Skinnybones by Barbara Park Read Free Book Online

Sporting Goods was going to “mop up thefloor” with Fran and Ethel’s Cleaning Service.
    Fran and Ethel’s Cleaning Service—that’s the name of my team this year. Catchy, huh? When I first found out about it, I thought about quitting. But my dad said that Fran and Ethel had paid a lot of money to sponsor our team, and it wouldn’t be fair if everyone quit just because it was a stupid name.
    So far, I’ve never had a team name that sounds as neat as Franklin’s Sporting Goods. Last year my team was called Preston’s Pest Control. Our team banner had a roach being knocked out with a baseball bat. It was totally humiliating.
    Anyway, on Friday morning, right after class started, T.J. raised his hand and made another public announcement.
    “Tomorrow, at 10:30 A.M ., my Little League team is going to be playing Alex’s team. So I was thinking some of you guys might want to come by the field and watch us play.”
    My stomach turned over. Oh, geez, no! He was inviting the entire class? No way! My team hadn’t won a game all season, and T.J.’s was in first place. It was going to be a slaughter!
    Quickly, I jumped up. “Why?” I called out.
    My teacher looked at me strangely. “Why what, Alex?”
    “Why would anyone want to come to our game?”
    Desperately, I looked around the room. “Don’t you people have lives of your own? It’s just a stupid Little League game.”
    T.J. smiled broadly. “Well, not exactly. There’s something else you guys should probably know. I don’t want to brag, but I’m going to be pitching tomorrow. And if I win the game, I’ll set a Little League pitching record for most games won in a row.”
    He paused so that his thrilling information could sink in.
    “It’ll put me in all the record books,” he added.
    Mrs. Grayson’s whole face lit up. “Really, T.J.? That’s terrific!”
    I jumped up again. “Books, schmooks! Record, schmecord!” I hollered.
    Mrs. Grayson told me to be quiet. But T.J. wouldn’t quit. He kept talking about that stupid game all day long.
    Even after the bell rang and kids were leaving the room, he stood at the door issuing personal invitations. “You’re gonna be there, right?” he’d ask. “You’re not going to let me down, are you?”
    I tried to duck past him, but he grabbed my shirt. Then he pulled me right up to his face and smirked.
    “See you tomorrow,
Alexandra
,” he said.
    I wrinkled my nose at his breath. “Phew.Mackerel for lunch again?” I asked.
    But T.J. just laughed. “We’ll see how funny you are tomorrow when the whole class turns up to watch you lose. Loser.”
    Then he sort of rubbed his hands together and walked away.
    Man, was I ever in for it now. This was even worse than the pitching contest. If there’s one thing worse than losing, it’s losing in front of your whole entire class!
    I’ve never even played in front of a crowd before. With a team like mine, a lot of the parents don’t even show up. In fact, so far there are only two people that have been at every single game we’ve played this year.
    Fran and Ethel.
    They always come to watch us play right after they get off from work. You can tell who they are because they usually wring out their mops while we warm up.
    It wasn’t surprising that I couldn’t eat any dinner that night. And I didn’t sleep at all. Mostly, I just lay in bed trying to think of a way to get out of playing. I must have gone through a hundred plans before I finally came up with one that I thought might work.
    It was pretty extreme. But it was my only chance.
    The next morning, I made sure my parents were at the breakfast table. Then I dragged myself into the kitchen on my stomach and slowly pulled myself over to the table.
    “ ’Morning,” I said weakly.
    My father looked down at me. “ ’Morning, Alex,” he said back.
    “ ’Morning,” said Mom. “What kind of cereal do you want?”
    Feebly, I raised my head. “Cornflakes. I’ll have a few cornflakes, please,” I