6 A Squirmy Situation

6 A squirmy situation. THE NEXT MORNING, ZEKE GOT to school early. He hurried to the soccer field and hid his bucket of worms behind the bleachers. As he headed into school, Zeke began worrying.

What if Nancy is not the one who gave me the valentine? he thought. Will I make a fool of myself? But she might still like the worms. After all, who wouldn't? Then again, what if she is the one who gave me the valentine? That means she really likes me, and I didn't even know it.

That thought made Zeke even more nervous. He had a hard time concentrating as he went through his morning classes. At lunch with Harris that day, he explained his plan.

"I came up with a really nice Valentine's gift," he explained. "It's something I know my mom likes a lot, so I think it will be good for Nancy." "What is it?" Harris asked. "I don't want to say until I see if she really likes it," said Zeke. "Okay," said Harris. "Good luck!"

After school, Zeke hurried to soccer practice. When practice was over, he ran to the bleachers and grabbed the bucket. Holding it behind his back, he walked over to Nancy. "Hi, Nancy," Zeke said shyly. "Oh. Hi there, Zeke," Nancy said, smiling. "Pretty good practice, huh?"

"I need to work on my passing a bit," Zeke said. "You'll get there," said Nancy. "It took me a while to get good. And I remember you told me that nobody played soccer at your old school." "Uh no, we didn't," Zeke said. Okay, stop stalling, Zeke thought. Just give her the present. Zeke took a deep breath.