“Well, you will need to show
me something fabulous.”
“Fabulous?” I asked.
“Yes! Amazing and awesome, too. If you do,
you’re in. Deal?” He put out his hand.
“Deal.” I shook Liam’s hand. Mom smiled.
As we walked to school, I added up the
days: Today we were on the train. Tomorrow
afternoon we would stop to set up. Then the
next day was the show.
That gave me only two days.
Could I find something fabulous, amazing,
and awesome to do in only two days?
“We’re here,” Mom said. She pushed open a
door that said
school car.
The long car looked like a classroom. Desks
lined each wall. A teacher’s desk sat up front.
There was a whiteboard and many windows.
Outside, farms rushed by.
Inside, a mini-circus was going on!
6
Crazy Circus School
“Hi, Marlo!” Carly
zoomed about on a
unicycle. Two boys
chased her. How did
she balance on one
wheel?
Bella sat at a desk. She held three ribbon
leashes. At the end of each ribbon, a white dog
in a tutu and a pearl necklace lifted a paw.
“Marlo, meet Coconut, Marshmallow, and
Tofu,” said Bella.
“Wow!” I said. “In my old school, we just had
one fat hamster inside a cage.”
Allie and two older girls sprawled on the
floor. Allie was reading a book—with her feet
wrapped around her head!
I gave her a small wave. She didn’t wave
back. Maybe she didn’t see me? I thought.
A young woman hurried
over to Mom and me.
“Welcome, Marlo. I am
Miss Ross,” she said. She
wore regular teacher clothes,
cherry-red glasses, and
bright red lipstick.
Then Miss Ross went clap-snap-clap with her
hands. Everyone quickly sat down. I sat next to
Carly. Mom waved good-bye.
As Miss Ross took attendance, I listened
closely to see how everyone fit together. Danna
and Renata were Allie’s big sisters. They had
the same honey-brown skin and dark curly hair
as Allie. Carly’s little brother, Leo, was there.
So was Bella’s big brother, Shen.
This taking-attendance part felt like regular
school—especially when Miss Ross passed out
math worksheets.
“Miss Ross! Miss Ross!”
Carly raised her hand. “I
have a present for you.”
She held out a sunflower.
Leo groaned. “Not again.”
“How sweet!” Miss Ross leaned forward and
took a big sniff.
A huge spurt of water shot out from the
sunflower!
It splattered Miss Ross’s glasses!
Uh-oh! Carly was going to get into big trouble.
But Miss Ross just laughed. “What a funny
trick flower!”
She reached into her pocket. She tried to pull
out a cloth to wipe her glasses. It was stuck.
“Marlo, would you help me?” she asked.
I hurried over. I gave the white square a tug.
“Whoa!” I cried. A blue square was attached
to the white square.
I gave another tug. A bright green square
was attached to the blue square. Then yellow.
Then red.
I pulled and pulled. The chain of colorful
squares grew longer and longer.
I laughed. “How does all that fit into your
tiny pocket?” I asked.
“It’s a clown trick,” Miss Ross said. “I’m a
clown, just like Carly.”
My teacher is a clown? I thought.
Miss Ross was not a regular teacher. And this
was not a regular school.
I couldn’t wait to see what came next!
For a clown, Miss Ross had us do an awful lot
of not-funny schoolwork that morning.
“Time for lunch,” she said. “And then dance
class after that.”
Finally! I was starving!
Carly turned to me. “Eat with us?”
“Sure!” I blurted out. Carly was so nice. And
I couldn’t wait to tell Kira that I was becoming
friends with a clown.
7
Lunch Bunch
I grabbed my books and followed Carly,
Bella, and Allie to the Pie Car.
We all had grilled cheese.
Carly took a big bite. “Yum! It’s extra cheesy.”
“Your mom is a good cook,” said Bella.
“Thanks,” I said. Then I told them about my
deal with Liam. “I really, really want to be in
the circus parade. But Liam said I have to show
him something fabulous that I can do.”
“Can you ride a unicycle?” asked Carly.
I shook my head.
“Can you do backflips on a trampoline?”
asked Allie.
I shook my head.
“Can you do a cartwheel on a dancing
horse?” asked Bella.
I shook my head. “I’ve never tried riding a
unicycle. I’ve never done a backflip. I’ve never
even ridden a non-dancing horse.”
“Well, that’s a problem,” Allie said, pulling
the crusts off her grilled cheese.
“Oh, come on.” Carly kicked Allie under
the table. “Don’t listen to her, Marlo. If you’ve
never tried, how do you know you can’t do
amazing things?”
