Read Online Mismatch by Lensey Namioka - Free Book Online

Judy,” said Sue. “I’m raising money for—”
    “I know!” said Judy with a big grin. “The orchestra is going to Japan.” She turned around and called out, “Mom, it’s someone raising money for the orchestra’s visit to Japan!”
    Mrs. Dawson came to the door. “Hello . . . it’s Suzanne Hua, isn’t it? So the Lakeview orchestra has been invited to play in Tokyo. What a great honor! And for you, going to Japan must be almost like going home!”
    Mrs. Dawson meant well, so Sue didn’t have the heart to say that Japan was totally different from China, and that going there was not at all like going home. America was her home.
    Mrs. Dawson contributed five dollars, not a bad start. After that, Sue lost much of her nervousness. At a couple of houses nobody was home. When she reached the house owned by a crabby old man who was always shooing cats away from his yard, Sue hoped that he would be out. But he was home. When he opened the door, Sue didn’t have a chance to start her spiel before he snapped, “Whatever it is, I don’t want any!” and slammed the door in her face. But at most houses, Sue’s reception was pretty friendly, even when she didn’t manage to get a contribution.
    Around suppertime, Sue decided to call it quits. People hated having their meals interrupted, and besides, she was so tired she couldn’t face climbing any more front steps. Playing her viola for the same number of hours didn’t tire her half as much. She had covered only a small part of her route, the part closest to home. She looked at her total: not quite forty dollars. She didn’t know how much one round-trip ticket to Tokyo cost, but with forty kids in the orchestra . . . Well, they could still make money from the car wash and the auction.
    At supper, Sue was almost too tired to eat. But after a few bites of her mother’s soy chicken, she recovered some of her energy. “So how much money did you get?” asked Rochelle.
    “About forty dollars,” mumbled Sue.
    “Hah!” said Sue’s mother. “At this rate, you won’t make enough money even for half a ticket, much less to pay for the whole orchestra to go.”
    “We still have other ways of raising money,” Sue pointed out. “I’m going to do some car washing next week, and there’s still the auction.”
    “I still think the whole scheme is hopeless!” said her mother.
    Sue knew that her mother hated the idea of the trip and would be delighted if the orchestra failed to get enough money. But at least she had agreed to allow Sue to go.
    Sue and Rochelle were just clearing the table when the doorbell rang. “Maybe it’s one of our orchestra members asking for money,” muttered Sue, going to the front door. “I’ll have to tell him that this is one house that’s already made its contributions!”
    When Sue opened the door, she was stunned to see Andy standing there. For a minute, the two of them just stared at each other. Finally Andy broke the silence. “I guess this is one house that’s already made its contributions, huh?”
    On hearing her own words, Sue broke into giggles that had a touch of hysteria.
    Andy looked nonplussed. “I came here tonight because I wanted a chance to talk to you, Sue,” he said finally.
    Sue had waited so long to speak to Andy, but now that they were face to face, she found her throat getting tight. She tried for a light tone. “We had a close call at the gym. I thought your dad and my mom were going to figure out what was going on with us, and then we’d have a duel with drawn swords.”
    Andy grinned. “Yeah, maybe I could get my dad to use a samurai sword! That’d be the most spectacular event the Lakeview gym ever had!” His face became serious. “Sue, I came here to tell you how sorry I am about what’s happened between us. It was dumb of me not to sit with you at lunch. At first, I was just so mad, and then once I realized what a jerk I was being, I guess I was too proud to apologize. I meant to talk to you after