Cody and the Heart of a Champion

by Tricia Springstubb

  Contents

  1 So Confusing

  2 Not the Most Important Thing

  3 True Grit

  4 Epic!

  5 Surprise City

  6 Fierce

  7 Soccer Land

  8 Empty House

  9 Bossy Boss

  10 Exploding House

  11 Alien Ice Planet

  12 Teeter-Totter

  13 To Be a Tree

  14 Sudden Death

  15 Not the Most Important Thing, Part 2

  16 The Museum of . . .

  In this life, some things never change:

  3 x 3 (always 9)

  Ants (always fascinating)

  Sauerkraut (always disgusting)

  But other things do.

  Outside Cody’s classroom window, the world was changing before her very eyes. Icicles were melting. Grass was greening. The trees had a happy, fizzy look.

  Spring! It was in the air.

  Cody loved every season. But if she had to pick, spring would be the grand prize winner.

  Good-bye, itchy scarves and annoying hats.

  Good-bye, slipping on the ice and landing on your bungie.

  Hello, bare feet.

  Hello, cartwheels in the grass.

  Best of all, her pet ants would un-hibernate. After the long winter, Cody couldn’t wait to see them again.

  Pearl was tapping her arm. Pearl and Cody ate lunch together every day. They always tried to be partners. Pearl helped Cody with math, and Cody helped her with . . . well, Pearl didn’t need much help. Pearl and Cody were such good friends, they’d even had a sleepover. So far, it was the only sleepover of Cody’s life.

  Now Pearl looked at her with eyes of guess-what?

  “Guess what?” she said. “I’m signing up for soccer.”

  This was a surprise. Pearl was not what you’d call sporty.

  “It’s super fun,” Pearl said. “Plus good exercise. Plus you get to wear cleats. Madison told me all about it when I slept over.”

  Talk about surprises. Cody looked over at Madison. She was not what you’d call Cody’s favorite person. “You had a sleepover with Madison?”

  “Twice. It was super fun.”

  Cody looked down at her math worksheet. How could she still have so many problems left to do?

  “Madison says the soccer team has super-fun pizza parties, and everyone gets a trophy.”

  “Cody and Pearl!” called their teacher, Mr. Daniels. “Are you on task, my friends?”

  “Yes, Mr. Daniels!” Quick-quick, Pearl wrote the answers to two of Cody’s math problems. Then she whispered, “You should sign up, too.”

  Madison strolled by on her way to the pencil sharpener.

  “Hey, Pearl Girl,” she said. “What’s kicking?”

  Pearl grinned. They bumped fists.

  What were cleats? Cody had no idea.

  On the way home, Cody unzipped her jacket and pulled off her hat.

  “You’re jumping the gun,” said Spencer, her best friend. “It’s still winter. You’ll catch a cold.”

  Winter was over, but it was no use arguing with Spencer. If you enjoyed arguing with a stone wall, you would enjoy arguing with Spencer.

  “Pearl wants me to sign up for soccer,” she said.

  “You’ll have to bonk the ball with your bare head.” Spencer got a look of pain.

  “Pearl says Madison says it’s super fun.”

  “Getting bonked in the head is not fun,” said Spencer. “In my experience.”

  A few days ago, the ground had still been hard and brown. Today, little green nubs poked up. All winter long, the flowers waited in the cold, dark ground. At last, their patience was being rewarded. Time to come out. Time to bloom. Time for everyone to love them!

  “Uh-oh.” Spencer pointed across the street. “P.U. alert.”

  Cody’s big brother, Wyatt, was walking with Payton Underwood, the girl of his dreams. Wyatt was a genius, except when P.U. was in the vicinity. Then he went totally mush-brained.

  Wyatt and P.U. stopped and stared into each other’s eyes. Their faces moved closer. Closer. Slowly, slowly, like a horror movie. P.U. puckered her shiny lips. And then . . .

  Cody covered her eyes.

  “Tell me when it’s over,” she whispered.

  “Over,” Spencer said at last.

  When Cody peeked, Wyatt and Payton were holding hands. Wyatt looked like he’d just gotten bonked in the head with a ball. The love ball.

