Laci watched the boy’s team as they played for another moment, then said, “Instead of dividing up the court which isn’t working for either team, how about playing against each other? We might get in a better practice that way,”
Laci could hear her girls behind her getting excited at the idea of teaming up against the boys.
Sal took the whistle out of his mouth and tossed it over his shoulder as he turned to face her. He HeHeH Hlooked at his team, trying to assess their abilities compared to the possible opposing team. The boys were elbowing each other, apparently confident that they could easily beat the girls. “Maybe. Want to make it interesting?”
Smiling, she took the bait. “Sure. What did you have in mind?”
He pretended to think for a moment, “You lose, you go out to dinner with me tonight,” he said.
Laci laughed, confident that her girls could beat the boys. “Ok, and if my girls win, you concede on the health benefits,” she thought quickly.
“Deal,” he said without hesitation. Instantly, there was a loud cheer from both sides of the gym. Obviously they had all been listening to their conversation.
She blushed slightly but then called her team over to a huddle. “Ok girls, you heard him. Show those boys what we’re made of,” she said.
The girls let out a loud cheer and took their positions. The boys were still huddled but as soon as they noticed that the girls were ready, they broke up and jogged to their respective positions opposite the girls.
Sal tossed the ball and the game was in play. The girls passed and dribbled, running around the boys and set up to shoot but then one of the boys got in the way and stole the ball, running madly to the opposite end. The girls took chase and formed a great defense on each boy, forcing them to take too long to shoot. The girls got a throw in and passed down the court and set up again. Swoosh! The girls scored the first two points.
The astonished boys regrouped and formed a new plan. As the game progressed, they formed a better defense, constantly tying up the game. The boys didn’t pass as well as the girls but they were faster going on the court. The girls had to pick up speed to counter the boys’ offense but held the game tied. Each time one side scored, the other dug in and scored the next point.
After an hour of battling back and forth, the kids were worn out. Laci saw the fatigue at the same time Sal did and both called a halt to the game, declaring a draw.
Laci patted each player on the back, praising the strengths she saw in each boy and girl. They were all moving towards the bleachers when Tanya spoke up. “What about your bet, Ms. Laci? Who’s going to win?”
Sal turned to her, eyebrows raised.
Laci shook her head. “No way. It was a draw.”
Michelle, the shyest of all thirteen spoke up. “I think you two should play to see who wins the bet,” she said, smiling at Laci’s stricken expression.
Laci laughed at the girls suggestion. A five foot, six inch woman playing a six foot three inch man? “No way. I’m not playing basketball with a man almost a foot taller than I am,” Laci exclaimed.
“Play horse,” a lanky boy named Joshua said, shrugging his shoulder as if that were the most obvious answer in the world.
Sal simply looked from one speaker to the other, then watched Laci’s expression to see if she would accept. “Well?” he asked, noting her hesitation.
Laci fought down her natural competitive instinct for a few minutes, then gave in. She was good at shooting hoops, the only real part of basketball she’d excelled in as a kid because of her height. “I’m game if you are,” she said, bouncing the ball against the floor a few times as a challenge.
Sal chuckled. “You actually think you can win, don’t you?” he said, backing up as he moved towards the backboard.
Laci followed him, dribbling the whole way. “Yeah, I think I can beat you at this. Probably not real basketball but this…”she said and took a shot from far outside the line, satisfied when the ball skimmed the net and went down below. “Yeah, I can beat you.”
Sal took the ball and moved to the free throw line, bounced it twice, then shot. The ball bounced once against the hoop then down through the net.
Over and over again, Laci and Sal tossed the ball from various points around the gym, each shot ending with a satisfying swish as the ball went through the net.
About ten balls later, Laci took aim, shot and moved to her next position, confident that the ball would easily go through the hoop.
As she moved off, instead of a swoosh, she heard a boing and she jerked back around. Laci’s face drained of color as she watched the ball bounce off to a corner of the gym instead of bouncing neatly below the net.
She couldn’t look at him. She was frozen to the spot. It didn’t just happen. She didn’t just MISS! Laci never missed!
Instead of looking at Sal, she looked towards the bleachers and thirteen girls had the same shocked expression on their faces. And thirteen boys were busy high fiving each other as they clapped, cheering on their heroic coach who had helped them vanquish the girls.
She felt him come up behind her but she still couldn’t look at him. “I’ll even let you pick the restaurant,” he said as he walked by her. “I’ll pick you up at seven,” he said as he grabbed his jacket and herded the boys out of the gymnasium.
Laci couldn’t move. She’d missed! She never missed. Thirteen girls were slowly crowding around her, eyeing her as if she’d grown a second head.
“You missed, Ms. Laci,” Tanya said, her voice almost a whisper. “You weren’t supposed to miss,” she said.
Laci was too astonished to react.
The first giggle started a moment later. Then another. And another. Until finally, all thirteen girls were laughing uproariously around her, patting her back in sympathy.
“I don’t understand. He’s hot, Ms. Laci! Why don’t you want to go out with him?” Michelle said, gaining confidence now that there were only girls in the gym. “Personally, I would have missed about ten balls ago just so I could stare across the table at his handsome face.”
Laci groaned, unable to explain the complexities of the adult dating world. Especially since she didn’t really understand them herself. “I just don’t think it would be a good idea,” she replied weakly, looking glumly at the scuffed, yellow floor of the gym.
“Why?” Lizzy asked, genuinely curious. “He seems like a nice guy.”