مسابقه‌ی گزینش بسکتبال

Chapter three

The Basketball Try-outs

“It’s lunchtime. Thank God! I’m so hungry!” says Ricki to Tony as they leave their English class and walk to their lockers. “Me too! English is so hard, I’m always hungry after our English lessons!” replies Tony.

“It isn’t hard, it’s easy,” says Ricki, laughing, “but you have to do the homework, Tony!”

“Yeah, okay, I know,” replies his friend.

They put their books away, lock their lockers and walk to the lunchroom.

“Hey, there’s Stacy and Trish. Let’s eat with them,” says Tony. They walk over to the table where the two girls are sitting. “Hi! What’s the matter, girls?” asks Ricki, seeing their worried faces. “Ricki, we’re scared,” replies Stacy.

“About what” asks Ricki.

“About those notes you and Tony found in your lockers,” says Trish. “Please show them to the principal,” says Stacy. “They could mean trouble.”

Just then two tall senior boys stop at their table.

“Hey, Anderson! Hey, Caruso! Are you trying out for the team today?” Kyle Martin asks them.

“Yeah, and I’m going to make the team, too” replies Ricki, laughing.

“Oh yeah? Well, watch out, kid, you don’t want anything bad to happen today, eh?” says the other senior, Pat Jones, with a nasty smile. Pat and Kyle walk away, laughing, to go sit at another table.

“I don’t like Kyle Martin and Pat Jones. They’re bullies. They always make trouble,” says Trish, uncomfortably.

“Do you think they wrote the mysterious notes?” asks Stacy.

“Remember what Pat said. ‘You don’t want anything bad to happen today. the same words as your note, Ricki.”

“No, I don’t think they wrote the notes,” replies Ricki. “They’re creeps but they just want to play basketball. Writing notes and sending e-mails is not their style.”

“Sending e-mail threats.? What do you mean?” says Stacy, looking at him.

“Oh nothing, honey, forget it,” replies Ricki quickly, as he sees Tony’s expression.

“Let’s talk about something else,” says Tony. “What movie do you want to see this weekend, girls?”

After school, Ricki and Tony go to the changing rooms to get ready for the basketball try-out. While they are putting on their sports clothes, Pat Jones comes in. He pushes Ricki roughly. Ricki falls against the lockers.

“Hey, watch out, Pat” shouts Ricki angrily.

“Why? What are you going to do, kid?” Pat laughs and walks out of the changing room.

“Forget it, Ricki,” says Tony calmly, “he wants you to get angry. He wants you to play badly so you can’t get on the team.”

“Yeah, you’re right, Tony. He’s a moron,” says Ricki after a moment. “Come on! Let’s go out there and show them who’s the best!”

Ricki and Tony walk out onto the basketball court, grinning.

“Okay Everyone, onto the court!” shouts Coach Bergman. Twenty-five boys get up and run onto the basketball court. Twenty-five boys want to be on the team but only twelve boys are needed. Everyone is nervous. The players practice for an hour. Finally, Coach Bergman shouts, “Okay, we are going to play a game now. I want to watch you play so I can choose the boys to be on the school team. Play hard and play well, boys! Good luck!” Tony and Ricki and three other boys are in Team A in the white shirts. Pat Jones and Kyle Martin are in Team B with some of their friends. They’re wearing the red shirts.

Coach Bergman blows his whistle and shouts, “Let’s play!” He blows the whistle again and the game begins.

Tony takes the ball and throws it to Ricki. Ricki dribbles down the court, dodging his opponents, to the basket. He plays the ball well. He sees Pat Jones coming towards him and tries a shot at the basket. It’s a good shot but he’s too far from the basket. He misses. Tony catches the ball on the rebound and shoots. Swish! The ball goes straight into the basket! Two points for Team A! Kyle Martin catches it and runs off down the court. He crashes into Tony who falls to the floor.

“Hey, Martin! Watch out!” shouts Coach Bergman.

“Sorry, Coach!” shouts Kyle hut Ricki sees him look at his friend Pat and grin.

The teams play for fifteen minutes. In the end, Team A wins by sixteen points to twelve.

“What do you think?” asks Ricki, as he wipes his face with his towel.

“I don’t know. It’s going to be a really difficult decision for Coach Bergman. I sure hope we make the team, Ricki!” replies Tony.

“Me, too,” says Ricki.

“Anyway, Tony, one thing is sure. those mysterious messages were just a joke. Nothing bad happened at the try-out.”

“No, it didn’t - not yet,” says Tony.