thanks,” Joelle told him.
“It’s tough coming in during the middle of the year,” Mr. Corcoran went on. “But sometimes it helps if you can get involved in extracurricular activities right away.”
Joelle just nodded as she jammed the clarinet pieces into her case. That was exactly what she was trying to do. Get involved in an extracurricular activity.
Baseball.
“Hey, Joelle.” Ryan came into the band room with the next group of kids as she was going out. “How’d the audition go?”
“Okay, I guess. I’m not exactly a first-chair player,” she said under her breath.
Ryan grinned. “Me neither. Hey, are you coming to our game this afternoon?”
“I thought it was an away game,” Joelle said. Did Ryan want her to go?
“Well, yeah, but it’s only in Fairmont,” Ryan said. “And those guys aren’t very good. We might actually win.”
“You think you can beat them on their own field?”
Ryan shrugged. “Like I said, they aren’t very good.”
It used to be that Joelle could get Jason to drive her when she wanted to go somewhere. But her brother wasn’t around anymore. And her parents would be at work all afternoon. “Sorry, I don’t think I can,” Joelle said. “I don’t have a ride.”
Ryan looked disappointed. “Too bad,” he said. “It’ll be sort of weird not having you there.”
“It will?” Joelle asked.
“Sure. You’re always up there in the stands, watching, you know? Everybody sees you, but nobody says anything.”
Joelle wasn’t sure how to answer that.
“Actually, we’re not supposed to talk about you,” Ryan went on. “My dad says we should just pretend you’re not there.”
Joelle shifted her books from one arm to the other. So Coach Carlyle had at least noticed her. “Does your dad ever say anything good about me?”
Ryan thought for a minute. “Well, he did say once that he admired your determination.”
Joelle felt a tiny stab of hope. That was
something
, anyway. “But he doesn’t admire my determination enough to let me play.”
“Not yet,” Ryan admitted as Mr. Corcoran waved him into the band room.
Not yet?
Joelle thought. Maybe there was hope.
The next morning, Joelle returned from her run to find her dad reading the
Gazette
at the kitchen table. He looked up with a smile and handed her the folded-back page. “They didn’t change a word you wrote,” he said.
They’d finally printed her letter! Joelle excitedly scanned the whole thing. “Nope, they didn’t,” she said. Wow. Her words looked important in print. She turned to her dad. “Doyou think this will make a difference? Will it help get the district policy changed?”
“I don’t know,” her dad said as he rinsed his coffee cup in the sink. “If enough people agree with you and they’re vocal about it, maybe.”
Joelle didn’t see how anyone could not agree with her. It seemed like a sure thing.
When she got to school, she was surprised to find out that a lot of kids had seen her letter. Or at least they’d heard about it.
She could almost feel a group of girls staring at her as she spun the combination on her locker.
“That’s the baseball girl,” one of them said in a low voice. “The one who wrote that letter in the paper.”
Joelle couldn’t tell whether the girl had liked her letter or hated it.
“Can you believe she sits in the bleachers and watches the baseball team practice every single day?” another girl said.
“I know!” said a third. “She’s so weird!”
Joelle’s cheeks burned.
I am not
, she thought as she buried her head in her locker and gathered the books she needed for the morning.
I just want to play baseball. What’s so weird about that?
Kailey, the girl who sat next to her in band, peered around Joelle’s locker door. “Hey,” she said. “That was an awesome letter you wrote to the
Gazette.
I’m impressed.”
Joelle breathed a sigh of relief. At least
somebody
thought it was okay.
“You really should join the
Echo
,
“It’s tough coming in during the middle of the year,” Mr. Corcoran went on. “But sometimes it helps if you can get involved in extracurricular activities right away.”
Joelle just nodded as she jammed the clarinet pieces into her case. That was exactly what she was trying to do. Get involved in an extracurricular activity.
Baseball.
“Hey, Joelle.” Ryan came into the band room with the next group of kids as she was going out. “How’d the audition go?”
“Okay, I guess. I’m not exactly a first-chair player,” she said under her breath.
Ryan grinned. “Me neither. Hey, are you coming to our game this afternoon?”
“I thought it was an away game,” Joelle said. Did Ryan want her to go?
“Well, yeah, but it’s only in Fairmont,” Ryan said. “And those guys aren’t very good. We might actually win.”
“You think you can beat them on their own field?”
Ryan shrugged. “Like I said, they aren’t very good.”
It used to be that Joelle could get Jason to drive her when she wanted to go somewhere. But her brother wasn’t around anymore. And her parents would be at work all afternoon. “Sorry, I don’t think I can,” Joelle said. “I don’t have a ride.”
Ryan looked disappointed. “Too bad,” he said. “It’ll be sort of weird not having you there.”
“It will?” Joelle asked.
“Sure. You’re always up there in the stands, watching, you know? Everybody sees you, but nobody says anything.”
Joelle wasn’t sure how to answer that.
“Actually, we’re not supposed to talk about you,” Ryan went on. “My dad says we should just pretend you’re not there.”
Joelle shifted her books from one arm to the other. So Coach Carlyle had at least noticed her. “Does your dad ever say anything good about me?”
Ryan thought for a minute. “Well, he did say once that he admired your determination.”
Joelle felt a tiny stab of hope. That was
something
, anyway. “But he doesn’t admire my determination enough to let me play.”
“Not yet,” Ryan admitted as Mr. Corcoran waved him into the band room.
Not yet?
Joelle thought. Maybe there was hope.
The next morning, Joelle returned from her run to find her dad reading the
Gazette
at the kitchen table. He looked up with a smile and handed her the folded-back page. “They didn’t change a word you wrote,” he said.
They’d finally printed her letter! Joelle excitedly scanned the whole thing. “Nope, they didn’t,” she said. Wow. Her words looked important in print. She turned to her dad. “Doyou think this will make a difference? Will it help get the district policy changed?”
“I don’t know,” her dad said as he rinsed his coffee cup in the sink. “If enough people agree with you and they’re vocal about it, maybe.”
Joelle didn’t see how anyone could not agree with her. It seemed like a sure thing.
When she got to school, she was surprised to find out that a lot of kids had seen her letter. Or at least they’d heard about it.
She could almost feel a group of girls staring at her as she spun the combination on her locker.
“That’s the baseball girl,” one of them said in a low voice. “The one who wrote that letter in the paper.”
Joelle couldn’t tell whether the girl had liked her letter or hated it.
“Can you believe she sits in the bleachers and watches the baseball team practice every single day?” another girl said.
“I know!” said a third. “She’s so weird!”
Joelle’s cheeks burned.
I am not
, she thought as she buried her head in her locker and gathered the books she needed for the morning.
I just want to play baseball. What’s so weird about that?
Kailey, the girl who sat next to her in band, peered around Joelle’s locker door. “Hey,” she said. “That was an awesome letter you wrote to the
Gazette.
I’m impressed.”
Joelle breathed a sigh of relief. At least
somebody
thought it was okay.
“You really should join the
Echo
,
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