by Nancy Krulik
Chapter 5
“Suzanne, are you walking home?” Katie asked as she walked out of the school at the end of the day.
Suzanne nodded. “But I’m waiting to talk to George first.”
Katie looked at her strangely. Suzanne never waited for George. She hated George. What was this all about?
It didn’t take Katie long to find out. A moment later, George came bounding down the steps with Kevin at his side.
“Hey, Katie Kazoo, you’ve gotta see George’s new illusion,” Kevin said. “It’s amazing.”
“Show it to us, George,” Suzanne said excitedly.
Kevin, George, and Katie all stared at her.
“Aw, go away, Suzanne,” George groaned.
“No. I want to see it,” Suzanne told him. “Honest.”
George looked at her as if he was waiting to make sure she wasn’t making fun of him.
Katie was wondering the same thing. But Suzanne really did look interested in George’s trick.
“Okay, so I start with these regular dice,” George said. He handed the two dice to Katie. “Katie Kazoo, please check them out and assure everyone that they’re completely normal.”
Katie studied the two plastic cubes. They looked like regular playing dice. They were white, with dots on every side. “Yep. Just everyday dice,” she said.
“Now I place the dice into the magic box,” George continued, putting the dice into a square box and closing the lid. “Then you say the magic words . . .”
“Abracadabra!” Katie, Suzanne, and Kevin shouted together.
George opened the box. There were two dice in there, all right. But they were completely blank.
“Whoa! Amazing!” Kevin exclaimed.
“Incredible,” Katie agreed.
“It’s okay . . .” Suzanne said slowly.
“Just okay?” Kevin asked. “Are you nuts? The Great Georgini is an awesome magician.”
“He’s pretty good,” Suzanne told him. “But I know how he could be better.”
“Of course you do,” George said sarcastically.
“No, I’m serious,” Suzanne told him. “Your trick was really good. You’re just missing something.”
“What?” George asked angrily.
“You need an assistant in a pretty sequined dress,” Suzanne said.
Katie sighed. So that was what this was all about.
“The Great Georgini doesn’t need an assistant,” Kevin told her.
“Sure he does,” Suzanne insisted. “Houdini had an assistant, didn’t he, George?”
George nodded. “He had a few of them.”
“Well, you only need one,” Suzanne continued. “And I know just the perfect person to do it. Me!”
“You?” George, Katie, and Kevin all asked at once.
“Sure,” Suzanne said. “I’ll make your act classier. And you’ll be more like Houdini.”
“Well . . .” George began.
“Great!” Suzanne exclaimed before George could say no. “Let’s go to your house right now and practice.”
“I . . . uh . . .” George stammered. “Okay. I guess.”
Suzanne smiled triumphantly. “We’re going to make a great team. Suzanne Superstar and the Great Georgini.”
“You mean the Great Georgini and his assistant, Suzanne,” George corrected her.
Suzanne shrugged. “We can discuss that later. Right now we have an act to put together.”
Just then, Jessica Haynes, Mandy, Miriam, and Emma S. walked out of the school building. They were all talking very excitedly.
“I’m going to wear my blue skating outfit,” Emma S. said. “It’s brand-new. And wait until you see the silver beads on the skirt!”
“Remember, you promised to show us how to skate backward,” Mandy told Emma S.
“Definitely,” Emma S. agreed. “And I’ll show you how to spin after that.”
“This is going to be the best party ever!” Jessica squealed.
“It sure is,” Suzanne interrupted.
Everyone stared at her in shock.
“No, I mean it,” Suzanne insisted. “A skating party is a great idea. And it’s about to get even better!”
“What are you talking about, Suzanne?” Emma S. asked suspiciously.
“I’m talking about the special entertainment you’re going to have while people are having cocoa and cookies,” Suzanne continued.
“What entertainment?” Emma S. asked her.
“The Great Georgini, and his amazing assistant, Suzanne Superstar!” Suzanne exclaimed.
“What? Suzanne . . .” George began, shaking his head.
“It will be fun,” Suzanne insisted.