That got me thinking. Maybe I could fly
through the air or stand on a horse.
“Can you guys help me find something
special to do?” I asked.
“Yes!” agreed Carly.
“Well—” Allie began.
“We’ll help you,” Bella said, standing up. “But
first, we have dance class. We’re late!”
“I’m not done eating,” I said.
Carly popped the rest of my grilled cheese
into her mouth. Her cheeks bulged as she
chewed. “Now you are!”
I laughed. “Let’s go, then!”
My feet felt cold on the wood floors of
the Dance Car. I watched Allie, Carly, and Bella
in the tall mirrors.
They all wore pretty leotards. I wore leggings
and a tank top.
8
Let's Dance!
“Marlo, we are working on the parade dance
today,” said Nia, our dance teacher.
“She doesn’t need to know our dance,” said
Allie.
I looked at my feet. She was right. I wasn’t in
the parade . . . not yet anyway.
“She can try it, Allie,” said Bella.
“Totally,” agreed Carly.
Nia showed me the dance steps. Kick, kick,
kick, sway, arms up, twirl.
The other girls kicked their legs high.
I kicked my legs not-so-high.
“Keep trying,” called Carly.
I kicked. I swayed. And then . . .
“What comes next?” I asked.
“Arms.” Bella showed me.
“Again,” said Nia.
“Oops!” I said. “I forgot how to start.”
“It’s easy.” Allie rolled her eyes. “Sta
rt with a
high kick.”
My cheeks burned. I was trying really hard.
I kicked. I swayed. I put my arms up. But I
kept looking over at Allie. I could tell that she
didn’t want me there.
I had to show her that I could do the dance.
I twirled around and around.
Whoa! I couldn’t stop twirling. The Dance
Car was spinning. I felt dizzy.
Bella laughed. “You’re funny, Marlo!”
Allie laughed, too, but in a not-so-nice way.
I looked away.
“I have an idea, Marlo!” Carly cried. “You
can be a clown in the parade! I’ll show you how
to be a fabulous clown!”
A fter class, Carly and I raced through the
train. Carly’s legs were superlong. I tried my
best to keep up.
“Is your hair really pink?” I asked. Her hair
was still in two bright pink braids.
“My mom lets me put in wash-out color. It’s
called Party Pink. I mean, who ever heard of a
clown with brown hair?” Her words came out
as fast as she moved. “But don’t tell anyone it’s
not really-truly pink, okay?”
9
Who Are You?
“Promise,” I said.
“I am a pink clown with pretty pink hair!”
Carly twirled in the hall. “Who are you?”
What a strange question! “I’m Marlo.”
“No, silly!” Carly giggled. She giggled a lot.
“What kind of a clown are you? Every clown
needs a Look. That’s why I’ve brought you to
the Wardrobe Car.”
Carly pushed open a door.
Racks and racks of fabulous costumes filled
the room. My eyes took in the bright colors,
feathers, and sequins. There were tall hats and
sparkly tiaras, too.
“I want to look funny and fancy,” I said.
Carly pulled out a long black-velvet gown.
“This dress is fancy.”
I shook my head. “But it’s not funny.
I like a lot of colors.”
“Carly?” called a voice.
“That’s my mom.” Carly put the gown back.
Then we poked our heads through a rack of
feathered boas.
“Hello there,” Carly’s mom said. She pinned
lavender fabric onto a dress form. “You must
be Marlo.”
“Hi, Mrs. Bruni,” I said. Then I pointed to
the fabric. “What are you doing?”
“I’m making a dance costume,” she said.
“I’m the costume designer. I make everyone’s
sparkly outfits.”
I looked at the fabric in a puddle at her feet.
Suddenly, I had one of my great ideas!
I told Carly’s mom all about the Pie Car
makeover. “This lavender fabric would make
amazing tablecloths!” I spotted purple ribbon
nearby. “And they can be trimmed with ribbon!”
I added.
“Love, love, love!” Carly’s mom had as much
pep as Carly. “I can sew them for you later.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Now, let’s find your Clown Look, Marlo!”
Carly tugged me away. “Dress or pants?
Stripes or polka dots? Plain or pattern?” We
zigzagged through the racks. She tossed skirts,
long gloves, and hats into my arms.
“The fun part about being a clown is that
nothing has to match,” Carly said. “Wear what
you love.”
Soon I found my Clown Look.
“Ta-da!” I cried. “Check me out!”
I am a Rainbow Fairy Clown,” I told Mom,
Allie, Bella, and Carly.
