A Level Playing Field

by Rachel Wise

  “Well . . . her grandma gave it to her last Christmas, and she’s trying to get rid of it before next one.”

  “You can tell her she can give it to me. Or, never mind! I’ll tell her myself when she comes over tomorrow!”

  “How do you know she’s coming over tomorrow?” I asked. Now I was the suspicious one.

  “She texted me from her brother’s phone to ask me for more dance lessons.”

  “What? My best friend is now texting you behind my back? This is an outrage!” I was pretty annoyed, but I made a bigger deal out of it so I could put Allie on the defensive. It worked.

  She shrugged. “What was I supposed to say? It’s not like I won’t be here. Anyway, I like dancing and I think it’s fun to teach other people. Don’t forget, I took all those dance classes in middle school.”

  “Oh yeah. You were really into that. Why did you quit again?”

  “They cut the program. They ran out of money. It was a major bummer. Some people continued with the teacher after she got a job at a studio downtown, but it was expensive and kind of a hassle to get there, so I never went. I haven’t taken a dance class since.”

  “Wow. That’s too bad.”

  “I know. I think I could have gotten pretty good. Plus, it’s great exercise and the other girls were so much fun. It gave me a lot of confidence on the dance floor too.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Funny how a little thing like dance class could do so much for you.”

  “Yeah.” Allie looked kind of dejected for a minute. I felt bad.

  “Well, at least you had the gymnastics team,” I said, reminding her what a star she’d been in middle school. She’d won medals and trophies for three years straight.

  “Yeah. Too bad I didn’t have the time to continue with that in high school.”

  “You still could!” I said encouragingly.

  “Nah, it’s too late. I’m out of shape.”

  “Hardly!” I protested.

  “Well, out of training,” she said.

  We were quiet for a moment, thinking of the glory that might have been.

  “So . . . I’ve been practicing my moves. I think I’m getting pretty good. Wanna see me dance?” I asked to cheer her up.

  “No,” she said briskly. “Just turn down the music, please.” And she left.

  I felt like I’d been slapped across the face. The old Allie was back. What had I been thinking, offering to dance for her like a total loser? I shut my door and rushed to my computer.

  My fingers flew over the keyboard. I typed a quick IM to Hailey. If Allie brings it up, the pink scalloped stationery was a present from your grandma. Don’t ask.

  Then I pulled the letters back out from under the bed and tried to decide which one to answer.

  Chapter 5

  COLUMNIST CRACKS UNDER PRESSURE, REVEALS ALL

  Last night I was up late researching the Pay to Play concept. Now my brain is more scrambled than ever! To keep everything straight, I had to get out my notebook and make a list of the pros and cons I was reading about based on stories about Pay to Play from all around the country.

  CONS:

  • If you have more than one child or your child plays more than one sport, the costs really add up.

  • Only the well-off kids get to play the sports, and they could afford to play extracurricular club sports anywhere.

  • Charging fees lowers the turnout for sports teams.

  • Parents tell kids who aren’t that talented to consider whether it’s worth paying a fee to sit on the bench all season. (Ouch!)

  PROS:

  • It frees up money in the school budget for other things.

  • Kids who pay to play work harder because they value their participation more.

  • Teams can get corporate sponsors or hold fund-raisers, which are real community builders and good learning experiences for kids.

  • Teams can work off the fees by doing odd jobs for the school phys ed department (mopping mats, inflating balls, etc.).

  • Payment plans and scholarships are available.

  My head was spinning from all of this. I could see a little more clearly now why Michael was against it. We do have a lot of less fortunate kids at our school, and this would be hard on them. If they couldn’t come up with the money, it would be difficult for them to participate. On the other hand, why should the taxpayers’ money go to sports that not every child participates in?

  I ran into Michael in the hall this morning near my locker. He wasn’t as smiley as usual, which made my stomach flutter nervously. Was he mad at me? I wanted to ask, but I didn’t dare.

  “Uh, I just wanted to let you know that I did a bunch of research online last night for our article. I made a list. We could go over it at lunch?” I cringed, suddenly feeling like I was asking him out and unsure of whether he’d say yes.

