Dive Right In by Matt Christopher Read Free Book Online Page B

don’t know. This may be a mistake.”
    “What
may be a mistake?” asked Valerie. “Working with Margo? I still think she’s—”
    “I told you, it isn’t Margo. It’s
me.
I got my first chance to dive yesterday. Really dive, off a springboard. And I was
awful.”
    Valerie stared at her friend. “Trace, it was your
first day.
Hello? What did you think, that you’d ace it like a gold-medal winner the first time? I don’t believe you were awful. I think
     you were inexperienced. And it showed.”
    Traci waved off Valerie’s explanation. “It wasn’t just that I didn’t dive well. When I got on that board, I was
scared.
I could barely get myself to move at all!”
    “But you did dive, right?” Valerie asked.
    “Yeah, I did—after Sophia, the assistant coach, gave me a pep talk. And I was the pits! I don’t have any talent for diving.
     If I can’t dive, and I can’t be a gymnast, I don’t know. I better forget about being an athlete altogether.”
    “Whoa!” Valerie said, holding up her hands. “That sounds pretty extreme. Look, you had a bad day, and now you’re overreacting,
     that’s all.”
    Traci laughed, but without humor. “I had a ‘bad day’? After all my years on the balance beam, it turns out I’m afraid of heights!
     On a
one-meter board!
What’ll I do on a three-meter board? Or a ten-meter platform? That’s not a ‘bad day,’ Val. That’s a total disaster!”
    When Valerie started to laugh, Traci couldn’t believe it.
    “I’m sorry, Trace,” Valerie said, still chuckling. “I’m just remembering when we started out in gymnastics class. We were
     terrified! Vaulting over a horse scared us, getting on a balance beam, even one that was barely above the floor, scared us!
     I started to cry, and you stood like a statue. Remember?”
    Traci couldn’t help smiling. “Yeah, we were pretty pathetic. But we were
little kids.
Four years old! Sure, we were scared. I’m twelve now, and I shouldn’t feel that way.”
    Valerie shrugged. “Why not? You’re doing something new. Did you say anything to Margo or Sophia about being scared?”
    “Well, Sophia told me that most divers are that way at first,” Traci admitted. “But Sophia’s nice, and I think she only wanted
     to make me feel better.”
    “Well,
I
think you just have to stick with it for a while and you’ll get past this. I know you, and I’m sure you can do whatever it
     takes.” She finished her soda and grabbed her bag.
    “Oh, I almost forgot,” she said. “I know a girl who’s a student of Margo’s, a girl in my class named Carly Freed. She said
     she’d be happy to talk to you if you like. Want to call her when we get home?”
    Traci agreed. When they got through to Carly, they made arrangements to eat lunch together at school the next day.
    Traci’s mind wandered throughout classes the next morning. What would Carly have to say about Margo?
    At lunchtime, Traci and Valerie grabbed a table. Valerie scanned the room, then pointed at a tall girl with dark hair. “That’s
     her. Hey, Carly!” she shouted.
    Traci recognized her as the first girl to speak up to defend the coach when Traci had bad-mouthed her. From Carly’s expression,
     it was clear that she recognized Traci, too. But she said nothing about it.The three girls spread their lunches out and started eating.
    “Listen,” Traci said as soon as she could, “I want to say that I was out of line the other day. What I said about Margo, that
     was wrong.”
    Carly seemed to relax. “Okay. Just about everyone who works with Margo thinks she’s pretty great, including me. You’ll see
     for yourself, eventually.”
    Traci sighed. “If there
is
an ‘eventually.’ I’m not sure there will be.”
    “How come? Are you thinking of quitting already?” asked Carly.
    Traci shook her head and said, “Maybe I’ll get thrown out. Diving may not be my sport.”
    Carly stared at Traci. “But you just started! How can you tell so soon?”
    Traci