completely? âIâm okay,â I croaked.
âNo, you arenât. Trust me, itâll help,â Owen insisted.
But breathing wasnât going to help me. Nothing was.
With each step I lost a bit of speed, until I was trailing them by a couple of feet, then half a lap.
Keeping up just wasnât in the cards.
When Coach Baxter finally blew the whistle to stop the torture, Iâd never been more grateful for anything in my life. I walked in circles for a few seconds, hands on my waist while I caught my breath. I tried to ignore the fact that none of the other guys were even slightly winded.
âWinning streak or not, we still need to work on some basics,â Coach said. âStarting with free throws.â
My specialty! I couldnât help smiling.
Coach split us up into two groups, and I was assigned to the far net with Nicky Chu, Paul, and a handful of the other guys, including M&M.
Terrific.
We lined up to take turns shooting, and I somehow ended up sandwiched between the twins.
âMy brother and I want to stand together,â the one behind me said.
âOh, uh ⦠sure,â I told him, moving aside.
They couldnât be two feet away from each other?
The twins waited their turn, exchanging smiles and nods I couldnât even begin to understand. It was like speaking without words. Sign language without the signs.
Telepathy.
âWhat are they doing?â Nicky Chu whispered.
I shook my head instead of answering, trying to imagine doing the same thing with Owen and not succeeding.
Coach blew his whistle and the first twin dribbled to the free throw line and held the ball under one arm while he shook the other to loosen it up, then crouched and straightened a couple of times. When I thought he was ready, he crouched and straightened again.
Was it basketball or ballet class?
He finally took the shot, which soared through the air in a perfect arc and dropped right through the net with a silent but deadly
swish
.
âSweet,â Nicky Chu said quietly.
And I had to admit it
was
sweet. That is, until the second Matthews brother did the exact same thing, right down to shaking his hands loose and crouching.
âAmazing,â Paul said. âTheyâre
exactly
the same.â
There was another silent
swish
, and the ball was passed to me.
I was a terrible dribbler, so I carried the ball to the free throw line. I liked taking shots when there was no one between me and the basket, and the silence made me feel calm. I had time to relax my shoulders and every other body part before throwing the ball.
I took a deep breath.
âNuts!â Owen shouted from the other basket as I heard a ball bounce off the far rim.
I sighed, then bounced the ball twice, took a deep breath, adjusted my glasses, licked my lips, and rolled my shoulders. I bent my knees and jumped in the air as I threw the ball.
It bounced off the backboard with a satisfying
thwack
and dropped right through the net.
Whew
.
âNice shot,â one of the twins said as I joined them at the back of the line.
âThank you,â I said, smiling.
âYour stance is kind of weird, though,â the other one added.
âYeah, crooked,â the first one agreed.
âBut it was still a decent shot,â the other said.
âYeah, and a basket is a basket, even if you lookââ
âWeird scoring it,â they said together.
What?
Between the back of the line and my next turn shooting, all I could think about was my âcrookedâ stance. Dad had told me it was fine when we practiced, and I
had
scored, so did it matter if I looked weird shooting?
Yes, it did.
Metalloids: boron, silicon, germanium â¦
The twins took their next shots, and both were perfect.
Arsenic, antimony, tellurium â¦
The ball was passed to me and I took a deep breath as I approached the line for my second turn.
All I could think about was my crooked body.
âTry pushing off the other
âNo, you arenât. Trust me, itâll help,â Owen insisted.
But breathing wasnât going to help me. Nothing was.
With each step I lost a bit of speed, until I was trailing them by a couple of feet, then half a lap.
Keeping up just wasnât in the cards.
When Coach Baxter finally blew the whistle to stop the torture, Iâd never been more grateful for anything in my life. I walked in circles for a few seconds, hands on my waist while I caught my breath. I tried to ignore the fact that none of the other guys were even slightly winded.
âWinning streak or not, we still need to work on some basics,â Coach said. âStarting with free throws.â
My specialty! I couldnât help smiling.
Coach split us up into two groups, and I was assigned to the far net with Nicky Chu, Paul, and a handful of the other guys, including M&M.
Terrific.
We lined up to take turns shooting, and I somehow ended up sandwiched between the twins.
âMy brother and I want to stand together,â the one behind me said.
âOh, uh ⦠sure,â I told him, moving aside.
They couldnât be two feet away from each other?
The twins waited their turn, exchanging smiles and nods I couldnât even begin to understand. It was like speaking without words. Sign language without the signs.
Telepathy.
âWhat are they doing?â Nicky Chu whispered.
I shook my head instead of answering, trying to imagine doing the same thing with Owen and not succeeding.
Coach blew his whistle and the first twin dribbled to the free throw line and held the ball under one arm while he shook the other to loosen it up, then crouched and straightened a couple of times. When I thought he was ready, he crouched and straightened again.
Was it basketball or ballet class?
He finally took the shot, which soared through the air in a perfect arc and dropped right through the net with a silent but deadly
swish
.
âSweet,â Nicky Chu said quietly.
And I had to admit it
was
sweet. That is, until the second Matthews brother did the exact same thing, right down to shaking his hands loose and crouching.
âAmazing,â Paul said. âTheyâre
exactly
the same.â
There was another silent
swish
, and the ball was passed to me.
I was a terrible dribbler, so I carried the ball to the free throw line. I liked taking shots when there was no one between me and the basket, and the silence made me feel calm. I had time to relax my shoulders and every other body part before throwing the ball.
I took a deep breath.
âNuts!â Owen shouted from the other basket as I heard a ball bounce off the far rim.
I sighed, then bounced the ball twice, took a deep breath, adjusted my glasses, licked my lips, and rolled my shoulders. I bent my knees and jumped in the air as I threw the ball.
It bounced off the backboard with a satisfying
thwack
and dropped right through the net.
Whew
.
âNice shot,â one of the twins said as I joined them at the back of the line.
âThank you,â I said, smiling.
âYour stance is kind of weird, though,â the other one added.
âYeah, crooked,â the first one agreed.
âBut it was still a decent shot,â the other said.
âYeah, and a basket is a basket, even if you lookââ
âWeird scoring it,â they said together.
What?
Between the back of the line and my next turn shooting, all I could think about was my âcrookedâ stance. Dad had told me it was fine when we practiced, and I
had
scored, so did it matter if I looked weird shooting?
Yes, it did.
Metalloids: boron, silicon, germanium â¦
The twins took their next shots, and both were perfect.
Arsenic, antimony, tellurium â¦
The ball was passed to me and I took a deep breath as I approached the line for my second turn.
All I could think about was my crooked body.
âTry pushing off the other
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