  “Okay, Listy. That’s fine. I’ll see you there.” And he strode off down the hall. “Hey, Frank!” I heard him call.

  Okay. Whatever. Distracted much?

  “Sammy! Whazzup?”

  It was Hailey.

  “I do not know what’s up, Hailey. I really don’t know,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Love problems?” she asked, looking down the hall at Michael, who was in heated conversation with his teammate.

  I sighed. “I guess. Something is up with him, but I can’t figure it out. I can’t tell if he’s mad at me for disagreeing with him about the Pay to Play thing or if he’s just distracted.”

  “Hey, maybe you should write to Dear Know-It-All. She’ll help you!” I looked at Hailey suspiciously. Did she know? But she was simply unloading her backpack into her locker. No, she didn’t know. But how I wished I could tell her, right then and there. Ugh! Keeping a big secret from your best friend is torture. Columnist Cracks Under Pressure, Reveals All. Hailey slammed her locker and zipped her backpack.

  “Lunch plans later?”

  “I’m meeting Michael to go over facts for our article. You can join us.” I didn’t sound that enthusiastic, though, and she got the message.

  “Nah. Don’t want to intrude on a lovers’ quarrel. But come to my soccer practice and then we can walk home to your house afterward. Allie said she’ll work on my dance moves.” Then Hailey busted a couple of moves right there in the hallway, but they were so bad, I reached out and stopped her before anyone saw.

  “Hailey. Don’t. Just don’t. You are not ready for your public yet,” I said. “And by the way, don’t text my sister.”

  “Why?” asked Hailey innocently. But I knew she knew the answer.

  “Because it flatters her and annoys me, and if even one of those reasons isn’t good enough, then you’re not my best friend anymore.”

  “Oh, fine. I don’t have time to find a new best friend today anyway,” said Hailey, all fake irritated. But then she laughed and slapped me on the back with her earthonomics notebook, and we were off.

  Michael didn’t come to lunch.

  I got my tray and looked for him. He always beats me and saves me a spot at our usual table, but today he just wasn’t there. I decided to go to an empty table that I didn’t usually sit at, kind of in Siberia, figuring if I went and sat with my girlfriends, he’d never want to join me when he finally did show up. But he didn’t. Show up, that is.

  I ate my veggie wrap, visited my kitchen friend Carmen, who was selling wasabi peas as a snack, bought some, told her they were gross, laughed, got my money back, and went to say hi to Hailey, who was sitting with two of our other friends, Tricia and Meg. And still no Michael! By the end of lunch period, I was mad.

  For the early part of the afternoon, I fumed. For the later part, I was hurt. When Hailey’s soccer practice rolled around, I was worried. I still hadn’t seen Michael. Why won’t my mom let me have my own phone?! (Because it’s too expensive, that’s why! I could hear her saying.)

  But as I crossed the field to the bleachers to watch Hailey, I saw him warming up with the rest of the football team. N
ow I was mad again. I had expected him to be sick and to have gone home (most likely). Or to have been blown up in the science lab by some experiment gone wrong (less likely). Or maybe in detention for doing something bad (unlikely). But to see him there, perfectly fine and fit as a fiddle, meant that he had either forgotten about our plan (bad) or blown me off (worse).

  I sat there, trying to focus on getting some homework done and occasionally watching Hailey, but my eyes kept getting drawn back to Michael Lawrence, in his football pants and gigantic shoulder pads. He looked hotter and hunkier than ever, which was annoying. I wondered if he saw me, because if he did, he didn’t show it.

  Hailey was now doing the drill that she was known for: ball juggling. This is when you try to see how many times you can bounce a soccer ball off your head, knee, foot, chest, or anywhere but your hands, all without letting it touch the ground. Hailey can do it about a hundred times. I can do it twice, just to put things in perspective. (The only sport I’m any good at is gymnastics—specifically, the uneven parallel bars—and I think that’s only because I can’t trip while I’m doing it!)

