by Derek Jeter
“Man, that was so awesome!” Vijay whispered, high-fiving Derek. “And Sam, you were amazing!”
“Aw, come on,” Sam said. “That was nothing.”
“Hey,” Derek said. “That was not nothing. It meant a lot, Sam.”
“Well, then, now we’re even,” said Sam. “See you on the court at practice.”
He clapped Derek on the back and shook hands with Vijay. “Good luck, you guys. I’ve got to fly. I told my mom to pick me up at eight thirty.”
“What? You mean, your parents didn’t come to the show?”
“Nah,” said Sam. “I actually told them I was here to watch some friends perform. She doesn’t know I was in it.”
“Why didn’t you tell her?” Derek asked, confounded.
Sam shrugged. “No big deal,” he said. “I’m not really into performing.”
“You could have fooled me,” Vijay said. “In fact, you did fool me—you fooled everybody!”
“SHHHH!” Now it was Sally Spitzer, wielding her spotlight, who ordered them to hush up.
Sam took off with a wave, and the two boys watched the rest of the talent show.
When it was over, Mrs. Seymour came out onstage to announce the winners.
“You were soooo great!” Eva Katz whispered to Daisy Hargrove as they stood next to Derek and Vijay. “I’m sure you’re going to win!”
“No, I’m sure you are,” Daisy whispered back. “I mean, you were incredible!”
“You too!”
“You too!”
The two girls hugged and held hands, staring up at Mrs. Seymour, who was squinting in the light of Sally’s spotlight. “Our third place winner is… Eva Katz!”
Everyone applauded, and many in the crowd stood up and whooped as Eva hugged Daisy yet again, this time with a tear in her eye, and proceeded to walk down the aisle, waving at the crowd on her way to pick up her trophy.
“Wasn’t she amazing?” Mrs. Seymour asked the crowd, which responded with more cheers.
“She won the last two years in a row,” Daisy muttered. “It’s about time someone else had a turn.”
“Second place goes to… Harry Chen!” Mrs. Seymour announced. “Wasn’t he wonderful? Let’s hear it for him, everyone!”
The crowd cheered Harry loudly. Daisy, however, seemed anxious. She wore a confused look on her face, in spite of her plastered-on smile. Derek understood how she felt. With Eva out of the way, Daisy must have assumed she was either second or first. Now second was gone. Which surely meant she would nail the ultimate prize.
Right?
Vijay gripped Derek’s arm. “Here it comes!” he murmured, unable to contain his excitement.
Derek wished his friend would tone it down a little. After all, there were twenty other contestants who might come out on top. He and Vijay had gotten to hear only a few. And Daisy hadn’t even been mentioned yet.
“Our first place this year ended up in a tie!” Mrs. Seymour announced delightedly. “Yes! We have two winners—both very different, and both equally worthy! First, Daisy Hargrove!”
Daisy screamed, both hands to her cheeks, and practically ran down the aisle to grab her trophy. Everyone applauded, but the show wasn’t quite over—not yet.
“And our other first-place winner—or should I say ‘winners’—are Derek Jeter, Vijay Patel—and their surprise guest, Sam Rockwell, for ‘Thriller’! Wasn’t it thrilling?”
“Yes!!! I knew it! I knew it! Didn’t I tell you, Derek?”
“You called it, Vij!” Derek couldn’t believe they’d won. His cheeks felt numb—in fact, his whole body felt like it was floating!
The rest was more or less a blur. They were serenaded by cheers all the way down the aisle and up onto the stage. Mrs. Seymour handed the two of them a trophy that looked just like an Oscar. “And where is Sam?” she asked Derek as he stood next to her in front of the mic.
“He, um, he had to go,” Derek said. Then he turned to the audience. “Sam couldn’t be here to accept the trophy, but, believe me, we’re going to share it with him at school, first thing Monday morning!”
Chapter Sixteen JUST REWARDS
When the tie for first place had been announced, Derek wasn’t the only one who was shocked. But once the initial buzz of shock passed, everyone had clapped and cheered for the winners.
Everyone, that is, except for one person. There, slouched in his seat in the front row, sat Gary—who looked as if he had just swallowed a huge helping of turtle guts.
He didn’t get up to go—probably because he would have stood out like a sore thumb. He’d chosen to sit in the first row, just so he could enjoy himself to the max watching Derek and Vijay go down in flames.
And now the joke was on him.
But Derek wasn’t mad. Not anymore. In fact, he felt kind of sorry for Gary as he watched him squirm in his seat.
“Not bad for a pair of newbies and a last-minute walk-on, huh?” Vijay said, clapping Derek on the arm. “Hi, Momma! Hi, Poppy!” he yelled, waving to his parents—who still looked shell-shocked, but also happy and proud.
Derek guessed that Vijay had kept things a total surprise for them until now—after all, the rehearsals had all been at Derek’s place.
Vijay went over to greet them, and Derek stepped off the stage, only to find himself facing Gary.
“Well, Jeter,” he said, offering his hand. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks, Gary,” Derek said, stunned.
“I guess there’s just no accounting for taste.”
Derek laughed as he shook his rival’s hand. “I guess not. Sorry you decided to quit. You could have been the star of the show.”
“Oh, I don’t care,” said Gary—who obviously did. “I’ve learned from this experience, and that’s what counts.”
“Oh yeah? Good! What did you learn?”
“I learned that I was right—being onstage is totally lame. Almost as lame as playing sports.”
“Oooh-kay… ,” said Derek, backing away slowly. “Well, I’ll see you in school on Monday, Gar. I’ve… got to go say hi to my folks.”
