Read The Walk On for Free Online Page B

his hands out for quiet as if the applause had been too loud to be believed. “New students of Chester Heights—welcome!”
    More of the same—probably, Alex guessed, from the same kids.
    “For those of you who are new, I’m Joseph A. White, your principal. This is my twelfth year at Chester Heights and I can honestly say I believe it will be our best year
ever
!”
    “Why would he think that?” Jonas whispered. “Because we’re here?”
    “That’s gotta be it,” Alex said.
    Mr. White droned on for a while about how wonderful the teachers were, how proud he was of the seniors who had graduated the previous spring, and how everyone should make sure their parents made it to Back to School Night. Alex felt a twinge at the mention of parents, plural, but then remembered that his father had been working on Back to School Night the last two years anyway.…
    “Those of you who are old, help those of you who are new,” Mr. White said as clearly bored students began to whisper to one another. “All of you new kids, freshmen or otherwise, don’t hesitate to ask questions. Everyone is here to help.”
    About four people among two thousand clapped.
    “And
now
,” Mr. White said, apparently coming to the best part of his speech, “I want to introduce to you the man all of us here at Chester Heights High look to for leadership, the man who is going to lead us to another league championship
and
to the state championship this year, our very own, COACH GORDON!”
    Alex suspected that Gordon was one of those coaches who actually believed his first name was Coach. Now, as he watched
Coach
Gordon make his way to the podium, smiling and waving like a politician, he was convinced of it. The room was filled with cheers, and the coach put his palms down for quiet.
    “Welcome back, Lions!” he said, causing some of the students to growl like lions.
    Again he held up his hands for quiet.
    “Last year, as you all know, we
did
win our fourth league title in six years!”
    More growling and a lot of cheering.
    “This year, that will
not
be enough. This year we
will
get that state championship! I’ve only seen the team practice for two days, but I can tell you we have the makings of greatness! This is going to be a team you can all be proud of!”
    “He’s not nearly this enthusiastic when he talks to his players, is he?” Jonas said as more cheers washed over the coach.
    “Now, as most of you already know, we open our season a week from Friday, right here at home at seven o’clock against Mercer Academy. This will be a major challenge for the Lions! Which is why we need all of you at the pep rally and at the game!”
    This time it was Alex’s turn to whisper to Jonas. “This
isn’t
a pep rally?” he said, causing Jonas to laugh.
    “Does everyone hear me?” Coach Gordon asked.
    “YES!” came the answer.
    “Can I get a roar?”
    “ROAAAAAR!”
    He put a fist into the air and walked off the podium to a standing ovation from many of the students.
    “Get to your classes as quickly as you can,” Mr. White said, coming back to the microphone. “No one gets marked late today. Let’s have a great year!”
    Roar
, thought Alex.

Alex managed to get through the first day of classes pretty much unscathed. The halls were crowded, but the rooms were marked clearly, and when he did make a wrong turn, someone eventually pointed him in the right direction.
    The only thing that made it difficult was the sheer size of the place. His middle school in Billerica had had three grades and about a thousand students. Chester Heights had twice as many students, was at least twice as big, and had kids in all different shapes and sizes. He had been one of the big kids at Billerica Middle School. Now he was a lowly freshman, and despite his height, he felt like an ant dotting the massive hallways as he moved from class to class.
    He had what he figured were the standard freshman classes: Algebra, Geology—better known as Earth