Dodgeball, Drama, and Other Dilemmas

by Michele Jakubowski

  For John. xoxo

  —M.J.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1: Cursive Writing and Spelling Bees

  CHAPTER 2: Sidney the Super Speller

  CHAPTER 3: I Meant the Other Sidney

  CHAPTER 4: The Dodgeball Queen

  CHAPTER 5: Done. D-O-N-E.

  CHAPTER 6: And the Winner Is...

  CHAPTER 7: Great Minds Think Alike

  CHAPTER 8: What's the Worst That Could Happen?

  CHAPTER 9: Look Out, Hollywood!

  CHAPTER 10: Under What?

  CHAPTER 11: Unhelpful Advice

  CHAPTER 12: No More Understudy

  CHAPTER 13: Flowers and Friendship

  CHAPTER 14: An Incredible Team

  Name: Sydney Shelby Baxter Greene

  Age: 8

  Birthdate: August 3

  Parents: Bob and Jane Greene

  Siblings: Owen (my baby brother)

  Hobbies: fashion, playing Galaxy Conquest, reading

  Sydney Greene is a sassy third grader. Not only does she love fashion, but she loves a good game of Galaxy Conquest as well. She might be the smallest kid in the class, but she’s also the spunkiest! Her best friend is Harley Livingston, a third-grade soccer star. They have been best friends since preschool, when Harley kicked a soccer ball into Sydney’s face.

  Name: Sidney Patrick Fletcher

  Age: 8

  Birthdate: May 11

  Parents: Paula Fletcher

  Siblings: None

  Hobbies: sports, playing Galaxy Conquest, telling jokes

  Sidney Fletcher is a quiet kid who loves sports. He is also the newest third grader in Oak Grove. However, it didn’t take him long to make friends. Gomez (whose real name is Marco Xavier Gomez) is Sidney’s first and best friend in Oak Grove. With one joke at the bus stop, Sidney and Gomez became inseparable.

  Sometimes I wish I had a different name. And it’s not because my friend Sidney has the same name and he’s a boy. That did bother me at the beginning of the year, but not anymore. I wish my name were different because we’re finally learning how to write cursive.

  I thought it was going to be fun and make everything look extra fancy. Instead it was hard and annoying. The capital “S” is almost impossible to write! The rest of the letters aren’t very easy either.

  I was still working on my cursive “S” when my third-grade teacher, Mr. Luther, said, “Put your notebooks and pencils away. I have an announcement to make.”

  I was glad because my hand was really starting to hurt. My head was starting to hurt, too.

  “I have some very exciting news,” Mr. Luther said. “On Friday we will be participating in Oak Grove Elementary’s Third-Grade Spelling Bee!”

  Mr. Luther looked around the room. I think he was waiting for us to be excited.

  I knew I was a good speller. I also liked to play games, and I really liked to win! Maybe a spelling bee would be fun.

  “I’ll be sending home a list of words for you to study,” Mr. Luther said. “We’ll also spend some time each day in class practicing.”

  “Sounds like extra work to me,” grumbled Nick.

  We already had a lot more homework in third grade than we did in second. Now, on top of our math flash cards and worksheets, we were going to have extra spelling words. Maybe the spelling bee wouldn’t be fun after all. Nobody likes extra work.

  Gomez raised his hand. “Mr. Luther? Do we have to be in the spelling bee?”

  Gomez was not the best speller, so I think he was nervous.

  “Yes, Gomez,” Mr. Luther said. “Our whole class will be participating. In fact, all of the third-grade classes will be participating. It will be fun for everyone.”

  I’m not sure Mr. Luther knows what kids like to do for fun. If he did, he wouldn’t have said that spelling was fun.

  The room was quiet. I looked around. No one seemed very happy about the spelling bee. Even my very best friend, Harley, looked worried. She’s not the best speller, but she isn’t terrible, either. Nobody looked as worried as Gomez.

  Then Mr. Luther smiled and said, “Oh, I forgot the best part.”

