Summary: Chapter 9
“Sometimes you’re the windshield: sometimes
you’re the bug.”
—Mark Knopfler
Carmen sees Krista having trouble with her summer geometry homework,
but when Albert asks if she’s ready to go play tennis, Carmen leaves
happily without offering to help. She writes to Bridget about Paul’s
girlfriend, whom she calls “Skeletor.” She says Paul hates her because
she tries to make Skeletor jealous.
Bailey comes to Wallman’s, and she and Tibby banter about Tibby’s
smock. Tibby reluctantly agrees when Bailey asks if she wants to
go out for ice cream later. However, she finds a lot to talk about
with Bailey, who enjoys hearing about the documentary. Tibby spots
Tucker Rowe, whom she’s been avoiding all summer. Bailey makes fun
of his gelled hair.
Bridget proposes to her friends that they go to a bar
in a nearby town where all the coaches hang out, and Diana, Ollie,
and Rosie agree. There, Bridget begins dancing immediately. She
finally sees Eric and knows he’s watching her. Eventually, Eric
and the other coaches dance too. Bridget dances with Eric, who gives
in to it only briefly before telling her they can’t be so close.
Lena is alone in her room when she hears her grandfather
yelling. She rushes downstairs and follows her grandparents, who
storm to Kostos’s house. She can’t understand what her grandfather
and Kostos’s grandfather are yelling. Suddenly, Lena’s grandfather
punches Kostos’s grandfather, and the men begin tussling. Kostos
breaks up the fight.
Bridget writes to her father, asking him to send some
of her nice clothes.
Summary: Chapter 10
“If you feel like you’re under control,
you’re just not going fast enough.”
—Mario Andretti
Carmen and Albert talk about the upcoming wedding on their
way to the tennis court. He says that Lydia wants it to be perfect,
since her mother died six weeks before her first wedding, and she’d
been married in city hall. He tells Carmen that Lydia’s first husband
was an alcoholic. Carmen feels sorry for Lydia, Paul, and Krista
and vows to be nicer. But when her dad asks if they can watch Paul
play soccer before heading to the tennis court, Carmen feels unhappy again.
