Team Play by Bonnie Bryant Read Free Book Online Page A

Carole demanded.
    “The end of the month is when the Hospital Festival is taking place,” Lisa explained.
    Carole’s eyes widened. “Oh, no.”
    “And that’s not all,” Stevie said. She’d finally gotten her voice back.
    Carole, Lisa, and Colonel Hanson waited.
    “The end of the month includes the last Saturday of the month,” Stevie said.
    Lisa and Carole looked at each other. Colonel Hanson just looked puzzled.
    “That’s when the Spring Fair is supposed to take place,” Lisa explained.
    “And that’s not all,” Stevie said dolefully. Her fingers traced the path of the short weeks between the date she was thinking of and the end of the month. It always came up the same.
    “The end of the month includes the weekend of the 28th.”
    “So what momentous event happens on the 28th?” Colonel Hanson asked.
    “Debates for President of the Middle School,” Stevie informed him.
    “Goodness!” he exclaimed. “My dear, if you can handle all of these things at once, you don’t need to worry about becoming President of the Middle School. You’ll be qualified to be president of the United States!”
    “
If
I can get it all done,” Stevie said ominously, and her friends agreed.

L ISA AND C AROLE walked slowly together toward Pine Hollow after school on Tuesday. Normally the excitement of an upcoming riding class made the two of them chatter nonstop on their way. But today neither of them was in a very talkative mood. Ever since Saturday, Lisa had been consumed with worry for Stevie. She suspected Carole felt the same way.
    “She’s just got to give up some of it,” Lisa said out loud.
    “That’s just what I was thinking,” Carole agreed.
    Carole had understood right away what Lisa meant. The same thing was on both of their minds: Stevie was in trouble.
    “I don’t know how—” Lisa began.
    “She can’t,” Carole said simply.
    “You’re right.”
    They walked on in silence.
    Ever since Saturday, Lisa had been upset. After Stevie had discovered that everything in the world was going to happen on the last weekend of the month, she’d refused to talk about it. She just kept saying that she’d turned over a new leaf and she’d handle it. To Lisa, it seemed as if Stevie wasn’t turning over a new leaf at all—or at least not a good new leaf. Stevie’s old leaf had constantly been in hot water. Her new one was heading for boiling point!
    Even if it was possible that Stevie might somehow pull everything off and manage to host the Italians, entertain the young hospital patients, run for Middle School President, preside over the Spring Fair,
and
visit with Kate and Christine all at exactly the same time, one thing was certain: her grades would suffer.
    And the problem with that—aside from Stevie’s own parents—was Max. He took riding seriously, but he took school work even more seriously. All his riders were required to maintain a decent average if they wanted to continue to ride at Pine Hollow. The schools in Willow Creek knew it, too. When averages dropped, Max heard about it, and riders were suspended until the averages came back up. It was an ironclad rule.
    There was no doubt that Stevie was smart, but she sometimes let her grades slip. Lisa and Carole had often helped her get her grades back on track in the past. Butwith all the activities Stevie had planned for the next month, Lisa figured there was no way that Stevie could keep her grades up. Carole was worried about Stevie cutting back on her riding to do all the things she had to do. Lisa was worried about Stevie having to cut out her riding altogether. Who knew how long it would take for her grades to recover?
    Lisa sighed. “Oh, no.”
    Carole didn’t even ask what was bothering her. She knew.
    “H I , S TEVIE ,” V ERONICA diAngelo greeted her warmly, peering over the top of Topside’s stall, where Stevie was preparing the horse for class.
    Stevie looked at her suspiciously. Something was up. Veronica diAngelo was never, ever,