Heidi Heckelbeck Tries Out for the Team

by Wanda Coven

  Chapter 1: GET MOVING!

  Chapter 2: FALLING SOCCER STAR

  Chapter 3: BACKWARD BASEBALL!

  Chapter 4: ALL TANGLED UP

  Chapter 5: ON THE RIGHT TRACK

  Chapter 6: UNDERCOVER

  Chapter 7: POM-POMS AND POOL WATER

  Chapter 8: UNSTOPPABLE

  Chapter 9: MIA

  Chapter 10: THE LITTLE MERMAIDS

  ‘Heidi Heckelbeck and the Magic Puppy’ Excerpt

  About the Authors

  Dribble!

  Dribble!

  Shoot!

  Score!

  Sporty cardboard signs dangled from the gym ceiling. Each one had something written on it in fat, colorful letters: RUN!, KICK!, JUMP!, and BATTER UP! There was even a banner on the wall behind the bleachers that said GET MOVING! Tables with ruffled skirts stood all around the gym. Each table had a poster with a different sport on it: SOCCER, BASEBALL, VOLLEYBALL, BASKETBALL, TRACK AND FIELD, and CHEERLEADING.

  “What’s up with all the sports stuff?” Heidi asked.

  Lucy Lancaster shrugged and nudged Bruce Bickerson. “Do you know?”

  “Looks like a sports fair,” Bruce said as they climbed the bleachers and sat with the rest of the students.

  Principal Pennypacker stood in front of the school with a microphone. “Good morning, Brewster sports fans!” he said as he smoothed one of the tufts of hair on the side of his head.

  “Good morning!” the students responded.

  The principal motioned toward the tables. “Who likes sports?” he asked.

  The students clapped and hooted their approval. Everyone except Heidi. She didn’t dislike sports, but they had never really been her thing. She waited to hear more.

  “Today we kick off our new after-school sports program,” he explained. “Everyone gets to pick a sport and try it out.” Then he explained how to sign up at one of the tables.

  The bleachers creaked and moaned as the kids hurried down to the tables to sign up.

  “What sport are you going to play, Heidi?” asked Lucy.

  Heidi nibbled the back of her thumb uncertainly. She had never played on a real sports team before other than in Coach Wardner’s gym class. “I dunno,” she said. “What about you?”

  Lucy looked at the tables. “I’d like to try soccer,” she said. “I love to run, dribble the ball, and score goals. Sometimes I do it for fun in my backyard.”

  Heidi nodded. “How about you, Bruce?” she asked.

  “Baseball,” Bruce said, pretending to swing a bat. “I like the science of it.”

  Lucy blinked in surprise. “Since when is baseball a science?” she questioned.

  Bruce laughed. “Everything about baseball is scientific,” he said. “From how fast the ball goes when you hit it, to how much spin you get when the ball is pitched. Not to mention the math behind batting averages and on-base statistics!”

  “Wow,” Lucy said. “I had no idea.”

  Bruce and Lucy chatted away as they walked to the sign-up tables.

  “Come on, Heidi!” called Lucy over her shoulder.

  But Heidi stayed put. She had no idea what sport she wanted to try. She didn’t even know if she wanted to try one at all. Then someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was Principal Pennypacker.

  “Need help picking a sport?” he asked cheerfully.

  Heidi’s eyes looked away. “Nah, see, I’m not really the sporty type,” she muttered.

  Principal Pennypacker laughed. “You can’t fool me, Heidi Heckelbeck!” he said. “I know you play a mean game of four square.”

  Heidi sighed. “That’s different,” she said. “Besides, what if I stink at sports?”

  The principal shrugged. “Then pick another!” he suggested.

  Heidi raised an eyebrow. “You mean I can sign up for more than one?”

  The principal smiled. “Why don’t you sign up for as many as you’d like?” he said. “That will be our special deal.”

  Heidi liked special deals. So she got in line behind Lucy and signed up for soccer first. If Lucy liked it, then Heidi was sure she’d like it too.

