Jim Nasium Is a Tennis Mismatch by Marty McKnight

Author:Marty McKnight [McKnight, Marty]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: 978-1-4965-3028-8;jim nasium;tennis;sports;chapter books;capstone;stone arch books;mcknight
Publisher: Capstone
Published: 2016-06-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

A NEW HOPE

Everyone at school was talking about the Spring Fling dance. Posters all over the halls said things like: Shake Your Buffalo Backsides! Student passed notes about it in class, during lunch, and from the top of the monkey bars during recess. It was one of those formal dances, the kind where you have to dress up in suits and skirts and bring a date.

And I was going to ask Olivia Hartford to go with me.

Yeah, I know. Even after my terrible performance at the tennis meet.

“Olivia,” I began, my voice trembling. “Will you go to the Spring Fling Dance with me?”

“Of course, Jim, my love!” Milo said with a high voice, pretending to be Olivia. “See? That was easy, wasn’t it?”

Milo and I stood by my locker. I could still barely form words around Olivia, so I wanted to practice what I was going to try to say with Milo beforehand. Olivia was down the hall, clustered near Amy Choo’s locker with two other girls.

I cupped my hand over my mouth and nose and exhaled. “Yikes,” I said. “Cafeteria breath. Do you have a mint?”

Milo dug through his pocket and pulled out a box of mints. I chewed through a good handful of them.

“You can do it, Jim,” Milo said, like a boxing coach in my corner.

I wished I had the same confidence.

Still, I found a way to put one foot in front of the other. With each step, my courage grew. I was making my way toward her. I was going to do it! I was going to—

THUD!

Bobby Studwell slammed into me. I dropped my books as he beelined past.

“Hi, Bobby,” Olivia said.

I knelt down to scoop up my scattered books.

“Great match the other day,” he said to Olivia. “You know, even though Nasium was your partner and almost ruined it.” He glanced over at me picking up my books and smirked.

“Thanks,” Olivia said. She looked over at me, too, just as I was standing back up. “I think Jim has a lot of potential, though.”

I dropped my books again.

“Ha!” Bobby said. “Good one, Olivia.” He stopped to scratch behind his head. “Say, I was wondering if you had a date for the Spring Fling.”

“Oh,” Olivia said. “Uh, I… I don’t.”

Amy Choo and the other girls scattered, leaving Olivia and Bobby alone. Well, alone except for the guy peeling his books off the floor for the second time.

“Wanna go with me?” Bobby asked.

“Oh.” Olivia was taken aback. “Thanks, but… well, Amy and some of the other girls are all going together. No dates.”

“No dates?” Bobby sounded confused.

It’s his default emotion.

“I’ll see you there, though,” she said.

Watching her turn him down was almost as delicious as an ice cold Cherry Mega-Slurp. As Bobby turned away, his shoulders slumped.

Olivia said, “Even though I won’t have a date, it doesn’t mean I’m not saving a dance for someone special.”

When she said it, Bobby and I were standing right next to each other. Bobby and I looked at each other and then at Olivia.

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