Team Play Read Online Free PDF Page B

never tell anybody how to get along with a teacher, but she could tell them how to spread a thin layer of rubber cement under the teacher’s desk so the teacher’s shoes would stick in it. She never wanted to play basketball after lunch, but she had figured out how to rig the electronic scoreboard so that no matter who scored, the number always showed up in the “Fouls” column.
    The person who was President of the Middle School was a person so unlike Stevie Lake that Stevie didn’t even know who the last one was!
    Suddenly, Stevie was filled with determination. She had to get to the bottom of this. She adjusted her book bag on her shoulder and practically marched the rest of the way to school. She hardly saw the boys and girls who greeted her as she neared the building. She barely heard their congratulations or felt their pats of encouragement. She was rapidly getting used to people clapping her on the back. She made a beeline for Miss Fenton’s office and stopped at Miss Ward’s desk.
    “I’m not running for Middle School President,” Stevie said.
    The gray-haired lady peered at Stevie over her pale pink glasses. “Oh yes, you are,” she said. “I saw the posters. They’re all over the place.”
    “I know they are, but I’m not running,” Stevie said patiently.
    Miss Ward chuckled. “You’re right about that. You’ll win walking. Only one other person is running and that’s Robert Effingwell. Nobody knows him.”
    Stevie had the funny feeling she and Miss Ward were talking at cross-purposes. “I mean, I didn’t get a lot of signatures on any petitions,” she tried to explain.
    “You got enough,” Miss Ward said.
    “I did?”
    “Let me see,” Miss Ward said. She disappeared suddenly under the counter, crouching to pull something from a file. A moment later, her head popped up. “Here it is,” she said, producing some crumpled papers. “The student government rules state that you must have twenty-five signatures to place your name in nomination. You have over a hundred. There’s no problem at all. You’re running all right.”
    “I am?”
    “You are.” Miss Ward handed the petition to Stevie as if it proved something. Stevie gazed at the papers in front of her. Miss Ward was right. There were more than a hundred signatures on them. Somehow, she was running for President of the Middle School.
    “Thanks,” Stevie managed to say.
    “You’re welcome,” Miss Ward told her. Then the first bell rang. All the extra time Stevie had given herself by leaving home early had disappeared when she’d discoveredshe was running for office. Now, she had to dash just to get to her homeroom on time.
    She turned and began running. Then she stopped herself. A girl who expected people to vote for her wouldn’t ever do anything as undignified as racing along the hallway. She decided to walk fast instead.
    P EPPER WAS ACTING up a little as Lisa tried to saddle him that afternoon before riding class. Every time she tried to pull the buckle on his girth one hole tighter, he’d take a deep breath, expanding his belly so much that she couldn’t tighten it.
    “What do I do, Stevie?” Lisa called over the stall divider to where Stevie was finishing tacking up her horse, Topside.
    “Put on the bridle and then try again,” Stevie replied. “Try to catch him off guard. If that doesn’t work, you’ll just have to adjust it when you’re in the saddle.”
    Lisa reached for the bridle and began to put it on Pepper. She straightened out all the leathers and then slipped the bit into his mouth.
    “I’m running for Middle School President,” Stevie called casually over the divider.
    “What?” Lisa let the bit drop back out of Pepper’s mouth because she was laughing so hard. “Funny thing,” she said between giggles. “I thought I just heard you say you were running for Middle School President.”
    “I did,” Stevie told her.
    “What?” Lisa asked.
    “I said, and I quote, ‘I’m running for Middle