by Jake Maddox
By the time practice started, Mel felt a lot better. In fact, she felt like she had been friends with Katie forever. Yesterday’s bad day seemed far away.
For the first time since she moved to Springfield, Mel felt like things were going to be okay.
· CHAPTER 7 ·
Try, Try Again
When the last bell of the day rang, Mel jumped out of her seat. She did not want to be late for practice again.
She ran down the hall, dodging the other students and teachers. In the locker room, she got dressed in record time. She quickly pulled on her practice clothes and slammed on her shoes. She was out of the locker room before any of the other players came in.
Mel was the first player in the gym. Coach Arnold was already there, setting up big orange cones for a dribbling drill. The cart full of basketballs was out.
After tying her shoes, Mel jogged over, grabbed a ball from the cart, and started shooting. Coach Arnold looked up from placing the orange cones and gave Mel a smile.
Just focus on shooting, Mel told herself. Coach Arnold always said players should put everything but the ball and the hoop out of their minds before taking a shot.
Mel concentrated hard on her shooting routine. Aim, shoot, follow through. She didn’t notice as the gym started to fill up with other players. She didn’t even hear Katie trying to get her attention.
Katie finally yelled, “Mel!” at the top of her lungs. Mel let out a small squeak of surprise. Her shot went wide and didn’t even touch the net. Both girls laughed.
“Wow, Mel! You really had your game face on!” Katie said.
“I was concentrating!” Mel said. She passed the ball to Katie so that she could shoot, too.
Katie sank a shot from about ten feet away. “You should come over for dinner tonight,” she said. “My dad always makes some really great pasta for dinner the night before a game.”
“Really? That would be fun! I’d love to,” said Mel, smiling.
“Cool,” Katie said. “I borrowed my brother’s car today, so I can drive us.”
The two girls continued to shoot while the rest of the team trickled into the gym. The freshman girls all glared at Mel.
Mel noticed the glares. Her hands started to shake.
As the buzzer went off, signaling the official start of practice, Katie clapped Mel on the shoulder. “Just ignore them,” Katie whispered.
The new friends started to jog their warm-up laps together. Mel was able to put the other players out of her mind, at least for a while. Now that she had Katie to talk to, it was much easier to ignore the other girls.
The first drill of practice was a shooting drill. The team formed two lines under the basket.
When she reached the front of the line, Mel passed the ball to a player in the other line. Then she ran around to receive her own pass for a shot. Swish!
Even though the spot to shoot from kept getting farther from the basket, Mel made almost all of her shots in the shooting drill. She felt great.
Then she looked over from the end of the line and saw Felicia. She was whispering and pointing at Mel. Like magic, the bad feeling returned to Mel’s stomach.
Nothing I do will help, she thought sadly. There’s no point.
· CHAPTER 8 ·
New Girl
Mel woke up a few minutes before her alarm clock went off the next morning. She got out of bed right away.
It was game day. That day’s game against the Tigers would be her first time playing on the JV team, but she didn’t want to get nervous. She knew if she was nervous, she wouldn’t play her best. Since it was her first game, she wanted to do the best she could.
That morning at school, all Mel could think about was the game. She had to work hard to pay attention to her classes.
At lunch, Mel stood in line to get food. When Felicia and a bunch of other girls on the freshman team sat down at a table nearby, Mel smiled over at them. But they didn’t smile back.
Instead, they all glared at her. Then they turned away, bent their heads together, and started whispering.
Suddenly, Felicia got up and walked over to Mel. She stood close to Mel and said, “You will never be as good as Leslie, so don’t even try. Coach Arnold picked you because you’re new. She felt sorry for you. She didn’t pick you because you’re good. You’re not.” She frowned and added, “Good luck tonight, new girl. You’ll need it.”
Before Mel could say anything, Felicia turned and walked back to her own table. The other girls were staring at Mel.
Mel didn’t know what to say or do. She felt sick to her stomach. Just then, Katie got up and walked over to Mel.
“You have to ignore them,” Katie said quietly. “I don’t know what Felicia’s problem is, but it’s not your fault.”
“I know,” Mel said, but she didn’t believe it. She wasn’t looking forward to the game anymore. Not at all.
* * *
That night, Mel played her worst game ever.
It started with the jump ball. Katie was the tallest player, so she jumped for the Bears. She tipped the ball right to Mel.
Mel dropped the ball. The Tigers point guard picked it up right away and drove in to score.
On the next trip up the floor, Mel tried to play good defense. She tried to move her feet and stay between the Tigers point guard and the basket.
It didn’t work. The other girl was so fast and such a good dribbler that she went right past Mel and scored again.
