We just had one two months ago Oh right Elisabeth sighed Money or rather the money she wished she had was a major preoccupation these days She’d recently begged her parents for a pair of ice skates not realizing she’d lose interest two lessons later Now she’d decided tennis was her true passion especially after eighth-grade cutie Lance asked her if she was trying out for the team Who knew the game was so pricey what with titanium rackets and flouncy tennis skirts and balls that had to be replaced regularly Being boy-crazy was so not like her Elisabeth had always preferred gym shorts to dresses cleats to heels and the sporty smell of basketball sweat to the floral scents of her friend Brooke’s favorite perfume And she’d barely even noticed Lance with his dark curls and
dimples until he’d asked her about joining the tennis team The effect was like a lightning bolt Suddenly he wasn’t just a cute guy with dimples he was boyfriend potential Not that she could date regulary until she was sixteen but could he be a potential partner for next month’s Spring Fling A guy to exchange notes with during homeroom An In-a-Relationship contender for her Facebook page Just a few months earlier such thoughts would have seemed as appealing as one of Mima’s jigsaw puzzles But now Her mom kept telling her she was growing up Maybe it was true
Elisabeth didn’t want her parents knowing about her secret crush They would either react with horror insisting she was much too young to even think about boys or with delight giggling with her aunts and uncles about their little girl’s crush Elisabeth wasn’t sure which scenario was worse but she didn’t want to find out All her mom and dad needed to know was that she unexpectedly wanted to play tennis She had practiced her arguments in her head in case her parents questioned her sudden interest Was it a crime to be interested in tennis Wasn’t it a perfectly healthy wholesome hobby Didn’t parents want their kids to get fresh air and exercise But when she talked to them her parents just said they weren’t interested in shelling out money for a passion that might turn into the
next two-week phase So they’d made a deal with Elisabeth if she practiced with her dad’s old racket and made the team they’d buy her a reasonably priced racket one tennis outfit and a pair of tennis shoes Anything extra she’d have to spring for herself One tennis outfit How was she supposed to impress Lance with that She was joining the team to dazzle him not convince him she was practically homeless But she couldn’t tell her parents that so she had to figure out some way to raise money Monthly yard sales were apparently a no-go even Mima didn’t have that much junk and aunts and uncles were growing weary of offers to wash their cars or walk their dogs So Elisabeth had spent the past weekend plastering fliers on telephone poles throughout her neighborhood She didn’t technically have
