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matter.
Math
wouldn’t matter. That’s what I want, more than anything else in the world. Mom? Dad?”
    “What
I
see,” Mrs. Greeley answered, “is that you aren’t thinking straight about your future yet. You’reabsolutely sure you’ll be successful as a tennis player. But what if you’re not?”
    Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but Mrs. Greeley went on. “I’m not doubting your talent, sweetie. Or your determination
     — we all know you’ve got plenty of that. But there are a lot of talented young athletes out there who all want the same thing,
     and all of them are sure they’ll be the one to do it — and most of them are wrong. Also, even if you’re the best tennis player
     ever, you might get hurt and end your career that way. Look at what happened to your father. Luckily, he was smart enough
     to stay in school.”
    Mrs. Greeley took hold of one of Ginny’s hands.
    “If you don’t succeed in tennis, and you’ve neglected your education, what will you do then? The world is a very tough place
     for a young person without proper schooling.”
    Ginny removed her hand, her face sullen. “I can always go back to school afterward. I may never get another chance to go to
     Vince’s camp. This happens once in a lifetime.”
    Mr. Greeley cleared his throat. “I think your momis right about this, sweetie. You need to stay in school, and you need to get your math up to speed.”
    Ginny’s jaw was clenched. “Oh, sure.
I
have to worry about school, but
Steve
doesn’t have to.
He
can go to Florida if he wants. Thanks a lot.”
    Steve felt awful, but he didn’t know what to say. So he said nothing.
    Dinner finished in gloomy silence.

8
    A fter dinner, Steve found Ginny sitting alone in the dark in the backyard, staring up at the night sky. He sat down next to
     her.
    “Hi. Okay if I sit here?”
    “It’s your house, too,” she muttered.
    “Lighten up,” he said. “You know how I feel. I was hoping to spend the summer having some fun around here instead of playing
     tennis thirty hours a day. And I know you’d love to go to Florida and come back ready for the pros.”
    “But
noo-o-o-o
,” Ginny snarled. “I have to work on my
math
. Like
math
is really going to help me sharpen my game. The only math I care about is fifteen, thirty, forty, game.”
    “Well,” — Steve sprawled on his back in the grassnext to his sister — “Mom’s just worried about what’d happen if you don’t make it to the pros.”
    “I can’t think about that now,” Ginny said. “I have to think positive about tennis. You understand, don’t you?”
    “Sure,” said Steve quickly.
    “Well, you’re the only one in this family who does, then. Mom doesn’t think I can make it, and Dad is too wrapped up in your
     game to have any time for mine.”
    Steve sighed. “You’re not the only one with problems. You think I’m happy being the one Dad is always pushing? You think it’s
     easy?”
    Ginny reached over to pat her brother’s arm. “No, I know it’s not easy. But sooner or later, you know you’re going to have
     to tell him the truth. The longer you wait, the harder it’ll be.”
    “I know,” admitted Steve. “But I don’t know how to do it. He’s going to be so unhappy.” He sighed. “I just can’t, not yet.
     It’ll be as if I insulted him or something.”
    Ginny sat up. “You don’t have to say you don’t want to play tennis, period. Just say you’re still notsure you want to be a pro. That way, he can still hope you’ll come around to see things his way. And who knows, maybe you
     will, someday.”
    Steve brightened. “Yeah, you’re right. If I just say I need more time, he probably wouldn’t be totally disappointed. That’s
     what I should do.”
    “Hey, if you tell him that, maybe Dad will pay more attention to
me
,” Ginny said. “Maybe he’ll go to work to persuade Mom and Vince that I should go to tennis camp this summer and work on math
     another time.” She grabbed