Skinnybones Read Online Free Page B

o’clock bell rang, and my teacher dismissed the class.
    I stayed at my desk until everyone was gone. I just
had
to think of some reason to stay after school. I
had
to get out of that pitching contest.
    “Mrs. Grayson, how would you like some help cleaning the boards and erasers this afternoon?” I asked hopefully.
    “No thanks, Alex. I’ve got a meeting to go to,” she replied.
    I tried to act shocked. “Mrs. Grayson, I’m surprised at you!” I said. “You don’t mean you’re going off and leaving this room in this condition, do you? The place looks like a pig sty.”
    Mrs. Grayson closed her eyes. “Please, Alex. Don’t start, okay? I’m really in a hurry.”
    She tried to usher me out the door, but I kept dragging my feet.
    “Yes … well … um … exactly what kind of meeting are you going to, Mrs. Grayson?” I asked. “Maybe I could tag along.”
    “It’s a teachers’ meeting, Alex. And you can’t tag along. No students allowed. Now move it. Please. I don’t want to be late.”
    Suddenly, my face brightened. “Wait a second, Mrs. G. I’m getting an idea here. Maybe you could sneak me into the meeting. That would be kinda fun, don’t you think? That way, if things get boring, you and I could play tic-tac-toe in the back of the room.”
    Mrs. Grayson narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Alex? Is there some
reason
that you don’t want to leave school today? Are you in some sort of trouble?”
    “Trouble? Me? Oh, no, Mrs. Grayson. Not me. No trouble here. Nope. None at all. Zero trouble. Honest. I was just trying to make your meeting a little more fun, that’s all.”
    “Well, thank you anyway,” she said. “But I’ll be fine. Really.”
    Reluctantly, I stood up. “All righty, then,” I said. “I guess I’ll just let you be on your way. That is,unless you’d like me to wait until your meeting’s over so I can help you with the boards … which I wouldn’t mind doing at all, Mrs. Grayson. ’Cause that’s the kind of guy I am. Like right this minute, if you were to say, ‘Sit down and wait till my meeting’s over,’ that’s exactly what I would do, Mrs. G. I would sit down right here and I would …”
    Mrs. Grayson put her hands over her ears. “GO HOME, ALEX!” she blurted out.
    So that was pretty much that.
    I went home and got my ball and glove.
    Then I called Brian and told him to meet me at the Little League field. It made me sick to have to go through with this, but there was just no way out.
    By the time I got to the field, everyone was already there. And, when I say everyone, I mean
everyone
. About a million kids were standing around waiting for me to make a big fool of myself.
    “Hey, Frankovitch!” shouted T.J. when he saw me coming. “For a minute there, we didn’t think you were going to show. What took you so long? Were your pants on fire?”
    I think this was his way of calling me a liar again.
    “The only thing smokin’ is my pitching arm,” I shot back.
    Why I said that, I’ll never know.
    “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do,” he said. “I brought along a catcher. And he’ll be catching for both of us.”
    I looked over at the kid in the catcher’s mask. It was Hank Grover, one of T.J.’s best friends.
    “Oh, no. No way, T.J.,” I protested. “If you get your own catcher, I should get my own catcher, too.”
    T.J. rolled his eyes. “What difference does it make who catches? The catcher isn’t going to call balls or strikes. The umpires are going to do that. Besides, Frankovitch, none of your little moron friends knows
how
to catch.”
    Man, did that ever make me mad! Insulting my friends like that. I probably should have left right then and there. But there was one tiny little problem. He was right. None of my little moron friends
can
catch.
    “Okay,” T.J. continued, “here’s how it’ll work. We’re each going to pitch ten balls. Your umpire and my umpire will stand together behind the plate. Then, as each ball is thrown,