Chapter 6
The next day, Isaac left lunch a few minutes early and headed down the hall toward the athletics department.
Coach Turnbull’s office door stood open. Isaac stuck his head inside. “Hey, Coach,” he said.
“Come on in, Isaac,” the coach said. He put down the papers he’d been looking at. “What’s happening?”
Isaac sat down across from Coach Turnbull. “I want to make a deal with you,” he said.
“What kind of deal?” the coach asked.
“Let me try playing power forward,” Isaac said.
“Isaac, we’ve been over this,” the coach said.
“Let me finish,” Isaac said. “I’m just talking about one practice. One scrimmage.”
“That’s it?” the coach asked.
Isaac nodded. “That’s it,” he said. “If I can show you I’m better than Dwayne Illy, you’ll move me to that position permanently.”
“I don’t know,” Coach Turnbull said.
“And,” Isaac went on, “if I am really better at point guard, I’ll drop the issue forever and play point guard like you want.”
The coach narrowed his eyes and stared at Isaac. “Hmm,” he said.
“Is it a deal?” Isaac asked.
The coach stood up and nodded, then put out his hand. “Deal,” he said.
Isaac smiled and shook the coach’s hand. “All right!” he said. “Thanks, Coach.”
“Now get to class,” Coach Turnbull said, sitting back down.
Finally, Isaac thought as he jogged to his next class. I’ll prove to everyone that I belong at power forward.