The More the Merrier

by Stephanie Barden

  “That sounds like fun,” said my aunt.

  “Really, really fun,” I said. “So you have to keep it super top secret that we’re practicing, because we don’t want anyone else to practice harder.”

  “My lips are sealed,” said Aunt Flora.

  Erin’s mom honked her car horn out front, and I ran for the door.

  “Don’t let the cat out!” called Aunt Flora.

  Chapter 5

  Mix-matched Skechers

  When I jumped in the car, Erin said, “You’re part purple! P-u-r-p-l-e.”

  “Yes, I am,” I said. “Alas. A-l-a-s.”

  I told Erin and her mom all about the Pancake Surprise that turned into a Purple Potion.

  Then I told them all about Miss Purvis.

  “I can’t wait to meet her,” said Erin.

  “I can’t wait for you to meet her either,” I said. “She’s the kind of cat that’s sort of picky, but I’m bound and determined to be her best friend by the end of the week.”

  We got to Erin’s house and went right upstairs to her room to study. The big book full of spelling words was waiting for us on her bed, and she jumped up and pulled it onto her lap. I kicked off my one white Skecher and my one pink Skecher and jumped up next to her.

  “I like your shoes,” she said.

  “I’m mix-matched today,” I said.

  “That reminds me,” said Erin. “I found your sandal in my dress-up box.”

  “Hurray! That will make my mom very happy.”

  We opened up the spelling word book. There were four columns of words running down each page from the top to the bottom.

  “It starts with first-grade words and goes all the way to fifth grade,” said Erin.

  “Let’s skip first and second,” I said. “We should know those by now.”

  “Okay,” said Erin. “We’ll learn third for sure and then fourth and fifth if we can.”

  “Do you want to ask or spell first?” I asked.

  “I’ll ask,” said Erin. “You’re first word is kitten.”

  “That’s a good one to start with,” I said. “Kitten. K-i-t-t-e-n. Kitten.”

  “Yes,” said Erin. “You’re next word is fishing.”

  Erin asked me twenty-seven words and I got them all right, except the bonus word, which was invention. Then it was my turn to ask.

  “You’re first word is jeans,” I said.

  “Jeans,” said Erin. “J-e-a-n-s. Jeans.”

  “That’s right,” I said. “But remember, there’s also the other kind of genes, the ones inside us.”

  “Oh yeah,” said Erin. “How do you know which kind they mean?”

  “In the spelling bee you can ask for a definition or to have it put in a sentence,” I said. “I learned that last year because I spelled knew wrong, but I got another chance.”

  “Okay,” said Erin. “Please put jeans in a sentence.”

  “Certainly,” I said. “Erin is wearing a new pair of jeans today.”

  “Jeans,” said Erin. “J-e-a-n-s. Jeans.”

  She got all the rest of her words right, even her bonus one, which was amazed.

  We spent all afternoon going back and forth with the columns; but when it was time for me to go home, we had only made it through third grade. We wanted to keep studying, so I called Aunt Flora to see if Erin could spend the night.

  “We’d love to have Erin over,” said Aunt Flora. “The more the merrier!”

  “Hey, that’s what I say,” I said.

  “I know,” she said. “I learned it from you.”

  When we got to my house, there were Chinese food cartons all over the dining-room table, and the house smelled de-licious with a capital D.

  “Erin, Erin, Erin!” yelled Tess.

  Erin picked her up and twirled her around.

  Miss Purvis ran into the room to see what the commotion was.

  “Hello.” Erin bent down to pet Miss Purvis, but she just looked Erin up and down and stalked out of the room.

  “I see what you mean about her being picky,” said Erin.

  “I’m so glad you could join us, Erin.” Aunt Flora walked out of the kitchen with a handful of chopsticks.

  “Awesome,” I said. “I love those things, but I’m terrible with them.”

  “Me too,” said Erin.

  “Go wash your hands,” said Aunt Flora. “Maybe some more of the purple will come off before we eat.”

  We raced to the bathroom, and I washed three times. “I think it’s fading.” I showed Erin.

