“I know Vivi can be difficult sometimes,” Miss Twizzle said.
“She tells on me!” Willa Bean said. “No matter what I do! She just tattles and tattles!”
Miss Twizzle nodded. “I’ve noticed that,” she said. “I’ve also noticed that Vivi seems to think very highly of you.”
“You mean …” Willa Bean paused. “You think she likes me?”
“I think she likes you a great deal,” Miss Twizzle said. “And I don’t think she knows how to tell you that.”
Willa Bean thought about this for a moment. It sounded nice, but she wasn’t sure it made very much sense. Why would someone who liked her tattle on her all the time?
“Think about Baby Louie for just a moment,” Miss Twizzle said. “Does he ever get on your nerves?”
Willa Bean nodded. “All the time.”
“Is he ever a pest?” Miss Twizzle asked.
Willa Bean almost laughed. “Every day.”
“I would bet my wings that what he really wants is to spend time with you. He probably thinks you’re the greatest thing in the world, Willa Bean. But he doesn’t know how to tell you that. So he acts like a pest instead, to try to get your attention. Maybe the same is true for Vivi.”
Willa Bean looked out the window again. She wondered how Miss Twizzle knew so much about everything.
“I want you to listen carefully to me, Willa Bean.” Miss Twizzle’s voice was very soft. “It’s very, very lovely of you to be so kind to your baby brother. But you broke several very important rules. You didn’t listen to Mr. Rightflight. You took something that didn’t belong to you. And you broke the Cupid Rule when you were mean to Vivi. So you are going to have to stay on the bus with me for one hour. After that, I will take you to Waterworld.”
“A whole hour?” Willa Bean said.
“It’s that or nothing,” Miss Twizzle said.
Willa Bean sat back in her seat. She thought about the Cupid Rule:
The very best way
To spend your day
Is to try to be kind—
All the time.
Why were some rules so hard to follow?
And why did there have to be so many of them in the first place?
Willa Bean sat quietly on the bus, exactly the way Miss Twizzle told her to do. It was incredibly boring. Miss Twizzle sat up front, reading a book. But Willa Bean did not have any books with her. And it was going to be a whole hour before she could leave again. That was like forever!
She lay down on her seat and stared up at the ceiling. She raised her feet over her head and wiggled her toes inside her sandals.
She had cute little toes. She liked them very much.
She pressed her nose against the window. She made little huffy breaths with her mouth and drew pictures in the foggy part of the window.
She drew a picture of Snooze flying. Then she drew a picture of Snooze sitting still. She drew Harper with her glasses on. Then she drew Harper with her glasses off. She drew a picture of her silver-knotted, polka-dotted arrow in her quiver. Then she drew a picture of it flying through the air.
She took her silver-knotted, polka-dotted arrow out of her quiver. She ran her fingers over the smooth silver. Slowly, she counted all the polka dots. There were seventeen of them!
“All right, Willa Bean,” Miss Twizzle said. “Time’s up. Let’s go to Waterworld!”
Willa Bean jumped up and down. She did not walk next to Miss Twizzle. She flew! As fast as she could! In two seconds, she was inside Waterworld. She changed quickly into her orange bathing suit and ran to join Class A. They were all standing next to the big green slide. Willa Bean shouted and wiggled her wings. She was so happy to see everyone again.
Well, almost everyone.
“Willa Bean!” Harper yelled. “You’re back!” She hugged her best friend. “I missed you. Are you all right?”
“Yes!” Willa Bean jumped up and down. “But I’m so glad I’m back! It was boring on the bus without you!”
For the next hour, the cupids flew all over Waterworld. They went on the green slide with the three upside-down loops. They splashed around in the big blue pool with stars on the bottom. They rode the river rapids in big, fat moontubes. And they went into the super-duper wave-cave, where it was dark and scary! By the time it was all over, Willa Bean was grinning from ear to ear!
Later, on the cloudbus, Vivi sat alone again. She was very quiet. In fact, Willa Bean couldn’t remember Vivi saying anything during any of the Waterworld rides. Or even on the walk back to the cloudbus.
And then, as the cloudbus started, Vivi turned around. She got up on her knees and held out her pink rubber star-bubble ball to Willa Bean. “I want you to have this,” Vivi said. “For Baby Louie.”
Willa Bean stared at the ball. Then she stared at Vivi. “How’d you know about Baby Louie?” she asked.
“Harper told me after you got sent back to the bus,” Vivi said. “She said that was the whole reason you went into the gift shop. So you could get a star-bubble ball for your little brother.” Vivi’s lower lip quivered. “And then I went and ruined it by tattling on you.” She pushed the ball into Willa Bean’s hands. “Here. I want you to have it.”
