Read Online Athlete vs. Mathlete: Double Dribble by W. C. Mack - Free Book Online

“I’d just like some quiet time for now. Is that cool?”
    Russ nodded.
    But a bus packed with basketball players wasn’t the place for quiet time.
    While I looked out the window and tried to picture myself sinking a three-pointer, or even making a couple of good layups, the rest of the team cranked up the volume.
    â€œHow many points are we going to win by?” Chris yelled from the backseat.
    â€œThirty!” Nicky Chu shouted back.
    â€œThat would be sweet, but I’m betting more like fourteen,” Paul said.
    They went around the whole bus and every guy answered.
    â€œWhat about you, Owen?” Nate asked.
    â€œI don’t know. Maybe eight?” I said.
    â€œRuss?”
    â€œI think eight, too,” he said.
    â€œYou do?” I asked him, and he just shrugged and smiled.
    When it was the Twinvaders’ turn, they sounded like robots as they said at the exact same time, “We don’t predict outcomes.”
    â€œHow do they do that?” I muttered.
    â€œI have no idea,” Russ said with a sigh.
    â€œDoes anyone have an eraser?” one of the brothers asked the rest of us.
    â€œNot in my gear bag,” I muttered to Russ. “I mean,
come on
.”
    â€œI do,” Russ said, reaching for one of the eight thousand zippers on his backpack.
    â€œCool,” Mitch or Marcus said when Russ passed it forward. Then he actually
smiled
and kind of shrugged as he explained, “Miscalculation.”
    â€œ
Minor
miscalculation,” his twin corrected, loud enough for the whole bus to hear. Like anybody cared. “
Minor
.”
    â€œRight,” the one with the eraser said, his cheeks turning red. He nodded to Russ. “Thanks.”
    â€œNo problem,” Russ said, nodding back. After a second or two, he said, “I wonder what they’re working on.”
    â€œA plan to take over the universe, I bet.”
    â€œYou know, it’s interesting. In math class the other day—”
    â€œHold up, Russ. I’m only telling you this to help you out, but unless somebody pukes, gets sent to the principal’s office, or both, you should never start an
interesting
story with, ‘in math class.’”
    â€œRight, but—”
    â€œAre you sure this story is going to be interesting?”
    â€œMaybe not to you,” Russ admitted.
    â€œCool,” I said, turning away from him to focus my thoughts on the game.
    While the rest of the guys got amped up about the game, Russ and I looked out the window, totally silent.

    When we got to Willamette Middle School, we filed off the bus.
    â€œHere’s your eraser,” a Twinvader said, handing it back to Russ. “Thanks for letting me use it.”
    â€œAnytime,” Russ said, tucking it back into its pouch. “Were you working on the assignment from Mr. Hollis?”
    â€œNo. One of the girls from our old math club e-mailed us a problem, and we were trying to solve it.”
    â€œCool,” Russ said. “You know, Lewis and Clark has a math club, too, and—”
    â€œWe’re not interested,” the other brother said from behind us.
    â€œBut it’s a great group of people and—” Russ began, but he was cut off.
    â€œNot interested. Come on, Marcus. We need to warm up.”
    Without another word, he nudged his twin and they took off up the path to the main door of the school.
    â€œSo, I guess Mitch is the bigger jerk,” I said, glad to have cleared that up, anyway.
    â€œI guess,” Russ said quietly.
    Once we were inside the school, we followed the sound of squeaking shoes to the gym. When we got there, we saw that the bleachers were practically full.
    â€œBig crowd,” I said quietly.
    â€œWe’ve had bigger,” said one of the twins.
    Why couldn’t one of them always stand on the right or something? I’d mixed them up again!
    â€œBack in Minnesota,” the other one explained,