Age:
Late Elementary, Middle School
Reading Level: 4.9
Chapter 1
“We absolutely have to play soccer together this year!” Paige said.
“Oh my gosh, you’re so right!” Hannah, one of my other friends, said.
Makenna added, “We can do each other's braids and have private practices at my house before each game!”
When she saw me, Paige filled me in. “Oh, hey, Amelia! We’re all trying out for soccer this year. It’ll be so much fun. The tryouts are in four days though, so we won’t have that much time to practice, but don’t worry!”
To be honest, I was not a very athletic person. My talents were more related to theater. But these three girls were my closest friends and also the most popular girls in 6th grade. I couldn’t say no to them, even though I would have much rather been singing on stage than kicking a ball around.
Chapter 2
That was one thing that nobody at the school knew about me. I loved to act, sing, and dance more than anything. I loved the thrill of being on stage and being able to transform into another person.
At my old elementary school, I was in multiple musicals. I even had the lead role in a junior play over the summer.
But I was at a new school. My new popular friends, Paige, Hannah, and Makenna, looked down on “theater kids,” so I hid that side of me.
I had thought about auditioning for the middle school musical, Aladdin, but I finally decided not to because I knew my friends would think that was weird.
The thing about our group was that we did everything together. If I didn’t play soccer with them, I would be the odd one out. And I would never want that to happen.
That was one of my worst fears. I didn’t want to let my friends down. So, I kept my thoughts to myself and nodded excitedly.
On the outside, my life looked perfect. I followed all of the newest fashion trends, always knew the right thing to say, had good grades, and was surrounded by really popular girls.
Yet on the inside, I was always worried about whether I was fitting in. I was scared of being left out or talked about. In fact, I was perfectly fine with blending in.
Chapter 3
We were sitting in our cafeteria with nothing to do, so we passed the time by talking. Somehow, the conversation went from soccer to hair and then to music. I was a little bored with all their talking, so I zoned out a bit. I finally refocused when I heard my favorite singer’s name.
“Oh yeah, I know Ada Jones! One of her songs used to always come on the radio,” Makenna was saying.
Excitedly, I began to say, “Oh my gosh, I love her so much! Have you guys heard one of her lesser-known songs? It’s called ‘Sweet Sunshine’ and—”
I stopped talking when I noticed they were trying to hold in their laughter.
“What?”
“There’s actually no way you listen to her. Her music is so weird. That’s what we were just talking about.
“And her hair is sooo last year, like, stay with the trends!” Paige laughed. “Ha, ‘Sweet Sunshine'!”