  “Maybe a little,” she said.

  We sat down, and Aunt Flora wrapped her fingers around her chopsticks and clacked them together. I tried to copy her, but the chopsticks felt wobbly in my fingers. She reached down to her plate, picked up a piece of chicken, and ate it. I reached down to my plate, picked up a piece of chicken, and spun it out of my chopsticks and onto the table.

  Erin tried too, and chicken pieces kept plopping back down onto her plate. “When I was little, I did it this way.” She put down one of her chopsticks and waved the other one around. “I pretended it was a magic wand and . . .” She stabbed the chopstick through a piece of chicken and held it up. “Ta-da!”

  We all clapped.

  “Me! Me!” yelled Tess, and she stabbed down on a piece of chicken too. “Ta-da!” She waved it over her head.

  “It doesn’t work with rice and noodles, though,” said Erin.

  “I’ll go get us some forks.” Aunt Flora headed into the kitchen just as the phone rang.

  Tess ran and picked it up. “Hi!” she said, and then she nodded.

  “You have to talk out loud,” I said.

  “Oh yeah,” she said. “Yes. No.” She hung up.

  Erin and I burst out laughing as Aunt Flora came back into the room with a bunch of forks.

  “Who was on the phone?”

  “Rosemary T.” Tess climbed back up into her chair.

  “Who’s that?” asked Aunt Flora.

  “She’s a girl in our class. She lives down the block,” I said. “It’s good you answered the phone, Tess, because I’m in the middle of giving her the silent treatment.”

  “Why?” My aunt gave us all forks and sat down.

  “Because she’s being very, extremely mean lately,” I said.

  “What has she done?”

  “She says I’m childish and I embarrass her,” I said. “And she won’t let me be in her Pierced Ears Club.”

  “She won’t let me be in her Dance Class Club either,” said Erin, “even though I start next week.”

  “But we don’t want to be mean right back to her,” I said, “so we’re giving her the silent treatment instead.”

  “Because if you can’t say anything nice,” said Erin, “you shouldn’t say anything at all.”

  Aunt Flora was about to say something, but the phone rang.

  “If that is Rosemary T. again,” I said, “remember, I’m giving her the silent treatment because I don’t want to be not-nice.”

  My aunt picked up the phone. “Hello? Oh hello, Rosemary T., Cinderella’s busy at the moment. Can I take a message?”

  Me and Erin looked at each other very surprised. Grown-ups don’t usually do things like that for kids.

  “I’m sorry, but Cinderella has plans for tomorrow. She and Erin are practicing spell . . .”

  Erin and me started shaking our heads like mad because Aunt Flora was about to tell the super secret. My aunt’s eyes got all big, and she covered her mouth with her hand. She had just realized what she’d almost done. “Spells,” she said. “They’re practicing spells.”

  Tess turned the bag that the Chinese food had come in upside down, and fortune cookies spilled all over the table.

  “And now it’s fortune time,” my aunt said, and she hung up.

  We all burst out laughing.

  “Sorry, I almost blew it,” said Aunt Flora.

  Tess chose a fortune cookie, cracked it open, and handed the little white piece of paper
to my aunt to read.

  “‘You will take a chance—and win,’” read Aunt Flora.

  “Mine says: ‘A pleasant surprise is waiting for you,’” said Erin.

  “Mine is: ‘You have common sense and a lot of charm,’” I said.

  “That’s a nice one,” said my aunt.

  “I’d rather get a surprise or win something,” I said.

  “Common sense and charm will get you far.” My aunt got a serious look on her face. “You know, giving Rosemary T. the silent treatment might work for a while, but you’ll have to talk to her eventually.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because it will start to get too awkward,” she said. “Like the phone call tonight.”

  I thought about what she was saying and knew she was right. If my mom had been here when Rosemary T. called, she would have made me talk to her for sure. “But I don’t have anything good to say.”

  “Don’t you want to discuss what’s going on with the two of you?” asked my aunt. “Don’t you want to try to figure out what the problem is?”