Katie sighed. So that was what Suzanne had been cooking up. She’d found a way to make herself the star of Emma S.’s party. Suzanne really was amazing!
“It would be nice to have a show while we eat,” Emma S. agreed.
“What other tricks will you do?” Jessica asked George.
“Well, I . . .” George stammered. “I don’t know that many yet and . . .”
“That’s why we’re leaving now,” Suzanne said, pulling George by the arm. “The Great Georgini and I are about to put together the world’s most amazing magic act!”
Katie frowned as George and Suzanne walked away. Poor George. He’d gotten caught up in one Suzanne’s crazy schemes.
That was so not good.
Chapter 6
“You’ve gotta hide me, Katie Kazoo,” George said as he hurried to catch up to Jeremy and Katie as they walked to the playground at recess on Friday.
“Hide you from what?” Katie asked him curiously.
“From Suzanne,” George said. “She’s making me nuts.”
“You could go hang out in the boys’ bathroom,” Jeremy suggested.
“Yeah, Suzanne can’t get you in there,” Katie agreed.
“I’ve done that before,” Jeremy said. “To get away from Becky.”
Katie nodded with understanding. Becky had a big crush on Jeremy. She was always following him around and flirting with him. Jeremy did not flirt back . . . at all!
“But I don’t want to spend my whole recess in the bathroom,” George said.
Just then, the three kids heard someone yelling across the playground. “Great Georgini! Are you ready to rehearse?”
George groaned at the sound of Suzanne’s loud voice. “Hanging out with the sinks and toilets would be better than spending recess with her,” he said as he ran back into the school building.
“Where did George go?” Suzanne asked Katie and Jeremy as she caught up to them near the big tree.
“Bathroom,” Jeremy said.
“Oh,” Suzanne said. “Well, I’ll just wait for him, I guess.”
“You’ll be waiting a long time,” Jeremy told her.
“Why?” Suzanne asked.
“He . . . um . . . he said his stomach was bothering him or something,” Katie said quickly. She didn’t want Suzanne’s feelings to be hurt.
“Oh, something’s bothering him all right,” Jeremy laughed. He looked straight at Suzanne.
“Why don’t we go play double Dutch jump rope?” Katie asked, pulling Suzanne away before Jeremy could say anything else. “George can find you when he comes out.”
“I guess,” Suzanne said with a shrug.
A few moments later, Katie and Suzanne were part of the big group of girls who were playing double Dutch jump rope. Emma W. was jumping and singing a rhyme about a teddy bear.
Ordinarily, the other girls would be chanting along with her. But today it seemed that none of the girls could focus on the game. They were all too excited.
“This is going to be such a great weekend,” Miriam said. “The party, and the show . . .”
“Oh, the show’s going to be amazing,” Suzanne told her. “George and I have worked up some great tricks.”
“I meant Kerry Gaffigan’s ice show,” Miriam explained.
“Oh,” Suzanne said with a shru
g. “Yeah, I guess that will be good, too.”
Katie sighed.
“Your turn, Becky,” Emma W. said as she stepped on the rope and lost her turn. At the sound of Becky’s voice, Jeremy “Okay,” Becky said, jumping into the started to run! And Katie knew just where he ropes. As her feet moved up and down on was heading . . . the pavement, she began singing her rhyme. To spend recess with George—in the boys’ “Raspberry, blueberry, apple tart. Tell me the bathroom. name of my sweetheart. Is it A, B, C . . .”
Katie watched as Becky jumped up and down. She really was an amazing double Dutch jumper. She hardly ever missed.
Until now . . .
“G . . . H . . . I . . . J!” Becky shouted. “Oops,” she added as she stepped on one of the ropes.
“You soooo did that on purpose,” Jessica laughed. “You wanted to land on J for Jeremy.”
“I did not miss on purpose,” Becky insisted. “It was just fate. I guess Jeremy really is my sweetheart!” She looked around the yard. “Oooh. There he is, on the soccer field. Yoo-hoo! Jeremy! Wait until I tell you what just happened.”
