Souls in Peril (23 page)

“
Alright, single file along the white line,
”
Coach instructed the class.
“
I heard basketball got a little out of hand yesterday. Since I wasn
’
t here, and there are conflicting reports as to what happened, I
’
m hoping it really was just an unfortunate accident.
”
He glared directly at Jeff.

“
Same captains as yesterday, but today you
’
ll have an entirely new team chosen by yours truly.
”
Coach picked up a slip of yellow paper from the clipboard in his hand, waving it.
“
And if I see any unnecessary roughness, you
’
ll get an automatic two day suspension from
class
.
”

He handed each captain a slip of yellow paper.
“
Today, you
’
ll practice with
your
teammates only. Those of you who are familiar with b-ball
’
s rules and techniques will work with those who need help. You
’
re a team, you
’
ll work as a team. No one will sit on the bench. The old cliché holds true for your team: you
’
re only as strong as your weakest link. I suggest you help, not criticize, humiliate, or assault
,
your fellow teammates. Do I make myself clear?
”
Heads nodded, yese
s were murmured.

“
Wonderful.
”
The coach smiled broadly.
“
Captains, assemble your teams. Dave, you start.
”

After Dave, a tall gangly kid with severe acne, called up his five players, Jeff was next.
“
JD Miller,
”
he said.

Max
’
s head popped up as snickers spread like wildfire through the class. Two guys on Dave
’
s team high-fived each other as they spouted out,
“
You got stuck with Lumpy.
”

Coach stormed over to them.
“
Steven,
Kenny
, five laps around the track then hit the showers.
”

“
But, Coach, that leaves my team short two guys,
”
Dave complained.

“
Like I said, Dave,
you
’
re only as strong as your weakest link,
or in your case, links.
”
Coach
jogged
back over to Jeff and Max.

“
How
’
s your nose, JD?
”
he asked.

“
It
’
s fine, Coach. It hardly even hurts,
”
Max replied. Coach patted him on the back as the captains continued assembling their teams.

Each team took one of
the
four
basketball
courts and the captains began a mock game within their teams. Max assumed the captains wanted to assess everyone
’
s weaknesses. After five minutes, Jeff stopped the game, and broke the group up into three two-person teams. Jeff assigned himself to Max. JD
’
s heart burst into panic mode . . . again. Max inhaled deeply, muttering calming reassurances to JD as he waited to see what Jeff had in mind and hoped it didn
’
t involve pain. After Jeff assigned each team a skill to practice on, he tugged
Max
to the top corner near the basket.

“
Okay, JD, I want you to practice dribbling.
”
Jeff bounced the ball in front of him.
“
Keep the dribble low for better control.
”
He dribbled for a few seconds before passing it. Only Max didn
’
t expect the ball to come at him quite so fast and he recoiled away. Controlling JD
’
s fears still proved to be a challenge for him. The ball bounced wildly and landed in the grass. Max ran after it, tripping over his own shoes.

It
’
s just PE class, JD, and Coach is on your side. You
’
re not alone.
Astonished
, Max felt JD
’
s disbelief wash over him at
the
statement.

“
JD,
”
Jeff said, scooping up the ball before Max.
“
Um, look. I owe you an apology for yesterday. Losing Max has put the team on edge, you know? We really miss him, and blaming you was the easy way to vent all that anger. I
’
m really sorry about the whole basketball thing.
”

Now
this
was the Jeff that Max knew, not the bully who smacked JD around yesterday and popped him in the face with the basketball.
“
Why the change of heart?
”
Max asked in the rudest voice he could muster. It still sounded pathetically frail.

“
Emma. She told me about the report,
”
he explained.
“
Besides, like she said, it doesn
’
t really matter who
’
s at fault. It was an accident
,
and Max wouldn
’
t be happy that we punish
ed
you for it.
”

Emma.
He
should
’
ve known.
She was
an awesome girl and he knew it, now more than ever. She always worried about others, yet he seldom did. He didn
’
t think of himself as selfish, more like clueless. He didn
’
t mind helping out, he just didn
’
t notice when someone needed help. But Em always did.

