her best friend, Kate.
âHey,â said Kate. âHow was practice?â
âAwful!â exclaimed Allie. âI am such a bad player! I still canât spike the ball, and weâre more than halfway through the season. Coach said today that we need to sign up for summer league if we want to play next year. I really want to play, but whatâs the point? Iâm the tallest player. Itâs embarrassing if I canât spike the ball!â
Allie stopped talking. She was almost in tears.
Kate sighed. âAllie, calm down,â she said. âYouâre not a bad player. You know that! There is just one part of the game you need to work on. Weâve talked about this so much. I just wish youâd believe that youâre good at volleyball.â
âI know,â Allie said. âMe too.â
âLook, you have a coach for a reason, right?â asked Kate. âSheâs there to help you get better. So tomorrow after practice, why donât you just ask her for help?â
Allie wanted to tell Kate she thought that was a bad idea. But she stopped. She frowned and thought for a minute. Maybe Kate was right. Maybe Allie just needed to ask for help.
âAre you still there?â Kate asked.
Allie smiled. âYeah, just thinking,â she said. âI think you might be right. Iâll talk to Coach Anderson tomorrow.â
âGreat!â Kate said. âIâm glad to hear that youâre not giving up. Youâre no quitter, Allie! Youâll be a great spiker before you know it.â
âYeah, maybe,â Allie said. She just couldnât stop thinking about that dayâs volleyball practice and the two spikes sheâd messed up.
Chapter 3
UNEXPECTED HELP
The next afternoon, practice was terrible again. Allie practiced hitting, but she couldnât get anything over the net.
Just as she was starting to think sheâd never be more embarrassed, she heard a familiar voice. âCome on, Allie! You can do it!â someone yelled.
Allieâs stomach dropped when she realized who was yelling. It was Nikki, Allieâs favorite varsity volleyball player.
Nikki was a junior in high school. She was the best hitter on the varsity team â maybe in the whole state.
Allie had been to all of the varsity teamâs home matches. Sheâd watched Nikki hit the ball straight down to the floor over and over again. Nikki was amazing.
So when Allie was messing up every single hit of her own, Nikki was the last person Allie wanted to be watching. She felt her cheeks burning.
Luckily, just then, Coach Anderson finally blew her whistle. She called the team in for the end-of-practice huddle.
âGreat work today, girls,â said Coach Anderson. âHave a good weekend. Remember, our match on Monday is at home. See you then!â
Everyone started to head to the locker room, but Allie hung back. Then she walked across the gym to Coach Andersonâs office. She knocked on the half-open door.
âCome in!â called Coach Anderson.
Allie pushed the door open. âHey, Allie!â Coach Anderson said. âWhatâs up?â
Allie looked down at the floor. Standing in the doorway, she quietly said, âCoach, I was wondering if you could help me with my hitting. I really want to play on the freshman team next year, and Iâm afraid I wonât make the team if I canât learn to spike.â
She looked up, hoping to see Coach Andersonâs reaction. To her surprise, she saw Nikki sitting in a chair against the wall. Coach Anderson smiled at Allie.
âOh!â exclaimed Allie. âI didnât know you were busy. Iâm really sorry!â She started to back out of the office. âIâll just talk to you next week,â she added.
âWait, Allie! Iâm not busy,â exclaimed Coach. âNikkiâs just here visiting.â
âI had to bring some stuff down from the varsity coach,â
Yael Politis
Lorie O'Clare
Karin Slaughter
Peter Watts
Karen Hawkins
Zooey Smith
Andrew Levkoff
Ann Cleeves
Timothy Darvill
Keith Thomson