Chapter 7
“Okay, so to skate backward, start with your toes touching and your heels facing out, sort of like an upside-down V,” Emma S. told Katie, Jessica, Miriam, and Emma W. during her skating party the next day. “Then bend your knees and slide your heels together to make a right-side-up V. Just keep making Vs like that over and over, and you’ll move backward.”
That doesn’t sound so hard, Katie thought as she placed her toes together on the ice and tried to follow Emma S.’s instructions.
But skating backward was a lot harder than it sounded.
Flop! Katie landed right on her backside.
Emma S. smiled as she reached down to help Katie up. “Almost,” she assured her. “Maybe you should hold onto the wall with one hand until you really have it under control.”
“Good idea,” Katie said, trying not to think about how much her wet rear end stung. She reached over and grabbed the top of the low wall with her right hand.
“Is this it?” Miriam asked as she zigzagged her feet and began slowly moving backward.
“Uh-huh,” Emma S. said. “Now see if you can speed it up.”
But Miriam had stopped listening. She was too busy looking out at the ice. “I didn’t know Jeremy could skate that fast,” she pointed out.
Katie turned her head just as Jeremy whizzed by. Boy, he was really flying around the ice.
It didn’t take long to figure out why. A minute later, Becky skated past as well.
“Jeremy, wait up!” Becky shouted to him. “I want to see if you can lift me up in the air, like the ice dancers do on TV.”
Katie frowned. Poor Jeremy. There was just no escaping Becky.
She put her toes together in an upside-down V, and tried once again to slide her feet backward. A few more tries, and suddenly she felt herself moving in reverse. Sure, she was going slowly, and she was still grabbing onto the wall a little bit, but she was definitely skating backward.
“Yes!” Katie shouted, pumping her fist in the air. She sure was happy Emma S. had put together this skating party. Skating was great—if you didn’t mind falling every now and then.
Too bad Suzanne and George were missing all the fun. They were busy inside the café, setting up their magic show.
A little while later, the kids were all nice and warm inside the rink’s café, sipping hot cocoa, and watching the Great Georgini work his magic.
“I will now stick this ordinary sewing needle into a balloon. But the balloon will not pop!” George boasted.
Suzanne smiled at the crowd and held a bright red balloon in the air. Then she twirled around, showing off her glittery pink leotard and skirt.
“Abracadabra, pop no more!” George shouted as he slowly stuck the needle into the balloon.
Katie covered her ears. She hated the sound of balloons popping. And somehow, she didn’t think George would be able to stop that from happening. He wasn’t that good a magician.
Or was he? The balloon didn’t pop! It stayed round and full!
“Wow!” Katie shouted. She clapped really hard.
“Awesome!” Jeremy cheered.
“Go, Georgini!” Kevin chimed in.
“Hey, you guys ever hear the joke about the balloon and the tree . . .” Kadeem called out, interrupting the applause.
“Not now, Kadeem,” Miriam told him. “George is about to do another trick.”
“But this joke’s really funny,” Kadeem insisted.
“Save it for the next joke-off at school,” Kevin suggested.
Kadeem frowned and sat back in his chair. He looked kind of upset. Katie understood why. Kadeem and George were always competing for attention. That’s why they had all those joke-offs. But Kadeem couldn’t compete with George today. George knew magic and Kadeem didn’t.
“Watch now as I pour water on this tissue,” George said in a deep, magician-like voice. “And yet, thanks to my magic skills, the tissue will remain completely dry.”
“He will do it all with my help!” Suzanne added, jumping in front of George and whirling around in her sparkly costume as she placed two large plastic cups and a pitcher of water on the table.
George pointed to one of the two large plastic cups. “I will now place this ordinary tissue into this cup,” he said, holding up a yellow tissue. “And then I will pour water from this pitcher into the cup. But the tissue won’t get wet at all.”
“Impossible,” Andy said.
“Is it real water?” Kevin asked.
“I’ll drink some to prove it,” Suzanne said, picking up a cup and starting to pour herself a drink.
“Not that cup, Suzanne,” George warned her.
