“Why?” asked her mom.
“I just couldn’t talk to him.”
“Oh, Kate,” said her mom. “He’s still your friend. Friends get mad at each other, but they make up. Call Jake again.”
“Okay,” said Kate.
Kate dialed Jake’s number again. Then she hung up.
“What now?” asked her mom.
“His line is busy. He’s probably talking to Donald. Donald is probably telling him elephant jokes. Donald knows every elephant joke ever invented.”
Kate tried Jake’s number three more times. “It’s useless,” she told her mom. “He’s on the phone all the time. I can’t wait. I have to study spelling. Tomorrow’s the pre-contest. Will you help me?”
Kate’s mom tested her on the whole 150-word spelling list.
“You got 130 out of 150 words right,” said her mom. “You even spelled some of those tricky homonyms right, like be and bee.”
“Be and bee are easy,” said Kate, smiling at the memory of spelling the words at Violet and Lila, “but 130 out of 150 is not good enough to win. I have to study more. Maybe I’ll write each word I missed in a different color. I can use my new Scrumptious Color markers. Maybe then I’ll remember.”
So Kate wrote the words she missed in lime green. Then she wrote them in pumpkin orange. Then she wrote them in raspberry red. The words not only looked good, they smelled good too. Each marker smelled like its color.
“Could you test me again, Mom?” Kate asked.
This time Kate scored 145 out of 150.
“Yahoo!” she sang as she danced around the kitchen. “Now all I have to do is remember the words for tomorrow.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Spelling Butterflies
“I can’t eat,” said Kate at breakfast the next morning. “My stomach is full of spelling butterflies.”
“You knew the words yesterday,” said her mom. “And you’ll know them today.”
“But my mind feels as empty as a blank chalkboard,” said Kate. “I can’t even remember how to spell my own name.”
“Come on,” said her mom. “Aren’t you exaggerating a little?”
“A little,” said Kate. “I know how to spell my own name, but that’s all.”
“Trust me. You’ll be fine,” said Kate’s mom as they walked to school.
In class, everyone was seated except for Jake.
The bell was about to ring. If Jake was late again, Mr. Bolin would not let him be in the contest.
Don’t be late, Jake, thought Kate. Hurry up and get here.
An instant before the bell rang, Jake skidded into his seat.
“Phew!” he said. “That was close.”
“Hi, Jake,” said Kate.
“Hi,” Jake answered, but not in his usual friendly voice. His voice was as cold as a Popsicle.
Kate sighed. How could she tell Jake she was sorry? How could she tell him she wanted to be friends again? What if he didn’t care anymore?
For the rest of the morning, Kate couldn’t concentrate on math, reading or even the spelling pre-contest. All she could think about was Jake. She smiled at him, but he didn’t seem to notice. She borrowed his eraser, but he gave it to her without a word.
He doesn’t want to be my friend ever again, thought Kate.
At recess, Kate reviewed her spelling list on the bench at the back of the yard. Jake was on the swings with Donald. They were laughing and swinging higher and higher.
Violet and Lila were reviewing on the grass under a tree. They were laughing and sharing cookies.
Kate wished she was laughing and sharing cookies with Jake.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Easy as ABC
“That was sooo easy,” Violet announced after the pre-contest.
“Easy as ABC,” said Lila.
“Easy as spelling your own name,” said Violet. “How many words do you think you got wrong, Kate?”
“Not many,” said Kate.
“I don’t believe you,” said Violet. “You look like you’re going to cry. I don’t know why you joined spelling club if you can’t spell. My father says you should never do anything unless you’re perfect at it.”
Kate picked up her schoolbag and headed toward the door. She knew she hadn’t done well on the pre-contest but she was NOT NOT NOT going to let Violet see that she felt as if she’d been socked in the stomach.
Kate turned the doorknob to leave Room 8, where spelling club was held, when she heard a familiar voice.
“Why do you always have to be so mean, Violet?” said the voice.
Kate spun around. It was Jake!