  I sat up a little in my chair. So did everyone else.

  Mr. Luther continued. “The winner of the spelling bee wins a gift card to Game On, the new video game store!”

  Now everyone was really excited! Mr. Luther really should have said the part about the gift card first. I knew exactly what I would buy with that gift card. I would buy the new Galaxy Conquest video game. Galaxy Conquest is my favorite game of all time. I wanted to have Galaxy Conquest 2 more than anything!

  Maybe I’d never be able to make a perfect “S” in cursive, but I was going to win that spelling bee.

  “I heard that in Galaxy Conquest 2 there is a secret way around a player’s force field,” I said.

  Sydney and I were up in my room hanging out. You might think it’s weird that I was hanging out with a girl, but Sydney is cool. Our moms are best friends, so we end up spending a lot of time together.

  Besides, Gomez was busy with music lessons and Harley was busy with swim team, so we both needed something to do.

  That night, our moms were downstairs with the rest of their book club. My mom didn’t want me to get bored, so she asked Mrs. Greene to bring Sydney.

  We had just snuck downstairs to get more delicious snacks. I don’t know much about book clubs, but I do know that they are very loud, and there is always a lot of good food. I’m not even sure that they really read any books.

  Sydney finished up her chocolate chip cookie. She wiped the crumbs off her hands as she said, “I know! And I heard that the supersonic power star is now worth triple points!”

  “Really?” I asked. “Wow! That could change the whole game. I can’t wait to play it!”

  Ever since Sydney got to my house that night, we had been talking about the new Galaxy Conquest 2 video game. We were beyond excited about the new version!

  “It’s a good thing I’m such a good speller,” I told Sydney.

  “You are?” she asked.

  “At my old school, I was the best speller in my class. Everyone called me Sidney the Super Speller,” I explained. “I’m sure I’ll win the spelling bee. Then I’ll use the money to buy Galaxy Conquest 2. We can play it together. ”

  When Mr. Luther told us about the spelling bee, I was excited. The rest of the kids didn’t like that we had extra homework. They also didn’t like that instead of read-aloud time we were going to be working on spelling.

  I didn’t mind. I was already a good speller, so I didn’t need to practice at home. And the read-aloud book we were listening to was not my favorite. It was about a little girl who lives on a farm. Her horse is sick, and she’s trying to get her parents to let her keep it.

  Everybody else in my class loved that book. Some of the kids even cried a little while listening. I thought it was boring.

  As we walked into the living room, I looked at Sydney. She had that look on her face that she gets when I win a game. It wasn’t a happy look. It was a look that I wasn’t going to mess with.

  “I’m a really good speller, too,” she said. “In fact, people should call ME Sydney the Super Speller.”

  “Ummm...okay,” I said quietly. “Good night.”

  “Whatever,” she said.

  And that’s how we ended our night.

  Not only am I a good speller, but I’m a rock star in gym class. I don’t want to brag, but it’s true. Besides art, gym is my favorite class. It mig
ht be surprising since I’m so small, but it doesn’t matter. I’m quick and strong.

  The day after we found out about the spelling bee, I was really looking forward to gym class. I needed a break from spelling, and exercising always made me feel better.

  The best thing about gym is our teacher, Mr. Panino. He says he has been teaching at Oak Grove Elementary School his whole life. If that is true, he’s been teaching there a long time.

  I’m not sure how old Mr. Panino is, but he has gray hair like my grandpa. He also likes to tell stories about the good old days. None of us ever know what he’s talking about, but it doesn’t matter. Mr. Panino is the greatest gym teacher ever!

  We sat down in a row on the gym floor. Mr. Panino said, “Class, today we are going to play dodgeball.”

  Yes! Of all the fun things we do in gym, dodgeball is my favorite! Every time we choose teams for dodgeball, I am picked first. Since the first time we played dodgeball in kindergarten, I have either been the captain or the first one picked.

