Predict

Will Estela accept José’s challenge to play racquetball with him?

He approached her during lunch. She was reading from her science book and biting into her second sandwich. It was thick with slabs of meat, cheese, and a blood-red tomato. “Hi,” José said, sitting across the table from her. “How do you like our school?”

Estela swallowed, cleared her throat, drank from her milk carton until it collapsed, and said, “It’s OK. But the hot water doesn’t work in the girls’ showers.”

“It doesn’t work in ours either,” he remarked. Trying to push the conversation along, he continued, “Where are you from?”

“San Diego,” she said. She took another monstrous bite of her sandwich. It amazed José and made him think of his father, a carpenter, who could eat more than anyone José knew.

José, eager to connect, took a deep breath and said, “I see that you play racquetball. You wanna play a game?”