Night Hoops by Carl Deuker

Author:Carl Deuker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

All morning I thought about how unfair he was. You miss the big shot and you're a glory hog. You make it and suddenly you're the guy with courage, the guy willing to step up with the game on the line.

I'd always eaten lunch with Luke, and out of habit I looked for him that day too. But when I spotted him, he was in thick with Carver and the other senior starters. Fine, I thought, my anger returning. You eat with them. See if I care.

I had my history midterm that afternoon. I wasn't exactly unprepared for it, but I could have studied harder. When I finished my essay I looked up and saw everyone else—including Trent—still working. What a joke it would be if he ended up eligible to play and I flunked myself right off the team. I put my head down and went over my essay, checking for misspellings and lousy sentences, improving it wherever I could.

The school day ended and I walked to the gym for practice. I was tired of being on the outs with Luke. I needed a friend. If he'd done anything at all, even looked at me, I'd have gone over and made it okay with him. But the instant he saw me he turned away. I found an empty corner and suited up without saying a word to anybody.

We'd gone through all our warm-up drills and were getting ready for scrimmage when Coach O'Leary called me aside. "Listen, Nick," he said, his voice soothing, so soothing that I knew bad news was coming. "You're a good player. I know it; all the guys know it. But you're pressing."

"I'll play better," I said anxiously.

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