  A woman walking by pressed her hand to her heart.

  “In spring, a young man’s fancy turns to love,” she said with a happy sigh.

  “What’s a fancy?” Cody asked Spencer.

  “The opposite of a plain, I guess.”

  “How about cleats? Do you know what those are?”

  “No clue.”

  Spring was turning out to be a confusing season.

  When Cody walked into the kitchen the next morning, Mom’s eyebrows did the Tilt.

  “Flip-flops? I don’t think so. And those capris are too small.”

  “No, they’re not,” said Cody. Even though, to tell the truth, her belly felt a tiny bit pinchy.

  “You grew like a weed this winter,” Mom said. “You need some new clothes.”

  The words new clothes made Mom go twinkly. She was Head of Shoes at O’Becker Department Store. A fashion diva, that was Mom. This morning, she wore her navy-blue dress and her high-heeled, red suede boots.

  “Do you know what cleats are?” Cody asked.

  “They’re special athletic shoes.” Mom set a bowl of cereal on the table. “Why?”

  “Pearl says they’re super cool. She wants me to sign up for soccer.”

  Mom paused. She got a look of how-interesting-is-that!

  “Except I don’t know how to play,” Cody reminded her. “At all.”

  Mom poured her coffee and let Cody tip in the cream. It made a beautiful swirl, like a galaxy in a cup.

  “When I was a girl,” said Mom, “I played on a basketball team. We won the city championship three years in a row.”

  “You never told me that!”

  “I still have my medals. The mayor gave them to us in a special ceremony.” Mom got a dreamy look, like she was strolling down Memory Lane. But after a moment she set down her coffee cup. Clink! “Of course, winning is not the most important thing.”

  A tornado hit the kitchen. No, wait. It was Wyatt. Something was going on with his hair. It looked stiff and strange. He grabbed a granola bar.

  “Important meeting!” he said as he rushed out the door.

  Usually Mom had to drag Wyatt out of bed. Usually he ate six bowls of cereal, at least.

  There could only be one explanation.

  “Payton Underwood,” Mom and Cody said together.

  Mom stuck to No Flip-Flops. But she gave Cody permission to wear her spring jacket.

  Cody loved that jacket. It was apple red and had six pockets. She found it way in the back of the closet. Like the brave spring flowers, it had waited through the long winter, and now it got its reward.

  But something was wrong. Cody couldn’t lower her arms. Her elbows stuck out like she was about to do the chicken dance.

  “It’s too small,” said Mom. “You need a new —”

  “Bye, Mom! Hope people buy lots of new spring shoes!”

  Outside, Cody checked the ant colony. No sign of life yet.

  “Hello down there!” she called. “Time to un-hibernate. Here are some cereal crumbs to welcome you.”

  Spencer was waiting on the corner. His winter jacket was buttoned up to his chin. He wore a hat, scarf, mittens, and boots. Better safe than sorry — that was Spence
r’s motto.

  “Why are you walking like a chicken?” he asked.

  “Because. It’s fun. Try it.”

  When they got to school, Pearl cocked her head.

  “Why are you walking like two chickens?” she asked.

  “Not chickens,” Cody said. “Flying squirrels.”

  “Or vampire bats!” One of Pearl’s many talents was her excellent imagination.

  That morning, Mr. Daniels opened the classroom windows for the first time. Spicy-sweet outdoor smells drifted in. Cody’s toes started to itch. When Mr. Daniels tapped his gong for recess, she ran to line up. Outside, she tugged off her shoes and socks. Ahh. Her feet were happy as prisoners who just got out of jail.

  Spring! Whoever named the season was a genius.

  Madison ran by, holding a soccer ball. To tell the truth, Cody had always considered Madison kind of wimpy. On the class trip to the Insectarium, she practically fainted at the sight of the giant hissing cockroaches.

  Now Madison set the ball on the ground. She cranked her foot. Ka-pow! The ball was a blazing rocket.

  Wow.

  “Isn’t she super amazing?” Pearl grabbed Cody’s hand. “Come on. Let’s play with her.”

  Pearl started running. Cody stood still.

  Rrrip!

  “Oh, no!” Pearl got a look of horror. “Was that your jacket?”

