Throwing Like a Girl Read Online Free

girl who doesn’t laugh and fall over myself. But don’t get me wrong. Nate
is
cute. He’s got light brown, straight hair sweeping across his forehead and pretty blue eyes, almost like a girl’s with long lashes; plus he doesn’t blink a lot, as if he doesn’t want to miss anything, and that’s how I always feel.
    Mr. Dominick tells us to rearrange ourselves and sit next to our partners. Nate doesn’t get up to come to me so I stay right where I am, too.
    The other girls are staring at me as if to say,
What are you, a show-off?
    Mr. Dominick saves the day. “Nate, I’m not sure you’ve met Ella Kessler. May I introduce you?”
    “Thanks, Mr. D, but I got it.” Nate gets up, casually tucks his books under his arm as if he’s carrying a football over the goal line, and walks over to me. “Ella, I’m Nate, your fiancé. Is this seat taken?”
    “No,” I whisper, trying to be casual back to him. He’s sort of being nice.
    “Good. Fine. Now that everyone’s settled, let’s get down to business,” Mr. Dominick says. “Tomorrow we’ll have the wedding.” Embarrassed laughter until Mr. D holds up his hand for quiet.
    “Don’t worry,” Nate whispers. “We probably won’t have to kiss at the ceremony.” He smiles and looks me right in the eye.
    I can’t look away. I wonder if my sister Liz felt this way about Kevin, her fiancé, when she first met him.
    Suddenly he says, “I was only kidding.”
    “I know.” Too fast.
    When we’re left on our own to talk about the project, Nate says, “Where’re you from?”
    “Chicago.”
    “Wow. The Windy City.”
    I don’t mention that everyone says that.
    We begin filling out a questionnaire about our phony lives that has to be turned in by next Friday. Nate asks me, “Are we planning on starting a family?”
    I open my mouth. Nothing.
    He just laughs.
    It’s all so crazy. We’re supposed to go to the grocery store together and pretend to buy food for a week that’s within our budget. How is this gonna work? Does this mean that my mother will have to drop me off at Safeway in the Blue Bomber? Please
no
.
    “You’ve been staring out the window ever since you started here. Are you bored, or do you hate school?”
    He’s noticed me. For a week. I give him a half smile.
    He says, “Ah, she smiles,” and I feel prickles all over my scalp.
    “Actually I’m nervous about something.”
    “Aha! I’m good at nervous. What’re you nervous about?”
    “Trying out for softball.”
    “My sister plays softball,” he says.
    I imagine myself becoming best friends with her and sleeping over at their house.
    “Did you play sports at your old school?” he asks.
    “No. That’s the problem.”
    “Well, you’ve got nothing to worry about. Spring Valley takes everyone. They have to. It’s the passive-aggressive way of private schools. If you suck, it’s up to you to quit. So they never have to deal with the parents that say, hey, you cut my kid!”
    His hair falls in his face and as he jerks it out of his eyes, I get a soapy whiff of him.
    I have no response.
    “I’m just saying, don’t be nervous. You’ll make it.”
    “Okay. Thanks,” I mutter.
    Before P. E., I get my backpack out of my cubby and take a drink of water. I’m so parched I can hardly breathe without coughing.
    Dixon greets me in class with a friendly swat on the back. “Nervous?” she practically screams at me.
    “A little.”
    One of the guys in class glances at me.
    “She’s trying out for softball,” Dixon says to him.
    He offers a “Good luck,” but it’s kind of halfhearted, as if playing a sport makes me a traitor.
    After class I’m on my own…which, when you think about it, is really where you are in life, even if you have a millionfriends and a family who loves you and a cute boyfriend and big boobs and good hair. You still have to be brave enough to do things like go out on the lake in a tiny little boat.
    Now me, I’m still waiting on that one.

In the locker