Katharine the Almost Great: Swimming with the Sharks
chapter 1 Butterfl y Shmutterfl y I tap tap tapped the poster Did you see this Crockett Crockett shook his head I can’t see anything I squeezed the water out of one of my pigtails Of course you can’t Take off your goggles Frog Face Crockett snapped off the goggles He read the poster I jumped up and down We’re going to be Stingrays Crockett’s mouth fell open We are 5
I slipped into my fl ip-fl ops and asked Don’t you want to be a Stingray He wiped a drop of water off of his nose You can’t just be a Stingray You have to try out It’s not easy to make the team He lowered his goggles and pretended to catch a fl y with his tongue Ribbit Ribbit How hard can it be I asked Easy breezy Easy breezy boomed a voice We turned around to see a man in an Aqua Boy T-shirt He held a clipboard in one hand and a stopwatch in the other Easy breezy repeated Aqua Boy Are you sure My stomach did a fl ip-fl op belly drop Maybe not easy breezy He smiled I hope it is easy breezy for you and your friend That would 6
mean you’re both good swimmers Good swimmers are fast swimmers I’m looking for some new Stingrays He pointed to his badge I’m Coach Geyer He waved his clipboard in the air Want to sign up I wrapped a towel around my waist You betcha A second later Katharine Marie Carmichael was written neatly on the clipboard I’ve never raced before for said Coach Geyer We’ll teach you everything you’ll need to know After the fi rst practice some kids think it’s too much work They don’t come back Others try out but don’t make the team That’s what the clinic’s My heart thumpity thumped Coach wrinkled his nose They’re usually the kids who goof off or are lazy He leaned forward You’re not lazy are you 7
Didn’t he see the hearts I used to dot the i in my name A lazy person does not draw hearts I shook my head from side to side Then I remembered some crazy-o lazy-o stuff But I zipped my lips He didn’t need to know about the weeklong Penelope Parks movie marathon I watched over the holidays Or the clean clothes I stashed under my bed Stashing is way easier than hanging But I didn’t want to lie My voice cracked I’m not a lazy swimmer And I won’t goof off Are you positive asked Coach Geyer I fl ashed my biggest smile Positively positive He scribbled something down on the clipboard What grade are you in Third I answered 8
