by Abby Klein
“Nothing,” I mumbled, hiding it behind my back.
“It looks like lip gloss to me,” Max said, chuckling. “I bet you look adorable in that shade of pink.”
“It’s not mine!” I shouted.
“Let me see it,” said Max, and he reached over the seat and grabbed it right out of my hands.
I tried to grab it back, but Max held it up high out of my reach.
“Hey, everybody, look at this,” Max announced to the whole bus. “Freddy has cotton candy lip gloss.”
My face turned bright red.
“It’s not Freddy’s. It’s Max’s,” Josh said loudly.
Max narrowed his eyes at Josh. “No it’s not! It’s Freddy’s!”
“If it belongs to Freddy, then why are you holding it?” asked Josh. “And it’s pink. Isn’t that your favorite color?”
Now Max turned bright red. He made a fist. “OOOOO, why you little …” he said and took a swing at Josh.
Josh grabbed Max’s hand in midair before it landed on his face. “Keep your hands to yourself, you big bully.”
Max tried to shake his hand loose, but Josh held on to it tightly. “Sit back down in your seat and leave Freddy alone.”
Max glared at Josh, and then he slowly sat back down.
“Thanks, Josh,” I whispered. “I can’t believe you stopped Max’s punch like that. What an awesome move.”
“Yeah, it was just like out of the movies,” said Robbie.
Josh laughed. “I was just protecting my friend.”
“So you didn’t see the shark tooth under the seat?” said Robbie.
I let out a big sigh. “Nope.”
“Think hard,” said Robbie. “When did you last have it?”
“Hmmmm, let’s see.” I hit my forehead with the palm of my hand. “Think, think, think. Oh, I know! I had it yesterday when I got home from school.”
“How can you be so sure?” said Josh.
“Because I was tossing grapes into my mouth the way you were showing me at lunch yesterday.”
“What does that have to do with your shark’s tooth?” asked Josh. “Were you tossing the tooth into your mouth, too?”
“No!” I laughed. “I was trying to toss the grapes into my mouth, but I kept missing. Then I rubbed my lucky shark’s tooth, and when I tossed again, the grape landed right in my mouth.”
“It really does bring you good luck,” said Robbie.
“I know! That’s why I’ve got to find it!”
“Well, it shouldn’t be too hard to find,” said Josh. “It’s got to be in your house somewhere.”
“Not necessarily,” I said.
“What do you mean?” said Robbie. “You said you had it at home yesterday, so you know you didn’t lose it at school.”
“But I wasn’t just in the house,” I said.
“Where else did you go?” asked Josh.
“I went outside to play in the backyard for a while. Then I went down the street to visit Mrs. Golden and her dog Baxter.”
“Oh, I see what you mean,” said Robbie. “It really could be anywhere.”
“Thanks a lot,” I said. “That doesn’t make me feel better. It makes me feel worse.”
“Stop worrying so much,” said Robbie. “It will turn up. Whenever I lose something, I always find it eventually.”
“But I can’t wait for it to turn up,” I said.
“Why not?” said Josh.
“Because the Spelling Bee is in three days!” I cried.
“So?” said Robbie.
“So, I’m not going to do well without my lucky shark’s tooth!”
“Yes you will,” said Josh.
“No I won’t! I’m going to fail and totally embarrass myself.”
“I know how you can do well even without your lucky shark’s tooth,” said Robbie.
I turned to look right at him. “Oh really. How? I’m not a genius like you.”
“By studying,” said Robbie. “If you study hard, you’ll do really well even without your lucky shark’s tooth.”
“You really think so?”
“I know so,” said Robbie.
“Robbie’s right,” said Josh. “That’s why the two of us were studying so hard last night. Whenever I’m surfing, my dad always says, ‘practice makes perfect.’”
“Hey, I have an idea,” said Robbie. “Why don’t Josh and I come over after school every day this week and help you study?”
“You guys would do that for me?” I said.
“Of course!” said Robbie.
“That’s what friends are for,” said Josh.
