“Like what?”
“Ellie!” Kami said, walking toward us. “Did you see all the new brochures?” She was gushing, but then she stopped,and her tone changed when she saw how tense we were. “Is something up?”
“Nope,” Ellie responded. “Just your boyfriend sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong.” She glared at me. What the hell had I done to her, anyway?
“I’m just trying to clear up a few things I don’t quite understand,” I said.
“Curiosity killed the cat, my friend,” Ellie quipped.
“Touché,” I said, surprised by her sarcasm.
Just then, the bell rang. Ellie told Kami she’d see her in history class and hurried off. Then a voice came from behind me.
“Are you going to class?” Julian again. Didn’t he realize he and I weren’t friends? Not after his talking shit about Thiago and Kami at my party. And especially not after him stopping in at my girlfriend’s work and picking her up on a night we were supposed to hang out. I wanted to tell him straight up that I couldn’t stand him, but I held back, for Kami’s sake. She seemed genuinely glad to see him.
The first three hours of class were eternal, and I was glad when it was time for gym. I dressed and was surprised to see my brother sitting on the bleachers when I walked out of the locker room. That was weird—he usually taught the younger kids, while Coach Klebb ran our classes.
“Listen up, everyone,” he said when we were all gathered. “Some of you may have heard this, but Coach Klebb is retiring.” None of us had heard, and everyone started murmuring. I looked around for Kami and found her on the opposite end of the room, her eyes focused on Thiago.
Coach Klebb was gone?
“I know, I know. It’s a shock, everybody liked him, but the school has offered me his post. It’s temporary—they’re looking for a permanent candidate—but that doesn’t mean I won’t be taking this job seriously. I’ll be working you harder than ever.”
Again, people glanced around and whispered to each other. Personally, I was happy that my brother had been picked for the job. I knew he would do us good.
“As you all know,” he said, “I’m a basketball guy, so that’s what we’re going to play today. We’re going to break up into six small teams, and we’ll have ten-minute turns, with the winner staying in.”
In my mind, I was already tallying up my best players: Harry, Julian, Marty, maybe…
“We’re doing mixed teams, and I’ll pick the players,” Thiago announced. There went all my plans.
“Fuck that!” Danny shouted. For the first time in my life, I agreed with him. “I don’t want a bunch of girls on my team.”
With an icy stare, my brother said, “Cool, you won’t have to worry about it. You can stay on the sidelines doing burpees and jumping jacks.”
I couldn’t help but grin.
This was going to be fun.
