geek(ish)

22

Friday February 27
12:05pm
SCHOOL

"Brooklyn!" Coach Karan spotted me as I approached him near the bleachers. "I'm glad you came!"

"Hey Coach."

"Scott!" Coach waved my brother over, "get over here!"

Zach jogged over to the two of us, a confused look on his face.

"Hey Coach. What're you doing here, Brooklyn?" He asked me.

Before I could answer my brother, Coach Karan had beaten me to it.

"Brooklyn is here today to help out the team."

Zach's confusion morphed into an annoying smirk, and he gave me a suggestive look.

"Help out the team, you say?" I tried my best to give him a 'back off' look.

"Yeah," Karan confirmed, "now I'll leave you two kids to talk." Coach walked off, leaving me to talk with with my idiot brother.

"Stop it Zach," I sent him a pointed glare but his smirk didn't fall.

"Don't call me that," he playfully shoved my shoulder, "everyone here goes by their last name, so don't screw that up."

"Why?" I asked, smiling as I shoved him back, "it's stupid."

"No," he laughed and shook his head, "it makes us cool," he emphasized 'cool.'

"Whatever, Scott," I teased, but our lovely conversation was cut short by Coach's whistle.

"Boys! Bring it in!" Coach shouted.

"Thats my cue. I'll see you later, sis," Zach ruffled my hair before joining the other boys.

"You probably noticed Miss Brooklyn Scott over there," Coach pointed in my direction and I froze as they all simultaneously turned to look at me. "She's here to give a few pointers and help out. Anyway, let's start!"

Coach pulled out a few pinnies, and handed them to a few players, so my first thought was that they were going to scrimmage.

Once they had two teams, they began playing.

To say that the players glides across the court would be an exaggeration, but they all moved around with ease. In a way it reminded me of a symphony, the way they all played in gracefully sync, minus the sweat, yelling and physical contact. But just because they played amazingly didn't mean they didn't fault.

"Wait, can you stop them for a moment," I asked Coach, and he nodded.

He blew the whistle and the boys faltered, turning their attention from the game to their coach.

"Bring it in," he waved them over.

The boys approached us and I played with my fingers under their attention.

"Well, uh, you," I pointed to the guy who saved me from Cameron a few days ago.

"Sykes," he gave me his last name with a small smile.

"Yeah, Sykes. I get that you're point guard and all but that isn't an excuse to hog the ball."

"Finally, someone said it," Cameron muttered, earning a few snickers from his teammates.

"Oh please Wilson, take a look at yourself," Sykes scowled and I felt bad for causing a fight.

"Boys, drop it," Coach warned, stopping their bickering.

"As I was saying," I continue, "you have to pass more. I see Chamberlin open quite a bit. Next, Za-Scott," I caught myself before I said Zach's name. Last names, he said, "you need to be by the net and ready for the rebound when Sykes shoots. I know that you want to be ready for when the ball's turned over but you don't need to hang out by half court."

"Alright, Miss Bossy Brooklyn," My brother teased.

"Alright," Coach Karan blew his whistle, "time to get back at it."

Once the boys had resumed their game, Coach turned to me.

"That was good advice, Scott. Maybe next time I should make you do some drills with them," he teased.