Every day after school, Robbie and Josh came over to my house to help me study. We worked really hard. One hundred words is a lot to learn!
“I can’t believe the Spelling Bee is tomorrow!” said Josh on Thursday afternoon.
“I think we’re ready,” said Robbie.
“I don’t think I’m going to do very well,” I mumbled.
“Why not?” said Josh.
“Because I still haven’t found my lucky shark’s tooth.”
“But you don’t need your lucky shark’s tooth for good luck,” said Robbie.
“Yes I do!” I said. “I’m going to fail without it!”
“No you won’t,” said Robbie. “You know how to spell the words because you studied really hard.”
“You don’t need that good-luck charm,” said Josh. “You just have to believe in yourself. You have to think, ‘I can do this!’”
I sighed and put my head in my hands. “I guess I don’t really have a choice.”
“And remember the little tricks I taught you,” said Robbie. “Like ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c.’”
“Like in the word ‘field’ the ‘i’ comes before the ‘e’ because there is no ‘c,’ said Josh. “But in the word ‘receive,’ the ‘e’ comes before the ‘i’ because there is a ‘c’ in front of it.”
“Or if a word ends in an ‘e,’ said Robbie, “you drop the ‘e’ before adding ‘ing.’ So how would you spell the word ‘coming’?”
I thought for a minute. “C-O-M-I-N-G.”
“Right!” said Robbie, patting me on the back.
“You spelled that perfectly,” said Josh, “and you didn’t need your lucky shark’s tooth.”
“There is another problem,” I said.
“What’s that?” asked Josh.
“My lucky shark’s tooth doesn’t just bring me luck. Rubbing it also helps me calm down, and I know I’m going to be really nervous up there on that stage.”
“Everybody is going to be nervous,” said Josh.
“But I get really nervous.” I said, wringing my hands. “Sometimes my stomach is flipping and flopping so much that I feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“Then definitely don’t stand next to me!” Josh laughed.
“Or me!” said Robbie.
“Thanks a lot, guys,” I said.
“We’re just kidding,” they both said.
“You know there are lots of things you can do to try to calm yourself down,” said Robbie.
“Really? Like what?”
“If I get really nervous, I usually just breathe in and out very slowly. I take nice, deep breaths like this,” said Robbie, breathing in and out, in and out. “Try it.”
I took a couple of quick, short breaths.
“Not like that,” Robbie said, laughing. “That’s way too fast. You need to breathe much, much slower. You can even count in your head. Breathe in for three counts and out for three counts. Like this.” Robbie demonstrated. “Now it’s your turn.”
I tried again. This time I counted in my head like Robbie told me to.
“You got it! That was perfect!” said Robbie.
“Do you want to know what I do?” asked Josh.
“Sure!” I said.
“I think of a song I really like, and I hum it quietly to myself. Then I’m thinking about the song and not about being nervous.”
“Tha
t sounds like a good idea, too,” I said.
“Remember that funny song Miss Clark was teaching us the other day about the kid who was going to eat some worms?”
“Yeah! I loved that song!” I said.
“That would be a good one to hum,” said Josh. “It’s just so funny.”
I started humming it quietly to myself. Robbie and Josh joined in. Then we all burst out laughing hysterically.
“Thank, guys. You’re the best,” I said, giving Robbie and Josh each a high five.
“I’m tired of being inside,” Josh moaned.
“Me, too,” said Robbie.
“I have an idea,” said Josh. “Let’s go outside and throw the baseball around. We can practice spelling the words as we throw the ball back and forth to each other.”
“Great idea!” I said. “I’m sick of sitting in this room.”
We grabbed our baseball gloves and a ball and headed outside.
We stood in a triangle and threw the ball to each other as we spelled words out loud, one letter for each throw.
“B-E-C-A-U-S-E.”
“S-P-E-C-I-A-L.”
“H-A-V-I-N-G.”
All of a sudden, Mrs. Golden’s dog, Baxter, came bounding up and knocked me to the ground. The baseball rolled out of my glove. Baxter picked it up in his mouth and started running in circles with it.