  It was.

  “I’m sorry!” said Pearl. “I didn’t mean to rip it.”

  “I know you didn’t.” Cody took off the jacket and inspected the hole. She hoped Mom could fix it.

  Meanwhile, everyone crowded around Madison. She told them which team they were on, and they obeyed. She was like the Imperial Emperor of Soccer.

  “I’m sorry,” Pearl said again. Then she grabbed Cody’s hand. “Come play! It’ll be super fun!”

  Before she knew it, Cody was in the middle of the game. Kids stampeded around her. Which way should she look? What was she supposed to do?

  “Heads up, Cody!” someone shouted.

  Here came the ball! Kick it, said her brain. Ka-pow it!

  Before her foot could get the message, Madison appeared. Her eyes were narrow. Her jaw was set. Ka-pow! The ball was gone. Madison streaked after it.

  But first she stepped on Cody’s bare toes.

  Ow! Ow times five!

  “Are you all right?” Pearl gasped. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to play in bare feet.”

  “I don’t think so, either.” Cody staggered to the sidelines, where Spencer was watching. “They just keep running back and forth,” he said.

  “Finally somebody wins.”

  “Hmm. That means somebody loses.”

  Clouds slid across the sun. Cody’s toes felt cold, as well as flattened.

  “You better put your shoes and jacket on.” Spencer tugged his hat down. “You’ll catch a cold.”

  Cody pulled her jacket on and shoved her hands into two of the pockets. What was this? An origami frog. Pearl had made it for her last year, as a symbol of friendship.

  Now Madison was giving a lesson in how to bonk the ball with your head. Pearl listened with a face of concentration. She seemed to have forgotten all about Cody’s ripped jacket and squished toes.

  Cody looked down at the paper frog. It was crumpled and old, like something from a museum. Like something from long-ago times.

  That night, Mom brought home presents.

  Wyatt got a new shirt. It had buttons and a collar, exactly the kind of shirt he hated. Wyatt was a T-shirt person. His favorites had pictures of exploding aliens. Or the digestive system. (Wyatt was going to be a doctor.)

  But in this life, many things are hard to predict. Including people who are gaga in love.

  “Payton likes collars,” Mom whispered to Cody. “Also, apparently, hair product.”

  Cody’s present was a pair of orange shoes with zebra stripes. The bottoms had bumps.

  “They’re cleats,” said Mom. “See if they fit.”

  Of course they did. Perfectly. If anyone knew feet, it was Mom. Clomp-clomp.

  “Cody’s going to try her hand at soccer,” Mom told Wyatt.

  “Her foot, you mean. No hands allowed in soccer.”

  Wyatt put on his shirt. Gazing in the mirror, he smiled at his new, stiff-haired, buttoned-up self. For about five seconds. Then he stuck his finger inside the collar and tugged. He made a face of I-am-being-strangled-to-death.

  Tug-tug. Clomp-clomp.

  Soccer sign-up was on Saturday. Cody clomp-clomped into the kitchen. And sneezed.

  “Uh-oh.” Dad held up his spatula, like a crossing guard with a STOP sign. “Somebody’s got the sniffles.”

  Cody blew her nose and sat down. Dad served her a stack of his special secret-ingredient pancakes. Dad was a trucker. He drove a big rig and was on the road a lot. Whenever he came home, he made pancakes. The yummiest pancakes ever. The secret ingredient was: Dad was home.

  A-choo! She sneezed again.

  “Do you feel okay? Maybe we should skip the sign-ups.”

  Outside, the sky had an unfriendly look. Up in the tree, the birds puffed their feathers into tiny puffer coats. Where had spring gone?

  “It’s a good day for staying inside and playing crazy eights,” said Dad.

  That sounded so nice. But Pearl said Cody had to come. Otherwise they might not be on the same team.

  “I’m fine,” she told her father.

  She put her dish in the sink, then pulled on her apple-red jacket. She kept forgetting to ask Mom to fix it, and the hole was even bigger now.

  Another good thing about Dad: he didn’t really notice what you wore, as long as you weren’t naked.

  Outside, the wind growled and bit their noses.

