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Dear brand spanking new diary!
Well. You’re not new. You got donated to the thrift store because you were all wrinkly and old. I think somebody dropped you in a puddle. You were put in the “free” pile, so I took you. But you’re new to me! So that counts for something.
I made three new friends today! Their names are Daniel, Curtis, and Lory, short for Lauren. I see them a lot. I think one of them is the motel owner’s kid, so they’re always hanging out in the basketball court after school. I’ve never played with them. They’re teenagers, so I thought they might be mean. Plus, Marisa doesn’t let me play in the court unless nobody else is there. But today I was in the parking lot waiting for Marisa (she said there were problems with the credit card machine) and they accidentally threw the ball over the fence and they asked me to give it back to them. I thought about showing off and chucking it right over the fence. They would have been sooooo impressed. But Marisa says I have to be ~inconspicuous~ so I just brought the ball to the door.
Daniel is the one who takes it from me. He has moppy brown hair and a lot of freckles. He’s so tall it makes me jealous. He actually recognized me! He asked if I was the kid from 104. I didn’t realize he noticed me. Maybe he saw me watching them play through the window. But anyway, at first I was kind of nervous. What if he realizes I’m the kid on TV? Would he tell his parents? And there’s that thing Marisa always tells me:
But Daniel just asked me if I wanted to play. He said the other two were “ganging up on him” but then the other two said he was a liar.
I’m supposed to say no. But Marisa was still inside the office trying to get the card to work or something. And Daniel and them looked nice, so I said yes.
He introduced me to Lory and Curtis. Curtis is even taller than Daniel, but he’s skinny. Lory looks kind of like Daniel, all freckly with puffy hair. She wears her hat backwards. I’m wearing my hat backwards now because I think it’s cool :) She asked if I knew how to play, and I said yes, which felt like a lie even though it wasn’t. I DO know how to play. But that doesn’t mean I’m any good at it. Especially with dribbling. But I couldn’t take it back because I already said it. And I really reeeeaaaallllyyy wanted to play with them.
Lory said the game ends at 3:00, which was about two minutes away, and me and Daniel were five points behind.
Curtis got the ball first. But then he missed, and I got the rebound. I didn’t even try dribbling. I would trip and look stupid. I just threw it at Daniel, but uhhhhh well, SOMETHING happened. I’m not supposed to tell anyone. Not even you, diary. Sorry. But the point is I may or may not have made the ball fly a liiiittle too hard and fast, and Daniel most definitely noticed when he caught it. He was shocked. I could tell. And I felt really bad because I broke one of our cardinal rules: BE NORMAL. But thankfully he cared more about winning than wondering how a 10-year-old with noodle arms could throw like that. He got a three-pointer in. He made it look so easy. The ball didn’t even touch the rim. Lory and Curtis were so upset they screamed like cavemen.
SCORE: 30 - 32
By this time there were only twenty seconds left. We HAD to get another three-pointer if we wanted to win. Curtis was mega hogging the ball and faking left and right and trying to trick Daniel. I didn’t think Daniel would get tricked since he’s the MVP, but he did. Curtis faked going left and threw the ball to Lory. But he didn’t trick ME. I went to block the ball. I wanted to catch it, but I just ended up smacking it down the court.
I thought it was over. The ball was going to go out of bounds. I’m not fast enough to catch up to it. But Daniel ran after it for his life. He saved it JUST before it went out, but all he could do was slap it back onto the court because he was running so fast he smashed into the fence. I got the ball in the corner, outside the three-point line, AKA the worst place ever. Five seconds left, so I HAD to shoot. I aimed as well as I could and shot the ball. I closed my eyes because I didn’t want to cheat. I wanted to win fair and square. I really, REALLY tried to keep my eyes shut. But then I couldn’t help it. I opened my eyes and saw the ball bounce on the rim, doing one of those things where it just bounced and bounced and you couldn’t tell if it was going to go in or not.
I probably shouldn’t say this. I gave the ball a little nudge. It was such a teeeeeensy itty bitty push. It probably didn’t make much of a difference.
Anyway, the ball went in!!!
SCORE: 33 - 32!!!!!
Lory picked me up and spun me around so much I thought I might get flung out. All three of them gave me a giant group hug. Curtis said I should sign the ball so that he can sell it for lots of money when I become a famous player. It was just a joke, but it made my cheeks all hot and itchy and I couldn’t stop laughing.
I don’t want to make Marisa sound like the bad guy, but when I heard her call my name, it was like everything inside me sank. I didn’t want to go. I wanted to hang out with Daniel and Curtis and Lory. But that’s a stupid thought, and probably selfish. So I said goodbye and left.
Marisa asked if I won. I said yes. She asked if I cheated. I said no. I’m not supposed to lie to Marisa. But it’s just a little lie. I don’t think she really cares, anyway. She’s only asking to be nice.
I asked if we could get a new basketball. The one I have is something we got from the side of the road at the last motel we were in. It’s all gross and leathery and peeling. You can’t even see the lines on it anymore. Marisa said “I’ll think about it.”
And then I told her I wanted to change my name. She said I’m allowed to change my name to anything as long as she can pronounce it. Not ~officially~ of course. I changed it to Dany, like Daniel and Lory mixed together. She said okay! I feel kind of bad for leaving Curtis out. Sorry, Curtis. Maybe you can be our fake last name. Dany Curtis. Marisa Curtis. Sounds good enough.
I wish I had one of those instant cameras so I could take a group picture with them. Marisa wouldn’t have let me, so I would’ve had to take it secretly. I like them a lot. I don’t want to forget them. But having their picture might also get them into trouble :’(
Well. At least this will all be over soon! I’m not a good drawer, but this is what they look like.
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