*+Trading+Talents

Dimitri slams his locker, turns to Jaylen and says, "We've got to check the list." The 13 year old twins have been waiting practically their whole lives for this moment. Finally, school was going to be worth something. All for the James Madison Middle School basketball team. "Oh, I'm really nervous, bro. Aren't you?" Jaylen says quietly. "Nah. If we don't make it, it's Coach Tolbert's loss, not ours. Sure, it'll be disappointing, but I'll get over it. And you will too, if we don't make it." The older of the two, Dimitri, was confident and collected. He was almost positive they'd made the final cut. As they reached the boys locker room door, Jaylen took a deep breath, and together, he and Dimitri peered anxiously at the list. "Hey, you made it Dimitri!!" Jaylen said excitedly. He scanned the rest of the list and was hit with a wave of sadness and disbelief. The two brothers had never considered the fact that only one of them might make the team. Dimitri went over to Jaylen and put his arm over his shoulder. "Jaylen, man, it's not going to be any fun being on the team if you're not on it. I'm gonna quit the team." "Why?" Jaylen exclaimed worriedly, "You deserve to be on the team!" "Yeah, well you deserve to be on the team too! Look, it's my decision whether or not to be on the team." He begins to walk over to the coach when Jaylen grabs his arm. "I've got an idea for how both of us can be on the team."

"I don't know, Jaylen. I mean, you've always been the man with a plan, but this could get us both kicked off if anyone found out!!" Later, in the boys room, Jaylen has told Dimitri his plan. "Come on, its worth a try. We switch places for one practice, see if anyone notices. If they don't, we'll try it again every other practice. If anyone //does// notice, I'll just say that I wanted to come to one practice in place of you because I wasn't happy about not making the team, and then we don't switch again. You can play the first game, I'll play in the second, and so on. Same thing in practice, I'll go every other day. We can just fill each other in on what the other did in practice." Dimitri shrugs and thinks for a moment. Then finally, he says: "It's worth a try, I guess." "YES!" Jaylen shouts. "BUT!" Dimitri says loudly. "The only thing that I'm worried about is our playing styles. I mean, you're the star defender and I'm the star shooter. If "I" keep switching off at being amazing at offense and defense, people might start to wonder." "Don't worry about it. We can help each other out with what we're good at. It's fool proof!" "Fine," Dimitri says, sighing.

Two days later, Jaylen walks out onto the newly waxed gym floor, wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt. "Gather round, boys." Coach Tolbert says, "Today we're going to work on defense. I need to line you up for either first string or second string. I will take into account both your offense and your defense. My first stringers have to be good at passing, shooting, defending, and I don't want them to be selfish with the ball. Today we're working on zone defense. John, I want you on the lower right hand box, Max lower left. Nick and Jamie, up top. Dimitri, I want you in the center." Jaylen stood there, doing nothing. "DIMITRI! Center!" Coach Tolbert yelled. "My first stringers also have to be good listeners!" "Sorry coach." Jaylen mumbled. //I've got to get used to being called Dimitri!// He thought to himself. //I have to help him get first string, not get him singled out as the bad listener who can't follow a direction!// An hour of throwing the ball around, passing, and a quick shooting drill follows. Jaylen walks outside the school, where Dimitri is waiting. "Hey Dimi- I mean, hey Jaylen." Jaylen says. //It's so weird to be saying hi to myself!// "Hey Dimitri," Dimitri replies without pausing.

Days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, and Dimitri and Jaylen's plan keeps working. Until one day, just before a game, Coach Tolbert walks out of his office and sees a color coded basketball schedule on the floor of the locker room. He picks it up. At the top, it says: //Red=Dimitri, Blue=Jaylen.// He looks further down and sees that today, the 21st, is blue. For Jaylen, Dimitri's twin brother who was devastated about not making the team. Dimitri. Who seems to switch off at being an amazing defender and an amazing shooter. As the pieces fall into place, Coach Tolbert walks out of the locker room and joins the huddle. "Jack, I want you to take Dimitri's spot for starter. Dimitri, come over here and talk to me." Jaylen walks slowly over, a feeling of dread rising in his stomach. "Dimitri, I want you to go get your brother from the stands. NOW." Coach Tolbert says. Jaylen finds Dimitri and brings him to Coach. He throws Dimitri a uniform. "Congrats Dimitri. You just made the team again." "What?" Jaylen says, confused. "I figured you boys out. You've been switching places on me all season. But you know what, I made a big mistake in cutting Jaylen off the team. The more I see him play, the more I see his talents. You boys both deserve to be on the team. Welcome for real to the Cougars, Jaylen." He turns to Dimitri. "And welcome back." "YES!!!" Dimitri and Jaylen yell together.

"You know, looking back, it really turned out to be a great season," Jaylen says, when the season is over. "It got off to a rocky start, but hey, County Champs is pretty good!!" "And Coach already promised us both a spot on the team next year!" Dimitri exclaims. "We really were trading talents." "Yeah. I guess we were."