“Time out!” Coach Arnold called.
As Mel ran toward the bench, she saw Felicia in the stands. She was imitating Mel dropping the ball. All of the other freshman players were laughing.
For the rest of the game, the freshman team seemed to be thrilled whenever Mel made a mistake.
Mel could see them laughing every time she turned the ball over or missed a pass.
Felicia was right, Mel thought. I will never be as good as Leslie.
· CHAPTER 9 ·
Setting Goals
The next morning, Mel woke up feeling much better. Suddenly, she knew what to do. She didn’t want Felicia and the other girls to be right, so she’d prove she was a good player and a good teammate.
There was another game that night, this time against the Lions. Mel set a few goals for the game.
First, she promised herself that she wouldn’t let a mistake ruin her game.
Second, she promised to try her hardest, even if her team was losing.
Third, she promised to cheer the loudest of anyone for the freshman team during their game. Even for Felicia.
* * *
The freshman game that night went by in a flash. Mel’s throat got sore from cheering. She pretended not to see the confused looks on the freshman players’ faces when they saw her jumping up and down in the stands with Katie. Mel just cheered louder and louder.
The freshman team won, and Mel got ready to play in the JV game.
The jump ball went up. The Lions point guard chased the ball down and started to dribble to their basket for an easy shot.
Mel sprinted as hard as she could to catch up with her. She managed to hit the ball out of bounds. The Bears fans cheered loudly.
Mel smiled, but she remembered what Coach Arnold always said and tried to block everything out. She just focused on the game.
When there were only two minutes left, Coach Arnold called for a timeout. Then Mel glanced into the stands for the first time since the game started.
Mom and Emily were there, sitting a few rows from the top. Emily waved and smiled.
Then Mel saw that Leslie was there! She was sitting next to Felicia and a couple of other freshmen. They were all yelling, “Go, Mel!” as loudly as they could.
Mel shook her head in confusion. Could they really be cheering for her?
Don’t lose your focus, she told herself.
The score was tied. Coach Arnold gave the team a few last-minute instructions. Then Mel and the rest of the team ran back onto the court.
The
two teams traded baskets for a while. Then, when there were just three seconds left in the game, Katie was fouled.
Katie stepped up to the free-throw line. The gym was silent.
Then she shot, sinking the first free throw. The crowd screamed and cheered.
The official handed the ball back to Katie for the second free throw. She shot.
Swish!
The Lions passed the ball inbounds, but with only three seconds on the clock, their point guard couldn’t get past Mel’s defense to score. When the game was over, the Bears were up by two points. They’d won!
Mel looked up in the stands. Leslie and the freshman players were smiling and cheering.
Mel waved, and Leslie waved back. And to Mel’s surprise, so did Felicia, with a huge grin on her face.
It worked! Mel thought. I kept my promises, and my plan worked.
· CHAPTER 10 ·
A Team
After the game, the team walked into the locker room for their regular post-game talk. Leslie joined them, using crutches to help her get around.
Everyone was happy, smiling and laughing. After a few minutes, Coach Arnold called everyone together and asked for quiet.
“Tonight was a really great effort from all of you,” Coach said proudly.
“I am really impressed with our free throws,” she continued. Coach Arnold nodded at Katie and said, “Great job, Katie.” Everyone clapped, and Mel put her arm around her friend.
Then Coach Arnold went on, “I am also very proud of our newest addition to the team. Nice job tonight, Mel!”
Everyone cheered. Mel could feel her face getting hot as she looked around at all of her smiling teammates.
She finally felt like part of the team, and the best part was that Leslie was there, cheering loudly.
When Coach Arnold was done talking, everyone hurried to change. They only had a few minutes before the varsity game would begin.
As Mel tied her shoes, Coach Arnold walked over. “Nice job,” Coach said.
“Thanks, Coach,” Mel said.
“And one more thing,” Coach Arnold went on. “I talked to Katie. She seemed to think that some of the freshman girls have been giving you a hard time.”
Mel looked down, embarrassed. “It’s not a big deal,” she said quietly. “I think it’s over, anyway.”
“I’m glad to hear it’s over,” Coach said. “But I’ll still be talking to the freshman coach about it tomorrow. Mel, I know that you don’t want to get anyone into trouble. But everyone here is on the same team, whether they’re on the freshman team or JV or varsity.”
“Okay,” Mel said. “Got it.”
“I know you do,” Coach said. “Great job today. See you out there.” She headed into the gym, and after a few seconds, Mel followed her.
Katie was sitting toward the top of the bleachers, and she waved when Mel walked in. Mel made her way into the stands to sit by her friend. But as she did, she heard a voice.
“Mel?” It was Felicia.
