CHAPTER 11
TEAMWORK

Things were pretty quiet before their next game, which was at Brasher Middle. They didn’t have another practice before then, and Yasmin only saw Kelly a couple of times in the hall. Both times, Kelly avoided her.

The day of the game, Yasmin was stretching in the locker room when Heidi joined her.

Heidi moved into a lunge. “You nervous?”

“Yeah,” Yasmin admitted. “But not as bad as before.” She had to admit she felt a little lighter since they’d gone to see the principal. “I still don’t know if the team will be weird with me.”

“Just remember that you did the right thing,” Heidi said. Then her eyes got wide. “Hey—I think someone wants to talk to you. She’s walking toward us. I’ll see you in a minute.”

She left suddenly. As soon as she disappeared, Kelly came close to Yasmin.

“Hey,” said Kelly nervously. She stopped and shifted on her feet. “So … I’m sorry for those notes. It was wrong and I shouldn’t have done it.”

Yasmin studied her. It was obvious someone had told Kelly to apologize, and that she was only saying sorry because she’d been forced to.

“As long as you stop saying and writing racist things to me,” Yasmin said. She looked Kelly in the eye. “But are you sure you’re not just going to get your friends to take over for you?”

Kelly turned red and looked down. “I won’t,” she mumbled.

“Good, because I’m tired of dealing with it,” Yasmin said. “No one should have to deal with it.”

Kelly nodded abruptly, turned, and walked away. Yasmin watched her go.

She realized she felt even lighter inside than before. She knew Kelly had probably been told she’d get taken off the team if she didn’t apologize. They would probably never be friends. But maybe if Kelly valued the team that much, and Yasmin did too, they could find a way to work together—as teammates. And that was all Yasmin wanted.

They did their pregame huddle, Coach gave them their pep talk, and then the starters bounded out onto the court. Yasmin sat down and waved to her parents in the stands. Her mom’s beautiful brown face stood out in the crowd.

It was a strange experience to have to sit down to watch the others play. Yasmin jiggled her foot as she watched. They hadn’t played Brasher before, and it turned out Brasher was great at offense. They started off with possession and had the score at 12–6 only halfway through the first quarter.

By the end of the first quarter, both Dexter’s new starting center and the shooting guard—Jess Mitchell and Brianne Harwick—were already lagging. Brasher was tiring them out.

Coach went to talk to the ref, then called Jess and Brianne out and put Heidi and Kelly in. Yasmin watched them both bound out onto the court. It was obvious they were delighted to be out there.

Her foot jiggled harder.

Heidi was amazing—a great rebounder and great on defense in general, keeping the other team from gaining the advantage. And Kelly was so small and fast that she could weave between players. She would steal the ball before anyone realized she’d done it and dart to the basket in the blink of an eye.

Yasmin had never realized it before, but now, watching from the sidelines, she realized how well their team worked together. They were seamless, like they were all sharing a brain. No one stood out more than the others; they were all good.

Late in the fourth quarter, Coach called out the point guard, Nicola Stevens. Then he came up to Yasmin. “Want to go in?” he asked.

She leaped to her feet. “Yes! Oh my gosh! Of course!”

“Good. And before you go, Yasmin—I’m sorry,” Coach added. “I shouldn’t have ignored what happened to you. We’ll talk about it more later, but I want to assure you that I’ll listen to your concerns from now on.”

She stared at Coach. This apology felt real. He truly looked sorry.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Good. Now go do what you do best! You’ve got this!” Coach yelled.

She hurried out onto the court. With only five minutes left in the game, she found herself near the three-point line in possession of the ball. The Dexter supporters in the crowd started chanting: “Shoot! Shoot!”

“I’m open!” Kelly shouted.

Kelly was near the basket. The girl guarding Yasmin was on her like glue. Yasmin wasn’t confident she’d make the shot.

Three-Point Jones would have gone for it anyway. Her old admirers would have been disappointed in her. For a second, she felt the old fear: what if she was no one at all—if she wasn’t the star?

Then her head cleared. She was Yasmin Jones, basketball player. Point guard.

She passed to Kelly, who caught it, spun around, and leaped into one of the smoothest layups Yasmin had ever seen.

The Dexter crowd went wild. There was no time for Brasher to recover.

She saw her parents stand up in the stands, cheering. Heidi came over and hugged her as the rest of her team jumped up and down.

After the game, Yasmin’s mom and dad rushed up to her. They gave her a huge hug and hugged Heidi too.

“You were amazing!” her dad said.

Yasmin laughed. “I was barely in it! But I did do a pretty good job passing.”

“You did a great job passing,” her mom said.

“That’s what really mattered,” added Heidi.

“I’m curious—why didn’t you go for it?” said her mom. “You could have made that shot, Miss Three- Point Jones.”

“I want to learn to work more as a team,” Yasmin said. “That’s important too.”

She turned and watched Kelly and Leah and the others hugging their families too. Whatever happened, the solution might not be perfect. Kelly might start up again one day, or another kid might. But Yasmin had spoken up. She’d stood up for herself. And she was learning to be a team player. Her game was only getting better.

Coach made his way over to her parents. “Hi, you’re Yasmin’s parents? I’m Coach Hargrave.”

“Hi,” said her parents. Yasmin could tell they were surprised.

“I just wanted to let you know I’ve spoken to the principal, and I want to say how sorry I am for not addressing Kelly’s racist actions,” said Coach. “I should have taken Yasmin seriously. No student should have to deal with racism. I’ve spoken with Kelly, and I’ll definitely be looking out for Yasmin in the future. She’s a great player and a great kid.”

“Thank you, Coach,” said her mother. “That means a lot.”

“I’ve got to go talk to some of the other parents, but please reach out if you have any questions,” said Coach. He gave Yasmin a high five, then bustled off.

Yasmin looked at her parents, amazed. “He said sorry and meant it!” Yasmin said.

“Some grown-ups are good at apologizing,” her mom laughed.

Yasmin felt about a hundred pounds lighter.

“I think this calls for ice cream,” her dad said. “Heidi, would you like to join us?”

Heidi and Yasmin smiled at each other.

“I’d love to,” Heidi said.