  Hailey is so coordinated and graceful on the soccer team that it’s funny she can’t make her body do what she wants when she’s trying to dance. You would think she’d be amazing. I counted seventy-five juggles before the ball fell, and when it did, I cheered and clapped. I couldn’t help myself. It was that impressive. Hailey took a bow and her teammates laughed at us.

  I glanced over, and Michael was definitely looking in my direction to find out what the commotion was. He had seen me. He raised his hand in a wave and I turned away. Like I’d be caught looking at him across a field! Like I’d wave at someone who’d stood me up for lunch. Humph!

  Hailey’s practice ended before the football team’s, so we were able to leave without having to speak to Michael. But I was grumpier now than I’d been all day, and poor Hailey couldn’t cheer me out of it.

  “You know, Sammy, you should play soccer with me. Just think—you’d get to see Michael in those tight pants every day. It’s really good exercise, and it helps control stress, which I can see you have a lot of, and who knows, maybe you’d be great! You’ve got those long legs. I bet you can still run really fast.”

  “Hailey, I won one race in first grade because six kids were out with the flu. You’ve got to get it through your head once and for all that I’m not fast!” I said. “And I’m not competitive.”

  “Sure you are!” said Hailey. “Maybe not with sports, but what about all those board games you love?”

  “Well, that has nothing to do with sports, and I am not trying out for soccer. I have enough on my plate to worry about without adding anything else.” Uh-oh. I was heading into Dear Know-It-All territory. All Hailey had to do was ask about what else I had on my plate and I’d be in big trouble! Quickly, I redirected the conversation. “By the way, have you ever heard of paying to play on sports teams at school? Cherry Valley is thinking about starting that.”

  “Really? Huh.” Hailey thought for a minute, which was not the reaction I was expecting.

  “Wouldn’t you be furious?” I prompted.

  But Hailey wasn’t upset at all. “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “My cousins do that in Pennsylvania. Actually, they were surprised that we don’t have to pay anything for our teams. They thought everyone had to pay something for school teams.”

  “So they don’t mind?”

  “No, but they’re used to it, I guess. And they have fund-raisers for their teams that are really fun. They have car washes and bake sales and they sell candy and wrapping paper and stuff like that. It’s kind of fun because they all do it together. Oh, they also get stores in their town to sponsor them, and then they put the stores’ names on their jerseys.”

  “That’s terrible! It’s like selling out!” I said. I was horrified by the idea of selling advertising on your clothing to the highest bidder. It was one topic I had looked forward to agreeing on with Michael today before he blew me off.

  But Hailey felt the opposite. “No way! They love it! It makes them feel like professionals, being sponsored. They think it’s really cool. Plus, then they get more fans, because the businesses advertise to tell their customers when the games are and stuff.”

  “Oh. That does sound kind of cool. Hang on.” I whipped out my notebook and jotted down a few things on my Pay to Play pros list. “Anything else to add?” I asked, my pen poised.

  “Well, I’m not sure if you know this part already, but the coaches are always saying that the school budget doesn’t come close to covering the costs of the program. They get grants and donations already, just to keep things going.”

  I scribbled that down too and wrote Research this in the margin next to it. “Thanks,” I said. I clicked my pen closed and we walked on.

  “Yeah, I guess I wouldn’t really mind,” said Hailey.

  “Yeah, but would your parents?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ll ask them tonight,” Hailey said, “and I’ll get back to you.”

  At my house, we had a snack and started Hailey’s homework while we waited for Allie. I was midbite into a microwaved s’more when the phone rang. I chewed quickly as I crossed the room to get it.

  LAWRENCE, THOMAS said the caller ID. Michael’s dad’s name.

  My hand flew to my mouth. “It’s him!” I yelled through a mouthful of crumbs. “Do I get it or not?”

  “Get it, you idiot!” said Hailey.

  It was the fourth ring. It was about to go to voice mail. Chew, chew, gulp.

  “Hello?” I said.

  “Hi, is Sam there, please? It’s Michael Lawrence.” His voice sounded deep on the phone, and my legs turned to jelly.