Mel felt a swoop of fear in her stomach. Had Coach Arnold already talked to Felicia? Did Felicia think Mel had told on her?
Felicia stepped quickly up the stairs to where Mel was standing. “Look, I’m really sorry about what I said the other day,” Felicia said.
“Why did you do it?” Mel asked.
Felicia shook her head. “I was really upset that Leslie got hurt,” she said. “I felt like you didn’t care. It seemed like you were glad she was in an accident because it meant you got to play on the JV team.” She sighed. “Plus, my dad gave me a hard time about not making JV. Anyway, Leslie told me that you were the first person to visit her in the hospital, and after I saw how you were cheering for us tonight, I realized I really screwed up.”
“It’s okay, Felicia. Really,” said Mel. “Everyone says things they don’t mean when they’re upset.”
Felicia gave her a small smile. “Thanks,” she mumbled. “See you tomorrow.” Then she started walking back down to the other freshman players.
Before Mel could head up the stairs, Felicia turned. “Do you and Katie want to sit with us?” she asked shyly.
Mel smiled. “For sure,” she said. “I’d love that. We’ll all sit together. As a team.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Val Priebe lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with four dogs, a cat named Cowboy, and a guy named Nick. Besides writing books, she loves to spend her time reading, knitting, cooking, and coaching basketball. Other books that Val has written in this series include Full Court Dreams and Stolen Bases.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR
Pulsar Studio is a collection of artists from Argentina who work to bring editorial projects to life. They work with companies from different parts of the world designing characters, short stories for children, textbooks, art for book covers, comics, licensed art, and more. Images are their means of expression.
GLOSSARY
addition (uh-DISH-uhn)—anything or anyone new
announce (uh-NOUNSS)—to say something publicly
contagious (kuhn-TAY-juhss)—spread by direct contact
decision (di-SIZH-uhn)—something you’ve made up your mind about
familiar (fuh-MIL-yur)—something you know well
goals (GOHLZ)—things that you want to achieve
ignore (ig-NOR)—to take no notice
realize (REE-uh-lize)—to become aware that something is true
regular (REG-yuh-lur)—usual or normal
tough (TUHF)—difficult to deal with or do
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Mel is nervous about her new role on the JV team. Have you ever tried something new that you were worried you might not be good at? Talk about how you got over your fear.
Why do you think Felicia was so mean to Mel in this book? Why did the other girls go along with her? Explain your answer.
What are some other ways Mel could have dealt with Felicia and the other girls? Discuss some possible options.
WRITING PROMPTS
When Mel needs someone to talk to, her older sister, Emily, is there for her. Who do you talk to when you have a problem or need advice? Write about that person.
What do you think happens when Leslie comes back to the JV team? Write a chapter that continues the story.
Mel sets goals for herself to help concentrate on the game. Have you ever come up with a strategy like this for yourself? Using Mel’s idea, create some goals for yourself.
MORE ABOUT WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
In 1892, a year after basketball was invented, women began playing basketball at Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts. Senda Berenson, a physical eduation teacher at the college, used the sport as a way to keep her students physically fit and active during the winter. Here are some other facts about the history of women’s basketball:
• Early basketball hoops were actually peach baskets with the bottoms cut out.
• Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball.
• In the beginning, the court was divided into three sections, and each player was required to stay in their section.
• There were 6 to 9 players on a team, with 11 officials in early basketball games.
• The first intercollegiate game took place between Stanford and Berkeley in April 1896. Stanford won, 2-1.
• Men weren’t allowed to watch women’s basketball games in the beginning. Women were often assigned to guard doors and windows to keep men out.
• In 1936, a team of women called “The Red Heads” toured the United States, playing against men’s teams, using men’s rules. All members of the team were required to dye their hair red or wear a wig.
• Women had to play in skirts at first. This changed in 1896 when bloomers, a type of old-fashioned shorts, were introduced.
• Some of the most famous female basketball players are Babe Didrikson, Lisa Leslie, Rebecca Lobo, Candace Parker, and Sheryl Swoopes.
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Jake Maddox books are published by Stone Arch Books
A Capstone Imprint
1710 Roe Crest Drive
North Mankato, Minnesota 56003
www.capstonepub.com
Copyright © 2011 by Stone Arch Books
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on the Library of Congress website.
ISBN: 978-1-4342-2500-9 (library binding)
ISBN: 978-1-4342-8915-5 (ebook)
Summary: Not everyone is happy when Mel moves up to the JV basketball team, especially her old teammates.
Art Director/Graphic Designer: Kay Fraser
Image Manipulation: Sean Tiffany
Production Specialist: Michelle Biedscheid
