Lucy Doesn't Wear Pink by Nancy Rue

Author:Nancy Rue
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Christian, Social Science, Juvenile Fiction, ebook, Sports & Recreation, General, Handicapped, book, Soccer, Religious
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2008-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

12

Lucy blinked as she and the coach walked out into the afternoon sunlight. No cloud faces smiled from the sky today. It was a happy blue that didn’t match Lucy’s “attitude.”

Mr. Auggy led her to a bench by the wall at the end of the sixth-grade wing, a place no one ever sat because it was full of splinters. He took off his sweatshirt and spread it on the seat and motioned for Lucy to sit on it. She plopped herself down. With his foot on the bench and his forearms resting on his knee, he looked straight into her eyes.

“Miss Lucy,” he said, “did you actually see Dusty and Veronica mess up your cubby?”

She shook her head.

“Did you dust for fingerprints and find theirs on your belongings?”

“No!” Was he serious?

He appeared to be, as he searched her face with his eyes. “Do you have any other evidence that they’re the ones who did it?”

“No. I just know.”

“Female intuition?”

“Huh?”

“It’s that thing girls get inside that they can’t explain. Or so they tell me.” Mr. Auggy tilted his head so the silky part of his hair slid across his forehead. “Is that what tells you Dusty and Veronica are the culprits?”

“I don’t think so,” Lucy said. “I’m not, like, your average girl.”

“I know that.” Mr. Auggy sat beside her. “You’re better than the average girl.”

Lucy gave a nod. “Better at soccer.”

“Better at a lot of things. Better than a girl who would accuse somebody for any other reason than that they actually did it.”

“Who else would do it?” Lucy heard herself blurt out. “They hate me because I’m not Hispanic — only that was never a big deal before because they just left me alone, but now that I have to play soccer with them — ” She turned her face away from his. “You’ve seen how Dusty makes me fall down on purpose every chance she gets — only you never blow your whistle at her.”

“Because I’ve never seen that.”

Lucy looked at him sideways. He had his hand over his heart like he was about to say the pledge. “Honest.”

Then he wasn’t a very good referee. She sighed.

“What’s the point anyway? I’m not going to play soccer here anymore, and then I don’t have to deal with them. Maybe we can just go back to leaving each other alone.”

“You’re better than that too.”

“Better than what?”

“Better than somebody who quits without trying to work things out.”

Lucy shrugged. “What’s to work out? I’d have to learn Spanish or dye my skin or something.”

“Did you know I went to college in France?”

Lucy blinked. What did that have to do with anything?

“I butchered the French language. I must have sounded like a baby just learning to talk. But this one guy — his name was Alain — asked me to play on a soccer team he was getting together.” The small smile appeared. “He didn’t care that I called everything the wrong name. He wanted me because I knew how to pass and shoot.”

“Oh,” Lucy said.

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