Read Nothin But Net for Free Online Page B

Great. Just great.
    Maybe she was giggling at him because she thought he was cute. Nah, thought Tim, it couldn’t be that. Probably Mike Gruber
     was telling her stuff about him, and making him look like an idiot in her eyes. All the mistakes he’d made playing b-ball,
     all about Tim being best friends with Billy Futterman the geek.
    The word made Tim wince. He’d never called anybody a geek in his life, but he could easily picture Mike Gruber doing it. He
     was probably calling Tim a geek right now — that would explain the girl’s giggling. …
    “You okay?” Wanda asked suddenly.
    “Uh, yeah,” Tim said hurriedly. “Why?”
    “You stopped moving.”
    “Huh?”
    “You’re just, like, standing there. Sure you’re okay?”
    “Yeah, I’m just … thirsty. Yeah, that’s it. Wanna get something to drink?”
    “Sure.”
    She followed him over to the punch table, and they kind of stood around for a while, sipping punch and nibbling on cookies,
     checking out all the rest of the kids.
    And then he saw her coming toward him. He had to get away — now. His stomach was heaving, and he was afraid he was going to
     be sick right there in front of everybody. “Hi,” she said, in a voice like liquid silver. “I’m Stephanie. You, um, wanna dance?”
    Tim froze, his jaw working but no words coming out. “I … uh … um …” He looked over at Wanda. She was pretending not to notice
     him and Stephanie, but Tim could tell she noticed, all right. She’d probably feel hurt if he said yes — but how could he not?
     She’d asked him, for goodness’ sake! “Uh, sure,” he said, then turned to Wanda and said, “See you later, okay?”
    Wanda flashed a quick smile and waved, turning her back to him as he followed Stephanie out onto the floor. She was taller
     than he was, by a good three inches, but he didn’t care. He just hoped she didn’t.
    They danced for a while to a hip-hop number, Tim’s heart pounding as he felt the eyes of everyone in the room on the two of
     them. He couldn’t believe it — one of the prettiest girls in the whole place had asked him to dance. It meant she must like
     him better than Mike Gruber!
    The DJ lowered the lights. “Okay, everyone,” he said over the microphone, “it’s time for some slow dancing. Grab your partners
     and cuddle up close.”
    She was looking straight at him with those twinkling eyes of hers, but he couldn’t hold her gaze. Looking at the ground, he
     reached out and drew her closer, into slow-dancing position. They rocked around the floor to some song he didn’t even hear,
     spinning slowly. Every few seconds, he looked up at Stephanie’s black hair — or worse, straight into her twinkling eyes —
     and quickly looked away.
    Her perfume was sweet but strong. Suddenly, he could barely breathe — the smell of it was making him dizzy … he was going
     to be sick for sure, if hedidn’t leave the gym pronto. “I … excuse me,” he told Stephanie, backing away.
    “You okay?” she asked, concerned.
    “Yeah, it’s just … I’ll be right back.”
    He threaded his way through the couples on the floor and headed for the far side doors, which were half hidden in darkness.
     Behind him, he could feel a hundred pairs of eyes watching him beat a shameful retreat. He banged the door open and stood
     outside on the porch, breathing in huge gulps of the fresh mountain air. Overhead, the moon shone brightly. Billions of crickets
     chirped, and the throbbing sound of music from inside mingled with nature’s orchestra.
    Tim turned and looked back in through one of the windows. He could see Stephanie, surrounded by a bunch of girls, all of them
     giggling and casting glances toward the door he’d exited. Making fun of him, no doubt. How could he have ever thought she
     liked him — him, a new camper who wasn’t even all that good at basketball, and who had a nerdy friend, and didn’t know how
     to act around girls he liked.
    Why would she ever like him?