Off The Rim

• Hayley Weston, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2010

As I sat in that hot, stuffy classroom, I looked out onto the basketball court. Some year 10 boys were playing, and I watched as they dribbled towards the hoop, and dunked it, causing the entire backboard to shake. I wanted to be like them. I wanted to be the one that the girls all wanted to be with, and all the guys wanted to be. 'It's not possible,' I thought to myself. 'I can't shoot like them, I can't dribble like them, and I certainly don't have the strength they do.' The shuffling off feet and the sound of chairs hitting the tables, in the students' mad bolts to get to the canteen on time, awoke me from my day dream. I picked up my things, put them in my bag, and walked out of the room. I stuffed my hands in my pocket and started walking towards my friends.
"Hey kid!" I heard someone call from behind. I spun around to see who it was.
"Heard you wanna play like the big boys hey?" I hadn't yet found the source of the voice, but i chose to respond, knowing the whole time I would probably look like a child talking to their imaginary friend.
"Maybe," I replied. "Why?"
"Come with me," the voice instructed, and I finally found the person talking to me, and weaved in and out of the crowd, trying to keep up with them.