  Uh-oh, Heidi said to herself as she jogged onto the soccer field after school the next day. Everyone has on shorts and soccer cleats. Heidi had on a skirt and tights. She elbowed Lucy.

  “Why didn’t you tell me we had to wear special clothes?” she asked.

  Lucy looked Heidi up and down. “Um, oopsies,” she said. “I thought you knew!”

  Heidi tried to cover her outfit with her arms. “This is just SO embarrassing,” she whispered.

  “Hey, don’t worry,” said Lucy. “You’ll just wear shorts next time.”

  Then Mrs. Noddywonks blew her whistle. Mrs. Noddywonks was the drama teacher, but now she was also coaching after-school soccer. Even she had on workout clothes.

  “Time for warm-ups!” the coach said, emptying a bag of soccer balls onto the grass. “Everyone grab a ball!”

  Heidi and Lucy each grabbed a pink soccer ball.

  “Now pretend the ball is your paint-roller,” said Mrs. Noddywonks. “Wherever the ball rolls, imagine it’s painting the field. Begin by painting a circle. Then try a square and a triangle.”

  Lucy dropped her ball and dribbled it in a great big circle. Heidi did the same. Then she did a square.

  “This isn’t so bad,” Heidi said.

  “Told you,” Lucy said, completing a triangle.

  Then Mrs. Noddywonks had them paint their names with the ball. Heidi dribbled an H, but it got too twisty and turny. She stumbled over her ball and fell to her knees. She looked at her tights. She had grass stains on both knees.

  Lucy reached out her hand. “There’s a lot of falling in soccer,” she said. “It’s the players who get back up who succeed.”

  Heidi frowned and grabbed hold of Lucy’s hand.

  Next they practiced passing. Heidi kicked the ball to Lucy. Lucy faked left, then right, before she passed the ball back. Lucy had all kinds of fancy moves. Heidi had none.

  Then Mrs. Noddywonks picked teams. She put Heidi and Lucy on opposite sides. The whistle blew. Lucy got the ball and dribbled toward Heidi. Heidi tried to stop her, but Lucy faked and dribbled right by her. Heidi spun around to go after Lucy, but she slipped and landed on her hands and knees. More grass stains. Then the ball came back up the field. Heidi kicked it and landed right on her rump.

  The rest of the practice did not go better for Heidi. She spent most of the time on the ground.

  Finally, Mrs. Noddywonks blew the last whistle. “Gym clothes next time,” she said to Heidi.

  Heidi looked at her grass-stained outfit. If there is a next time, she said to herself.

  “How’d you like soccer?” asked Lucy.

  Heidi slurped a noodle from her chicken noodle soup. “It was okay,” she said.

  Bruce leaned over and plucked a piece of grass from Heidi’s hair. “Look what I found!” he said with a laugh.

  “Ew!” Heidi said, grabbing it from his hand. “I thought I’d washed it all out last night.” She wrapped the piece of grass in her napkin.

  Then Melanie Maplethorpe stood in front of their table. She had signed up for the cheerleading squad and was wearing a pink-and-white uniform. Melanie smiled and began to perform a little cheer:

  “Look at Heidi

  kick the ball!

  Look at Heidi

  take a fall!

  Brush that mud

  right off

  your bum,

  before it sticks

  like chewing gum!”

  The whole cafeteria burst into laughter.

  Heidi slid down in her seat.

  “Just igno
re her,” Lucy said firmly. “That girl is beastly.”

  Heidi sat up a little. Totally beastly, she repeated to herself.

  “So I have an idea,” said Bruce, changing the subject. “Why don’t you try baseball with me instead? Our coach is Mr. Doodlebee.”

  Heidi liked Mr. Doodlebee—or Mr. Doodlebug, as she liked to call him. Plus she had swung a bat a few times at a cookout.

  “Okay,” Heidi agreed. “I’ll give it a try.”

  That afternoon on the baseball field, Heidi wiggled her fingers into a glove and played catch with Bruce. She opened her glove to catch the ball. Thunk! It landed on the ground in front of her. She picked it up and threw it back to Bruce. Then he threw her a grounder. Heidi lined her glove up with the ball as it bounced on the ground, and this time, she caught it. Bruce gave her a thumbs-up.

