Hitch, 13, is the kid who likes junior high school, with friends in 7th, 8th, and 9th.
Teammates... a lot of feelings, some loose talk on the JV and the varsity.
Writer’s note
The premise of the story is simple, that two boys are not allowed to like each other because it's against the rules. The rule is in effect and whether anyone there questions it or not doesn't matter. Everyone understands it, including those who would like to break it. But if they do, they recognize they've got nobody on their side.
Junior high school basketball players play for love of the game, if not for the love of one another. Hitch gets himself up in the middle of it, an 8th-grade boy who likes one of the other boys more than he is supposed to. The way they plan to get away with it, these first- and second-string two guards, is that no one takes them for breaking the rule you cannot break: boys don't like other boys.
#1 New Release in Teen & Young Adult Basketball Fiction FEBRUARY 2022 at Amazon
Best Sellers in Teens & Young Adults eBooks Top 100 Free at Amazon
Having reached a Top Ten rank
#1 LGBTQ+ Romance for Teens & Young Adults eBooks
#1 Teen & Young Adult LGBTQ+ Fiction (Kindle Store)
#2 Teen & Young Adult Coming of Age Fiction eBooks
#6 Teen & Young Adult Fiction about Friendship
Passage at Amazon Rex’s News
The beginning of the story…
I DON'T know why they named me Hitch. They just did, is all.
I'm a boy in the 8th grade, junior high school. We've got 7th-, 8th-, and 9th-graders who go here. I don't mind being in the middle of it because this year we get to pick on the 7th-graders.
I don't really do that. It's just nice to know that you can if you want.
The real situation is this boy that I like. His name is Rex, another 8th-grader. I met him over the summer and found out he would be going to school here. I'm really happy about it because we like each other way more than we are supposed to.
Nobody knows about it. And nobody is gonna know, either.
I like things just the way they are. People obviously know we are friends but they are too stupid to know what's really going on.
I met Rex at this basketball camp. We were on the same team in this pickup game late one day. He hits the winning shot, a jump shot that's as beautiful as he is. I just grab him and hug him. At that point, I didn't even know what his name was.
After dinner I'm walking back to where I stayed and Rex sort of comes out of nowhere. He grabs me and holds me tight.
Maybe I looked at him funny or something because he goes, "You know, what you did on the court."
I go, "Because you hit that shot."
He just looks at me, no way out. Then he grabs me again and he won't let go.
I don't want him to.
When he finally does, I grab him back. And then we just hold each other.
That's how it all started. We weren't even 8th-graders. Now we are, plus we play varsity together. I like being with him.
People have these stupid parties and some girl always says to me, "Can you bring Rex?"
She's got no idea what she's saying.
And we go to the party. The only thing we don't do while we're there is dance together, or kiss.
We do that on our own time, the kissing.
I heard some people talking at school about some boy who likes someone that he isn't supposed to. I didn't recognize his name, or the other boy. And it's not just a rumor because some of the people have heard from other people that it's true.
I wasn't sitting there with Rex at the time but I may as well have been. Everybody knows that I am nearly always with him.
But they don't see me and him that way because we play varsity. If you are varsity baseball, basketball, or football, you get to like whoever you want and nobody has anything to say about it.