  Quickly, I considered pretending to be someone else and taking a message. Then I considered being frosty. But instead, I decided not to play games. “Sam can’t come to the phone right now because you’re a ditcher,” I joked.

  “I thought it was you. I am so sorry. I really am. I had a major team crisis and I . . . I just lost track of time. Listen, could I . . . could I come over?” he asked.

  My eyes flew open wide. I looked at Hailey. “Right now? Here?” I said. Hailey nodded emphatically, grinned, and quietly clapped her hands.

  I pointed at her like, What about you? But she waved me off.

  “Um, okay. Fine. Come on by,” I said. I worried for a moment because my mom wasn’t home, but it wasn’t like I was going to be alone with Michael. Hailey was here, and Allie was due home from school any minute now.

  “Thanks. I’ll be right over.” Was it just me, or did he sound relieved?

  I hung up. “Sorry,” I said to Hailey. “I didn’t know what else to say. Let me just call my mom for a second.” I quickly called my mom at work just to let her know Michael was dropping by. Then I turned back to Hailey. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” I said. “You’re really not mad?”

  “Oh, please, don’t worry about me. It’s not like it’s every day that the crush of your dreams calls you and asks if he can come over, right?”

  I stared dreamily into space.

  “Right? Um, Earth to Sam, that was a question.”

  “Oh, huh? Yeah. Right. Not every day. That’s for sure!” For the moment, I wasn’t mad at Michael anymore. And depending on what he had to say when he got here, I might not be mad at him then, either.

  “Are you gonna ask him to dance next Friday?” asked Hailey for what felt like the millionth time.

  “Ugh. I don’t know! I’m sure everyone will just dance in a big group or something, right?”

  “I don’t know!” Hailey said in a singsong voice.

  The front door opened and closed. “Hello! Hailey? Sam?”

  It was Allie.

  “Hey. We’re in the kitchen, just chilling,” Hailey called back, trying to sound cool. These two were torture! I didn’t know if I could stick it out with them for a whole dance lesson.

  Wait! The dance lesson! And Michael!

&nbs
p; “Allie!” I called urgently. “We have a situation! Quick!”

  Allie didn’t reply. Texting as usual. Why couldn’t she finish her texting before she walked in the door, that’s what I wanted to know. Why did she always have to walk in and then stand there, unavailable?

  “Thanks for the rapid response,” I called tartly.

  Silence. She was still texting.

  I rolled my eyes at Hailey. She shook her head sadly. “You just don’t understand what it’s like to be in high school,” Hailey said, all condescending.

  “Oh, shut up,” I said. “Neither do you!”

  Allie finally entered the kitchen.

  “Allie, Michael Lawrence is coming over. As in right now!” I said dramatically.

  Allie crossed the room, cool as a cucumber, and I hated her for it. She even had a small, smug smile on her face. “Really?” she said. “What perfect timing. I can teach him how to dance too!”

  “Oh no! No way! NO WAY!! You two are not to breathe one word of these dance lessons to him. For both our sakes. Hailey, please!” I jumped out of my chair and began waving my arms around.

  But Hailey was quite thrilled to be Allie’s coconspirator. They smiled patiently at me as I freaked out.

  “Guys, please! Do not let him know I’m trying to learn how to dance. He’ll think I am such a loser! Please!” I hid my face in my hands.

  “Maybe we will and maybe we won’t,” said Allie, winking at Hailey. “What’s it worth to ya?”

  “Yeah, I don’t even care if he finds out I’m getting dance lessons. Doesn’t make any difference to me!” said Hailey. I wanted to choke her right then and there, but the doorbell rang. I pointed my finger at both of them and stared them viciously in the eyes as I backed out of the kitchen. Then I drew my finger across my throat like a sword. “Not a word, or else!” I said.

  “Oh, we are shaking!” said Allie.

  “Petrified,” agreed Hailey, and then they both cackled.

  I was the one who was both shaking and petrified, however.

  Chapter 6

  MARTONE GETS CHANCE TO COMFORT PARTNER! IS ROMANCE IN THE AIR?