I chased him around the yard shouting, “Come here, boy! Give that back!”
Robbie and Josh also joined the chase. “Here, boy! Here, boy!” they called, but Baxter didn’t stop running.
“He is fast!” Josh said, panting.
“How are we going to catch him?” said Robbie. “We need that ball back, but he doesn’t want to give it up.”
“I know what I’ll do,” I said. I took a flying leap, landed on Baxter’s back, and tackled him to the ground. “Gotcha!” I yelled.
Baxter dropped the ball and covered my face with wet, slobbery dog kisses. I laughed. “Thanks, boy. Thanks for the kisses.”
Josh ran to pick up the ball. “EEEWWW! This is disgusting!” he said, holding the ball carefully between two fingers. “It’s covered in slimy dog saliva.”
“Roll it around in the grass to wipe it off,” Robbie suggested.
I slowly stood up and wiped my face with my sleeve. “Where’s your mama, Baxter?” I said. “Where’s Mrs. Golden?”
“I’m right here! I’m right here!” Mrs. Golden called as she came jogging up the street. “I’m so sorry about that, boys,” she said. “He took off before I could get his leash on.”
“No problem,” I said. “I think Baxter wanted to play baseball.”
Mrs. Golden walked over to Baxter. “Come over here, you naughty boy. Let me get your leash on.” She hooked the leash onto his collar. “There. Now you can’t take off again without me.”
“Where are you off to?” I asked Mrs. Golden.
“I was actually coming over to see you, Freddy. I found something lying in the grass in my front yard the other day, and I was wondering if it belonged to you.”
“Oh really?”
Mrs. Golden reached into her pocket and pulled something out. She slowly opened up her hand to show me what it was. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Was it? Could it really be? My lucky shark’s tooth!
It was finally Friday. “Is everybody ready for the Spelling Bee?” asked Miss Clark.
I stuck my hand in my pocket and rubbed my lucky shark’s tooth. I am, I thought to myself.
I leaned over to Josh and whispered, “I’m so glad I found my shark’s tooth just in time!”
“But you don’t really need it,” said Josh.
“Yes I do!”
“Not really,” said Josh. “You know all of the words because you studied really hard all week.”
“This is how it’s going to work,” said Miss Clark. “This morning before recess, all of the second-grade teachers are going to give their students a spelling test of fifty words. The ten children who get the highest score will then compete against each other to see who is the second grade spelling champion.”
My stomach flip-flopped. Fifty words!
Josh looked over at me. “Are you okay, Freddy? You look a little pale.”
“I don’t know.”
“You can do this,” said Josh. “Just breathe.”
Miss Clark passed out the paper, and we all took the test. As we were passing them in, Josh whispered, “So, Freddy, how do you think you did?”
“I think I did okay,” I said, smiling. “Thanks to you and Robbie.”
After recess Miss Clark said, “Well, it’s time to go to the gym and join the other second-grade classes. When we get there, Mr. Pendergast will tell you who the finalists are.”
We all followed Miss Clark into the gym. It was buzzing with excitement. I saw Robbie out of the corner of my eye and waved.
He gave me two thumbs up and mouthed, “Good luck!”
Principal Pendergast, stepped up to the microphone. “Welcome, everybody,” he said. “I hope you are as excited about this Spelling Bee as I am.”
Chloe stood up and waved her hands in the air. “Yoo-hoo! Mr. Pendergast! I just want you to know I am super excited. I even wore this brand-new dress today just for the occasion. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“It’s lovely, dear,” said Mr. Pendergast. “Now please sit down.”
Chloe started to twirl around, but Miss Clark grabbed her hand and gently pulled her back into her seat.
Mr. Pendergast continued, “Right before recess, you all took a test of fifty words that were on your list. I am very proud of all of you, but today only the ten children who got the best scores will compete for the title of Second Grade Spelling Champion.”
“That’s going to be me!” Max yelled out.
