Ripple Effect by Sylvia Taekema Read Free Book Online Page B

Small. Pretty. And she had perfect hair. It was annoying how perfect she was.

    Dana went to volleyball practice every other day at recess. The days she didn’t have to, she found a nice little sheltered corner beside the gym where no one ever seemed to go. So what if a bunch of the girls had permission to work in the library at recess? Dana had decided it would be fine just to be by herself. She had something else to focus on, something very important. She didn’t know what to do about Janelle or Julia or Dorothy, for that matter, but she did know one thing. She liked Jason Elwood, and she was going to tell him. But how? When? Where? Definitely somewhere private and preferably somewhere they could sit down so that she wasn’t towering over him. She was growing taller every day. Now was the time.
    Dana thought long and hard. Finally, she decided she would send Jason a note. She considered very carefully what it should say and what it should look like. Dear Jason? No way. Love, Dana? Absolutely not. Printing? Handwriting? Hearts and flowers? Too embarrassing. In the end she just stuck a green sticky note inside his desk, asking him to meet her around the corner of the gym at recess on Friday. She didn’t sign her name. He’d know where the green paper came from. How many people had frog-shaped sticky notes?

Fourteen
    DANA HAD PUT the note in Jason’s desk on Tuesday. By Wednesday, she was wondering why she’d done it four days ahead of time. She had wanted lots of time to prepare. Now she knew she’d just given herself lots of time to worry instead. At least she had a volleyball game that afternoon to help keep her mind off things.
    The Wesley Wildcats were visiting. They were a tough team. During the warm-up, Dana noticed that they had some great servers. They also had some really tall girls who were very good at tipping the ball back over the net. The Eagles were going to have to be ready. But Dana was distracted. Every time she thought about the note she’d put in Jason’s desk, she got a really weird feeling. Her face got hot, but her insides felt like cold jelly. She was glad she’d written the note, and she was excited about talking to him. But nervous too. A little.
    She scanned the crowd starting to fill the bleachers. She didn’t see Jason. Janelle hadn’t come to watch the game either. Dana wasn’t sure why she even bothered looking for her. She shook her head . Never mind . Concentrate. She narrowed her focus to only the volleyball. Watch the ball . Watch the ball .
    She began to anticipate where the ball would go, and every time the Wildcats tried to bump it over the net, Dana was there to block it. She jumped. She blocked. She tipped. She called out to the back row when it went over her head. Time after time she was able to return the ball. It was a tight game. Very tight. It was game point again and again. First for the Eagles. Then for the Wildcats. Neither team could get ahead by the two points they needed to win. Dana tried to ignore the score and kept her focus on the ball.
    The Wildcats sent a blistering serve their way. The Eagles sent it back. The Wildcats tried to return it, but the ball hit the net and bounced back on their side. Now Emily had the serve, but she put too much into it and it went out of bounds. The Wildcats served the ball back and the same thing happened. “Easy does it, ladies,” called Mr. Finch. “Easy does it.”
    Lisa Torelli was up. She served the ball way over to the left, and all the Eagles held their breath, thinking it was going to go out. Instead, it landed just inside the line to give the Eagles a point. The Wildcats rolled it back to the other side. Everyone took another deep breath.
    “Game point, game point,” shouted the fans.
    Dana felt tingly all over. Lisa served the ball a second time. It was a good, hard hit. “Crater maker!” yelled the crowd, but the Wildcat player in the middle of the back row managed to get a piece of it and bump it back in