  Also, dodgeball is a great way to relieve stress. And ever since Mr. Luther told us about the spelling bee, I was feeling pretty stressed out.

  “Gomez and Alexa, you two can be team captains,” Mr. Panino said.

  The captains stood in front of the class. Mr. Panino took out the quarter he always uses to decide who will pick first. Mr. Panino is very fair.

  Alexa picked heads, and it was tails. Doesn’t Alexa know that tails never fails? I better tell her that for future games. I was happy, though, because Gomez knew how good I was at dodgeball. I was sure he would pick me first.

  I would rather be captain, but being the first one picked meant I could help the captain get the best team.

  I looked around at our class. I was trying to decide whom Gomez should pick after me. Nick was good, but he didn’t always play fair. Aubrey was really good, too, but she had a sprained ankle.

  I saw Sidney sitting at the end of the row. He was new to the school this year, so we’d never seen him play dodgeball before. But I liked hanging out with him, and we had become good friends. I decided to be nice and have Gomez pick Sidney after me.

  As Gomez called my name, I began to stand up. I was about halfway up when I heard him say something else.

  “Ummm...I meant the other Sidney,” he said quietly.

  I heard Nick laugh, and I felt my cheeks get hot. I couldn’t believe I wasn’t picked first!

  Alexa picked me first for her team, but I was still mad and embarrassed. The first dodgeball game of the year was off to a terrible start.

  Mr. Panino is an awesome gym teacher. He must be a million years old, because he taught at Oak Grove Elementary when my mom went to school!

  I was excited when Mr. Panino said that we were playing dodgeball. Not to brag or anything, but I’m pretty good at dodgeball. I guess Gomez knew that, because he picked me first for his team.

  As we got ready to play, I was surprised to hear the other players on my team saying things like, “Watch out for Sydney!” or, “Let’s try to knock out Sydney first.”

  I was so confused. “Sydney Greene?” I asked Gomez.

  I knew that she was a great Galaxy Conquest player, but she was super small. How good could she be at dodgeball?

  “Oh, yeah,” Gomez said, “she’s the dodgeball queen. If I didn’t pick you first, I would have definitely picked her. But you are my best friend, so I thought I should pick you.”

  I kept my eye on Sydney the whole time. Not only was she fast, but she was strong. She could really throw the ball! Soon the only players left were me, Nathan, and Gomez on my side and Sydney and Ryan on the other side.

  As I ran to the back of the gym to get a ball, I watched Sydney. I saw her catch the ball Gomez had thrown at her. In a flash, she threw it and hit Nathan. In a matter of seconds, she had taken out two players. I was the only one left on my team.

  I quickly grabbed a ball and threw it as hard as I could. Sydney was able to dodge it, but I hit Ryan on the arm. The game was down to me and Sydney.

  Neither of us had a ball in reach. We stood there for a long time, staring at each other. I knew what I had to do. I had to pull out my signature dodgeball move. A move that worked every time. A move that would make Sydney really mad, but it didn’t matter. I had to win this game.

  I faked to my right, then dove to my left and grabbed a ball from the ground. My fake worked and Sydney moved the other way. She was trapped. Not a single ball was in her reach. I wound my arm back ready to win the game.

  Next thing I knew, Mr. Panino was blowing his whistle. “Good game, but we’re out of time.”

  “What?!” Sydney and I both shouted at the same time.

  “That’s not fair!” I protested. “I was just about to get her out!”

  “You were not,” Sydney said, crossing her arms. “I was ready for you! I was going to catch that ball and get you out!”

  “No way!” I said, taking a step toward her.

  “Yes way!” she replied, stepping toward me. She got up on her tiptoes, and we were almost face to face.

  Mr. Panino stepped between us and said, “That’s enough! It’s just a game.”

  It was more than a game, and both of us knew it. If I couldn’t be the official winner of the dodgeball game, I was definitely going to win that spelling bee!

  Sidney and I hadn’t talked since the day of the dodgeball game. Four days is a long time to go without talking to someone. But I stayed busy.

