Fourteen Kids

Eden Washington

The ball swished through the hoop in a clear, clean dunk. I kept my hand grasping the rim, my body swinging, and the hoop leaning to support my weight, even though there wasn't much to me but bones and muscles. I unclasped my hand, and bent my knees as my legs wobbled, hitting the ground harshly.
     "Nice, E," Oona leaned against the wall opposite to the hoop. My stomach flip flopped.
      "Oh, ha, uh, thanks O." My cheeks turned a deep rosy shade. "What're you drawing?" She slanted her ever-present sketchbook, and I saw she had drawn a picture of me, dunking the shot. "Wow, Oona, that's really good!" I watch as Oona tucked a strand of her turquoise hair behind her pasty ear.
    "Thanks. Let's go, we're about to be late!"
    I ran after Oona, scooping up my backpack as I went. I ran through the wooden school doors and down the hall to the staircase.
I am that girl, the sporty one. The one who plays basketball with all the boys at recess. There's nothing wrong with that, though. It's the 21st century! Last year Kelsey confronted me about it, asking if I always hung out with the boys and played sports with them because I liked them and wanted to get closer with them. I told her that wasn't why. Not at all. I also told her that I don't only hang with boys, I have Oona.
    Oona and I ran up the staircase with all the other kids who were scrambling to their classes with their fingers crossed, hoping not to be late. Oona was in front of me, leading the way to our homeroom. I noticed that, as she ran, her shoulder-length blue ponytail swung perfectly. We finally made it to the fifth floor early, so we just leaned against the wall across from the staircase. Neither of us had any interest in interacting with the people in our homeroom more than we had to. We sat with our backs pressed against the wall, and our knees up. 
    "This year's bound to be interesting." Oona said, breathing heavily. Her head leaned backwards, resting against the wall.
    "Yeah, um, we'll see what happens." I glanced over at her, seeing her face flushed and her body shuddering.
    "Hey, you okay?" I asked. I watched her, looking as tired as i'd ever seen her.
    "Yeah, uh, yeah, i'm...okay." She fluttered her eyelashes.
    Turning my thoughts back to school, I checked the time.I slowly stood up, as there was only one minute until the second bell would ring, signalling that you would be considered late past that time.
    "Hey, we gotta go, Oona." She looked up at me with large doe-eyes, as if the thought of standing was exhausting. Oona sighed and grasped my hand. I hauled her up, as she wasn't that heavy. Her hand was soft, pale. Not like my rough, callused ones.