“And the winner of this year’s spelling bee is Gomez!” Mr. Luther announced.
I couldn’t believe it! Gomez’s last word was “insulin,” which is kind of funny because Gomez is diabetic. He uses insulin to keep his blood sugar at the right level. He’s probably known how to spell that word since kindergarten!
I was happy for Gomez, but I still felt angry about losing. I really wanted to win! I was mad at myself for not practicing more. I had been so sure that I would win. I guess being sure isn’t the same as being prepared.
Afterward, everyone congratulated Gomez. He seemed so happy. I felt sort of bad for feeling angry. But then again, how was I supposed to feel happy? I lost.
Gomez walked over to me.
“Congratulations,” I said. “You were awesome.” I tried to smile at him, but my face just couldn’t do it. Instead, it just twitched a little and looked weird.
“What’s wrong with your face?” Gomez asked. He wasn’t having any trouble smiling.
“Nothing. Nothing at all,” I said. I tried to make my face look normal.
Then Gomez did something shocking. Something so shocking that it made my face go all weird again.
“I want you to have this,” he said. And he reached out and handed me the gift card to Game On.
“What?” I asked. I couldn’t believe it! “But you worked so hard to win it! Why would you want to give it to me?”
“I worked hard because I wanted to win,” Gomez said.
“I know,” I said. “But I can’t take this from you.”
“You know I don’t really like video games. Plus, my parents promised to take me to Super Fun Adventureland if I won. That was all the motivation I needed,” Gomez said with a smile.
“But you earned this, too,” I said.
“I did,” he said. “And now I’m giving it to you. What good is winning if you can’t celebrate with your friend?”
I wasn’t having any trouble smiling now. I looked around for Sydney and couldn’t find her. Then my smile started to fade, and my face felt weird again.
What a horrible week! First there was that awful dodgeball game. Then I went out of the spelling bee on the first word. And now, on Saturday, it was raining so I couldn’t play outside.
I heard my mom calling me. “Sydney! Someone is here for you!”
I jumped off my bed. Maybe Harley had come to cheer me up! I ran downstairs, excited to see my best friend. Instead, I saw Sidney.
“What do you want?” I asked with complete annoyance.
“I wanted to show you this,” he said, proudly holding up the new Galaxy Conquest video game.
Wow! Galaxy Conquest 2! I tried to stay calm and act like I didn’t care, but it was hard.
“Where did you get that?” I asked.
“Gomez gave me the gift card to Game On, and I went and bought it right away,” he said. “It turns out Gomez wasn’t kidding when he said he didn’t like video games.”
I couldn’t contain my excitement anymore.
“That’s just crazy! How could someone not like Galaxy Conquest?” I asked.
“I know!” Sidney agreed. “So, do you want to play?”
We both stood there for a few seconds. I was still mad about the dodgeball game, but I really wanted to play Galaxy Conquest 2.
“Do you really have to ask?” I said with a smile.
“Awesome,” Sidney said.
We were just about to go downstairs when Sidney said, “I guess you probably could have caught that ball and got me out.”
“You never know,” I said. “You throw really hard. You could have aimed for my legs and got me out.”
Suddenly Sidney had a big smile on his face. “Hey, I’ve got an idea! Next time let’s try to get on the same team!”
“Nobody could beat us!” I agreed.
We headed to the basement and started our game of Galaxy Conquest 2. It was even better than we had hoped!
Sidney was winning most of the game, but in the end I used my superhuman power shield and won.
At first, Sidney looked mad. Then he said, “Good game.”
“You, too,” I said.
“Let’s go celebrate your first win in Galaxy Conquest 2,” Sidney said.
“With ice cream?” I asked.
“Duh!” Sidney said.
“Perfect! What good is winning if you can’t celebrate with your friend?” I said.
“That’s exactly what Gomez told me,” Sidney replied.
“Great minds think alike,” I said. “Now let’s go get that ice cream!”
Sydney and I spent the whole weekend playing my new Galaxy Conquest 2 game. So on Monday, I really wished I could have brought the game to school. I especially wished that once Mr. Luther told us we’d be having indoor recess. He said it was too cold to go outside.
I hated indoor recess. It was so boring! I was ready to go outside and play. Plus, we had been planning a basketball tournament at recess. I had even written down the teams and planned out the games on a piece of paper. Now we were going to be stuck inside.
Gomez and I sat on the floor, trying to find all the pieces to the checkers game. I looked up when Mrs. Dover, one of the fifth-grade teachers, came into the room.
“Hello, Mr. Luther’s class!” she called. Mrs. Dover is what my mom would call a very chipper person. When she talked, it almost sounded like she was singing.
“I wanted to talk to you all about something very exciting happening at Oak Grove Elementary!” Mrs. Dover went on. “As those of you with older brothers or sisters might know, every year the school puts on a play. Usually we only allow the fourth and fifth graders to be in it, but this year we are opening the auditions to the third graders as well!”
