Her Teen Dream by Devon Vaughn Archer

like anyone else.”
    “You are, Karin,” her father said. “Just make
sure you do so responsibly.”
    “I always do,” she reminded him.
    “True.”
    “And we want to keep it that way,” her mother
added with concern.
    “You can grab a bite to eat with Reese after
the game, Karin,” Greer told her. “All we ask is that you be home
on time...and be careful.”
    “I will, Daddy.” She smiled and, looking at
her mother, could tell that she wasn’t happy with his final word on
the matter.
    * * *
    The gymnasium was packed as the Spartans
played their cross-town rivals, the Mumfree High Canooks. Karin sat
next to Lesley, each paying particular attention to how Reese and
Marcus did on the court. Never mind the fact that it would take a
team effort to beat the talented Canooks.
    “My mother nearly derailed things,” Karin
said dramatically, counting her blessings. “For a while there, I
thought I’d miss the game and our dinner date.”
    “Mine was okay with the game, especially when
she found out you’d be here,” Lesley said. “I think she probably
would’ve been okay with me going out with Marcus, too. It’s not
like I haven’t had a boyfriend before.”
    Karin rolled her eyes. “Since when? Those
crushes from afar don’t count, any more than the guys who’ve liked
you that you couldn’t stand.”
    Lesley grinned. “All right, so Marcus will be
my first real boyfriend, if it happens.”
    “Yeah, for you and me both. First time
boyfriends who happen to play b-ball,” Karin quipped. She wondered
how she might get around her parents’ rejection of Reese as
boyfriend material before they even got the chance to know him.
    Suddenly the crowd cheered as Reese stole the
ball and arched a perfect pass to Marcus, who was running in full
stride. He finished off with a one-handed dunk. Karin and Lesley
jumped up and screamed when his basket tied the score with less
than two minutes to play.
    A win or loss for the Spartans came down to
the final five seconds. Coach Cleaver called a timeout with the
team trailing by one. The Spartan cheerleaders ran onto the court,
led by Cheryl Green, and wooed the crowd with their choreographed
moves.
    “Why does she have to be so good?” muttered
Karin, feeling a touch of envy. Not to mention beautiful.
    “It’s called practice makes perfect,” Lesley
replied. “We could be cheerleaders, too, if we really wanted to
be.”
    “You think?”
    “Yeah, but don’t get any ideas. We don’t need
to be where they are to attract guys. Or lose them. Besides, I’ll
bet we’d whip their butts in tennis or running.”
    “You’re so right,” chuckled Karin, liking the
idea.
    The players took the floor and jockeyed for
position. Reese looked at Karin with a crooked, but confident,
smile and she felt her heart flutter.
    “If they lose this game, I think I’m going to
die!” exclaimed Lesley.
    “They won’t,” Karin declared. Somehow she
just knew that the team would find a way to pull this one out,
especially if willpower had anything to do with it.
    Reese threw the ball in from the sideline to
the center, Johnnie Freeman. Double-teamed, he faked throwing the
ball to Marcus at the top of the key and instead flung it like an
arrow to Reese in the corner. He lofted the ball high over the
outstretched arm of the defender. It seemed to stay up in the air
forever as the crowd held its collective breath, before hitting
nothing but the bottom of the net as time expired.
    The crowd erupted into cheers. Lesley and
Karin hugged, appreciating the game like never before.
    Karin waited outside the boys’ locker room
for Reese. Marcus had already come out and he and Lesley had taken
off.
    When Reese emerged, he had changed into
street clothes and smelled of a fresh shower and spicy cologne.
    “Hey,” he said, smiling.
    “Hey, Reese.” Karin tried to stifle her
nerves. “That was a great finish to a good game.”
    He shrugged. “We dug ourselves a hole and
nearly got buried in