  “Woo-eee,” said Dad. “That wind is fierce!”

  Before she got in the car, Cody checked on the ants. Nope. She heaved a sigh. Who could blame them? She’d rather be snuggled in a cozy nest, too.

  Sign-up was at the middle school. The parking lot was jammed. Inside, parents filled out forms while kids cleat-clomped around. Pearl came running over.

  “You’re just in time! We’re having a scrimmage.”

  The word sounded familiar. Was it some kind of snack? After all those pancakes, Cody wasn’t really hungry. But Dad said go ahead, so Cody followed Pearl outside. Millions of kids were running around kicking balls.

  A man with a clipboard wrote down Cody’s name. Pearl pulled a yellow vest over Cody’s head. She had one, too.

  “We have to try to play just like Madison,” Pearl said.

  Now that she had official cleats instead of bare feet, Cody was ready. She’d always been a fast runner, and now she ran like an Australian tiger beetle, which is the fastest insect on earth.

  Up and down, back and forth. She scrimmaged away. Her nose ran, but she wiped it on her sleeve. Her tummy spun, but she paid no attention. Nothing could stop her.

  “You’re doing great,” shouted Pearl as she ran by. “Only, try to get the ball sometimes.”

  Okay. Cody could do that, too.

  Maybe not, said the stack of special pancakes inside her.

  Greenish, that was how she suddenly felt. But she couldn’t stop now. She had to be good enough to get on Pearl’s team.

  Just then, three girls tried to get the ball at once. Their legs tangled up and they fell down in a heap. The ball rolled away.

  Here was Cody’s chance. She cranked her leg the way she’d seen Madison do. Wham! The ball was jet-propelled! Cody watched with eyes of astonishment.

  And then she turned and ran some more, this time toward the bathroom. Here we come, her pancakes were saying, ready or not.

  “You were amazing,” Pearl told her later on the phone. “So what if you kicked the ball the wrong direction? It takes true grit to play till you barf.”

  “Tanks.” By now Cody’s nose was all stuffed up. Dad had made her cambric tea, like they drank in Little House on the Prairie.

  “You have the hear
t of a champion,” said Pearl.

  Pearl was one of the nicest people on the entire planet. In the solar system. In the galaxy. In the universe. Which Wyatt said was getting bigger by the second.

  “I hope we’re on the same team,” Cody said. “We can be the Deadly Duo.”

  “Don’t forget Madison. We’ll be the Terrible Trio!”

  Cody sniffled. “Oday.”

  “How was soccer?” Spencer asked the next day.

  Cody shrugged. She didn’t feel like talking about puking.

  Spencer lived in a side-by-side. On the other side lived the Meen family. Thank goodness they weren’t home.

  The porch swing swung, even though no one sat in it. You could practically hear the wind bragging. I am fieeeeerce! Fieeeeeerce, I say!

  “Let’s go inside,” said Cody. “I’ll help you all make dinner.”

  Sunday dinner was an important event at Spencer’s house. He, his parents, and his grandmother GG all lived together, and they always made a big feast.

  “My parents had to go somewhere.” Spencer took off his glasses. Without them, he looked kind of breakable.

  “Where’d they go?”

  “My mom is having a baby.”

  “Right now?” This seemed sudden.

  “In September.” He did some nervous blinking.

  “Wow. Is it a boy or a girl?”

  “They don’t know.” More blinking. “They want it to be a surprise.”

  Spencer was not big in the surprise department. Every morning he ate the exact same thing for breakfast. Hooley’s peanut butter on toast. When his family went on vacation, they took along a jar of Hooley’s. Every night, he kissed his mother first. Then his father. Then GG. If one of them wasn’t home, Spencer had a hard time going to sleep.

  Also, he did not like loud noises, throw-up, or the smell of poop.

  A baby was really going to throw things off track.

  He put his glasses back on, but he still looked thin around the edges.

  “It will be okay,” Cody said. These were feel-better words. She hoped they were true words, too.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” He lifted his chin. “Anyway, I’m making a museum.”

  It was under the front porch. You might think what a strange place for precious, museum-y objects, but not if you knew Spencer. He had dusted away the cobwebs. He had spread out an old, clean rug.