  To get ready for the spelling bee, I practiced my words after school each day. I also walked around the house spelling things that I saw. “Table, t-a-b-l-e. Chair, c-h-a-i-r. Owen, O-w-e-n. Mess, m-e-s-s.”

  The day of the spelling bee finally arrived. I was nervous. The whole third grade was on the stage. We had to draw numbers to see what order we would go in. I was number one.

  I looked into the crowd and saw my mom and dad. My mom was sitting next to Sidney’s mom, Mrs. Fletcher. I really liked Mrs. Fletcher, but seeing her made me mad at Sidney all over again.

  Mr. Luther stood up and thanked all the parents for coming. He told everyone how the spelling bee worked, but I didn’t listen. I already knew how this thing would work. It would start with me spelling words correctly and end with me winning.

  Finally Mr. Luther called for speller number one to go to the microphone. That was me! I was happy to go first and show everyone my spelling skills. Maybe it would even make Sidney nervous.

  I liked having everyone’s attention. It felt good to stand at the microphone and smile at all the people. I felt like a movie star! I waved a little to my parents. I had worn my favorite outfit and was ready to win this thing!

  I looked down at the table in front of the stage. Mr. Luther was sitting there with another third-grade teacher, Mrs. Madden, and the school principal, Mrs. Denny. They were all smiling at me. This was going to be a piece of cake!

  “Are you ready, Sydney?” Mr. Luther asked.

  “Yes!” I said, too loudly. The microphone made an awful squeaking sound. How embarrassing!

  Everyone in the audience put their hands over their ears. I could hear kids giggling behind me. I felt my cheeks get warm. I wasn’t feeling quite so confident anymore.

  Mrs. Denny asked me to take a step back. Then I took a deep breath to relax.

  “Is that better?” I said in a much softer voice.

  “Yes,” Mrs. Madden said. “Your first word, Sydney, is ‘cucumber.’”

  I smiled. We’d had salad with our dinner the night before, and I had practiced all the words — lettuce, carrot, tomato, and cucumber. I was going to get this right for sure!

  I felt one step closer to winning the gift card to the new video game store. Then I could buy Galaxy Conquest 2 and brag to Sidney about it.

  I smiled and quickly said, “Cucumber. C-u-c-m-b-e-r. Cucumber.”

&
nbsp; I was headed back to my chair when I heard a buzzer and Mr. Luther say, “I’m sorry, Sydney. That’s not correct.”

  I spun around so quickly my pink skirt twirled. “What?” I asked.

  “‘Cucumber’ is c-u-c-u-m-b-e-r,’” Mrs. Madden said. “You missed the second ‘u.’”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! Not only was I not going to win the spelling bee, but I was done on the first word! This was beyond embarrassing.

  I was done. D-o-n-e. Done.

  After some very tough rounds, the spelling bee was down to me and Gomez. I knew I was a good speller, but Gomez was surprising everyone. Including himself!

  Sydney went out on the first word. She had spelled her word too fast. She didn’t stop to think about it. I knew I couldn’t make that mistake.

  Mr. Luther had told us that the spelling bee was not a race, so I took my time on each word.

  Gomez had not been excited about the spelling bee. He had a tough time with spelling. But he was a hard worker, and he’d been practicing his words every night.

  I knew this because every day I asked him to play, and he wouldn’t. He wanted to study instead. I thought it was lame at the time, but as I heard my next word, I knew Gomez was smart to study. I really should have studied, too.

  “Your word is ‘theory,’” Mr. Luther said.

  I thought about it for a little bit and said, “Theory, t-h-e-e-r-y, theory.”

  I could tell by the looks on the judges’ faces that I’d gotten it wrong.

  “I’m sorry, Sidney, that is incorrect,” Mrs. Madden said.

  And just like that, I was done. No gift card for me. Now I would never get to play the new Galaxy Conquest game.

  As I was sitting in my chair feeling sorry for myself, I heard Gomez spell his final word right.