After losing the spelling bee, I was not that interested in getting back up on the stage, so I went back to looking for all the missing checker pieces.
“Rehearsals will be during recess time,” Mr. Luther said. “And those of you who participate will get extra credit toward your reading grades.”
This got my attention. I had fallen behind a little in reading. My mom had said that if I didn’t get my grade up, I couldn’t join the basketball team.
“Can’t be worse than playing checkers without all the pieces,” Gomez whispered.
“My mom said it’s going to be a cold winter, so I bet we’ll be stuck inside a lot,” I said.
“Do you want to try out for the play?” Gomez asked.
“Sure, why not?” I said. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
I love being in the spotlight and having all eyes on me. I had really loved being onstage during the spelling bee — until I lost, of course. I only wished I could have been up there longer! The school play would be a great way to get onstage again.
Harley and I decided to try out for the school play together. Mrs. Dover had written the play. It was about a man named Mr. Jones and his daughter, Jane.
Mrs. Dover wanted the fourth and fifth graders to play the adults. I could see why Mrs. Dover would do that. Some of those fourth and fifth graders were huge!
I heard some of the older kids talking. They said that the only reason the third graders got to try out is because Mrs. Dover needed smaller kids to play Jane’s friends.
I didn’t really care what the reason was. I just cared about getting on that stage again!
Harley and I were trying out for parts as Jane’s friends. We wouldn’t have to say anything during the play. There was a lot of singing and dancing, and I liked that.
Mrs. Dover put us into groups of four. We had to sing part of a song and do a little dance. I thought the dance was easy, but some girls had trouble. Harley was nervous, but I wasn’t at all.
About halfway through our tryout, Mrs. Dover stopped us and pointed at me. “What’s your name, sweetie?”
she asked.
“Sydney Greene,” I told her. I thought I was doing a good job, but I must have messed up. My cheeks turned bright red. I probably looked like a tomato.
“Are you really in third grade?” she asked.
I felt my cheeks get ever more red. I was the smallest kid in my class. She must have thought I was a second grader. How embarrassing!
“Yes,” I mumbled.
Mrs. Dover smiled. “Would you mind singing a little by yourself?”
“I would love to!” I said, no longer embarrassed. This was my big chance!
I sang the whole song and did the dance, too. When I was done, Mrs. Dover stood up and clapped. So did all the other kids in the auditorium.
“That was wonderful, Sydney!” she said. “Ben, please stand next to Sydney.”
A fifth grade boy walked over and stood next to me. He was really tall. I had to tilt my head all the way back to look up at him. The top of my head didn’t even make it to his shoulder!
Mrs. Dover clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Everyone, listen up!” she called. “I’d like you all to meet the stars of our play! Ben will be playing Mr. Jones, and Sydney will be Jane. Great job, you two!”
I couldn’t believe it! I had been hoping for a small part in the play, and I got the lead role!
I couldn’t stop smiling as everyone clapped for us. People were cheering for me! I could get used to that. Look out, Hollywood! Here comes Sydney Greene!
As soon as Gomez and I walked into the play tryouts, we knew we had made a mistake.
The girls were trying out first. I saw Sydney singing and dancing on the stage by herself. She was really good!
“We have to sing and dance?” I asked Gomez. “By ourselves?”
I didn’t want to sing and dance in a group, and I really didn’t want to do it alone!
“I didn’t know there was singing!” Gomez said. “Or dancing!”
He looked just as worried as I did. I guess neither of us had been paying attention when Mrs. Dover said that the play was a musical. If we had heard that part, we definitely wouldn’t be in this position right now.
We turned around to leave and bumped right into Mr. Luther.
“Hello, boys! I’m glad to see you here,” Mr. Luther said. “I was just talking with your mom about your reading grade, Sidney. Participating in the play is just the boost you’ll need to pick that grade up!”
Now I was stuck. I really wanted to play basketball, and the only way my mom was going to let me join the team was if I got my reading grade up.
“I was just here to wish Sidney luck,” Gomez said quickly.
“That was nice of you,” Mr. Luther smiled.
“Yep, well, that’s the kind of friend I am!” Gomez said. He started walking toward the door and added, “Good luck, Sidney! Break a leg or whatever it is they say.”
Before I could say anything, he was gone. I couldn’t believe it! My best friend had left me!
Right after Gomez left, Mrs. Dover announced that Sydney and some fifth grade boy named Ben were going to be the stars in the play.
I was happy for Sydney, and I’m sure she was thrilled. I know how much she loves to be front and center. However, I still wasn’t so sure about being in a play, let alone a musical!
“The last group to try out is the third grade boys,” Mrs. Dover said. “There is no dancing in these roles, but you will be doing a little singing.”
If I had to choose between singing and dancing, I would for sure pick singing. Maybe I could do this.
There were only six third grade boys. I stood at the end of the line.
Mrs. Dover looked up at us. When she saw me she said, “This is for third grade boys. The fourth and fifth grade boys already tried out.”