  Then they played a game. Mr. Doodlebee asked Heidi to bat first. Oh, gulp, Heidi thought. Why do I have to be FIRST? She put on a helmet, picked up a bat, and walked to home plate. She looked at the pitcher. He pitched the ball, and it whizzed right by her!

  The umpire said, “Strike one!”

  Heidi had no time to think. The pitcher wound up and threw another ball. This time she swung the bat as hard as she could. Whoosh! She hit nothing but air.

  “Str-r-r-ike TWO!” announced the umpire.

  Heidi looked at the plate.

  “You can DO IT!” Bruce shouted.

  Heidi lifted the bat. She squinted and bent her back slightly. Again, the ball whizzed toward her. She swung the bat. And CRACK! This time she hit the ball! It flew right past an outfielder.

  “RUN!” everyone shouted. “Run to first base!”

  Heidi took off running. She ran around all the bases. Everyone stared at Heidi in disbelief.

  “I got a home run!” she cried happily as she crossed home plate.

  But Mr. Doodlebee didn’t look very excited.

  “Well, not exactly,” he said.

  Heidi’s face fell. “But I ran all the bases,” she said.

  “Yes, you did,” Mr. Doodlebee agreed. “You ran all the bases in reverse.”

  Heidi heard some of the kids snicker. She pulled her helmet down to hide her eyes and slinked off the field. Maybe baseball wasn’t her sport after all?

  The next day Melanie performed another cheer for Heidi:

  “Heidi! Heidi! Yo! Ho! Ho!

  She’s a crazy baseball pro!

  She runs the bases in reverse!

  On the team, there’s no one worse!

  Go, Heidi!”

  Heidi rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  “Didn’t you like my cheer?” Melanie asked innocently.

  Heidi rushed past Melanie into the classroom. Laurel Lambert ran to catch up with Heidi.

  “Don’t let Smell-a-nie bother you,” Laurel said. “That’s how she wants you to feel.”

  “Well, she got what she wanted,” Heidi said angrily, dropping her backpack onto the floor with a thud.

  Laurel stuffed her backpack into her cubby. “That girl is major-league annoying. Everyone knows it.”

  Heidi smiled ever so slightly. She felt a little better knowing that other people might feel the same way about Melanie.

  “So how did you like baseball?” asked Laurel. “Not counting the part about running the bases backward.”

  Heidi frowned. “Well, catching the ball is pretty fun,” she said. “Batting is too, especially when you hit the ball.”

  The girls sat down at their desks.

  “Then maybe you would like volleyball,” Laurel suggested. “If you can catch and hit in baseball, you might be good at volleyball.”

  Heidi unzipped her pencil case. “I’ll try it on one condition,” she said. “You have to explain the rules to me BEFORE I get on the court.”

  “I promise,” Laurel said.

  The volleyball team met in the gym, and her teacher Mrs. Welli was the coach. Laurel explained the rules and showed Heidi how to clasp her hands to hit the ball. Then everyone volleyed the balls back and forth.

  Heidi bumped a ball, but it landed on the same side she was standing on. She knocked another ball out of bounds. Then Heidi whomped one over the net. That felt pretty good, she said to herself. Then they practiced underhand serves.

  Mrs. Welli blew her whistle. “Let’s try a game,” she said.

  Everybody moved in position. Heidi stood in the front row while Laurel was in the back row. The other team served the ball first. Laurel bumped it to Heidi. Heidi’s sneakers squeaked as she got under the ball. She hit it over the net. Mrs. Welli blew the whistle again.

  “We got a point!” Heidi shouted. She high-fived Laurel. Things were going well.

  Then it was Heidi’s turn to serve. She lifted the ball and punched it from underneath. SMACK! The ball hit Laurel right in the back. Laurel yelped.

  Heidi cupped her hand over her mouth. “SORRY!” she cried.

  Laurel arched her back to shake off the sting.