“I’m not mean. I’m just telling the truth,” Violet told him. “Kate can’t spell. Everyone in my family is great at spelling. My father won all the spelling bees when he was a kid. He said I will too. And I will.”
“I’m telling the truth too,” said Jake. “You’re mean.”
“What do you care?” said Violet. “You’re not even Kate’s friend.”
“Yes I am,” said Jake.
“And I’m Jake’s friend,” said Kate, bounding over to him.
“You two are so dumb,” said Violet. “One minute you’re friends. The next minute you’re not. You can’t even make up your minds about that.”
With that, Violet and Lila linked arms and flounced out the door.
“I tried calling you all last night,” said Kate, “but your line was busy. I wanted to tell you I was sorry about the way I acted when you came to my house.”
“I know. Your mom told me this morning when I was almost late. I was trying to call you too last night, but your line was busy,” said Jake. He smiled his goofy crooked smile.
“I messed up on the pre-contest,” Kate told him.
“You still have all weekend to study,” said Jake. “And you really are a good speller.”
“Thanks, Jake,” said Kate. “And you really are a good friend.”
CHAPTER NINE
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
As they walked back to class, Kate wanted to ask Jake if they could study together on the weekend. He didn’t seem angry anymore. But what if he didn’t want to study with her again?
Anyway, he probably knew the words perfectly already.
Ms. Lee, the music teacher, was standing at the front of the room when Kate and Jake walked into class. As soon as the bell rang, Ms. Lee said, “Today we’ll divide you into three groups to sing in rounds.”
Soon Kate was put into a group made up of two short rows. Kate was in the first row and Violet stood behind her in the second.
“One, two, three, begin,” said Ms. Lee pointing to Kate’s group.
“Row, row, row your boat,” sang the kids.
“Row, row, row your boat,” sang Kate.
“Row, row, row your boat,” sang Violet, right into Kate’s ear.
“Ms. Lee,” said Kate, “could you please tell Violet not to sing into my ear?”
“Violet,” said Ms. Lee, “please be more careful.”
“Yes, Ms. Lee,” said Violet in a sweet voice.
For the rest of the lesson, Violet only leaned forward when Ms. Lee wasn’t looking. Then she hissed like a snake into Kate’s ear.
Before Kate could tell Ms. Lee what Violet was up to, the lesson was over.
“Well done, class,” said Ms. Lee, and she waved goodbye and left for her next music class.
Mr. Bolin returned to class.
“First, for those of you in the spelling club,” he said. “I’ll return your pre-contest papers at the end of the day. The other grade two teachers will hand papers back to the other club members. Remember the contest is on Monday. All the grade two classes are coming. The principal, the vice principal, the librarian and any of your parents who can make it are coming too. Remember there’s a prize for the winner. Good luck, spellers!”
“I need more than luck,” Kate whispered to Jake. “I need a miracle.”
The rest of the afternoon flew by. Five minutes before the
home bell rang, Mr. Bolin handed the spelling papers back.
“Nuts! I made eight mistakes,” said Jake.
“I made eight mistakes too,” said Kate, “but I thought I made even more.”
“I only made one tiny itty-bitty mistake,” said Violet, passing them on her way to the coat hooks. “All I have to do is review that one tiny itty-bitty word and I’m perfect on all the words. I can’t wait for the spelling bee. My dad is taking time off work to see me win.”
“Don’t be so sure you’re going to win,” said Jake.
“Well, I’m sure of one thing,” said Violet. “You two are going to lose.”
“She’s just saying that to make us nervous,” Kate told Jake when Violet was gone.
“I know,” said Jake. “But we won’t let her, right?”
“Right,” said Kate. “So would you...? Could you ...? I mean I’d really like it if you’d...”
“Sure, M’Mate,” said Jake. “Let’s study together on the weekend. After all, we have to stick together so at least one of us can beat Violet.”