“Why n—” Suzanne stopped herself. “Oh, yeah, right. That one has the smaller cup glued inside it.”
“The what?” Kadeem asked.
George glared at Suzanne. “I can’t believe you said that!” he shouted at her.
“But I . . .” Suzanne began. She bit her lip. “It just slipped out.”
“You gave away how the illusion is done!” George shouted. “A magician is never supposed to do that.”
Kadeem jumped up and grabbed the cup. “Check it out!” he shouted to the kids. “There’s a little cup glued to the inside of the big one. George was going to put the tissue in the little cup. Then he could pour the water into the big cup without getting any in the little one.” Kadeem began to laugh. “That’s how the trick works!”
George’s cheeks got beet red. “I’m finished with magic!” he shouted as he turned and ran out of the café.
Suddenly Kadeem looked really sorry. He had definitely gotten the last laugh that time. But Katie could tell he hadn’t meant to make George feel that bad.
Suzanne looked pretty upset, too. She stood there for a minute not knowing what to do. Then she spun around again. “That’s the great Georgini’s best trick,” she told the crowd. “He made himself disappear!”
The kids all started to laugh. All but Katie, that is. She went after George.
“George, please don’t let Kadeem and Suzanne upset you,” Katie urged him.
“Suzanne always ruins everything!” George said. “And she’s always butting her nose in where she doesn’t belong.”
Katie didn’t know what to say to that. Sometimes there was no defending Suzanne.
“Don’t let her stop your show,” Katie urged George, finally. “Come back and do the rest of your tricks.”
“They’re illusions!” George insisted. “I keep telling everyone that!”
“Okay. Come do your illusions, then.”
George shook his head. “No way. I’m finished with magic . . . forever!”
Chapter 8
“Your party was really awesome,” Miriam told Emma S. the next morning. “Even with George’s awful magic show.”
“Thanks,” Emma S. replied. “I had a great time, too. But nothing beats this. I can’t believ
e I’m five people away from meeting Kerry Gaffigan!”
Katie couldn’t believe it, either. She was only seven people away—just behind Emma S. and Miriam. Emma W. was behind Katie. Suzanne was all the way in the back of the line.
That meant Suzanne was going to be waiting a long time to meet Kerry. It seemed like there were a hundred girls in line. And they were all holding gifts for Kerry. Some, like Emma S. and Miriam, had little teddy bears for her. A few, like Katie, were holding bunches of flowers.
But Katie was sure her flowers were the best. Most of the other girls were holding different colored carnations. But Katie hadn’t wanted anything that ordinary for Kerry Gaffigan. She and her mom had stopped at the Flower Power Flower Shop in the Cherrydale Mall early that morning. Katie had picked out a bouquet of the reddest roses she could find.
The line kept moving. One by one, each girl in line had a few minutes to speak to Kerry. The skater was already in the Snow White costume and black wig she was going to wear for the first half of the show.
Katie listened as the kids ahead of her talked to Kerry. Some of the girls asked her questions about skating. Some asked her questions about her childhood. One teenager even asked her about her boyfriend—a professional snowboarder named Tony Raven. Kerry blushed a little at that question.
“She looks beautiful,” Emma S. said to Katie, Miriam, and Emma W. “Kerry’s Snow White ice-skating routine is so awesome. She skates with these guys who are dressed as dwarfs and everything. I saw her do it on TV once.”
Just then, the girl in front of Emma S. finished talking to Kerry. “Oh my gosh. It’s my turn to meet Kerry Gaffigan,” Emma S. gasped as her cheeks turned red with excitement.
Katie watched as Emma walked up to the table and stared at her idol. She’d never seen anyone so excited.
“Kerry Gaffigan!” Emma S. squealed nervously. “Do you know who you are?”
Oops. That definitely wasn’t one of the questions Emma had meant to ask.
A few of the girls in line giggled. But Kerry Gaffigan didn’t laugh at all. Instead, she smiled kindly. “I sure hope I do,” she told Emma S. gently. “But I don’t know who you are. What’s your name?”