Chapter Four

Dance Party

A few days later, Asiyah and Lucy were hanging out in Asiyah’s room.

Asiyah took out her phone. “Oh, Luce, you have to see this music video. Look at the way the singer spins. She’s amazing!”

Asiyah turned the volume up. She and Lucy stood and danced to the upbeat music. They giggled the whole time.

“Let’s try to do that move,” Asiyah said.

Both girls twirled around and around. Soon they were falling to the floor, laughing.

Their dance party was interrupted by a knock on the door. Rad poked his head in.

“Hey, Asiyah. Mom and Dad have stuff to do in town, so they can’t drive us to the rec center,” he said. “But I can walk with you two to practice. We’ll just need to leave in the next ten minutes so I can get to my soccer scrimmage. I’ll wait in the living room.”

“Ah, man! We were having so much fun. I almost forgot we had practice,” Asiyah said. She looked at her phone. “Maybe we can watch the video one more time . . .”

But Lucy shook her head. “We should probably get ready so we can walk with Rad.”

“Why do we even have practice on Saturdays?” Asiyah asked. “We’ve already practiced so much. Plus, we just do the same things over and over. It gets kind of boring.”

“But working on the same skills helps us get better,” Lucy said. “When we play against a tough team, we’ll be glad we practiced so much.”

“I suppose,” Asiyah said. “But you know me, I like doing different things. I just want to have fun!”

“Seriously, Asiyah,” Lucy said, frowning. “You are good at making things fun, but everyone has to work hard in practice. You don’t want to let your teammates down by not being prepared.”

Asiyah sighed and started gathering her volleyball gear. But I haven’t let people down. I’m the one keeping things light and fun! she thought. Isn’t that part of being on a team?