Raising the Stakes Read Online Free PDF Page B

trying to steer you guys away from computers.”
    They look at me.
    Ziggy’s grin fades. “You did? Why?”
    “To fit in some more variety. Being a geek doesn’t have to be all laptops and networks. He could be good at science and math. And he could really be into remote sensors and futuristic stuff. I tried to point you guys to some of those possibilities. But every time, we’d end up back at good ol’ monitors and cables.”
    “Yeah,” says Ziggy, “but I was trying to make him a computer geek.” He looks at the others. “That’s valid, right?”
    Since they’re all nodding, I decide I’d better drop it. I can’t be too hard on him. After all, he hasn’t had many chances to play the hero—that’s Asha’s job.
    But she’s not here. Again. And Mark’s missing too.
    “The only thing I want to mention,” says Mr. J., “is the stakes.”
    “Right,” I say, nodding. “The improv book says the problem should be super important to make sure the audience cares.” I turn to Faith. “Watching Jeopardy! ? Not exactly a matter of life and death.”
    Faith looks from me to Mr. J.
    “ I was going to say,” I go on, “that the building was a hospital and the brain surgeon inside was operating with instructions he was getting by satellite, but you jumped in with Jeopardy! , so…”
    Her cheeks pink up a little, and I feel a flutter of guilt. Should I maybe have talked to her about this privately?
    “Well,” she says, “I didn’t—I mean, TV was the first thought that came to me.”
    Mr. J. nods. “That’s what improv should be. And, hopefully, the more we practice, the stronger those first thoughts will get.”
    At least he’s sort of agreed with me. And he’s brought up practice.
    “Yeah, more practice would be great,” I say, grabbing the opening. “Zones are less than three weeks away, and it’ll be tough to compete when we’re only here on Wednesdays. And we’re not even all here. A few of last year’s teams said they train three or four times every week, sometimes more.”
    “But Chloe,” says Mr. J., “we’re not those other teams. We’re this team. All of us are busy, and practicing on Wednesdays is what seems to work best for everybody’s schedules. Usually, anyway. We agreed it would have to do for now, and we’ll add more if we make it through zones to regionals.”
    I love Mr. Jeffries, but just when I think he sees what this team needs, he stands right smack in the way of us getting it. No extra practices. Ugh. That means we’re going to have to make the couple we have left really count.
    “So,” he says, “another Story event?”
    The others agree, but I can’t. There’s too much at stake. “Isn’t that kind of a waste of our time without Asha here?” I ask. “Since she’s usually the hero?”
    Mr. J. looks at me funny—what is with him lately?—and nods.
    “All right, Life then. Everybody into the huddle while I think of an object in a teenager’s life.” That’s what we ask the audience to suggest for this event.
    Like I said, in our team’s Life event, Vern and I are always the two main characters—friends, or maybe a parent and child, whatever—who need to resolve some sort of problem. The rest of the team still tosses in ideas for the scene, though, and we all get ready to do that now.
    “Your object is…” says Mr. J., thinking, “…a broken vase.”
    We drop into our huddle.
    “You could be brother and sister,” Hanna suggests.
    “Chloe knocks over a vase,” says Nigel, “that was their great-grandmother’s.”
    “And Chloe’s worried,” Faith adds, “’cause she knows she’ll get in big trouble for it.”
    “Right,” says Ziggy, “but she can’t afford to be grounded because she’s going on a date.”
    I jump in. “My first date ever, let’s say. And with a cute guy I really like, which is why I decide to pin the blame on Vern.”
    A Life event is supposed to present a serious situation in a realistic way, so my idea