One Last Dribble

"Hey, you guys. I, uh, need . . . Listen, go on play the game without me," Marcus asked his buddies to leave him alone. Suddenly, going through the motions was just not going to cut it. Marcus sat on the bench watching his friends who seemed carefree as birds on the beach. To him they seemed like boys, and he did not feel like one. The basketball flew through the air, but Marcus stopped following its motions.
It was just another afterschool game. Marcus had come to play and to forget about school. But he kept thinking about what had happened in class earlier that afternoon. As if pulled by an inner force, Marcus had stopped his best friend from playing a mischievous prank on the new science teacher. It was Marcus, the mastermind behind all the trouble in the school, who had actually stopped Dan from adding superglue to the stapler. Miss Pons, the science teacher, had walked in as Marcus snatched the stapler from Dan. Miss Pons had not asked Marcus any questions. Her glance showed an unspoken understanding.
"Come on, Markie!" Dan yelled between breaths, "Let's win this!"
Marcus did not hear his friend calling after him. He needed to figure things out on his own. He needed time alone to understand this change.
5
A theme of this selection is
A.
people change as they grow up.
B.
life is usually predictable.
C.
the best things in life are free.
D.
true friends are hard to find.