  Now it was the other team’s turn. They served the ball to Heidi. She ran toward it as it dropped. Heidi dove for the ball, but it was going straight into the net. Heidi tried to stop in time, but she was too late. The ball, the net, and Heidi tumbled to the ground. Everyone gasped.

  Mrs. Welli blew the whistle.

  Heidi felt like a fish caught in net. And fish don’t play volleyball.

  Heidi sat on her front steps, thinking. She noticed Stanley Stonewrecker walking down the sidewalk.

  “Hey, Heidi!” he called.

  Heidi waved back halfheartedly.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked.

  Heidi shrugged. “I stink at sports.”

  Stanley dropped his backpack and plunked down next to Heidi. “Which sports?” he asked.

  Heidi held out her fingers and counted. “You name it. I stink at soccer, I double-stink at baseball, and I triple-stink at volleyball.”

  Stanley chuckled.

  “I’m SERIOUS!” Heidi said. She shoved Stanley with her shoulder. He swayed to one side.

  “Okay, so don’t play sports you stink at,” he said. “Try a new one.”

  “I’ll probably stink at that, too,” Heidi said, and she pushed out her lower lip into a pout.

  Stanley smiled. “Are you good at running?” he asked.

  “Pretty good,” Heidi answered.

  “What about jumping and throwing?”

  “Not bad,” Heidi said.

  “Then why not try track with me?”

  Heidi thought about it. Maybe a sport that doesn’t involve a BALL is just what I need.

  The next day Heidi showed up for track. Principal Pennypacker was the coach. He wore a tracksuit and a purple sweatband on his nearly bald head. He waved Heidi over.

  “Come warm up with us!” he called.

  Heidi joined the group of kids and stood next to Stanley. She followed the principal’s stretching workout closely. She swirled her hips in a circle ten times. She did lunges and jumping jacks. Then the team lined up at the edge of the field.

  “When I say ‘Go,’ run as fast as you can to the orange cones,” the principal directed. “On your mark! Get set! Go!”

  Heidi took off like a rocket and ran her fastest across the field. She crossed the finish line in the middle of the pack. She bent over to catch her breath. I did pretty well! she said to herself.

  Heidi tried the long jump next. She dashed to the takeoff board and leaped into the air. Whump! she landed awkwardly in the sandpit and rolled over. She spit some sand out of her mouth.

  “Nice first jump, Heidi!” Principal Pennypacker cheered her on. “Let’s see another!”

  Heidi jogged back to the top of the runway.

  “Don’t overthink it,” said the principal. “Just run and jump.”

  Heidi tried again. This time she landed better.

  Principal Pennypacker clapped his hands. “You’re a natural!” he shouted.

  Heidi smiled and then brushed the sand off her hands onto her
shorts.

  Then she watched Stanley leap hurdles. He cleared all ten.

  Heidi loved to jump over things. This should be a cinch! she said to herself. She lined up. Principal Pennypacker blew the whistle, and Heidi sprinted toward the hurdles. Bam! She knocked down the first one. Bam! Bam! Bam! She knocked down two, three, and four. Then she tripped over hurdle five and face-planted in the grass.

  Stanley ran to Heidi’s side. “Are you okay?” he whispered.

  Heidi moaned. “No, I’m dying of embarrassment.” Then she got up, limped off the field, and headed for home.

  Heidi wore dark glasses and a hat to school the next day. She waited until everyone was seated and tiptoed to her desk. Mrs. Welli took attendance.

  “Lucy Lancaster?”

  “Here!”

  “Bruce Bickerson?”

  “Here.”

  “Heidi Heckelbeck?”

  Heidi just head-bobbed.

  She barely said a word all day. If someone asked her a question, she gave a quick, short answer.

  “What’s up with the disguise?” asked Lucy.

  “Dirty hair,” Heidi said.

  She also dodged everyone. In art she sat on the last stool at the table against the wall. In math, reading, and science, she leaned on her elbows and let her hair fall like a curtain on either side of her face. She didn’t raise her hand once—even when she knew the answers. Heidi spent recess and lunch in the library.