  “I’m not sure,” I said.

  “You have to do what feels right to you,” said Aunt Flora. “But sometimes you get pushed too far, and you have to tell someone what’s what.”

  “What’s that mean?” I asked.

  “It means telling someone how you’re really feeling,” said my aunt, “clearing the air.”

  “I guess clear air would be good,” I said. “But I’m hoping it will clear up all on its own.”

  “It might,” said my aunt.

  “I mean, Rosemary T. used to be nice, and she could be nice again. Then I wouldn’t have to have a what’s what at all.”

  “This is where your common sense is going to come in handy.” Aunt Flora broke open her fortune cookie. “‘All your hard work will pay off,’” she read.

  “I wish I’d gotten that one,” I said.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Because maybe it would be about the spelling bee. Maybe all our studying would pay off in us winning.”

  “Well, in that case”—Aunt Flora handed me her fortune—“it’s yours.”

  Chapter 6

  Great with a Capital G

  We studied for a while and then watched Animal Planet with Tess. It was hard, though, because she asked a million zillion questions. Finally my aunt put her to bed.

  “Peace at last,” I said.

  “It is awfully quiet,” said Aunt Flora. “Miss Purvis must love her new hiding place.”

  The three of us settled in to watch The Wizard of Oz. That is one of my all-time favorite movies, but I don’t get to watch it too much because the witch and the flying monkeys scare the dickens out of Tess.

  When it was time for us to go to bed, we found out just where Miss Purvis’s new hiding place was. It was right on my top bunk! She was at the end where my feet go, mixed in between a Lego pirate ship and a Playmobil castle. She opened one eye and stared at me, but she didn’t get up to leave.

  “It would be so great if she slept here all night.” I climbed under the covers and made sure my feet didn’t push into her.

  Erin turned off the light and climbed into the bottom bunk. “I really like your new bed.”

  “Me too,” I said.

  “Do you usually sleep on the top or the bottom?”

  “I go back and forth,” I said. “If my toys are spread out too much up here, I sleep down there.”

  “Why do you keep some toys up there?” asked Erin.

  “Because of Tess,” I said. “Sometimes she knocks things over and breaks stuff apart.”

  Erin didn’t talk for a minute. “Do you like having a little sister?”

  “Most of the time,” I said. “But sometimes she’s a pest.”

  “I hope Anna and Julia don’t think I’m a pest,” said Erin.

  Anna and Julia were Erin’s new stepsisters that were away at college.

  “Just don’t wreck things they’re working on or ask too many questions when they’re watching TV.”

  “I won’t,” said Erin.

  “I know,” I said. “When are you going to see them again?”

  “They’re going to spend part of winter vacation with us.”

  “That will be fun,” I said.

  “Yeah.” Erin got quiet again.

  “Are you asleep?” I asked.

  “No,” she said. “I was just thinking. What kind of things do you like to do with Tess?”

  “Hmm.” I thought a little bit. “I like going places with her, like the library and the park. And I like teaching her stuff when she wants to learn.”

  “I’d like to go places with Anna and Julia and have them teach me stuff,” said Erin. “What else?”

  I started to think about what else I liked to do with Tess, but on accident I fell asleep. I guess Erin did too, though, because she didn’t ask me any more about it.

  When I woke up the next morning, Miss Purvis was still right at the end of my bed. I crawled down to where she was and petted and petted her.

  “You are a great cat,” I whispered to her. “I think we’re getting to be very good friends.”

  When Erin woke up, she asked if we could have Pancake Surprise for breakfast, and that was A-OK with everyone else. This time we made it much less surprising. We didn’t add any food coloring or spices, just applesauce and raisins and some crumbled-up Nilla Wafers. The pancakes were a little crunchier than usual, but still pretty good.

  After that we went back to my room to study. I climbed up to the top bunk, and Erin handed me the big book of spelling words. She climbed up next and we got all settled, and Miss Purvis still didn’t move at all.

  “You ask first this time,” said Erin.

  “Okay,” I said. “Fourth-grade words, here we come. Your first word is January.”