I showed off my new outfit in the Pie Car
before dinner.
Rainbow tutu. Rainbow-striped tights. And a
teeny-tiny sequined top hat.
Rainbow Fairy Clown
10
“I love it,” Mom said. “But where’s the fairy
part?”
“There are fairy wings. I may or may not
wear them,” I said. “But with wings, I could be
a flying clown. I’ll be funny.”
“Clowns do more than be funny,” said Carly.
“I ride a unicycle. Leo does magic. We both
juggle.”
Carly reached into
one of her many
pockets. She kept a
lot of clown stuff in
her pockets. She pulled
out three scarves. Pink,
purple, and red.
Up in the air went
one . . . two . . .
three scarves. She
caught one. Then
she tossed it again
to catch the next.
She juggled fast.
The colors became a
beautiful blur.
We all cheered. Then
Mom pointed to a carton
of eggs on the counter.
“Marlo, will you help me
make egg salad?”
“Sure.” I turned to Carly, Bella, and Allie. “I
am great at peeling and chopping eggs.
I chop them really tiny. That’s
what makes Mom’s egg
salad taste so good. I’ll
show you how.”
“Hello, hello!” called
Liam in his deep voice.
He entered the kitchen.
This was my chance
to show Liam what
a fabulous clown
I could be!
I grabbed three
eggs. Juggling those
would be fabulous.
“Marlo, those eggs
aren’t—” Mom began. I
heard Mom, but I sent the
eggs high into the air.
One . . . two . . . three . . .
I tried to catch them.
Splat!
Splat!
Splat!
“—cooked,” finished Mom.
“Oh, no!” I cried.
Liam was covered with drippy, yellow yolk!
Carly giggled. Bella and Allie stared.
“I tried to tell you, Marlo,” Mom said. She
wiped Liam’s shirt with a dish towel.
My face grew hot. “Sorry, Liam.”
Liam didn’t seem angry. Just very yolky.
“You need more practice, Marlo. Juggle one.
Then move onto two,” he said.
“But I don’t have time to practice. The show
is in two days. Maybe I can be the funny clown
who can’t juggle?” I said hopefully.
“Nope,” said Liam. “Can you do any other
circus things?”
I gulped. Carly looked at me and shrugged.
Then she looked over at Allie. Allie didn’t
say anything, so Carly spoke up. “How about
aerial arts?”
“What are aerial arts?” I whispered to Bella.
“Aerial means up in the air,” she whispered.
“It’s acrobatics in the sky.”
“Great idea,” said Liam. “Marlo can practice
with Allie tomorrow.”
Allie frowned. “Marlo won’t be able to—”
Carly elbowed her. “Give her a chance,” she
whispered.
Allie shrugged. “Sure.”
I could tell Allie didn’t think I could be a
Stardust Girl.
But I wanted it more than anything.
I’ll show both Liam and Allie that I belong in the
parade, I decided. Tomorrow, I w
ill learn to fly!
O n Saturday afternoon, the train finally
stopped moving. We had made it to Scarlet.
The crew people started setting up the big tent
for tomorrow’s show. The train’s ceilings were
too low to practice aerial arts. So we had to
walk to a gym in the town to practice.
Flip, Flop
11
Allie’s parents, sisters, and cousins led the
way. I followed with Allie. Her family had
once been aerialists in Mexico. They called
themselves the Flying Faltos.
“Chocolate, molinillo, corre, corre que te pillo!”
They sang a Spanish song loudly.
Allie was the loudest.
My belly flip-flopped. I hoped I could do
aerial arts. I didn’t want Allie to laugh at me
again.
When we got to the gym, the Flying Faltos
stretched. I stretched, too.
I touched my toes.
I tried a split. Ouch!
“What are those
long, hanging
pieces of fabric?” I
asked, pointing to
the ceiling. “They
look like fancy living
room curtains.”
“They’re called
silks,” said Allie.
Then Allie’s sister
Danna climbed the
silks using only
her arms. High
above the floor,
she twisted the silks
around one foot. She
flipped upside down.
She bent her back
and pointed her toes.
Danna looked so
graceful!
Allie jumped up and grabbed onto the fixed
trapeze bar. She somersaulted over it. Then she
held onto the bar with only the tops of her feet!
Allie was short. But she was strong.
“I can stay upside down forever,” she said,
showing off. “I have superstrong feet.”
I wiggled my own feet. They looked too
The Amazing Stardust Friends #1: Step Into the Spotlight! (A Branches Book) Page 2