But what could she do? Tell Connor she couldn’t leave that early and then have to miss practice, when she needed every chance she had to prove herself before the next meet? Give up the chance to ride to the pool with him? Tell him the reason she couldn’t—that she wasn’t smart enough to pass eighth grade by herself next year, so she needed someone helping her all summer?

Janine would still get paid since it was too late for a cancellation, so she probably wouldn’t mind that much. And Annabelle would think of a way to make it okay with Mom. She’d do extra work all weekend or something.

She sent Janine an apology text and texted Connor a quick sounds good before pedaling home as fast as she could. She didn’t have any choice, she told herself.

Chapter 12

Annabelle had barely finished shoving all her stuff into her swim bag when a blue minivan pulled up in front of her house. The girl who was driving had long, highlighted hair and olive skin kind of like Mia’s, and Jordan sat in the passenger seat with a blue baseball cap pulled low. The back door slid open.

“Hummingbird!” Connor said. “This is Natalie, Jordan’s sister.”

Connor wore a dark green Gray Island High lacrosse T-shirt that made his eyes even greener than usual. He pulled his swim bag toward him so there would be plenty of room for Annabelle, even though it wouldn’t have been in her way, and her breath caught at the chivalrous gesture.

Of course, then he and Jordan spent most of the drive talking about some Red Sox trade that might happen while she just sat there. But eventually he turned to her and said, “You like baseball?”

Annabelle felt the way she did at school when a teacher called on her and she wasn’t expecting it. She wanted to think of something interesting to say, something right, but words tangled in her brain.

Finally she shrugged. “It’s okay.”

The truth was, she’d loved to watch baseball with her dad when she was younger. But her dad was a Yankees fan, so she’d been one, too. And she knew better than to admit that in Red Sox territory.

She and Dad had gone to Yankees games every once in a while. One time when they drove to the stadium in the Bronx, there was so much traffic that they missed the first three innings. As they sat there in the car, inching forward and listening to the game on the radio, she gnawed on her bottom lip until her teeth cut through the skin, afraid her dad would be upset about being so late. But it was a good day, so he cheered and high-fived Annabelle when one of the Yankees hit a home run, and they listed all the foods they were going to buy when they got to the stadium: hot dogs and ice cream and soft pretzels and popcorn. And then he really did buy all of that when they finally arrived. They could barely carry it all to their seats.