  “January,” said Erin. “J-a-n-u-a-r-y. January.”

  “You spelled it right,” I said, “but don’t forget you have to add the capital.”

  “Oh yeah,” said Erin. “January. Capital J-a-n-u-a-r-y. January.”

  “Hello,” I said.

  “Hello,” Erin said back.

  “No, hello is your next word.”

  “Oh!” Erin laughed. “Hello. H-e-l-l-o. Hello.”

  Erin got the rest of the words right in her column and then it was time for her bonus word. “Entertain,” I said. “Let me entertain you by asking you how to spell things.”

  “Ooh,” said Erin. “Entertain. E-n-t-e-r-t-a-n-e or a-i-n?”

  “A-i-n.” I handed her the book.

  “Your first word is flavor,” said Erin. “The best flavor is orange. I lied to get into the Grape Club.”

  “Hah!” I said. “Flavor. F-l-a-v . . . Is it e-r or o-r?”

  “O-r,” said Erin.

  “O-r,” I said. “I like cherry better than grape, by the way.”

  “Hah!” Erin said. “Your next word is two words. United States.”

  “United States,” I said. “U-n . . . Wait, let me start over. Capital U-n-i-t-e-d capital S-t-a-t-e-s. United States.”

  “That’s right,” said Erin.

  I did pretty well on my column and only missed a couple, including my bonus word, which was Antarctica, because I forgot a c in the middle.

  Erin handed me the book.

  “Your first word this time is panda,” I said.

  “I love panda bears,” said Erin. “P-a-n-d-a.”

  “Me too,” I said.

  “Hey,” said Erin. “Panda bears might be a good theme for the class party.”

  “Yeah,” I said, “or maybe polar bears or sun bears or just plain bears.”

  “Or maybe the theme could be all zoo animals,” said Erin.

  “Or just all animals,” I said.

  “I guess there are a lot of great party ideas,” said Erin. “I know why you couldn’t decide at school.”

  There was a knock at my bedroom door.

  “Come in,” I said.

  M
y aunt poked her head in. “Sorry to disturb you girls, but I’d like to start some laundry. Can you keep an eye on Tess for a few minutes? She’s coloring with markers at the coffee table, and I don’t want her to get carried away.”

  “Sure,” I said.

  “Thank you.” Aunt Flora carried a big laundry basket down to the basement, and we went out to the living room.

  “Hello!” said Tess.

  “H-e-l-l-o. Hello,” I said.

  “What’s that?” Erin pointed to Tess’s ant farm, which was sitting on the coffee table.

  “My ants’ house. They’re watching me color while Aunt Flora does laundry.”

  We sat down by Tess and watched her color too until someone rang the doorbell. Miss Purvis streaked past us, and we all followed her to the front door. I opened it just a crack and peeked through. It was Rosemary T.! Without thinking, I shut the door back up.

  “Hey!” Rosemary T. yelled from the other side of the door.

  Erin and I looked at each other like we didn’t know what to do.

  “We probably can’t give her the silent treatment right now,” Erin whispered.

  “Maybe she’s all back to normal,” I whispered back.

  Rosemary T. knocked again, this time harder and louder. My heart was knocking too. “Someone open this door right now!” There was a thud that sounded like maybe Rosemary T. had kicked the door with her foot.

  “Maybe not,” I whispered.

  “I’ll take a break from the silent treatment.” Erin opened up the door a crack. “Hello.”

  “Finally!” said Rosemary T. “I think Cinderella’s dumb little sister slammed the door in my face, just like she hung up on me last night.”

  “Did not!” yelled Tess.

  “Did so!” yelled Rosemary T. “Open the door!”

  “I can’t,” said Erin.

  “Well, go get Cinderella then,” said Rosemary T.

  “She’s busy at the moment,” said Erin.

  Miss Purvis started yowling.

  “What is that?” demanded Rosemary T.

  “Flora’s cat,” said Erin.

  “It sounds mean,” said Rosemary T.

  “She’s pretty nice,” said Erin.