When the last bell rang, I loaded my arms full of books, jogged out of the classroom and turned the corner.

"Hey fat girl," Eddie called out. "Those too heavy for you?"

I turned and scowled at the creep. "Shut up fat head!" I shouted out. I missed a step and tripped. I couldn't catch myself. I tried throwing all the books down to break my fall, but I hit the floor. My knee slammed against the tile and I screamed. I held my breath and felt all the anger and pain rush through my body. "You..you.." I screamed at Eddie.

Then Mr. Gordon's eyes stared down on me. I wonder if he had heard me call Eddie "fat head." Mr. G didn't tolerate name-calling. But I didn't care. Eddie made me so mad. He had no right to say anything about my body. It wasn't his. It was mine. I never said anything about his short legs and arms. I didn't say anything about his skinny neck. He looked like a snake.

"Are you OK?" he asked.

I didn't even speak. I couldn't. I was so mad that I knew I was about to cry and I would not, could not have an emotional breakdown in front of Eddie Thomas. I took slow deep breaths. Penny and Molly walked up to me and grabbed me under the arms. I stood up and limped off to the nurse's office with my friends.

"It was all Eddie's fault, Mr. G," Molly said. "I saw it!"

Mr. G ignored her. Instead he put his arm over Eddie and walked him down the hall. As we walked into the office, Nurse Carol turned and looked at me, I burst into tears.

"My knee!" I said. "It hurts so bad."

"OK, Wil," she said. "Just relax. Penny and Molly go and get ready for your game."

"I've got to be able to play!" I said. "They need me!"

"Take care of yourself, Truth," Molly said.

My friends left the room and I stopped crying. There was no time to feel sorry for myself. I had to get better in a hurry. My fate lie in Nurse Carol's hands. She pulled out a pack of ice and a bandage. I loved ice. Just the sight of it made me feel better.

"I want you to wear two knee pads on this knee today for extra protection," she added.

"I will," I said. "I will. I promise."

With every touch, I felt more confident of my chances for healing.

"I think I'll be about 60 percent today," I said. "What do you think?"

"I think you always give 100 percent," she said. "Today should be no different."

"But my knee hurts," I whined.

"I think you're putting too much pressure on yourself," she said. "Please have some fun."

"I will," I said. "Are you coming to our game?"

"I'm not sure," she said. "I'll try. When is that competition you're in?"

"Next weekend," I said. "I'm in it all by myself."

"What happened to Peaches?"

"Her brother is sick," I explained. "He has a tumor. I hate tumors."

"That's too bad," Nurse Carol said.

"I'm going to be the doctor who cures cancer someday," I said. "I hope somebody finds the cure sooner, but if they don't, I want to be the one."

"I hope you do," Nurse Carol said.

"I will," I assured her. "I will."

Nurse Carol looked up at the clock. "You're going to be late."

I had exactly five minutes and 33 seconds to be in the gym in full uniform. I carried my bag of ice as I limped out of the office and turned at the door.

"Are you coming to the game?" I asked.

"Maybe," Nurse Carol said.

"Are you coming to the competition next week?" I asked.

"I'm going to try," she said. "You'd better hurry up."

I ran down the hall and in the locker room. I talked to everyone around me as I took off my clothes and put on my uniform.

"We're going to win today," I said. "I just know it. I feel it."

Nobody said anything.

"What's the matter with everyone?" I asked.

"You're going to be late," a teammate said. "And we're all going to be in trouble."

"I'm not going to be late," I said. "I'm never late."

I stuck my sneaker into the leg hole in my shorts and it got stuck. I tried to wiggle out of it, but then I heard a rip.

"Oh no!" I said. "Anybody have an extra pair of shorts?"

Most of my teammates were gone.

"Will somebody help me?" I asked. "Somebody tell Penny!"

I started to sweat bullets as I looked at the clock. I had thirty seconds to be out on the floor and I was standing in my underwear. I couldn't be late. I couldn't! I wrapped a towel around my waist and burst through the locker room doors.

"What are you doing?" Molly yelled when she saw me in my towel.

"I ripped my shorts," I said. "This is all I have."

Penny rushed toward me. "Get back in there before Coach Kim sees you."

"I'm going to be late!" I said. "If I'm late, we're all going to have to run."

Penny pushed me into the locker room. I followed behind her and looked down at my towel. I realized that I looked rather foolish.

"Here," Penny said and she threw me a pair of shorts.

"These are too small," I said. "I can't fit into these."

