It was like a cheeky little gremlin. Each time I touched it, the ball would fly off the court, or go crazy and crooked. So annoying! But, to my relief, everyone was super nice to me. If I dropped the ball, someone would call out, ‘Never mind.’ And if I threw the ball crooked, someone else would call, ‘Good try, Alex.’ They didn’t make me feel bad at all. Once I even managed a solid catch, followed by a not-bad pass to Becky. When I did that, the whole gang clapped and cheered. Anyone watching would’ve thought I’d actually done something useful! It was brilliant seeing the sporty kids in action. The Basketball Girls were so cool to watch. One of them would throw the ball to no-one – just a gap. And I would think, hey, I’m not so bad. Other people throw the ball dumb places, too. But somehow the other one would charge into the gap. Like magic, she would always be there to catch the ball! The first time they did it, I thought it was just a fluke. But they kept doing it. Over and over.
