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Show the first day Kim saw her play. But instead, when Kim led Pilar to the basket under the stage, and tossed her the ball, Pilar stood, simply staring at the black letters on the ball. "Go ahead, toss it up," Kim urged. Slowly, Pilar began bouncing the ball on the shellacked floor. She's still mad at me, thought Kim. In spite of herself, Kim forced out an apology. "Hey, I don't blame you for being mad at me. I was rougher than I should have been during tryouts. I'm sorry." She tried to toss off her edgy feelings. "I want to help you now," she said, working to sound sincere. Pilar held the ball in one hand and with the other, she brushed a strand of black hair from her eyes. Her hand was shaking. Suddenly, Kim realized Pilar wasn't being tough, she was scared. "Look, Pilar, I know how easy it is to fall apart under pressure. I left my favorite sweatshirt at home. It was a good luck shirt with "I'd Rather Be Playing Basketball" printed on the back, and I was so nervous without the shirt I couldn't even hit the backboard the first part of tryouts." Pilar's eyes glassy as the floor. She stood staring at her feet. "You've got great wrist action when you shoot," Kim said, "one of the best I've seen." Nothing was working. Maybe Pilar's like a person who's been in a car accident 108 |