How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly

Author:Anita Kelly [KELLY, ANITA]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2024-02-13T00:00:00+00:00

Ngozi let them take a breather after that. And twenty minutes of trying to keep up with Julie Parker after that, they broke for halftime, which soon devolved into a Bobcat dance party in the middle of the court. Elle and Julie watched from the bleachers, laughing occasionally at the dance moves, sucking down water and getting air back into their lungs.

And with each moment that they sat in comfortable quiet, Elle knew. That she was okay. That she was playing basketball again, and it was only okay because she was doing it with Julie.

Who believed in Elle so much, even in the blatant face of her failures, that Elle knew she’d likely still consider her the best baller who ever lived, whether Elle had fallen flat on her face today or not. However false the notion was, Elle had to admit it soothed.

And who—even with that—wasn’t afraid to play Elle like an equal anyway.

Elle’s own, specific pressure-less zone.

Vanessa and Katelyn sat at the opposite end of the bleachers, ignoring the music and staring intently at their manga instead. Elle tried her best to not glance over at them too many times.

Julie was in the middle of breaking up the dance party when the Doc strolled in.

“Oh!” Julie’s eyes flashed with clear panic. “Hi, Dr. Jones. We were just—uh—” Julie glanced around the floor, still half-full of teenagers dancing possibly too provocatively to possibly inappropriate music. The Doc only crossed her arms and smiled.

“I heard about this,” she said, raising a curious brow. Mosk rushed to her phone to turn down the volume. “Who’s winning?”

“Coach,” Ngozi said. The Doc’s grin grew.

“Which one?”

“Parker,” Bianchi chimed in, before leaning toward the principal. “But she’s playing, like, surprisingly dirty? It’s kind of amazing.”

And poor Julie Parker’s face, which had just returned to its normal color after sufficient rest, flushed red again. Elle stared at the floor, holding in a laugh.

“Well.” The Doc’s eyes flashed with amusement before they flicked over to the corner, where Vanessa and Katelyn still sat, away from the crowd. After a second, her gaze settled back on Elle and Julie. “I wish I could stay and watch, but I was just passing through. Thank you, both of you”—she caught Elle and Julie’s eyes in turn—“for giving our Bobcats a space to let off some steam before break. All of you”—her voice rose as she addressed the group again—“stay safe this week, and we’ll see you soon.”

A chorus of “Bye, Doc!” followed her on her way out of the gym.

Julie visibly released a breath when she was gone.

And then she turned to Elle and said, as serious as could be, “Let’s finish this.”

Elle snorted and followed her back to center court.

She was able to get some of her pride back, at least a modicum of it, ten minutes later, when Julie tried to steal the ball from Elle’s hands and only ended up slamming her forearm across Elle’s wrist instead.

Ngozi blew her whistle. “Foul!”

“What!” Julie twirled. “Come on, Williams! It’s one-on-one!”

Ngozi gave her a stone-cold stare before blowing the whistle again.

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