Long Shot by Eric Walters Page A

what you want … right, Nick?” my father asked.
    â€œSure … of course.”
    â€œAnd if you couldn’t be part of the team, would that be all right?” my mother asked.
    â€œI guess I’d play house league basketball or …”I paused. Had they made a decision after I went to bed that I couldn’t be part of the team even if I were offered a spot? Were they just pretending that they wanted my opinion when they’d already made the decision for me?
    I felt a rush of anger. “Are you saying I can’t be part of the team?”
    Nobody said a word. My mother just looked worried.
    â€œMom?” I asked.
    She took a deep breath. “I have some reservations about your being part of any team coached by that man, but your father and I came to an agreement today. Our agreement is that the person who has to make the decision is you.”
    â€œMe?” I asked.
    â€œThat’s right,” my father said. “Whether you want to be part of this team or don’t is up to you.”
    â€œMaybe we won’t be completely happy with any decision you make,” my mother added. “But we’ll support you whether you play or not.”
    â€œThanks,” I said.
    â€œAnd you’re okay with that … right?” my father asked.
    I nodded my head. That meant that if I were offered a spot on the team I was free to take it. It sounded like my father had won the argument, even though they had come to some sort of agreement.
    My father knew that there was no way I’d turn down the chance to play basketball if I were offered a spot on the team. I’d just grab that spot and … suddenly I had a strange feeling right in the pit of my stomach.
    â€œNow that we’re finished, you might want to get up to your room and start on all that homework,” my father said.
    â€œYeah, I guess I better.”
    I walked out of the kitchen thinking about how none of this was particularly fair. I had to go and pretend to do homework I didn’t have, and it still hadn’t got me out of that conversation. Well, at least they were letting me make the choice to be part of the team. Strange … I guess I wanted to be the one who made the decision … free to choose to be on the team. Because I definitely wanted to be on the team. At least I was pretty sure I did.

Chapter Thirteen

    We all stood outside the door of the gym, waiting for it to open and for us to be let in. There was a lot of talking and joking around, but I could tell everybody was nervous. Really nervous. Even Kia had been pretty quiet on the drive over.
    I stood off to the side and watched. I didn’t feel that anxious. That was even stranger than Kia being nervous. I always felt on pins and needles, but now I didn’t. One thought kept rolling around in my head — what was the worst that could happen? Making the team or not, life would go on.
    Even stranger still was watching L.B. He was off by himself too, but instead of standing there alone he was pacing back and forth … back and forth. He looked like a caged animal. And I couldn’t be positive from where I stood, but I thought he was talking to himself.
    L.B. was always so calm, but not now. I couldn’tfigure out what he had to be nervous about. Not only was he a good player, but the coach was his father. It wasn’t like he was going to be cut.
    My mind spun around, trying to think who the cuts might be. I looked around trying to locate the two or three people who seemed to be most on the edge. I didn’t see any of them. Why weren’t they here already? If they were late, he’d cut them for sure even if he hadn’t already made that decision … or had the decision already been made? Had Coach Barkley made the cuts? At least those three kids were missing. There had been sixteen kids at the game. Sixteen kids who hadn’t been cut. How many of us were now outside the gym waiting to go in? I