Poor Gary, he thought as he made his way across the aisle. This has to be a hard night for him.
Derek’s parents were standing next to Vijay’s, hugging each other and shaking hands.
When he got off the stage and reached them, his dad announced, “We’re all going over to Jahn’s for ice cream sundaes to celebrate. Great job, boys. We’re all proud of you!”
Dave was there, too, along with his parents—and Chase! Derek hadn’t realized they would all be there to see the show. “Just because I was too chicken to get up there didn’t mean I wasn’t going to come root for my best bud,” Dave told him.
“Thanks,” Derek said. “I wish you would have been in it, though—it would have been so cool.”
“Yeah? I don’t think so. Anyway, Sam was mind-blowing! Who would have thought he had it in him?”
“I know! Right?” Derek had to laugh along with Dave at the thought. “He wasn’t my first choice, believe me—or even my second.”
He didn’t tell Dave who the second choice had been. He figured Gary was feeling bad enough already. Why make it worse by telling more people?
“Nice trophy!” Dave told Vijay, who had come up beside them. “Wow—you guys are so multitalented! Who knew?”
“That’s just it,” Derek said. “You never know until you try. Right, Vij?”
“You can say that again!” Vijay agreed, giving the trophy a kiss.
“So, who’s going to get to keep it?” Dave asked. “Too bad they only gave you one.”
Derek and Vijay looked at each other. “You keep it, Derek,” Vijay said.
“No, Vij. This whole thing was your idea.”
“No, Derek, we both came up with lots of good ideas!”
Then both boys came up with the same solution. “Sam!”
“You’re going to give it to Sam?” Dave said, surprised. “But he only had that short bit at the end. Sure, it was
amazing, but—”
“He saved our act,” Vijay said. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have won.”
“Come on, you guys,” Derek said, “let’s all go get some dessert—we’ve got a lot to celebrate!”
* * *
Derek lay in bed with the lights out, feeling like he had a bowling ball in his stomach. Of course, it was only four scoops of ice cream, along with a big helping of satisfaction. He might not be able to eat again for a week—but tonight’s celebration had been worth it!
He’d never imagined, way back during the summer, when he’d fantasized with his friends about talent shows and basketball teams, that he would be here in early October with a golden trophy and a spot on the basketball team!
None of it had been easy, either. Almost everything that could have gone wrong had gone wrong.
He might easily have failed to make the team—in fact, he almost had.
He and Vijay might have had to cancel their routine when they couldn’t find a monster—but they’d found Sam in the end.
They might have forgotten or blown a dance move in the middle of the performance—but they hadn’t.
And if they had? If he had failed at one or more of his efforts?
But that was just it, Derek realized now. Even if he hadn’t made the team, or won the talent show, or beaten Gary out on those tests—he still wouldn’t have failed. Not really. Look at all he’d learned along the way—including how to budget his time better!
No, the only failure would have been if he was too scared to even try—if he’d turned down the chance to be in the talent show, just because he might fail. Or if he hadn’t bothered to show up for tryouts, lest someone beat him out for the spot on the team.
“You can’t succeed if you don’t try,” he said to himself, thinking of Gary Parnell. “Oh well—it takes all kinds to make a world.”
* * *
He closed his eyes and let himself drift off toward sleep.
Tomorrow was the start of the new basketball season! Dreams of on-court heroics with Dave and Sam filled his head.…
“He shoots… he SCORES!!!”
JETER PUBLISHING
Jeter Publishing’s sixth middle-grade book is inspired by the childhood of Derek Jeter, who grew up playing baseball. The middle-grade series is based on the principles of Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation.
Jeter Publishing encompasses adult nonfiction, children’s picture books, middle-grade fiction, ready-to-read children’s books, and children’s nonfiction.
About the Authors
DEREK JETER played Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees for twenty seasons, during which time he won five World Series. Considered one of the greatest shortstops of all time, Derek has been a role model to young people on the field and off—thanks largely to the work of his Turn 2 Foundation. (For more information, visit Turn2Foundation.org.) Though he grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, he often envisioned himself playing shortstop for the Yankees. Derek knows the power of a dream.
PAUL MANTELL is the author of more than one hundred books for young readers.
Learn more about Jeter Publishing at JeterPublishing.com.
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Derek-Jeter
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Paul-Mantell
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Simon & Schuster • New York
ALSO BY DEREK JETER
The Contract
Hit & Miss
Change Up
Fair Ball
Curveball
Baseball Genius
Double Play
SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2019 by Jeter Publishing, LLC.
Jacket illustration copyright © 2019 by Tim O’Brien
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Jeter, Derek, 1974– author. | Mantell, Paul, author.
Title: Fast break / Derek Jeter with Paul Mantell.
Description: First edition. | New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, [2019] | “Jeter Children’s.” | Summary: “Young Derek bites off more than he can chew when he decides to enter the school talent show and try out for the basketball team”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018039710| ISBN 9781534436275 (hardback) | ISBN 9781534436299 (eBook)
Subjects: LCSH: Jeter, Derek, 1974–—Childhood and youth—Juvenile fiction. | CYAC: Jeter, Derek, 1974–—Childhood and youth—Fiction. | Time management—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Talent shows—Fiction. | Basketball—Fiction. | Baseball—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Sports & Recreation / Baseball & Softball. | JUVENILE FICTION / Sports & Recreation / Basketball. | JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Values & Virtues.
Classification: LCC PZ7.J55319 Fas 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/201839710