I was tall for my age, so I guess she thought I was older. That happened to me a lot.
“I am in third grade,” I told her. Maybe I was too tall for the play. Mr. Luther would have to give me the extra credit for trying, right?
“Hmmm,” Mrs. Dover said. She looked like she was thinking really hard. “Can you sing?”
“I guess,” I said.
“Do you think you could sing part of the song right now?” she ask.
“I could try,” I said.
She gave me the sheet music and cued the piano player. At first I felt embarrassed, but when I noticed that no one was laughing, I felt better. I kept singing and singing and singing.
Before I knew it, I had sung the entire song. All the kids in the auditorium started clapping. I was feeling pretty good about myself. I guess I know why Sydney likes being on the stage now. I smiled, took a bow, and climbed off the stage.
Before I could get very far, Mrs. Dover stopped me.
“You are very good,” she said. “I think we just found Ben’s understudy.”
“Under what?” I asked.
“Understudy means that you will fill in for Ben if he can’t perform,” she explained. “You two look alike and are almost the same size for the costume.”
I got a big smile on my face. “So, if Ben can perform, I don’t have to?”
“That’s right. You will need to learn his part and practice, but if he is able to, he will perform the role in the play,” Mrs. Dover said.
“And I still get credit for reading?” I asked Mr. Luther.
Mr. Luther laughed. “Yes, Sidney.”
“Perfect!” I said. Now I could play basketball — and I wouldn’t have to sing or dance!
After one week, I was still convinced that being in the play was great. Since I was one of the stars, I got to miss part of math every afternoon. I felt very special leaving class and walking down to the fifth grade hallway.
The rest of the time, though, we practiced during recess. Those practices were the hardest because the other third grade girls in the play weren’t doing so well. They had complained all week about rehearsals being too hard. I was a little tired of it.
“Okay, everyone, take five,” Mrs. Dover said during one recess rehearsal.
“Take five” is the way people in plays say “take a break.” I think that is so cool!
My friends and I walked down the hall and gathered around the drinking fountain.
“The final dance scene is so hard!” said Taylor.
“I know!” Harley agreed. “I feel like we practice and practice, but I just can’t get it right!”
In the scene where the others were dancing, I was standing behind them on the stage. I could tell they were all having a hard time with it.
“It looks like you all keep tripping over each other,” I told them. I didn’t want to sound mean, but it was the truth.
Taylor crossed her arms and said, “I’ve been taking dance lessons for five years, and this is the hardest dance I’ve ever done in my life.”
“I think if Taylor and Josie remembered to go right and Harley and Ayesha went left, you wouldn’t keep bumping into each other,” I said.
I had the best view of them dancing, so I felt like I had the best advice.
“It’s not as easy as it looks,” Ayesha snapped at me.
“I didn’t say it looked easy,” I told her, frowning. “I was just trying to give you some helpful advice.”
Harley nodded and said, “You just don’t understand because you don’t have to do this dance.”
“Just because you are the star of the play doesn’t mean you know everything,” Ayesha said.
“We don’t need your unhelpful advice,” Taylor said.
All of my friends were ganging up on me! Totally unfair! I was only trying to help them.
“I may not know about this dance, but I’ve got it even harder. Try learning ten pages of lines!” I said.
My voice squeaked a little and I thought I might start to cry.
“Plus
I have to do three dances and learn five new songs!” I said with a big sigh.
I was upset, so I took a long drink of water to calm down. When I finished my drink I saw that the three of them were halfway down the hall. They had all left without me.
Being an understudy was a piece of cake! Rehearsals were easy. I spent most of the time watching what Ben was doing. Sometimes I snuck a book or a sports magazine in and read instead.
I had been doing better in reading and with the extra credit from the play my mom was sure to let me join the basketball team.
I knew Mr. Luther would be glad if I made the team. He was a big sports fan. He even taped a big football field across the top of the board in our classroom. Every time our class got a compliment from another teacher or had a good day, he moved a little player down the field. Once the player made it all the way across the field, we’d get to have a movie party.
And not just a boring school movie, but a real movie, like the ones you see in the theater. We’d even get to have popcorn!
We were about halfway down the field, so Mr. Luther said we could celebrate with an extra recess. The only problem was that it was super cold out again.
“Oh, great, indoor recess again,” I said to Gomez. “I wish we could have saved the extra recess for when we can play outside.”
“Indoor recess is fun now,” Gomez said.
“It is?” I asked. I had been at play practice during recess for the past few weeks. Part of the reason I joined the play was to get away from boring indoor recess!
“Oh, yeah!” Gomez said. “A couple of weeks ago Nathan showed us how to play this great game. It’s called paper football. See?” Gomez held up a piece of paper that had been folded up into a triangle.
“What’s that?” I asked. It sure didn’t look like a football to me!
“Watch,” Gomez said. He waved Nathan over. “Let’s show Sidney how to play.”
Dodgeball, Drama, and Other Dilemmas Page 2