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school.”
    â€œOkay, do you have any bright ideas?”
    â€œNot yet, but—”
    â€œHi, Nick.” It was Lailah. “You played a good game yesterday.”
    â€œHow would you know?” Kia questioned. “You weren’t there.”
    â€œSome people listen to the morning announcements. Anyway, I heard he scored twenty-four points.”
    â€œThere’s more to a good game than points,” Kia said.
    â€œYou mean he didn’t play a good game?” Lailah asked.
    â€œOf course he played a good game, but there is more than just how many points somebody gets.”
    â€œYou mean like his number of rebounds and assists, or maybe he had a lot of steals and played some good D?” Lailah asked.
    Kia looked surprised.
    â€œYou shouldn’t look so shocked,” Lailah said to Kia. “You don’t have to wear a jersey every day or smell like sweat to know basketball.”
    Kia was wearing a school jersey but it wasn’t sweaty.
    â€œI guess I’m just proud to be part of the team,” Kia said, “but you wouldn’t know about that.”
    â€œI’ve been on winning teams before.”
    â€œWith those nails?” Kia asked.
    Lailah didn’t answer but she looked annoyed— very annoyed. Kia was being rude, but she did have a point. It would be hard to play any sport with nails that long.
    â€œKia got twenty-three points,” I said. “She was the second-highest scorer.”
    â€œWell, good for her,” Lailah said. The tone of her voice certainly didn’t match the words.
    More silence. Overhead a plane came in, breaking the silence with the noise of its engines. Our school was under one of the flight paths to the airport and on some days, depending on the direction the wind was blowing, we could have planes overhead every few minutes.
    The noise faded as the plane passed out of sight.
    â€œThey’re awfully loud,” Lailah said.
    â€œI hardly notice them,” I said.
    â€œMe neither,” Kia agreed. “But we’ve gone to this school our whole lives.”
    Lailah was still so new at the school that she hadn’t gotten used to it.
    â€œI never hear them when we’re inside the school,” Lailah said.
    â€œIt’s specially built to be soundproof,” I added.
    â€œI guess that’s why. I was sad about the Raptors not coming,” Lailah said.
    I really didn’t want to talk about this.
    â€œWe haven’t given up yet,” Kia said.
    â€œYou haven’t?”
    â€œNope, not quitting.”
    â€œSo what’s the new plan?” Lailah asked, looking right at me for an answer.
    â€œUmm…we don’t have anything specific yet.”
    â€œBut we’ll come up with something,” Kia said.
    â€œIt would be awesome to have them come to the school,” Lailah said. “Is there anything I can do to help you?”
    â€œWe’ve got it covered,” Kia said, cutting her off. “We don’t need any help.”
    Lailah gave Kia an evil eye and then turned to me, flashed a big smile and walked away.
    â€œI really don’t like her,” Kia snapped.
    â€œI don’t think she’s too crazy about you either.”
    â€œGood. Now forget about her. Let’s try to figure out what we’re going to do about the Raptors.”
    â€œI thought you had an idea.”
    â€œI just said that to get rid of her, but we’ll come up with something. Maybe we can write them again.”
    â€œThat didn’t work once so I don’t think a second time will help. You don’t have any other ideas?” I asked.
    She shook her head. “The day is still young.”

Chapter Five
    We filed into class and took our seats behind the computers. They were high-tech, top-ofthe-line and brand-new. They had been funded by the parents’ association—my mother was the president. The only thing that wasn’t brand-new and