Read Online Hopping Mad by Franklin W. Dixon - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Franklin W. Dixon
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happy to have been pulled off the stage. Joe would have bet his favorite baseball mitt that that had been Adamâs goal from the very beginning.
Next up, three girls from the fifth grade did a dance routine to a Madonna song. It was pretty good, but the audience didnât love it as much as they had loved Adamâs jokes. After them a boy played the violin. It was beautifulâbut not the sort of thing that won a talent show. Frank and Joe were feeling pretty good about their odds of winning ⦠and pretty nervous!
Behind him, Frank heard a strange noise. Heturned around and saw Mina, Adamâs sister, crying on Principal Butlerâs shoulder.
âI canât do it!â she said. âIâm too scared.â
âItâs okay,â said Principal Butler. âYou donât have to go on if you donât want to.â
It seemed like she had a bad case of stage fright! Frank understood how she felt. Still, he wasnât going to give up yet. Principal Butler got Mina to stop crying and sent her back into the audience. That made one less performance.
Now it was Cissyâs turn. She walked onstage wearing her Bayport Bandits hat and clutching a baseball in each hand. Her hands were so small, the baseballs barely fit. She was the shortest student in their entire grade, but she made up for it by being twice as fast as anyone else. Whether she was running, talking, or pitching, she did everything double time. She began to juggle the two balls in one hand. The audience was not impressed.
âI thought she was going to juggle four balls,â Joe whispered to Frank.
âMe too,â said Frank.
After a minute she looked over at Principal Butler and nodded her head. Principal Butler bent down and rolled a baseball toward her. Right as it got to her foot, Cissy kicked the ball like a Hacky Sack. It flipped up into the airâand she caught it! The audience cheered. Just like that, she went from juggling two balls to juggling three.
She juggled for a few minutes, sending the balls flying high and low. Sometimes she caught them under her legs or behind her back. She shifted the patterns they flew in. Each time she changed directions, the crowd cheered. She had them now!
Cissy switched to juggling all three balls with one hand. With her other, she reached up and pulled off her hat. Balanced on her head was thefourth baseball. She plucked it off her head and began to juggle all four!
âYay, Cissy!â yelled Frank and Joe. Theyâd known she was good with a baseball, but theyâd never known she was this good! She was going to give them a run for their moneyâbut they wouldnât be sad if they lost to her. She deserved it.
Finally, Cissy caught all four balls in her hands and bowed. The crowd cheered. She walked off the stage. The boys grabbed her and congratulated her. She was smiling so wide, she couldnât even speak. It was the first time the boys had ever seen her speechless.
Now there was just one more act before Frank and Joe. They peeked out from behind the curtain. The school auditorium was packed! There must have been hundreds of people there. They had never before realized just how big their school was⦠.
âWe should get ready,â said Joe. Frank nodded.But it wasnât until Melissa and Todd pushed past them that the boys were able to stop staring at the size of the audience.
âNo competition here,â Melissa said with a sniff as she walked onstage. Todd nodded.
They were wearing matching gold and black outfits. They looked kind of like taxicabs. They didnât seem impressed with any of the other acts. They always thought they were the bestâand usually they were. Theyâd won the last two school-wide talent competitions.
They took their places. Melissa was standing in the middle of the stage, and Todd was a little bit behind her. Sweeping music started pouring from the sound system. Melissa looked up toward the
Next up, three girls from the fifth grade did a dance routine to a Madonna song. It was pretty good, but the audience didnât love it as much as they had loved Adamâs jokes. After them a boy played the violin. It was beautifulâbut not the sort of thing that won a talent show. Frank and Joe were feeling pretty good about their odds of winning ⦠and pretty nervous!
Behind him, Frank heard a strange noise. Heturned around and saw Mina, Adamâs sister, crying on Principal Butlerâs shoulder.
âI canât do it!â she said. âIâm too scared.â
âItâs okay,â said Principal Butler. âYou donât have to go on if you donât want to.â
It seemed like she had a bad case of stage fright! Frank understood how she felt. Still, he wasnât going to give up yet. Principal Butler got Mina to stop crying and sent her back into the audience. That made one less performance.
Now it was Cissyâs turn. She walked onstage wearing her Bayport Bandits hat and clutching a baseball in each hand. Her hands were so small, the baseballs barely fit. She was the shortest student in their entire grade, but she made up for it by being twice as fast as anyone else. Whether she was running, talking, or pitching, she did everything double time. She began to juggle the two balls in one hand. The audience was not impressed.
âI thought she was going to juggle four balls,â Joe whispered to Frank.
âMe too,â said Frank.
After a minute she looked over at Principal Butler and nodded her head. Principal Butler bent down and rolled a baseball toward her. Right as it got to her foot, Cissy kicked the ball like a Hacky Sack. It flipped up into the airâand she caught it! The audience cheered. Just like that, she went from juggling two balls to juggling three.
She juggled for a few minutes, sending the balls flying high and low. Sometimes she caught them under her legs or behind her back. She shifted the patterns they flew in. Each time she changed directions, the crowd cheered. She had them now!
Cissy switched to juggling all three balls with one hand. With her other, she reached up and pulled off her hat. Balanced on her head was thefourth baseball. She plucked it off her head and began to juggle all four!
âYay, Cissy!â yelled Frank and Joe. Theyâd known she was good with a baseball, but theyâd never known she was this good! She was going to give them a run for their moneyâbut they wouldnât be sad if they lost to her. She deserved it.
Finally, Cissy caught all four balls in her hands and bowed. The crowd cheered. She walked off the stage. The boys grabbed her and congratulated her. She was smiling so wide, she couldnât even speak. It was the first time the boys had ever seen her speechless.
Now there was just one more act before Frank and Joe. They peeked out from behind the curtain. The school auditorium was packed! There must have been hundreds of people there. They had never before realized just how big their school was⦠.
âWe should get ready,â said Joe. Frank nodded.But it wasnât until Melissa and Todd pushed past them that the boys were able to stop staring at the size of the audience.
âNo competition here,â Melissa said with a sniff as she walked onstage. Todd nodded.
They were wearing matching gold and black outfits. They looked kind of like taxicabs. They didnât seem impressed with any of the other acts. They always thought they were the bestâand usually they were. Theyâd won the last two school-wide talent competitions.
They took their places. Melissa was standing in the middle of the stage, and Todd was a little bit behind her. Sweeping music started pouring from the sound system. Melissa looked up toward the
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