Max nodded
,
took the ball and tried dribbling again, still surprised at the awkwardness
of
JD
’
s body while playing sports. For Max, sports were an appendage of himself. The skills seemed to flow effortlessly out of him. He worked at perfecting them, but no matter the sport, it didn
’
t take much effort. Of course JD could out-write
him
any day.

After several
dozen
tries, Max managed to dribble the ball without losing control, though he doubted under pressure he
’
d do as well. Jeff gave him a high-five on the way to the lockers, and Max pointed it out to JD. He decided he
’
d make a point of showing JD the positives in his life. Maybe that would help
with
the sour attitude that seemed to possess JD
most
times.

Max showered and headed over to journalism class. He could hardly wait. Emma would be there and he could see her again and, with any luck, even talk to her.

In his excitement, he shoved the steel classroom door open a little too forcefully and it ricocheted back at him. He caught it before it hit him in the face. Everyone in the room turned to look at him. He waved, not knowing what else to do. Mr. Roberts grinned.

He took one step into the room and stopped. There Em stood, wearing her soft pink shirt with the white pearl buttons and her sky-blue capris. He loved that outfit on her and couldn
’
t help but smile.

“
Hey, JD. Sorry for running off last night. I had so much homework to do. I
’
m still behind.
”
Max didn
’
t buy her excuse, but he got to hear the soft dulcet tones of her voice, so it didn
’
t matter.

“
That
’
s fine.
”
Max set his backpack down on the desk next to hers.
“
You look pretty today. I like that color on you. It makes your eyes stand out.
”

“
Thanks. Max . . .
”
Her eyes tightened slightly. Saying his name clearly caused her physical pain. It made him sick. She cleared her throat and continued.
“
Max used to say that too.
”

“
Smart guy.
”

“
He was pretty wonderful.
”
She smiled weakly.

“
JD, what happened to your eyes?
”
Mr. Roberts came up to them, handing Emma a small stack of papers.

“
Ran into a basketball. I
’
m good. No harm, no foul,
”
Max shrugged.

Emma
’
s head snapped up from the papers she
’
d been thumbing through.

“
What?
”
Max asked her.

“
Oh, nothing. It
’
s just that M-Max used to say that all the time too.
”
She shrugged
a
shoulder and buried herself back in her papers.

“
JD, I
’
d like to have you do some proofing this morning. The school paper goes to print Friday, and as you know, you
’
re our best proofer.
”
Mr. Roberts handed him a jump drive and pointed to a row of computers before walking away. Max stared blankly down at the jump drive, hoping it wasn
’
t encrypted because he had no clue what JD
’
s password was.

“
Are you okay?
”
Emma asked, stepping closer to him. He could smell her perfume, and stealth-like, inhaled deeper.
“
JD?
”

Max
’
s face flushed.
“
My memory is a little sketchy lately, you know, from the, ah . . .
”
He didn
’
t want to say accident, fearing he
’
d cause her more pain.

“
I
’
ll help you. Come on.
”
He followed her over to a computer where she plugged in the jump drive and opened the file.

“
Here are the articles to proof. Don
’
t bother with mine on the cafeteria rats. I ran out of time and didn
’
t get
to
finish
it
. I
’
m so far behind now I doubt I
’
ll ever get it done.
”
She shook her head.

“
What do you need help with?
”
Max sat, sliding his chair under the desk.

“
I have most of the article written and the photos are ready. I
’
m just not sure how I want to lay it all out.
”
She shrugged.
“
Too bad, it was pretty interesting.
”
She turned to leave
,
stopp
ing
.
“
JD, would you have the time to help me? We could probably get it done in two days. We can work on it at the library
,
or you can come to my house tonight.
”

Max knew his heart stopped beating. Em wanted to have him over to her house. Okay, technically JD, but still.
“
Yes! That
’
d be great.
”
His reply came out more enthusiastically then planned. Em chuckled.

“
I forgot how much you like to write. You really need to let Mr. Roberts run one of
your
short stories
you told me about
in the paper. You
’
re
a
very good
writer
.
”

“
Maybe I will,
”
Max replied. Judging from the spike in his heart rate, JD didn
’
t like the idea
.
B
ut since he
’
d not finished a single story yet, and Max couldn
’
t write to save his life, JD really had nothing to worry about.