CHAPTER TEN
Together Again
Jake was only eight minutes late on Saturday morning. He said he was late because he had to clean the dryer fluff off his pants. “You should have seen my pants,” he told Kate. “They looked like they were covered with snow.”
Kate laughed. “Fluff on your pants! That’s your goofiest excuse yet,” she said.
“I know. I know,” said Jake. “My mother says I should write a book called ‘One Thousand Excuses You Never Thought of for Being Late.’ “
“I could help you draw the pictures for your book,” said Kate.
“Yeah! And then we could sell the book at school and make so much money we could go on a trip,” said Jake.
“We could go to Disneyland or—”
“Aren’t you two supposed to be studying spelling?” said Kate’s dad. “Not writing books or planning trips.”
“I guess so,” said Jake, “but writing an excuse book would be fun.”
“Let’s have fun with spelling!” said Kate. “How about if we sing the spelling of each word?”
“R-I-G-H-T,” sang Jake.
“Could you please sing in the basement?” Kate’s mom asked after they’d sung ten words. “I’m getting a spelling headache.”
“Sure, Mom,” said Kate. “We were going to do that anyway because we’re not just going to sing the words. We’re going to act them out!”
Kate and Jake ran down to the basement.
“H-i-g-h!” sang Jake, hopping up and down on the basement floor like a kangaroo.
“C-l-i-m-b!” sang Kate, climbing up on the old green chair.
“E-l-e-p-h-a-n-t!” sang Jake, thumping across the floor.
“S-c-a-r-y!” sang Kate, hiding behind a box and yelling boo as she jumped out.
“Lunch!” sang Kate’s mom.
“Y-u-m-m-y!” sang Jake and Kate, racing up the stairs to the kitchen.
“So how’s it going?” asked Kate’s mom as she handed them each a tuna sandwich with pickles.
“We know almost all the words,” said Jake, “but I still have trouble remembering the silent w in write and the silent k in knee.”
“And my worst word is people. I can never remember where that dumb o goes,” said Kate.
“So how will you learn those words?” asked Kate’s mom.
“We’ve made up stories about them. Like ‘Kate Never Eats Elephants’ for the word knee,” explained Kate.
“And ‘Wilbur Ran Into Ten Eggs’ for the word write,” said Jake.
“But we can’t think of anything for the word people,” said Kate.
“You will,” said Kate’s mom.
And by three o’clock they did.
Penny Edwards’s Only Pig Loves Earrings.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Jumbled Up
“I can’t remember any of those stories Jake and I made up,” said Kate on Sunday night. “Is it p-o-e-p-l-e or p-e-o-p-l-e? And what did that pig love anyway? I’m more confused than ever.”
“Penny Edwards’s Only Pig Loves Earrings,” Kate’s mom reminded her.
“I wish you could do the spelling contest instead of me,” said Kate.
“I’ll be sitting in the audience, cheering you on.”
“That’s the problem. With all the grade twos, the principal, the vice principal, the librarian and everyone’s parents staring at us, my knees will be so shaky and my stomach so achy I won’t remember a thing,” said Kate.
“You’ll be fine. Get some rest,” said Kate’s mom, giving her a hug. Then her mom left.
Kate lay in bed and stared up at her ceiling. Penny Edward’s Only Pig Loves Earrings, p-e-o-p-l-e, she thought. Good. I remember how to spell that. But what about sea and see? Which has the a and which has the double e?
Kate turned on her light, ran to her schoolbag and checked her spelling list.
Right. I know that one, but what about...Oh, forget about it. Go to sleep, she told herself.
Kate closed her eyes.
As soon as she did, she pictured Violet hissing into her ear. She could almost hear Violet’s words: “You can’t spell. You are a loser. Loser. Loser.”
“I’m not,” Kate said aloud. “I know how to spell. I do. I do. I do...”
The next thing Kate knew, it was morning. The sun lit her room and warmed her face like a summer day.
Kate opened her eyes and remembered. Today was the spelling contest.
“Good morning, Kate,” called her mom. “Time to get ready for school.”
