Elvis and the Underdogs by Jenny Lee Read Free Book Online Page B

laugh, but that only made me laugh harder. I felt bad about laughing, but I’m happy to report that Taisy joined in, which was cool, because she always seems so serious. She motioned for me to sit down next to her, and I did.
    She noticed my sling that one of the emergency room attendants had given me. “What happened to your arm?”
    â€œI kinda got into a thing with Billy Thompson in the bathroom.”
    â€œYou fought Billy Thompson?”
    For a moment I considered saying yes, because maybe Taisy would think I was tougher than I looked if she thought I got into fights in bathrooms, but she was probably too smart to believe it.
    â€œNot exactly. It was an accident, kind of.”
    â€œI don’t think there are any accidents when it comes to Billy Thompson.” Taisy said it with such certainty; I knew there was a story behind her words.
    â€œDoes he pick on you too?”
    â€œNot really. He knows better. But he glued my friend Annabel’s locker shut once for no reason at all. And my friend Georgia swears he stole her favorite gold glitter pen. I was with her when she confronted him, and he had gold glitter all over his fingers, but he still denied it! For some reason he doesn’t have to take gym, and I hear that’s when he goes around the school stealing things from lockers.”
    â€œJerk, thief, liar. Yep, that sounds about right.” I knew I sounded a little bitter, but I couldn’t help it. I’m one of the few kids who actually like school, so it always burns me up that he manages to ruin at least one day a week for me. “Can we change the subject now? Just talking about him puts a bad taste in my mouth.”
    She nodded. “Should I ask about the helmet?”
    Oh no, with all the craziness that happened, I had forgotten I was still wearing it. “Please don’t.”
    She nodded, and I could tell she understood. I wondered if I should ask her about what had just happened. Instead, I went the safer route.
    â€œWhat are you in for?” I know that sounds overly dramatic, like we were both in prison, but she doesn’t know me at all, so it felt liberating that I could pretend to be cooler than I was.
    â€œMy dad wants me to get my elbow x-rayed, because my free throw’s a bit off lately.”
    I waited to see if she’d say anything more, but I didn’t want to push, because she didn’t push me about my helmet head.
    â€œCan you keep a secret?” Taisy whispered.
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œPinkie swear secret?”
    I held out my good hand and raised my pinkie. “Pinkie swear.” My heart was racing at the thrill of a secret. I took a deep breath so I wouldn’t get overly excited and faint.
    â€œI’ve been messing up on purpose, and when my dad asked me what was going on, I lied and said my elbow felt funny. He freaked out and dragged me down here. Now it’s a big mess, because there’s actually nothing wrong with my elbow at all.”
    â€œWhy would you lie?”
    â€œDid you know I play sports?”
    â€œTaisy, everyone in the world knows you play sports. You were on the cover of Sports Illustrated when you were eight.”
    â€œThat’s true, but it’s not like I was the only kid on the cover. There was a kid from every state—I was just the kid from Pennsylvania. We were all supposed to be these ‘elite’”—she used air quotes—“child athletes.” But six months later I got too big for gymnastics, and it was over for me. Just like that.” She snapped her fingers. “And ever since, my dad keeps pushing me to try all these other sports like tennis, golf, basketball, and one morning I woke up to find he put a volleyball court in our backyard, but that’s cool now because we use it for badminton, which I love. It’s like he’s determined to make me a champion again and . . .”
    â€œAnd what?”
    â€œAnd