First Date
by Lea Taddonio illustrated by Mina Price over
ove
v r
First Date
by Lea Taddonio illustrated by Mina Price over
ove
v r
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
v r
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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