Snowboard Showdown Read Free Page A

meant to keep going, but Eric and Clarissa started talking about a math test they'd
     both taken that morning. Freddie stood awkwardly, waiting for them to finish.
    “You guys want to join us?” Clarissa asked. “Girls, shove over, okay?”
    Freddie looked down at Eric. “You want to?” he asked.
    “Sure. You?”
    “I guess.” Trying to seem nonchalant, Freddie sat down next to Clarissa. As he did, he bumped herelbow. Freddie drew back as if he'd touched fire, stammered an apology.
    The table was crowded with other kids Freddie knew, all busy talking with one another. Smart Krissie from French class, and
     Kareem the computer wizard, and tall Oliver, the star of the basketball team.
    “I was wondering,” Clarissa asked Eric, continuing their conversation about the math test, “if you understood the part about
     the slopes and meridians. Midterms are coming up and I don't know what I'm doing.”
    “Well,” Eric said, “it's not that complicated really. I could help you study sometime if you want.”
    “Really? Cool!” Clarissa said with a dazzling smile.
    Freddie squirmed. Eric was so up front, so out there. He'd practically asked Clarissa out, and she'd pretty much said yes,
     while Freddie just sat there, too shy to say anything. On the other hand, maybe Eric was just being friendly, and Clarissa
     was just being friendly back. Maybe…
    “I could use a lesson on that stuff too,” Freddie blurted out. “Maybe I could join you?” He knew hewas horning in, but he'd opened his mouth before he could stop himself.
    Before Clarissa and Eric could say anything, Dondi appeared over Clarissa's shoulder.
    “Hey, squirt,” Dondi said, nodding to Freddie.
    Freddie glared at him, reddening. In two seconds, with two simple words, Dondi had humiliated him in front of his best friend
     and the girl he had a major crush on. Boy, was that ever Dondi. “What do you want?” he asked Dondi.
    “Guess what? I got my working papers!” He held them up for the whole table to see. “Anybody wanna hire me? Only fifty dollars
     an hour!” Everyone laughed at Dondi's clowning, as everyone always did. Dondi never seemed to get embarrassed or worry that
     he'd said or done something wrong—take now, for instance. It was like he was a stand-up comic or something. Freddie wished
     he could be like that, but whenever he tried to be funny, it usually came out wrong. So he didn't try to be funny much anymore.
    “Wow, that is so awesome!” Clarissa said enthusiastically, handling Dondi's working papers as if they were made of diamonds.
     “I wish I could get a job.Something cool. Like Mabry's, where they sell all those great clothes.” She looked up at Dondi admiringly.
    “I'm gonna get you a special discount if you come in to where I work,” Dondi promised.
    “I am so there!” Clarissa told Dondi, and they slapped each other five. Then, to Freddie's horror, Dondi winked at her.
    “Y-you don't even have a job yet,” Freddie blurted out, stumbling over the words. He wanted to take the working papers and
     crush them into a ball. Instead, he handed them back to Dondi.
    “I will by tonight, you wait and see,” Dondi told him. Then he sauntered off, pointing meaningfully at Clarissa, who giggled.
    Suddenly, Freddie felt like he was drowning. He stood up, using the table for support. “I… gotta go,” he said, grabbing his
     book bag and waving a quick good-bye. “See ya.”
    He broke into a trot as he neared the exit doors, then stopped and leaned against a wall in the stairwell. He breathed deeply,
     trying to collect himself. Had Dondi flirted with Clarissa just because he suspected Freddie liked her? But how would he know?Not even Eric knew Freddie liked Clarissa. But why else would Dondi have paid any attention to a seventh-grader?
    One thing was for sure: If Freddie wanted to get Clarissa to like him, he was going to have to get her attention away from
     Dondi first.
    The rest of that day, Freddie couldn't stop