Read Online Last Summer with Maizon by Jacqueline Woodson - Free Book Online Page A

back against the wall, surprised at how calm she felt. The house was the same house even if new people were living upstairs, she thought. She listened to them talk quietly about things that didn’t matter much to her. But the sound of their conversation, soft and slow as a dance, blended in with the other neighborhood sounds. Someone was trying to get a car started. Next door, someone swept leaves out onto the curb. Margaret closed her eyes for a moment and the sounds faded. Behind her lids, Maizon was home and it was last summer again.

13
    â€œM argaret! Hey, Margaret, wait up!” Margaret spun around to see Bo Douglas racing toward her. Even though the temperature had dropped in the last few weeks, Bo still wore a T-shirt and carried his jacket. He leapt over a pile of leaves and grinned as he got closer.
    â€œYou walk pretty fast!” he said, catching his breath. “I’ve been trying to catch up with you for a block!” He had never been this close to her before and Margaret glanced nervously at his smooth brown skin and square jaw. He was at least a foot taller than her. “I heard your poem won a prize in the all-city poetry contest. Congratulations!”
    â€œTh-Thanks,” Margaret stuttered. “I knew Ms. Peazle had entered it in the contest, but I didn’t think it would win!”
    Bo stuck out his hand and Margaret stared at it for a moment. Was she supposed to shake it? She shifted her books awkwardly and touched it with her own.
    â€œThank you,” she said again.
    â€œWell, we might as well walk to school together since we’re both headed that way,” Bo said shyly. He pulled the stark white T-shirt away from his neck as if it were uncomfortable, and brushed something invisible off the creased blue jeans he was wearing. They stopped short, above new-looking basketball sneakers.
    â€œAre you coming to the assembly today?” Margaret asked.
    â€œCan’t you see I’m dressed up for it? This is as dressed up as the Bo gets.” He laughed.
    Margaret blushed.
    â€œAren’t you nervous about reading your poem in front of all those people, Margaret?”
    â€œNo . . . not yet. I guess when I get onstage I will be, though. Anyway, this is just like a practice, sort of.”
    â€œWhen do you read it at city hall?”
    â€œThe day before Thanksgiving. My mother’s taking the day off, and Ms. Dell and Hattie—they’re my neighbors—are coming too.”
    Bo shook his head. “I doubt if I could ever do anything that good—that the mayor would want to see.”
    â€œI bet you could play basketball real well.”
    Bo stopped suddenly. “We might make it to the playoffs this season.” He faked a dribble and took a shot into the air. Margaret wondered how he could move so much and still hold on to the three books he was carrying. “If we do, you want to come?”
    â€œTo watch you play?” She felt the heat rise in her face again. “Sure.” She hoped Bo didn’t want to shake on it. Her hands were drenched with sweat.
    â€œCool!”
    They turned into the school yard.
    â€œHey, Margaret,” Bo said, heading toward a group of basketball buddies, “I’ll give you a wave when you go up onstage.”
    â€œOkay.”
    â€œSee you later.”
    â€œBye,” Margaret said, staring at his back as he walked away. Wait until Maizon hears about this! She stopped to say hello to a group of girls in her class before rushing off to the auditorium.
    Ms. Peazle had said it would be okay, this once, to meet the class in the auditorium. When the first-period bell rang, Margaret hid behind the curtain and watched as the students filed in.
    â€œJust relax,” Ms. Peazle whispered, coming up behind her. But looking out over the auditorium only made her tremble more. She hid until the principal introduced her.
    Margaret couldn’t remember ever being this nervous. Her heart