Chapter One - "I'm So Glad School's Over in Less Than Three Weeks," I Said to My Friends

Aug 27, 2026

Uploaded by Skyler

The story follows five eighth graders in Mapleridge Middle School as they prepare to finish school and look ahead to high school. Polly Corbett, shy but driven by an entrepreneurial idea sparked by earlier lemonade stand sales, proposes a summer plan to earn money. Her friends—Dev, Zoey, Roger, and Matt—initially react with skepticism, debating the practicality of Polly’s matchmaking service concept for seventh and eighth graders, while the group faces limited job opportunities. The chapter sets up both the financial stakes and the challenge of persuading peers.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time9 min

AccessFree to download

Chapter One

School Ends and the Summer Problem

Friends, Personal Backgrounds, and Limited Jobs

Chapter Two

Polly’s Solution: A Matchmaking Service

Chapter One "I'm so glad school's over in less than three weeks,"I said to my friends."The end of middle school.Finally. "Finally!"sighed Dev.Zoey,Roger and Matt nodded. Itwas Monday,and the five of us sat on the lawnof our schoolMapleridge Middle School,finishing off our lunches.Me-Polly-and my four best friends,that is.Zoey,Dev,Mat and Roger. We've all lived in the town of Mapleridge forever,and we've been friends forever.We know oneanother better than anyone else does.We went tothe same elementary school and then the samemiddle school. It was early June.The trees had leaves again.Tulips and daffodils bloomed in the school garden.And we were finally in our last few weeks of theeighth grade. "Also,no offense,"Roger sald,"but I've hung outwith you four all my life.I love you guysbut I can'twait to meet some new people!" Roger should be a grade ahead of the rest of us,but he started school a year late.He has smooth,shiny thick brown hair and pale skin.He has light-green eyes,glasses and ears that stick out a bit.Girlsgiggle if he says hello to them in the hallway. Not that I care. "No offense taken,Roger,"said Dev with a shrug.He took another huge bite of his sandwich." feel thesame. Dev has reddish hair,usually pulled back in amessy ponytail.He's fourteen already and obsessedwith cars-wants to buy one as soon as he's sixteen.He's considering a future as alawyer ora chef. Oh,and he's gay.He's never actually come out tous.We all just knew at some point. "Ditto,"said Zoey,chomping on a carrot stick."Iwant to meet some new people too." Zoey's my best girlfriend.My only one,actually.She has curly black hair,which she ties back in aponytail,dark-brown skin,deep-brown eyes-andtons of energy.She's honest and reliable.She'sfantastic,and everyone in high school will love her. I glanced at Mattbut he'd tuned out.Back toreading his manhwa-that's a comie from Korea. Years ago his Korean dad bribed him withmanhwa to get him to go to Korean-language school on Saturdays,and he's been obsessed withthe comies ever since. Matt's also fourteen,tall and asuper artist.Hehas ASD,which is autism spectrum disorder.Thehigh school has an amazing art program,so he'sprobably looking forward to that.But since dayone in kindergarten,kids have tried to pick on him.Especially when they meet him for the first time.The four of us have always had his back,though,and he's better at looking out for himself now. Me?I've never made friends easily either.I'mkind of shy.So no,I don't try very hard with otherkids.But they've never tried too hard either. Anyway.I don't want any new friends.I havethese four,and they're the best.But I am lookingforward to moving on from Mapleridge. "I'm happy about going to a new school andmeeting new kids,for sure"Dev said,talking whilechewing."But that's months away,and we have a problem now.Money.Unless we have some cash forthe summer-" -we'll die of boredom,"said Zoey. "Agreed"said Roger.He tossed his head to flip hishair out of his face.A new move he's been making.Ugh. Even Matt lifted his head from his comic."I'd likesome money for the summer,he said. "Me too."I said."In fact_" Hold on.First,this is me,Polly Corbett.I livewith my mom,who is pretty great,and no siblings.I'm white,with curly brown hairbrown eyes and aski-jump nose.Not short or tallNot skinny or fat.Mom says I'm prettybut she's biased. Plus-and this is super important-1 have apassion. Zoey and I opened our first lemonade stand onesummer when we were six.After sales were slow thefirst few hours,I wondered if we would we get more customers and make more money if we sold cookiestoo.We tried it,it worked.and something lit up inme.Mom looked kind of proud when she called it my"entrepreneurial spirit." Now I'm super interested in taking some highschool business and economic courses next year.Maybe extra math too.I want to use my brain andmy imagination to come up with something newand innovative,aproduct or aservi

FAQs

Why are the five friends worried about summer plans?

They need money to enjoy the summer, but paid job opportunities are scarce for their age in Mapleridge.

What idea does Polly propose to solve their financial problem?

Polly proposes a matchmaking service for seventh and eighth graders at their middle school.

How do Polly’s friends initially respond to her matchmaking idea?

Dev and the others react with doubt and disapproval, arguing it is not a good idea for their situation.

Aug 27, 2026

Uploaded by Skyler