First Date Read online

  by Lea Taddonio illustrated by Mina Price over

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  First Date

  by Lea Taddonio illustrated by Mina Price over

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  First Date

  Spellbound

  An Imprint of Magic Wagon

  abdopublishing.com

  To PB &J, my favorite combo —LT

  For Lindsay —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 date / by Lea Taddonio ; illustrated by Mina Price.

  Description: Minneapolis, MN : Magic Wagon, 2017. | Series: Head over heels ; Book 2

  Summary: Lola Jones is going on her first date with C.J Kline, the star point guard of the Washington Warcats basketball team. But can they keep their plans secret from Lola’s big brother and C.J’s best friend?

  Identifiers: LCCN 2016947639 | ISBN 978162402193 (lib. bdg.) | ISBN 9781624022531

  (ebook) | ISBN 9781624022838 (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/2016947639

  Table

  of

  Contents

  1 Out oof Th

  f T i

  his W

  s Worl

  orld...4

  2 Worst Date Ever. .16

  3 It’s Just Me...24

  4 Walking on Air. .32

  1

  Out of This World

  Before school

  I go to my locker.

  There is a note taped

  to the door that

  says “Lola.”

  I don’t know the

  handwriting.

  “Morning!” My

  best friend Kizzie

  walks up and points.

  “Who’s that from?”

  4

  5

  6

  “No clue.”

  I open it up. Inside the

  envelope are three heart-shaped pictures cut from a magazine.

  One is a picture of a

  . Another is a picture of

  a bowling ball. The last is a picture of ice cream.

  There is also a note. A shiver goes through my body.

  8

  9

  “Girl, what does it

  say?” Kizzie jumps

  up and down. “Tell

  me! Tell me!”

  I open my mouth,

  but no words come

  out. Is this a dream?

  But when I blink

  again, I’m still standing

  in the school hallway.

  11

  Kizzie rips the note from my hands and screams.

  “I don’t know if I can say

  yes,” I whisper.

  12

  “Sorry.” She puts her hand to her ear. “Did I hear you right?”

  “My brother warned me never

  to look at one of his basketball teammates. C.J is his

  best friend.”

  “What Joseph doesn’t

  know won’t hurt him.”

  Kizzie says. “What

  matters is if you want

  that date ”.

  I know the answer.

  “Yes.”

  14

  2

  Worst Date Ever

  I choose the

  .

  I didn’t know what it was

  and had to look up the

  word on my phone. It’s

  like a movie theater,

  except you learn about

  the stars and other

  objects in the night sky.

  It sounded

  . Plus,

  sitting in the dark sounds

  easier than talking.

  17

  18

  C.J meets me at the

  train station on Friday

  night. We have to go all

  the way doWnTOwN.

  He looks so good.

  Instead of his usual

  jersey and sweat pants,

  he wears a nice shirt and

  dark jeans. I don’t know

  why, but seeing him

  in dressier clothes makes

  me even more nervous.

  19

  He sits across from me

  on the TRAIN. “How was

  practice?”

  20

  “Okay,” I say. Our high school marching band is one of the best in the state. Our new routine is hard, and all I do is practice. But I don’t tell him that. I don’t say anything else.

  “

  ”

  , he says

  at last.

  We look out

  the window. The

  neighborhood cHanGEs.

  The buildings get

  bigger. More

  people get on wearing

  business clothes.

  We aren’t talking.

  He isn’t having fun.

  Oh no! This is the

  worst date ever.

  22

  23

  3

  It’s Just Me

  “This is our stop.” C.J stands up.

  I’m surprised he still

  wants to go through with this.

  I’m being so shy that it would make sense if he wanted to call off the date.

  When we get outside, he

  touches my arm. “Hey, can I

  be straight with you?”

  24

  25

  My mouth goes dry.

  “Yeah. Sure.”

  “It’s just me, Lola.” He

  smiles “The same guy

  .

  that hangs out at your

  house every weekend.”

  “I know.” I can’t stop

  looking at his smile.

  “All I’m saying is that

  you seem nervous.”

  I shrug.

  26

  He kicks at the sidewalk.

  “It’s cool. I’m nervous too.”

  I jerk. “You? Why?”

  He rubs his hair. “It’s not every day I hang out with the prettiest girl from Washington High.”

  28

  Before I can think, he takes my hand. His skin is warm.

  “I’ve been working up the

  courage to ask you out

  since school started. You aren’t the only one who gets shy.”

  I don’t know why, but I

  laugh. He joins in, and

  it feels good to stand there, holding hands, cracking up.

  “You still want to do this?” he asks.

  I squeeze his fingers. “More than anything.”

  30

  31

  4

  Walking on Air

  It turns out that C.J’s cousin Marcus is a science teacher

  at the planetarium. He gets

  us the best seats. The room is dark. The chairs tip back,

  and the ceiling curves.

  “I’ve never been here,”

  C.J says.

  “Why not?” I ask.

  “Guess I wanted to take

  ”

  someone special, he says

  in a low voice.

  33

  Before I do anything but turn bright red, the lights go

  out. A million stars appear on the ceiling. C.J’s knee is right next to mine.

  34

  Marcus tells different

  people have made

  up about the stars. It’s hard to pay aTTEnTiOn.

  35

  C.J leans close. His breath

  makes my ear warm. “Are you

  having a nice time?”

  “The best ”, I

  whisper back.

  He brushes a hair

  off my cheek. “The

  stars are beautiful ,

  but it’s better

  watching

  .”

  If I felt any

  happier, I’d

  explode.

  37

  After the show ends, we

  walk to the lakeshore and watch the sunset. He buys us hot

  dogs in the park. The train ride home isn’t quiet. This time we can’t stop talking.

  38

  39

  It turns out we

  both like action

  movies and jazz.

  Our favorite food

  is macaroni and

  cheese. We both

  are at practice all

  the time.

  He says he likes

  watching me play

  drums at halftime.

&nbs
p; I tell him I always

  cheer loudest for

  him at the games.

  41

  When we walk back into our

  neIGhBorHOod, it’s like I’m

  not on the sidewalk. I’m walking on air.

  “I had a nice time,” I say

  when we reach my street.

  He frowns. “You aren’t going to let me walk you home?”

  43

  “I don’t want drama with

  my brother. You know how he

  is.” Joseph is my big brother, but sometimes he acts like

  my dad.

  “Lola.” C.J is quiet for a second.

  “I like being with you. And I think you like being with me.”

  I study my shoes. “I do.”

  45

  “Then we have to tell Joseph about us. I want more dates

  with you, but he is my friend.

  I don’t like going behind his back.”

  “I will,” I promise . “Soon.”

  He nods. “All right. I’ll see you at the game tomorrow night.”

  46

  As I walk home, I smile

  thinking about my happy

  memories from tonight. Will

  my big brother ever be cool

  with me dating his best friend?

  over

  ove

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  Ta

  First Date

  dd

  o

  Lola Jones is going on her first date nio

  with C.J Kline, the star point guard of

  |PrP

  the Washington Warcats basketball team .

  ircic

  But can they keep their plans secret from e

  Lola’s big brother and C.J’s best friend?

  ov

  er

  books in this series

  es

  #1 First Dance

  #2 First Date

  #3 First Fight

  #4 First Kiss

  Document Outline

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Out of This World

  Chapter 2: Worst Date Ever

  Chapter 3: It’s Just Me

  Chapter 3: Walking on Air

  Back Cover

 

 

  Lea Taddonio, First Date

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