Locker 13 Read Free Page A

tossed back his head and laughed. His blue eyes rolled around in his tiny head.
    â€œFreestyle shooting,” Hannah said, tearing off the windbreaker. She tossed it to the side of the court. “Come on, Stretch. Twenty shots each. Any kind of shot.” She stared up at him. “You’ll lose. Really. You’ll see. You’ll lose to a girl !”
    His smile faded. “You’re on the girls’ basketball team—right?”
    Hannah nodded. “I’m the center.”
    Stretch started to dribble the ball slowly in front of him. “Twenty shots? Layups or three-point?”
    Hannah shrugged. “Any kind. You’ll lose.”
    I climbed to my feet and went over to the side of the court to watch. I still felt a little shaky, but I knew I was okay.
    Stretch didn’t hesitate. He raised the ball and pushed up a one-handed shot from half-court. The ball hit the backboard, then the rim—and dropped in. “One for one,” he said. He ran to retrieve the ball. “I’ll keep shooting until I miss.”
    He missed his next shot, an easy layup from under the basket.
    Hannah’s turn. I crossed my fingers and counted to seven three times.
    â€œGo, Hannah!” I cheered, holding up my crossed fingers.
    Hannah sank a basket from the foul line. Then she drove under the basket and shot another one in from underneath.
    My mouth dropped open as she sank eight more baskets without a miss. “Wow. Go, Hannah!”
    Stretch just stood there looking dumb. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. His face was a total blank.
    â€œTen for ten!” Hannah declared. She bounced the ball to Stretch. “You go. Just to keep it interesting.”
    Hannah glanced at me, grinned, and flashed me a thumbs-up.
    Stretch wasn’t smiling anymore. He had a grim, determined look on his face as he drove in close to shoot. He dropped four straight baskets, then missed one from in front of the foul line.
    He muttered something under his breath and bounced the ball to Hannah.
    Hannah sank eight more in a row. She turned to Stretch. “Eighteen for eighteen!”
    But he was already jogging back to the gym, a scowl on his face.
    â€œI’m not finished!” Hannah called after him.
    Stretch turned back to me. “Hey, Champ—maybe you should take a lesson from your girlfriend . Or maybe you should play on her team!” Shaking his head, he disappeared into the school.
    A strong wind began to blow across the playground. It was dark as evening now. I picked up Hannah’s windbreaker and reached out to hand it to her. But she took another shot. “Nineteen.” And then another. “Twenty. Yay! I win!”
    I gaped at her. “Hannah—you never miss! How do you do that?”
    She shrugged. “Just lucky.”
    I shivered. We started jogging back to the school. “Ask me how lucky I am,” I muttered. “I made a new enemy today. A huge enemy!”
    Hannah stopped and grabbed my arm. “Hey—I totally forgot why I was looking for you. I wanted to tell you the coolest news!”
    I held the school door open. “Yeah? What?”
    Hannah’s green eyes flashed. “You know those photos I took of my dog? I sent them to a magazine in New York. And guess what? They paid me five hundred dollars for them. They’re going to publish them—and do a big story about me! Isn’t that so totally cool?”
    â€œWow. Totally,” I said.
    And that’s when I decided my luck had to change.
    Why should Hannah have all the luck? I can be lucky, too, I told myself.
    It’s all attitude. That’s what it takes. The right attitude.
    I changed into my street clothes. I made my way upstairs to stop at my locker. Locker 13.
    Basketball practice had run so late, the halls were empty. My shoes clonked noisily on the hard floor. Most of the lights had already been turned off.
    This school is creepy when it’s empty, I