First Fight
by
by Le
L a T
ea a
T dd
ad on
do io
ni i
o l
i l
l us
lu t
s r
t at
ra
a ed b
ted y
by Mi
M na
in P
a ri
Pr c
i e
c
e
over
First Fight
by
by Le
L a T
ea a
T dd
ad on
do io
ni i
o l
i l
l u
l s
u t
s r
t at
ra
a ed b
teed
d y
b
by Mi
M na
in
i
P
a ri
Pr ce
ic
e
over
First Fight
Spellbound
An Imprint of Magic Wagon
abdopublishing.com
To PB &J, my favorite combo —LT
For Corinne & Tori —MP
abdopublishing.com
Published by Magic Wagon, a division of ABDO, PO Box 398166, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55439. Copyright © 2017 by Abdo Consulting Group, Inc. International copyrights reserved in all countries. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Spellbound™ is a trademark and logo of Magic Wagon.
Printed in the United States of America, North Mankato, Minnesota.
102016
012017
Written by Lea Taddonio
Illustrated by Mina Price
Edited by Heidi M.D. Elston Art Directed by Candice Keimig Series lettering and graphics from iStockphoto Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Taddonio, Lea, author. | Price, Mina, illustrator.
Title: First fight / by Lea Taddonio ; illustrated by Mina Price.
Description: Minneapolis, MN : Magic Wagon, 2017. | Series: Head over heels ; Book 3
Summary: Lola Jones has strong feelings for star basketball player C.J Kline. But when her big brother finds out, the couple may be torn apart for good.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016947642 | ISBN 9781624041947 (lib. bdg.) | ISBN 9781624022548
(ebook) | ISBN 9781624022845 (Read-to-me ebook) Subjects: LCSH: High school students--Juvenile fiction. | Best friends--Juvenile fiction. |
Interpersonal relationships--Juvenile fiction. | Human behavior--Juvenile fiction.
Classification: DDC [Fic]--dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016947642
Table
of
Contents
1 Keeping a Secret. .4
2 So Busted...18
3 What I Want. .26
4 This Is My Life...40
1
Keeping a Secret
I’m on my bed listening to
my favorite song, thinking
about last night’s date with C.J.
His cute smile. How good he smelled. The way his hand
felt pressed against mine.
I slam a pillow
over my face and
giggle.
5
My door opENs. “What’re you doing?” My big brother, Joseph, gives me a strange look.
“Ever hear of knocking?” I ask.
“What’s so funny?” he says.
6
“Your face.” I stick out my tongue.
He frowns. “Get up. We’re
leaving in five minutes.”
7
Tonight the
Washington High
WARCATS
play the Potter Hill
. The
Pirates aren’t a good
basketball team, but
they have the best
drum line in the state.
I’m nervous.
8
9
10
“I’m ready,” I yell, but
Joseph is already outside.
My phone buzzes
with a text, and I forget to breathe.
It’s him.
C.J.
“Calm down,” I whisper.
But my heart slams
against my ribs.
11
C.J
Want to know a secret?
I write back: okay.
C.J
I can’t stop thinking about you.
My cheeks hurt from my
smile while I type back:
Focus on winning tonight’s
game, Hot Shot.
C.J
I’ve got to tell Joseph about us.
He has to know.
12
My mouth falls
open. What’s C.J
thinking?
C.J’s my brother’s
best friend.
He knows Joseph
better than anyone.
Even me.
Doesn’t C.J know my brother will never be
with us
being . . .
What are we anyway?
15
C.J and I aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend. We haven’t even
.
I’ve never
anyone.
And never will if Joseph has his way.
16
I pick up my phone to type
when the screen
goes black. Dead battery.
Just my luck.
17
2
So Busted
The game was a disaster. The Warcats won, but I couldn’t stay on
. I kept staring at Joseph
on the bench. It was hard to tell if he looked mad. Had C.J told him about our date? It made me feel
not to know.
18
“Where was your head
tonight, Lola?” the band director asks me.
“Nowhere good,”
one of the other drummers
mutters.
I’m not used to this. I am a girl who can focus. I have big dreams of becoming
the best drummer in the school.
What if I mess up everything because of boy drama?
