After only one practice, we all know you are the best player on the ice. Probably in the league. But you are still wrong about those passes.â
âWrong?â Tom asked.
âYou said I missed five passes because I am too big and too slow,â Stu said. âBut I only missed
four
passes because I am big and slow. I missed the last pass because I was looking at the concession stand to see if they had any hotdogs left for after practice.â
âYouâre not taking this seriously,â Tom said. His face was tight with a frown.
âNo,â Stu said.
âMy insults donât make you want to play better hockey? To try harder? To maybe start looking for passes instead of hotdogs?â
âNot really,â Stu said. âI like hotdogs. Besides, your insults mean nothing to me. Iâve watched Oprah.â
âOprah?â
âOprah,â Stu said. âOn TV. She had this episode about dealing with insults. I canât control what you say. Only how I react to it. Right, Johnny?â
âIt was a good episode,â Johnny said, âbut not as good as the one about cute girls who think they are ugly. Remember that one blond girl who went to school with a paper bag over her head?â
âI do,â Stu said. âShe was really cute. I taped that episode.â
âListen to me!â Tom yelled. âThis is not about Oprah!â
âOh,â Johnny said.
âOh,â Stu said.
âThis is about winning hockey games. In Toronto, I was in the elite league. I am used to playing with great players. Iâm not used to losing. And I donât play with wingers who check out the concession stand in the middle of practice.â
âWelcome to the town of Howling,â Johnny said. âNow you get to experience new things. Like how much fun it is to be part of a team. Even if we lose sometimes.â
âOr worse, if the concession stand runs out of hotdogs,â Stu said. âYou have to take the good with the bad around here.â
âYou guys canât be serious for a second, can you?â Tom asked.
âOne second at the most,â Stu said very seriously.
Stu waited one second with that serious look on his face.
Then he smiled. âSee, one second. Then all my seriousness is gone again. I also have a short attention span to go along with my chubbiness. Itâs part of my charm.â
Tom didnât think that was funny. âDid your parents call you Stu because they knew you wouldnât be able to spell Stupid?â
âBut I can spell idiot,â Stu said. âListen carefully. T â O â M.â
âT â O â M?â Tom said. âThatâs how stupid you are. That doesnât spell idiot. Thatâs how you spell Tom.â
âOh,â Stu said. âMaybe I made a mistake because it is very hard to tell one from the other.â
Some of the other kids who were listening began to laugh.
âThatâs it!â Tom said. âNobody calls me an idiot. Letâs fight. Right now.â
Chapter Four
âI think heâs serious,â Stu said. âLook, heâs making fists.â
Tom, the new kid, had his fists up.
âThis doesnât build teamwork,â Johnny said to Tom. âI always want to hit him for all the bubbles in the water when we swim. But trust me, when you hit him, you just bounce off. I had to learn that the hard way.â
âI donât care,â Tom said. âHe called me an idiot.â
âActually,â Stu said, âitâs more like you called yourself an idiot. Maybe you should punch yourself.â
Tom glared at Stu. Tom kept his fists up and started circling Stu. âCome on. Fight. Or are you chicken?â
âMake up your mind,â Stu said. âI canât be a whale
and
a chicken.â
The kids around them laughed at this too. They all liked Stu.
âI donât know what school you came
Glen Cook
Kitty French
Lydia Laube
Rachel Wise
Martin Limon
Mark W Sasse
Natalie Kristen
Felicity Heaton
Robert Schobernd
Chris Cleave