Whatever Life Throws at You Read Online Free PDF Page B

eyes, but if you’re the best, then you’re in. No favoritism, no politics, no parents persuading me, just time, distance, height—got it?”
    I sigh with relief. I’d been worried that coming in junior year might not allow me to take someone else’s spot, but according to Coach Kessler’s plan, all I have to do is run faster than the other girls. “I think I can handle that.”
    She claps me on the back a little too hard. “We’ll have our first time trials next week.”
    Coach Kessler sends all the girls who run the 800 or longer distance out on a five-mile run, led by Jackie Stonington. I make sure to stay about two stride lengths behind her the whole time and when we get back to the school, I’m hating the cold temperature about 50 percent less than I had at the start of practice.
    “Lucas!” Coach Kessler shouts after dismissing everyone to the locker room.
    “Yeah?”
    “You ever run the two mile?” she asks.
    “Just once as a freshman. My mile time has always been better, and it was too much to do both in the same meet.”
    Coach Kessler snorts back a laugh. “Says who?” She doesn’t wait for my answer. She pulls a sheet of paper from her clipboard and hands it to me. “All my long-distance runners do additional workouts. I’m here every morning before school, and you run on your own on the weekends.”
    “Oh…” I glance at the paper and start calculating the additional miles for each week. “I didn’t realize there was extra—”
    “I can’t require it, Annie,” she explains. “But I’m telling you now, if you follow my program, you’ll not only be competing both the mile and the two mile, you’ll win, okay?”
    “Okay.”
    “And remember to check out my training diet on the website,” she calls after me. “Very important that you load up on carbs.”

    Annie Lucas: If I knew how to say overwhelmed in Spanish that’s what I’d type for my status update. But then again, if I knew I might not be overwhelmed enough to need this update.
    5 minutes ago
    Lenny London: Boys come and boys go, but learning to swear at them in multiple languages is a skill you can keep forever. Exactly why studying is a priority for me.
    2 minutes ago
    I’m standing outside the Royals’ locker room trying to decide if I want to take the chance of getting in trouble for walking into Dad’s office when Frank comes up behind me.
    “Frank, take me to my father.” I slap a hand over my eyes and stick my other arm out for him.
    “Oh Lord, this is gonna get real old,” he grumbles, dragging me along. He stops after only a short distance. “It’s all clear, kid.”
    I uncover my eyes and follow Frank into the training room where Dad is working with the starting pitcher, going over video footage. He smiles when he sees me, tosses a PowerBar in my direction, and goes back to work
    Dad wanted to drive me to school this morning, so I’m stuck waiting for him to be done. I hop up on one of the tables and spread my books out. It’s been a couple hours since my last academic headache, and I figure it’s time for another. I give half my attention to my history book and the other half to Dad’s coaching session. I can’t hear everything he’s saying, but from what I do pick up, Mr. Starting Pitcher, who has apparently been hot stuff around here for an entire decade, isn’t too keen on Dad’s advice. It’s like he’s half out of his seat already.
    “Well, this just gets more and more interesting every day.” I glance over my shoulder and see Jason Brody, standing near one of the treadmills in workout clothes. His eyes travel up and down, taking in my school uniform. “Got my interview written up yet?”
    I smirk at him and then retrieve a sheet of paper from my bag. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
    He eyes me skeptically and walks over, plucking the paper from my hand. “ Jason Abraham Brody —” He stops reading and looks up at me. “That’s not my middle name.”
    “We didn’t get to finish