“Sorry,” I whisper. “I have a headache”. Great. Not only
am I a mess-up, I am a liar.
21
I wait for Joseph in the parking lot, looking at the ground. I don’t want to talk to anyone.
“Lola?” That deep voice
belongs to the cause of my bad mood.
“Good game, C.J,” I say.
22
“I haven’t told Joseph yet,”
C.J says.
I turn around. “For real?”
Maybe there’s still time to talk sense into him.
“I want
to tell him,”
he says.
“Tell me what?” Joseph
stands between us with a tight look on his face.
25
3
What I Want
“What does my little sister need to tell me?” Joseph asks in a low voice.
I sHruG. “No clue. He’s
just messing around.
Right, C.J?”
26
“Yeah. Right.” C.J gives a
strange laugh, one that
doesn’t sound funny. “I guess there’s nothing for me to do but go home.” He turns
around.
r /> And that’s when I know the
truth. If I say nothing, C.J will walk away. I’ll lose my chance with him forever.
He takes one step and then
another.
29
“I
what’s
up with that guy tonight. We won the game.” Joseph takes out his keys. “Want to get a hamburger on the way home?”
“Wait!” The word bursts
from me.
30
Joseph’s eyebrows smash
together. He looks annoyed.
“Did you forget something in the school ”?
“I have to put this right.” I turn and run after C.J.
“Stop, C.J. Please.”
C.J looks tired. “What
is it, Lola?”
I take a deep breath. “I don’t want to make my brother upset.
He carries so much
ever since Dad left. He feels like he has to look out
for Mama and
me. But I don’t want to hide the truth. I have feelings for you.”
33
C.J grins. “I have feelings for you too, Lola. I have for a long time.”
“What’s that you just said?”
Joseph steps forward looking like he’s ready to put a fist in C.J’s mouth.
34
“We want to be together,”
I say.
“No way.” Joseph shakes
“
his head at C.J. Not Lola.
Not my sister, man.”
“It’s not like that,” C.J says.
“It’s exactly like
that,” Joseph shouts. “You could have any girl in the city.”
C.J sHruGs. “Guess I’ve got taste.”
37
“She’s not
to date basketball players, and that’s final.” Joseph
steps forward, hands
clenched.
That’s when I’ve had
enough. It’s time to go
after what I want.
39
4
This Is My Life
I step between them and hold out my arms, keeping them
apart. “Both of you need to shut up
”
and listen.
I hold up one finger. “First, I make decisions for myself.
Joseph, you are my brother, and
”
I love you, but this is my life.
41
I raise another finger.
“Second, I should’ve told
you about C.J, but I didn’t know what to say. This is all new to me. I needed
time to think it over.”
I hold up another
finger. “Third, C.J, I’m
sorry if I made you feel
dishonest.”
43
C.J takes my hand . “You
aren’t someone I want to hide.”
“Good.” Joseph crosses his
arms. “My sister is special.
She might make me crazy but family is family. She and
my mom are all I have.”
Hot tears burn my eyes.
C.J clears his throat. “You’re my best friend. I won’t do
anything that ever disrespects your sister.”
44
“Better not.”
Joseph’s
is
HARD. “Because if
you do, you have
to answer to me ”.
Hope fills my
chest. “Does that mean you
won’t get mad if I spend time with C.J?” I ask.
“As long as you aren’t
and hugging
around me all the time.” My brother makes a face.
C.J nods. “If that’s the case, I want to walk her home.”
Joseph is quiet for a few
seconds. “
. I see how it
”
is. Be home by curfew, Sis.
46
C.J and I walk in silence
”
for a block. “I don’t like fighting, he says at last. “I’m glad we’re at the next part.”
“What’s the next part?” I ask.
He gives me a
.
“Making up.”
48
over
ove
v r
Ta
First Fight
dd
o
Lola Jones has strong feelings for star nio
basketball player C.J Kline. But when
|PrP
her big brother finds out, the couple ircic
might be torn apart for good.
e e
ov
er
books in this series
#1 First Dance
#2 First Date
#3 First Fight
#4 First Kiss
Document Outline
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Keeping a Secret
Chapter 2: So Busted
Chapter 3: What I Want
Chapter 4: This Is My Life
Back Cover
Lea Taddonio, First Fight
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