“Really? How does he know that?” Josh whispered to me.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“If everyone is quiet, then I will read the names of the ten finalists. When you hear your name, please come up on the stage.”
I rubbed my lucky shark’s tooth.
“Shanvi, Carlos, Robbie, James, Chloe, Li-Jing, Max, Fatima, Jessie, and …”
My heart skipped a beat.
“Freddy.”
Josh shook me. “Dude! That’s awesome! He said your name. You’re one of the finalists.”
“I think I’m going to throw up,” I said. “I can’t go up there in front of all these people.”
“Yes you can. Remember what I told you to do yesterday. If you get really nervous, just hum a song quietly in your head.”
Josh gave me a little push. “Now get up there.”
I slowly walked up the steps to the stage. My legs were so wobbly. They felt like Jell-O.
Max and Chloe were pushing and shoving each other. “This is my spot,” Chloe whined.
“No, I was here first!” Max shouted.
“But my name was called before yours,” Chloe cried.
“So what?” barked Max. “Get out of my way.”
Mr. Pendergast came rushing over. “If the two of you don’t stop arguing right now, then you will both be out of the competition. Understand?”
Max glared at Chloe. Chloe glared at Max.
“Do you understand?”
They both nodded their heads.
“Okay, I think we are ready to begin,” said Mr. Pendergast. “I will tell you a word, and you have to spell it out loud for us. If you spell it correctly, then you will move on to the next round. If you don’t spell it correctly, then you will sit down.”
After ten rounds, there were four kids left, Jessie, Max, Shanvi, and me! I had made it through ten rounds!
The competition continued and after fourteen rounds, there were only two kids left … Max Sellars, and me! I couldn’t believe it. I never win anything, but here I was so close to winning the whole thing.
“You know you’re not going to win,” Max whispered in my ear.
“How do you know?” I whispered back.
<
br /> “Because no one beats me. I’m the best at everything.”
I shifted slightly away, so I didn’t have to feel his hot, stinky breath on my neck.
I looked out into the audience searching for Josh and Robbie. Josh looked up at me and mouthed, “You got this!”
Then I saw Robbie. He held up three fingers and touched his lips to remind me to breathe slowly to a count of three.
It was Max’s turn. “Okay, Max,” said Mr. Pendergast. “Are you ready for your next word?”
“Of course,” Max said. “Give it to me.”
“Your word is ‘special.’” Please spell the word ‘special.’”
“Oh, that one’s easy,” said Max with a big grin on his face. “S-P-E-C-I-L. Special.”
“No, I am sorry. That is incorrect,” said Mr. Pendergast.
Max’s mouth dropped open and he stamped his foot. “No it’s not!” he shouted. “I know I spelled it right.”
“Now it’s Freddy’s turn to spell that word,” said Mr. Pendergast. “If he spells it right, then he will be the winner.”
I stuck my hand in my pocket and rubbed my lucky shark’s tooth. I know this one, I thought to myself. We just studied it yesterday. I slowly took a deep breath, in for three counts and out for three counts. Then I stepped up to the microphone and said, “S-P-E-C-I-A-L, special.”
“That is correct!” said Mr. Pendergast. “Congratulations, Freddy. You are the Second Grade Spelling Champion!” and he handed me a big trophy and the gift certificate to the bookstore.
Josh and Robbie jumped out of their seats. “Woo-hoo!” they shouted. “You did it! You won!” Then they started chanting, “Freddy! Freddy! Freddy!”
A huge smile spread across my face. I am the luckiest person, I thought to myself. I have the best friends ever!
1. Pipe cleaner words: Bend and fold pipe cleaners to make letters and words.
2. Salt/sand/flour tray: Pour some salt, sand, or flour onto a tray and spell words using your finger. You can even do this with pudding and lick your fingers when you’re done!
3. Q-tip writing: With Q-tips, paint lines of dots until you have letters and words.
4. Hidden Words: Write words on a white piece of paper with a white crayon. Then paint over the words with watercolors and watch them magically appear!