Read Online Lucy Doesn't Wear Pink by Nancy Rue - Free Book Online

the pink one,” Lucy said.
    “That lady you were with was nice.”
    Lucy wasn’t sure which one of them said that, and she didn’t care. What was up with them noticing her all of a sudden? “You guys ready?” she said to her group.
    Veronica and Dusty turned to their side-by-side cubbies, filled with color-coded pastel binders that said SOCIAL STUDIES and ENGLISH in perfect fat letters. They never had to come to the support class. Lucy reminded herself to make a list of all the reasons she was glad. Them paying attention to her couldn’t be a good thing.
    Once she was out on the playground with Emanuel and Oscar and Carla Rosa, however, she forgot all about them. She could even ignore Januarie, who sat on the ground with her lower lip poking straight out, bleating like a small goat because they wouldn’t let her play.
    “We could use her for the ball,” J.J. muttered to Lucy.
    “You want to hold my jacket for me, Jan?” Lucy said.
    Januarie settled for that, though she kept her lip standing out.
    Lucy pointed to a space near the fence. “Be goalie, J.J. Oscar, you be the defender — ”
    She doled out the positions — midfielder to Carla Rosa, and forward to herself and Emanuel. That made it basically J.J. against everybody else, but there weren’t enough of them to make one team, much less two. Besides, J.J. was the best player, except for Lucy.
    “Ready?” she said.
    Heads bobbed, and Lucy set the ball down, took a step forward, and smacked it squarely in the middle with the inside of her foot so her leg looked like a hockey stick. That was the way her mom had taught her, the way she’d watched players on TV do it, and the way she’d practiced in her backyard until her feet were black and blue.
    “To you, Emanuel!” she shouted.
    He stuck out a long, spindly leg and caught the ball with his toe. It popped up and spun back toward him. He flailed at it again with his foot, missed, and said, “To you, Lucy.”
    “No!” Lucy waved her arms at him. “I can’t touch it again until somebody else does.”
    Emanuel looked at Carla Rosa, who blinked at him.
    “That’s why you need me!” Januarie said.
    “So why aren’t you playing, Miss Thing?”
    Lucy stopped in mid-lunge toward the ball and stared at Mr. Auggy, who was crouching beside Januarie.
    “They won’t ever let me,” she said, pitifully.
    Carla Rosa chose that moment to whack at the ball with her foot. Lucy trapped it with hers and dragged it back behind her with her sole.
    “Okay, let’s start again,” she said.
    “Pass it here,” Mr. Auggy said. “I’ll throw it in.”
    Lucy didn’t move.
    “I love a pickup game. It looks like you could use another player.” He looked down at Januarie. “Two, even. You want to be on my team?”
    J.J. grunted. Carla Rosa giggled. Oscar and Emanuel shrugged at each other. Lucy kicked the ball hard toward Mr. Auggy. It was trapped and in his hands so swiftly, Lucy barely saw how he did it.
    “Go on in, Miss Thing,” he said to Januarie, who was jumping up and down and squealing.
    She bounded onto their playing space, nearly knocking Emanuel over, and turned to face Mr. Auggy. Leaning forward with one leg, he raised the ball over his head and threw it gently to her feet.
    “What do I do?” she cried.
    “Kick it to me,” Mr. Auggy said as he jogged onto the “field.”
    “No, kick it here!” J.J. said.
    When she turned her head to him, Emanuel got his foot between hers and snagged the ball.
    “Here!” Lucy said, running toward the goal.
    But from somewhere, a high-pitched sound came. All heads turned to Mr. Auggy, who let a silver whistle drop to his chest on a cord. He waved his hand for them to gather around him. Carla Rosa bounced over like she was going to hug him. J.J. gave Lucy a dark look.
    “Listen,” Mr. Auggy said when they’d formed a half circle around him, “I like your spirit, but no fair taking advantage of the new kid.” He gave Januarie his small smile. She looked