"Put 'em on," Penny said. "Hurry up."

I squeezed each leg into the shorts and followed Penny out the door. Coach Kim was waiting. By her icy stare, I knew that then was not the time to ask for an extra knee pad.

"What has taken so long?" she asked.

"My shorts ripped," Penny said.

I looked at Penny and my eyes grew wide.

"You're late; we run," Coach Kim said.

She rounded us all up and ran us through the pass out drills. I couldn't believe she didn't let it slide. I looked at my coach and shook my head. Are you crazy? We have a game to play!

The referee blew the whistle to start the game, and I called out, "Thank you!" I had never been so happy to hear a whistle in my life.

"Let's go, Lincoln," the referee called out. "I need the starters on the floor."

I looked at Coach Kim and grinned. She looked away from me and called out the starters. "Anita, Molly, Penny, Jozette, Sam and Amy."

I felt hot. The perspiration oozed out of every pour of my body. I grabbed a towel and started blotting my face. Then the room started spinning and my legs felt weak. I looked at my teammates and wondered if they knew CPR.

"What's the matter?" a teammate said. "You got the blues?"

"Yeah," I said. "I got the blues."

I took a deep breath and with what little strength I had, I added a verse to my song.

Before I walk out that door

I just want a chance, just one chance

to get on the that floor.

My teammates laughed. I turned to Coach Kim. She didn't hear me. All she saw and heard were the starters. I sat on the bench and rubbed my knee. She didn't know what type of pain I went through for the sake of the team.

"Wil," Coach Kim called out. "Go in for Amy."

I jumped up, screamed, "Yes, baby! Yes!" and ran to my spot on the floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nurse Carol. She is here! She is watching me! I'm going to show her how great I am! Then I looked down at my knee. Oh no! I forgot my extra knee pad! Would I be all right? Is Nurse Carol mad at me for not wearing it?

"Pay attention WIL!" Coach Kim called out.

I looked through the net and watched the server wind up. She smacked the ball over the net and I breathed a huge sigh of relief when it didn't come flying right at me. We volleyed back and forth for a few hits and then the ball fell in my territory. I lined myself up under it and smacked it solid. I grinned when the ball traveled to our setter, which is exactly where I planned on sending it. It was perfect. It was the best bump I'd ever seen. Penny spiked the set over the net and we scored. I jumped up and down and high-fived every player on my team. Everybody cheered for Penny.

"Yeah, P!"

"Way to go Sweet P!"

"Nice one, Penny!"

I looked around and waited for everyone to cheer for me. Penny couldn't have hit that ball if it weren't for my perfect bump. What about me?

On the next play, the ball came to me again and I hit it perfectly again.

I was good. Really good. I glanced over at my coach to make sure she was watching. She was. I turned back to the game and the ball came to me again.

I hit it. I didn't made one single mistake in three hits. I was good. Really, really good. My knee throbbed, but I fought through the agony. I imagined the whole crowd rooting wildly for me. I envisioned my sister and my father leading the pack. Lou-Lou held a sign up that said, "The Truth is

#1! You can't stop her. She's the best!" I blushed. They all grabbed pens and pieces of paper so I could sign autographs after the game. I should be an all-star. I should be player of the day!

I would have been the player of the day if the other team didn't start its comeback so soon. One by one they rallied and then went up by two points. None of the mistakes were my fault. I started to sweat. I danced around in my spot and rooted for my team.

"We can do it!" I said. "Let's stay together. Stay focused. Be strong. Play the game. Keep your cool."

"WIL!" Coach Kim screamed. "Stop talking and pay attention!"

They need me coach! Let me cheer! Then a flying object hit me in the stomach. It was the volleyball. The other team roared. They won the game. I fell down on the floor and put my hand out so I wouldn't fall on my bad knee. All my weight came down on my right wrist.

"OW!" I screamed.

Nobody came running. After a few seconds, I stood up and moped over to the sideline. Coach Kim said, "Wil's out, Amy's back in."

I wanted to cry. I searched the crowd for Nurse Carol.

"Nurse Carol!" I said. I pointed to my wrist. "Can you wrap this up?"

She nodded and I ran over.

"Coach Kim has no idea what kind of pain I've been in," I said. "She didn't know how much my knee hurt me out there. And now I've got to play with a bad wrist."

I didn't have to worry about playing again. Coach Kim kept me on the bench for the rest of the match. I took a long look across the gym and wondered how I would feel if I walked through the door and never came back.