Kate leaped out of bed. She looked in her closet and chose her new black pants and pink shirt. She slipped them on and joined her mom in the kitchen.
“Cereal?” asked her mom.
“Just a little,” said Kate. “I’m too nervous to eat much.”
But to Kate’s surprise she finished all the cereal in her bowl and her entire glass of chocolate milk.
“You’ll do well,” said her mom when they reached the school. “Dad and I will see you in two hours. But remember, no matter what happens, we’re proud of you and we love you.”
“I love you too,” said Kate, giving her mom a hug.
Kate walked down the hall to her classroom. It was noisier than usual.
Jake was nowhere in sight.
He can’t be late today, thought Kate. Not today of all days.
And he wasn’t. Jake made it to class five minutes before the bell.
“I was almost late,” he told Kate. “My baby sister, Melanie, hid my left shoe under her crib. Luckily she didn’t hide it very well. I saw the toe peeking out.”
Kate laughed. “Oh, Jake!” she said.
“It’s true,” said Jake. “I promise. Ask my mother.”
“I believe you,” said Kate. “That excuse will be on page twenty-three of our book. I will draw a funny picture of your sister hiding your shoe.”
“Good morning, class,” said Mr. Bolin. “And good morning, spelling club members. I see you’re all here on time.” Mr. Bolin winked at Jake. “I hope you’re all ready.”
“I hope so too,” Kate whispered to Jake.
CHAPTER TWELVE
The Big Bee
Kate’s stomach churned as they walked down to the auditorium where the spelling bee was to be held.
Kate sat in a chair on the stage beside Jake and the eight other participants. They waited for everyone else to file in.
Kate looked for her parents. They were sitting in the back with Jake’s mom. In front of them sat Violet’s dad.
“Look, Jake,” said Kate, pointing to the back.
“Oh, no!” said Jake. “My mom’s brought my baby sister. I hope she doesn’t make noise. I’ll forget everything if she starts to scream.”
“Good morning, students, staff and guests,” said Mr. Bolin, walking to the front of the stage. “Welcome to our spelling club’s spelling bee. All the participants have worked hard learning their words. Now it’s ti
me for them to share their skills with you. So let’s begin.”
Mr. Bolin called on Lila first. She spelled the first word with ease.
One by one the ten participants spelled their first word correctly. In the second round, two participants misspelled words. They left the stage and sat in the front row of the auditorium.
In round three, Lila misspelled the word because and sat down in the front row. By round five, the group on stage was down to five people.
Kate took a deep breath. At least she’d made it this far. So had Jake and Violet.
Kate glanced at Violet. She was wearing a bright red dress with a big velvet bow in the back and shiny black patent shoes. She was smiling, but it wasn’t a real smile. It was like a smile on a plastic doll.
Kate had never seen Violet look nervous before. Maybe she had spelling butterflies too.
In round six, another girl missed a word. Only four were left on stage: Kate, Jake, Violet and Ben.
“Knife,” said Mr. Bolin to Ben. “I use a knife to cut my meat. Knife.”
“N-i-f-e,” said Ben.
“I’m afraid not,” said Mr. Bolin. “It’s k-n-i-f-e.”
“Oh,” said Ben in a small voice, and he walked off the stage.
It was Violet’s turn.
“Flour,” said Mr. Bolin. “I used flour in my cake.”
“Fl... “ began Violet. She stopped and bit her lip.
“o...” said Violet, stretching the o out like a rubber band. And as she did, she glanced down at the front row.
Kate looked down at the front row too. Lila was mouthing u-r to Violet. Violet and Lila were cheating!
“u-r,” said Violet loudly.
“Correct,” said Mr. Bolin.
Violet smiled. Violet’s dad gave her the thumbs-up sign and smiled too, as if he’d just spelled the word right himself.
Kate didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t shout, “Stop. Violet cheated!” What if no one else saw her cheat? What if they thought Kate had made the whole thing up because she wanted to win instead of Violet?
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