serve. She looked across the court and tried to psych us out. I guess I’ll serve short to Olivia. She’s the weakest.
Olivia: Ah! She’s shooting it to me!
Jordana: I’ll get it! Jordana was our best player.
Leora served.
Jordana swooped in and popped it to Courtney, who slammed it back over the net.
One of them: I’m hitting it to the open area between Brinn and Courtney!
Brinn: I got it!
Jordana: Hit it back to the area between Shoshana and Jill!
Point!
Us: Tip it!
Point!
Us: Cut shot!
Point!
We kicked ass.
Our boys did just as well. We knew all of 10A’s plays and kept intercepting the ball.
And sure, football was just football. Volleyball was just volleyball. Gym volleyball, and gym football, so even more irrelevant. But still. Our dominance over our opponents continued after school.
The BHS chess team had a match against Stuyvesant.
Pi’s opponent was a senior named Rick. He was their best player.
Let’s try a pirc defense, he thought, moving his pawn to the middle.
I don’t think so, Pi thought. She laughed inside her head. Since she was the only one from 10B on the chess team, no one could hear.
Her opponent didn’t stand a chance. Pi was able to block all his moves. She knew what was coming.
She won three games in a row.
Nick kicked ass at baseball practice.
Brinn kicked ass at fencing.
Dave and Daniel kicked ass at their wrestling practice. It was easy to block moves when you knew what they were. But when they had to wrestle each other, they ended up standing still, eyes locked, in a stupor.
Daniel: I’m going for your legs.
Dave: Then I’m going for a whizzer!
Daniel: You suck at whizzers.
Dave: You suck at takedowns!
Daniel: You’re ugly.
Dave: No, you’re ugly!
Daniel: I’m kind of hungry, actually.
Dave: What do you think Mom is making for dinner?
Mackenzie and Tess didn’t have extracurriculars on Thursdays. Instead, they’d crossed the West Side Highway and were sitting on a bench in Battery Park sipping chocolate milk shakes from Shake Shack and gazing at the Hudson River. They could kind of see the Statue of Liberty from where they were, but it required some twisting. And they were too tired to do much twisting.
Tess took a big gulp of her shake and sighed. “This is not going to help me look good in my dress at your Sweet. It’s already a little tight. You are a very bad influence.”
Mackenzie took a long sip. “I’ve practically forgotten about my Sweet with all the insanity going on. So I think we earned these today.”
“That was a rough lunch,” Tess said, shivering. “This whole thing is crazy.”
“I know.”
“I’m glad you’re going through it with me, though,” Tess said. “We’re lucky to have each other.” She tried to imagine what it would be like if she had no one to talk to about what was happening. No, it would be too horrible.
“It really would be,” Mackenzie said. Her phone buzzed with a text.
“Who is it?” Tess asked.
“Cooper,” Mackenzie said. “He wants to know what I’m up to.”
“Tell him to meet us.”
Mackenzie shook her head. “I can’t deal with him right now. Not in person. It’s too stressful.”
“I know what you mean,” Tess said. “That’s how I feel about Teddy.”
Mackenzie sighed. Not exactly the same thing.
Tess felt like she’d been slapped. I didn’t say it was the same thing.
Instead of answering, Mackenzie typed a text back into her phone. “I’m telling him I’m busy with you.”
Poor Cooper, Tess thought.
“That doesn’t help.”
“Sorry,” Tess said. “Are you going to tell him about Bennett?” Tess’s feelings were still hurt that Mackenzie hadn’t confided in her. Tess always told Mackenzie everything. About how weight-obsessed her mom had gotten since her dad dumped her. About how Tess had been bulimic for about ten minutes back in eighth grade. About how she stalked her dad’s new girlfriend on Facebook.
I’m sorry. You like to share. I don’t.
Olivia: Ah! She’s shooting it to me!
Jordana: I’ll get it! Jordana was our best player.
Leora served.
Jordana swooped in and popped it to Courtney, who slammed it back over the net.
One of them: I’m hitting it to the open area between Brinn and Courtney!
Brinn: I got it!
Jordana: Hit it back to the area between Shoshana and Jill!
Point!
Us: Tip it!
Point!
Us: Cut shot!
Point!
We kicked ass.
Our boys did just as well. We knew all of 10A’s plays and kept intercepting the ball.
And sure, football was just football. Volleyball was just volleyball. Gym volleyball, and gym football, so even more irrelevant. But still. Our dominance over our opponents continued after school.
The BHS chess team had a match against Stuyvesant.
Pi’s opponent was a senior named Rick. He was their best player.
Let’s try a pirc defense, he thought, moving his pawn to the middle.
I don’t think so, Pi thought. She laughed inside her head. Since she was the only one from 10B on the chess team, no one could hear.
Her opponent didn’t stand a chance. Pi was able to block all his moves. She knew what was coming.
She won three games in a row.
Nick kicked ass at baseball practice.
Brinn kicked ass at fencing.
Dave and Daniel kicked ass at their wrestling practice. It was easy to block moves when you knew what they were. But when they had to wrestle each other, they ended up standing still, eyes locked, in a stupor.
Daniel: I’m going for your legs.
Dave: Then I’m going for a whizzer!
Daniel: You suck at whizzers.
Dave: You suck at takedowns!
Daniel: You’re ugly.
Dave: No, you’re ugly!
Daniel: I’m kind of hungry, actually.
Dave: What do you think Mom is making for dinner?
Mackenzie and Tess didn’t have extracurriculars on Thursdays. Instead, they’d crossed the West Side Highway and were sitting on a bench in Battery Park sipping chocolate milk shakes from Shake Shack and gazing at the Hudson River. They could kind of see the Statue of Liberty from where they were, but it required some twisting. And they were too tired to do much twisting.
Tess took a big gulp of her shake and sighed. “This is not going to help me look good in my dress at your Sweet. It’s already a little tight. You are a very bad influence.”
Mackenzie took a long sip. “I’ve practically forgotten about my Sweet with all the insanity going on. So I think we earned these today.”
“That was a rough lunch,” Tess said, shivering. “This whole thing is crazy.”
“I know.”
“I’m glad you’re going through it with me, though,” Tess said. “We’re lucky to have each other.” She tried to imagine what it would be like if she had no one to talk to about what was happening. No, it would be too horrible.
“It really would be,” Mackenzie said. Her phone buzzed with a text.
“Who is it?” Tess asked.
“Cooper,” Mackenzie said. “He wants to know what I’m up to.”
“Tell him to meet us.”
Mackenzie shook her head. “I can’t deal with him right now. Not in person. It’s too stressful.”
“I know what you mean,” Tess said. “That’s how I feel about Teddy.”
Mackenzie sighed. Not exactly the same thing.
Tess felt like she’d been slapped. I didn’t say it was the same thing.
Instead of answering, Mackenzie typed a text back into her phone. “I’m telling him I’m busy with you.”
Poor Cooper, Tess thought.
“That doesn’t help.”
“Sorry,” Tess said. “Are you going to tell him about Bennett?” Tess’s feelings were still hurt that Mackenzie hadn’t confided in her. Tess always told Mackenzie everything. About how weight-obsessed her mom had gotten since her dad dumped her. About how Tess had been bulimic for about ten minutes back in eighth grade. About how she stalked her dad’s new girlfriend on Facebook.
I’m sorry. You like to share. I don’t.