Penalty Shot Read Online Free PDF Page B

night.
    He’ll find out soon enough, he thought ruefully. If Bucky sees me, I’m sure he’ll let the whole team know.
    At dinner, Jeff ate as if he’d never seen food before, then gathered together everything he thought he might need for his
     meeting: his three-ring binder, his composition,a pencil, and a pen. His mother drove him to the Ledbetters’ house, promising to be back in an hour. She handed him an envelope
     with Beth’s name on the outside and a check on the inside, then drove away.
    Jeff walked to the front door and rang the bell. Hayes answered it.
    “Jeff! What’re you doing here?” Hayes asked, looking surprised.
    “Uh, I’m here to see your sister,” Jeff mumbled.
    Hayes stepped aside. “Come on in,” he said.
    “Is that Jeff Connors?” a voice called out.
    Blushing furiously, Jeff pushed past Hayes just as Beth came into the room. While they shook hands, Hayes muttered something
     about going to his room and disappeared.
    Jeff liked Beth immediately. About the same age as his sister Candy, she was dressed in sweats and running shoes. Her blond
     hairwas cut short and her blue eyes were sizing him up just as he was sizing her up.
    “Come on into my study,” she said. “And let’s see what you’ve brought me.”
    “Oh, uh, here,” Jeff said, fumbling with the envelope his mother had given him.
    Beth laughed. “I meant let’s take a look at your composition, but since you’re offering…” She whisked the envelope out of
     his hand and stowed it quickly in the top drawer of her desk.
    “Now let me see the famous composition, the one with all the green marks,” she said with a smile.
    “Oh, boy, here we go,” said Jeff.
    “Don’t worry,” said Beth. “Believe me, the worst part is just getting here, and that’s over and done with.”
    Jeff looked at her with raised eyebrows. “How’d you know that?” he asked.
    “Hey, I was once in your shoes myself,”she said. “Everyone goes through a slow patch in school. Only some of us get down to a crawl and need a little help to get
     back on track. I’m here to help you do that.”
    She read through the composition. Then she pulled out an expensive-looking binder. She flipped it open to a blank page and
     jotted down some notes.
    “Okay, here’s what I see you doing wrong,” she said matter-of-factly. “You write incomplete sentences, for one thing. You
     know, missing a verb or a noun or something important like that. You also switch tenses in mid-sentence and mid-paragraph.
     You’ll be talking in past tense one minute, then suddenly we’re in present tense! Without the right tense, your work won’t
     make sense.”
    “You’re a poet and don’t know it?” Jeff asked with a smile, referring to her little rhyme.
    “Believe it or not, it’s things like that thatwill help you remember what to watch for. I’ll teach you a whole ton of stupid sayings like that, and you’ll never be able
     to get them out of your head. Like that old
’i
before
e
except after
c’
one.”
    Jeff grinned. “I see what you mean. So, what else is wrong?”
    Beth listed a few other problems she’d noticed. When she was through, Jeff felt a little overwhelmed and told her so.
    Beth punched him lightly on the arm. “Hey, you don’t have to tackle it all at once. That’s why I’m here — to help make things
     clear.”
    Jeff tried to keep a straight face but burst out laughing. “Is becoming a poet part of the bargain?”
    Beth laughed with him, then said, “Just keep that attitude and you’ll be writing sonnets in no time. Now let’s get to work.”

11
    T he remainder of Jeff’s week was filled with classes, practices, and tutoring sessions. His meetings with Beth were getting
     a little easier, though the first time he ran into Bucky, he was embarrassed. Bucky had razzed him about the tutoring until
     Beth told him to lay off. Since then, Bucky had given him a nasty smile but said nothing.
    Despite this, Jeff fell into bed each