “It’s great to meet you.” He blew his whistle.

“Game on!” Jack said. “It’s basketball for our unit!” Then he ran to join the class.

Nina jogged after him.

The warm-up started with stretching and a few laps around the gym.

When the last students finished their lap, Coach Popov said, “Time for a game of sharks and minnows! Ruis Hernandez and Cody Jones, you’re up! You will be the sharks. Take your position on the half-court line. The rest of the class are minnows. Grab a basketball and head to the baseline.”

Simone ran to the bag of basketballs and handed them out. Then she joined Nina.

“The minnows will dribble from one end of the gym to the other,” said Coach Popov. “The sharks will try to knock the basketball out of their hands. If that happens, the minnow joins the sharks.”

“Oh brother, forget it,” Simone muttered to Nina. “Ruis and Cody are the best players on the team. We’ll all be sharks soon!”

Nina grinned at the challenge. I’m amazing at dribbling, she thought.

Coach Popov blew his whistle. The minnows dribbled toward the other end of the gym. Ruis ran to Nina, but she was ready for him. As Ruis tried to slap away the ball, she pivoted and kept it away. The cheers and howls as minnows lost their balls to sharks followed her as she raced down the court.

Suddenly, Nina heard the hard pounding of feet behind her. Cody appeared beside her, trying to get the ball away. Nina deked left and then right. When Cody blocked her path, she bounced the ball through his legs and then dribbled to the finish line.

Simone and Jack ran over and gave her high fives.

“Nice job, new kid!” Ruis held up his hand.

“My name is Nina.” She grinned and gave him a high five.

Coach Popov blew his whistle. “Time for a change-up! Cody, stay on as a shark,” he said. “Ruis, you’re a minnow. Nina, you’re a shark!” Coach grinned at her and Cody. “But there’s an extra challenge for the two of you.”

Cody and Nina looked at each other. What did Coach Popov have in store?