A Brighter Tomorrow: My Journey with Julie

I spin around Tracy and swoop the ball behind my back to Stinger. He catches it and sinks it for two points. He blurts out that was a good pass, but when he meets my eyes, he catches himself for complimenting a girl.

Tracy and Mike pick up the pace and score three baskets in a row, putting us way behind. Julie yells that she’s wide open, but Stinger still refuses to pass to either of us. Finally, Julie calls a time-out.

The four of us gather in a huddle, and T.J. lets Stinger have it: we’re losing by a bunch, and we’d have a better chance if he passed to the girls.

Julie agrees. We’re on the same team now. He can’t hog the ball just because he doesn’t like having girls on the team.

Stinger rolls his eyes and argues we’re going to lose anyway, so what difference does it make? Julie’s eyes narrow, and she tells him to start passing the ball. Maybe he’ll see a difference.

Despite his attitude, I must have gotten through to him, because back on the court, we finally start working together. Stinger passes to Julie, and she makes the basket. After the teens score again, Julie passes to me, and I drive down the court, spin around Mike with my special Hula Hoop move, and sink another two points. T.J. and Stinger look amazed.

By the end, Tracy and Mike crush us, 35-26. Still, when we shake hands with them for a good game, I can tell the tension has eased and we feel like a team. Julie tells them the court is all theirs, and as the teenagers take over, Julie and I wave goodbye to T.J. and Stinger and start walking back to Gladrags.

A few steps later, Stinger calls to wait up. The boys catch up, and he admits he should have passed to us sooner. If he had, we could have given Tracy and Mike a run for their money.

Stinger looks down, digging the toe of his gym shoe into the ground, and admits that Julie can play. The Jaguars could use a team player like her. Julie beams and thanks him.

As we walk back to Gladrags, I can see Stinger’s words made a difference. Julie has a spring in her step that was missing before. She’s been through so much to get people to believe in her as a basketball player: the petition, the HORSE game, the scrimmage against the teenagers, and moments when even she lost hope because of people like Coach Manley and Stinger.

And then I think of Chloe encouraging me to join the basketball team earlier today. She believes in me, and so did my team back home. Nothing is stopping me but my own lack of confidence.

When we get back to Gladrags, I hold the mood ring tightly and tell Julie I need to go home now, but I wish her good luck with the basketball team. I know she’ll get on.

Julie smiles, sets the ball under one foot, and gives me a hug, thanking me for my help and for being a good teammate.

I hug her back and tell her I’ve decided that first thing Monday, I’m signing up to play on the basketball team at my school. Who knows, I might meet teammates as good as Chloe or Julie.