Willa Bean took Vivi’s pink rubber star-bubble ball. Vivi turned around super-quick. She sat back down. Her wings shook. Little sniffing sounds came out of her mouth.
“Toodle-noodle-bing-bang!” whispered Harper. “How about that?”
Willa Bean sat very still. She thought about what Miss Twizzle had said to her on the bus. She looked at Vivi sitting by herself. And then she looked down at the star-bubble ball in her hands. Willa Bean did not say anything. Her stomach was doing flip-flops.
Willa Bean reached for something on the seat. Then she tapped Vivi on the shoulder.
Vivi turned around. “Yes?” she asked.
Willa Bean opened her mouth. But nothing came out.
“What, Willa Bean?” Vivi asked. “Are you playing a trick on me?”
Willa Bean shook her head. She lifted up her silver-knotted, polka-dotted arrow.
“I already know you have a special arrow,” Vivi said. “You don’t have to rub it in.”
“I don’t want to rub it in.” Willa Bean’s voice was a little squeak. “I want to do a trade.”
“A trade?” Vivi repeated.
Willa Bean nodded. “I’ll trade you my arrow for your pink rubber star-bubble ball.”
“No, Willa Bean!” Harper tugged on Willa Bean’s sleeve. “Don’t do that! That’s your most favorite arrow!”
But Willa Bean stared straight ahead. This was something she wanted to do, even if she didn’t know how to say it right.
Vivi blinked. She looked at Harper. Then she looked back at Willa Bean. “Are you just trying to be funny?” she asked.
Willa Bean shook her head. “Nope.” She held out the arrow.
Vivi took the arrow. She ran her fingers over it. She touched the silver knot at the end very lightly. And she counted all the polka dots.
Willa Bean sat back in her seat. Her quiver already felt different. Lighter. And so did a little, tiny part of her. Especially when she thought how happy Baby Louie would be when he saw the rubber ball.
But the other, bigger part of her felt sad. She would miss her favorite arrow terribly. And as the cloudbus swung around Cloud Nine and headed for home, Willa Bean put her head down on her knees and tried not to cry.
That night, Mama and Daddy and Ariel and Willa Bean watched as Baby Louie played with his new pink rubber star-bubble ball. His eyes were wide and bright. His cheeks were flushed a soft rosy color. He made happy googly noises with his mouth and clapped his hands. Willa Bean felt very happy, watching him. It almost made her forget about her special arrow.
Just then, a knock came at the door.
Daddy went to answer it. “Miss Twizzle!” he said, opening the door wide. “How nice to see you! Come in!”
Willa Bean jumped up. She ran behind the couch and tried to make herself
invisible. She hadn’t told Mama and Daddy about all the trouble she had gotten into on her cloudtrip. Was Miss Twizzle going to tell them that Willa Bean had misbehaved? And that she’d had to sit on the cloudbus for a whole hour?
Willa Bean peeked out from behind the couch. Miss Twizzle had something in her hand. It looked like an arrow. In fact, it looked like her arrow.
“I just want you to know,” Miss Twizzle said, “that two of my students did something marvelous today.” She smiled. “Willa Bean was one of them. She traded her favorite arrow for a rubber star-bubble ball, so that she could give it to her baby brother.”
“Willa Bean,” Mama said softly, “I had no idea. I thought you had an extra rubber ball in your treasure chest.”
“I know how much this means to you,” Miss Twizzle said. She held out the silver-knotted, polka-dotted arrow and looked at Willa Bean. “That’s why I’m returning it.”
Willa Bean jumped out from behind the couch. She ran over to her teacher and took her favorite arrow in her hands.
“That’s very kind of you, Miss Twizzle,” Daddy said. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re very welcome,” Miss Twizzle said. “But I’m also here to get Vivi’s rubber ball back. It was a gift from her grandmother. And I know it means a lot to her, as well.”
“But …” Willa Bean looked at Baby Louie. He was still drooling all over that pink ball.
“Don’t worry.” Miss Twizzle reached into her pocket and pulled out a red rubber star-bubble ball. “I bought this one at Waterworld today for this very reason.”
Willa Bean stared at her teacher. She didn’t know how Miss Twizzle did everything the way she did. It was almost impossible to say how wonderful she was. Instead, Willa Bean threw her arms around her. She hugged her very hard.
Baby Louie didn’t even notice when they switched the balls. He laughed and clapped some more. And then he did a big baby burp.
Everyone laughed.
Willa Bean held her silver-knotted, polka-dotted arrow tight and watched her baby brother play with his new ball.
It had been a hard day with all its ups and downs.
But, she thought, she wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Star-Bubble Trouble Page 4