Another day

" Boys! I will not say it again. Libraries are for…” Mrs. Millers starts. " Reading and studying,” the boys and I say in unison as we finish the sentence for her. We look at each other, then burst out laughing, causing some of the kids to look up from their books. Others just look at us in disgust. Mrs. Miller shakes her head. She’s probably tired of us making a commotion in the library. Every Friday, James and I and some of the other guys come to the library to play our usual Table Battle. We play football and other sports but it is never fun when you win and get nothing for the prize. After a session of the sports we choose, the winning team has to dare the losing team a challenge and if they don’t do it, well, they buy the winning team lunch off-campus. " Which sport is it today,” James asks. We all look around to see if anyone has an idea. " Maybe we can…” I start but I trail off. " We can what, Alex,”? Hayden says looking at me. " I was thinking if we can do basketball again. I know, that we did it a few days ago but it has good advantages for the teams to win.” I look at them. James seems to be considering it but the others have a blank look. " I guess we can do it again,” Hayden says looking at the others. They don’t seem to mind it. We start by pushing our tables together so we can face our opponents. The tables screech loudly causing Mrs. Millers to look up. When she sees us moving the tables she comes storming in our direction, angry. I can almost see flames coming out of her ears. " And, exactly what, do you think you’re doing,” she says. She looks at me when she says it. I give her an innocent look but she knows better. " You know what, what I am this close to kicking you guys out of this Library” again, she looks at me as if I’m the only one she’s talking to. " Now, I’m going to go put new books in the young adult fiction aisle. And if I hear another word from you guys, I am straightway gonna kick you out,” she warns us. We watch Mrs. Millers walk away and once she’s out of earshot, we look at it each other. " Maybe we can do this in another place,” Christen says nervously. He looks at us and finds us staring at him. He recently joined our group, so James and I prepped him with the rules. " Really, you seriously want to back out now,”? James looks at him in a dangerous way. I put a hand on Jame’s shoulder so he could calm down. James and I hit off when we were merely third graders. He always had a serious temper issue, so almost anything could fire him up. " No, no. I was just saying that maybe could play somewhere else since you know…” He trails off. " Look dude, I understand you trying to be kind and all, but Mrs. Millers is too soft-hearted to kick us, little kids, out.” I assure him. He doesn’t seem convinced but doesn’t say anything. I order the boys to start moving the tables again. This time luck is on our side because the table barely screeches. But it does groan. I take out the game boards and the little basket to shoot our balls in. Soon the boys and I are laughing at the opposing team which contains, James, Hayden, Lewis, and Reo. Us on the other hand are Christen, Xander, Chase, and I, Alex. James attempts to throw the little ball in the hoop but I snatch it out of his grasp. He sits there stunned, and by the time he regains his senses, I’ve already scored. Xander sings the score while he passes the ball to Chase, who travels with it instead. " Dude!” We all chorus. The opposing team seems so happy that they finally get a chance to shoot in the hoop. " Sorry,” he says sheepishly. We let the opposing team shoot their turn before we start again. Hayden shoots the ball right into the basket. " Let’s go, baby” he high-fives Reo. Now the opposing team has caught up to our score. One more round and one more round to win for the opposing team to lose I think. Hayden has the ball and he passes it to James who is quick, but I am quicker. I grab the ball which I quickly pass it on to Christen. Once the opposing team has their attention on Christen I walk closer to Christen which he quickly notices. He swings the ball left then right and then left, but this time passes it to me. I hold on to the ball as I run and am about to dunk it in the basket when Reo blocks it. He quickly steals the ball and starts dribbling back to our basket. Xander closes on to Reo and finally can pluck it underneath his fingers. He starts to dribble back when he sees James gaining upon him. he quickly passes the ball to Chase who passes it on to me. I dribble the ball all the way to the opposing team’s basket. And as soon as I see Hayden running to stop us from winning, I dunk the ball into where it belongs. Our team cheers loudly, which again caused the other kids who are reading or studying to look at our table. I am guessing Mrs. Millers heard all the racket coming from our direction because the next thing we see is Mrs. Millers stomping toward us. " That’s it. I warned you, and you didn’t listen.” she says making Hayden and Reo stand up by their hoodies. They stand up and we follow in action. Now, most of the kids in the library are watching us. Some even have smug looks on their faces. I just wish I could punch that look out of their faces. " Aw c’mon,” I protest. " You know we were just having fun.” She looks at me then points her little skinny finger at me. " You heard what I said. I am not going back on my words.” " But isn’t that the same thing you said last week, and the other before that, and the one before that one.” I say fanning an innocent look. I can tell she is trying to look annoyed but I still see the smile she is trying to hide. " Yea, yea, whatever. I’m saying this the last time.” she says. I look at her and smile. I start packing up my stuff and then the boys, as well, start packing their belongings. I stuff the game things in my backpack and zip it close. I put my backpack on one shoulder. I go to Mrs. Millers, and I kiss her on the forehead. Then I tell her what I always told her when she kicked us out. " You know I will always be back.” I say it in a low voice so only she hears. I see amusement in her eyes. Then I walk over to my friends who are already exiting the library. I hear Xander ask Christen " So what type of off-campus food do you like? Because those fellows will be paying our luxuries today.” Christen laughs. James and Hayden laugh as well. I look back at Mrs. Millers, who is shaking her head and returning to her usual spot, behind the counter. As with any other Friday, the sun is shining outside. I smile and join in the laughter with my friends because I know it is just like another day.