Alley-Oops I Think I'm Falling in Love (With the Wrong Guy)

[12] Zombie Recess

My female friends required emotional connection to get close, but not my male ones. The simple act of playing a game together was enough. Get lumped in with a guy enough times for an activity and you become friends. This explains how guys just suddenly become tight by frequenting the same spots.

Recess provided the mechanism for repeated proximity — every day I played with those boys and eventually they just accepted me as a friend.

That was the missing link in middle school — those chances for repeated proximity. If I could earn a spot on this circuit, I could have an unlimited supply of friends and I may never have to talk to them again.

This was a dream come true, a gift from the gods.

Yeesh, I wished my legs didn't feel like jelly.

Katie peeked around the partition, scoping out the area. She turned back to me with an apprehensive grimace. "Coach Brown isn't here yet.... And umm... it looks like it's mostly the varsity team in there. Are you sure you're up for it?"

I shrugged. Goosebumps swept up my spine, but I couldn't turn back now.

I felt ridiculous walking in there without Coach Brown though. Everyone would look at me like I was a wedding crasher. I prayed that he would announce the fact that he had invited me personally—I did not assume that I could play at their level or that they would welcome me in.

We loitered awkwardly behind the curtain that separated the courts, but some of the guys caught sight of me, and I could tell that they thought I had just come to admire them.

Spurred forward by that falsehood—I'd rather have them think I was overconfident in my abilities than be a 6th grade Whitney Drew—I shuffled onto the main court and tried to hold my head high. As soon as I did, the laughter and buzz of conversation plummeted and they all stopped to stare at me.

I wanted to die.

I don't know about your high school, but the most popular guys inhabited the athletic teams at mine — guys value physical prowess remember? And every single one of those guys was staring at me like I was E.T.—a freak far, far, away from home.

Katie slunk along the partition and planted herself behind the large Gatorade coolers. She gave me a little thumbs up for emotional support, but I knew I was on my own now.

A moment later Coach Brown and his assistants appeared. Coach Brown's eyes paused briefly on me, but otherwise he didn't acknowledge my presence.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Shoot for teams." He barked.

He didn't say anything about me? Nothing about the girl joining 15 dudes for practice?

Gah!

My skin felt like boiling lava and the heat only intensified as the bemused whispers began. I knew they were all making fun of me, it was worse than that dance with Mr. Kekoa.

What if I shot an airball with everyone watching?

As the panic and self consciousness began to rise, I met Coach Brown's eye. It was like he could sense my fear, or maybe it was written all over my face.

"Put this in, Aria." He said, when I stepped up to the line. For some reason, the fact that he knew my name without being told, well... it brought me back to earth.

This was basketball. I wasn't E.T. here.

My shot swished through the net.

Coach Brown gave the barest nod of approval.

I volunteered to guard the guy I thought would be laziest; he was a 6'3'' ginger with a bit of pork to him. Usually, guys warmed rather quickly to me on the court, but he did not seem amused by my presence.