Freeing Carter Read Free Page A

everything so instead of grabbing a basketball , like I do , she chooses to get lost in a bottle.
    My backpack sits under the hoop on the far end of the court. Each time I run that way , see it sitting there with the work I know I should be doing , I push harder , run harder. My cell is going crazy , ringing and beeping every two seconds. But instead of answering , I jump , letting the ball roll off my fingertips just right. It arcs in the air , hitting nothing but the bottom of the net.
    Five more minutes. Then I ' ll go over to Mel ' s to apologize , then head home to bust my ass learning Hamlet and reading books that will have no effect on my life whatsoever.
    My muscles are tight , Mrs. Z ' s words from today slamming into me.
    Mom ' s apology from last night taunts me.
    Instead of grabbing the ball , I start running lines. From one side of the court , to the free throw line , and back. Three point line and back. Half court , and then owning the other side too. By the time I ' m done , my lungs ache , but in a good way. My way. Not giving a shit that I ' m in the middle of a public basketball court , at a park , I collapse on the ground , one arm covering my eyes.
    T he warm pavement feels good against my back , seeping through my shirt. There ' s a part of me that ' s screaming at my muscles to move , to make myself get up and do all the stuff that I don ' t want to do , but nothing happens.
    My phone goes off again. Mel ' s going to kill me. I need to talk to her. It ' s not her fault I was in a bad mood today. Not her fault I stayed up all night then took it out on her. In a way , she ' s like basketball for me. An escape. Maybe a much moodier escape , but one all the same.
    As soon as I make the decision to get up and go see her , I hear a voice.  " Second time in one day I could have kicked you. You sleep a lot. "
    My arm drops. Kira is standing above me , the setting sun peeking out from behind her. " I didn ' t fall asleep in art , " I say. "That has to count for something. " She ' d been in my art class this afternoon too. " And I ' m not sleeping now. Just resting. " I stand up.
    " Yeah , you were in the zone out there. "
    " Practice starts tomorrow. Just getting ready. " I look around to see if anyone else is watching that I didn ' t know about. We ' re both quiet for a few seconds. I'm not sure what to say to this girl I don ' t know , I lift my arm to scratch my head instead of talking.
    " Is the team any good? At my old school they sucked pretty bad. It was embarrassing. "
    This is something I can talk about. " We ' re the best. Probably take the conference this year , at least. It won ' t be embarrassing to cheer us on. "
    She laughs , and I wonder what I said that ' s so funny. " I ' m not the rah-rah kind of girl. "
    I take a step back , my eyes darting to the ground. Words lost to me. It takes me a minute , and then I wonder what I ' m doing . Why am I letting myself clam up like I ' ve never talked to a girl before ? Raising my head , my eyes find hers. " That ' s because you ' ve never had me to cheer for. " I wink at her , playing the game.
    " No! " she shakes her head , laughing. It ' s a real laugh. Not one of those fake I-want-your-attention laughs. " Don ' t do that. Bring back the guy who was so into the game. The one who obviously loves what he ' s doing and actually cares about something. Don ' t be a stereotypical , cocky teenage boy. "
    My mouth opens. Closes. Opens again , but nothing comes out. The urge to scratch my head again comes back , but I don ' t let myself do it. Who is this girl? I ' ve talked to her for a total of like 2.2 seconds my whole life , and she talks to me like we ' re long lost buddies or something.  Am I slipping? No. Just lost step a bit. " I ' m allowed to be cocky because I ' m good. I can back it up. You ' ll see once you watch me play. "
    For the millionth time my phone goes off. Mel , she ' s who I need to see right now. I ' ll get lost in her , make up for