“Oh my gosh, Becky, look at her ’fro. It is so big. She looks like one of Rex’s girlfriends,” someone continues in the Valley girl accent from the song.

Everybody busts out laughing again.

More knots, pounding harder. It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve overheard my new teammates talking about me. I usually ignore it. But them bringing Carli and Nya into it is different. It’s like all the air around me, the engine rumbling beneath me, everything inside me is begging me to shut it down.

As I walk down the aisle, I see a light coming from a seat. Closer, and I peep over our shooting guard’s shoulder and see Carli passing out in my arms on Josh’s phone..

Illuminated faces all around and I swear I want to knock the laughs right out of their mouths. Our point guard, Danny, kneeling on the seat in front of Josh, is laughing so hard he’s in tears. Out of everyone, I thought he could’ve been my friend.

Leo, our backup point guard, sees me and elbows Danny. Danny looks up at me guiltily, turns around, and sits down.

Josh (of course it’s Josh) continues in his Valley girl voice. “I can’t believe it’s just so round . . . it’s like out there. I mean gross. Look, she’s just so . . . black.”

That does it. I reach over the back of the seat and snatch the phone out of his hand. “Say something else about my girl and your phone is as good as gone.”

Someone says, “Oh shit,” and everyone ducks off back to their seats.

Wait, did I just call Carli “my girl”?

The hard pounding in my chest answers with a thousand pissed-off yeses.

Josh stands up. “Give me back my phone!” he whines like he’s five years old.

And my five-year-old self knows exactly how to respond. “What phone?” I ask, and slide it into my right warm-up pocket.

“What’s the big deal? I wasn’t even talking about Nya. I was talking about that girl who passed out. It’s not like you know that stupid girl.”

The pounding in my chest shoots through the top of my head, and I can feel the last bit of my sense leaving me. I don’t try to stop it. “So first you want to make fun of her hair and now you want to call her stupid?” I yell. “Oh, you gon’ learn today!” I march back to my seat, feeling Josh close behind me. When I get there, I squeeze the latches on the window and pull it down—cold air rushing in.

“You better stop playing, Rex! Give me back my phone!”