Love For A Game

Chapter 7

I enter school on Monday with a little skip in my step. Today is Nicole's tryout for the Raiders, and I am anxious, for a few reasons.

Firstly, I'm not quite sure how good Nicole will be. Perhaps it was beginners luck that she beat me in that one on one. Perhaps the tryout won't go as well as I hope it to.

Secondly, I wonder what the rest of the team thinks about Nicole. They have never experienced a girl in the league before, let alone ever. They may not be so happy about a girl coming in and taking a spot on their team.

Lastly, I wonder about what Coach Bennington is going to think. He has never seen Nicole play before, and he had seemed skeptical when I talked to him. Bennington is hard, and will work her harder than ever. I'm afraid that she may not be able to handle it.

On the other hand, I have to stay positive. I cannot doubt Nicole, or her abilities. I will have to just let her play. If I look doubtful, I know that Coach Bennington will see that. If that happens, Nicole won't make the team for sure.

I walk into my history class second period, and Nicole is sitting in her spot in the second row from the back. I sit in the spot next to her.

"Hi," I say to her.

"Hello," she replies with a smile.

"I've got something to tell you," I mutter.

"Okay? What is it?"

"I've got you the tryout with the Raiders. Today, four o'clock. At the arena."

She grins widely. "Thank you very much, Jordan! I appreciate this. You have no idea."

"You're welcome."

She's about to say more, but our teacher Mr. Kendrick, puts his hand up to silence everybody.

"All right, folks, he says. "Since we're getting close to Christmas, I'm going to assign you a project." Everyone groans.

Mr. Kendrick continues. "This is a group project. You will decide on a topic from World War Two that you find interesting. It must be approved by me, and it is first come, first serve. You will present your findings in front of the class the week before Christmas break."

With that, people start to pair up. Nicole looks over at me, and I nod to her. That pretty much settled things. Nicole and I will be partners for this project.

"So," I say casually. "What would you like to do?"

"I don't know," she replies. "Maybe a report on the Battle of Midway. You know, between America and Japan."

"That isn't Canadian, though. It needs to be Canadian."

She raises an eyebrow. "Did Mr. Kendrick say it had to be something Canadian?"

"That, he did not," I say. "However, I would still like to talk about something that Canada was actually involved in."

"Fine," she sighs. "How about we talk about the Dieppe raid, and why it was unsuccessful?"

"I like that," I reply. "We could also compare it to the Juno Beach raid, on D-Day."

"That sounds good to me."

"Let's go see Kendrick then."

We go speak to Mr. Kendrick, and he loves our idea. He says that it is interesting that we want to compare the Dieppe raid and the D-Day raids, because it really shows how the war had changed in such little time. He says that he expects a good presentation out of us. Nicole and I go back to our desks and begin to brainstorm for the project.