Lots of kids came in—Operation Upside would never run out of candidates to spy on—but no Lenny.
Mrs. Tamarack cleared her throat.
“You should know,” she told Beatrice, “I am not like your other teachers. I do not give awards for bad behavior. And I do not tolerate upside down antics in my classroom.” Three more kids came in the door. “But if you save your tricks for outdoors,” said Mrs. Tamarack, “I believe we’ll get along just fine.”
Beatrice earnestly nodded her head. “I will try my best.”
“You’ll get three reminders—then recess is on the line.”
The door swung open again. Always-tardy Sam Darzi slipped into the room—but still no Lenny.
“Don’t worry,” said Beatrice. “Recess is very important to me. Especially this year.” Operation Upside would take every spare moment and more.
Mrs. Tamarack let out her breath. “That’s very good to hear.”
Right on cue, Lenny Santos walked through the door.
At least someone who looked a lot like Lenny walked through the door.
Beatrice had known Lenny Santos since she was six years old. She would recognize her anywhere. Lenny’s hair was short and shaggy. Lenny wore bright green glasses. She loved her brother’s hand-me-downs and lived for adventure.
The girl in the doorway was not quite Lenny.
Her signature green glasses were missing. Her hair was longer and curlier than Beatrice remembered. It wasn’t regular curly either. It was the kind of curly you get with a curling iron. And a lot of time in front of a mirror with your mother.
But that wasn’t the worst part.
Lenny had promised to wear her ninja suit.
The girl staring back at Beatrice was not wearing a ninja suit. She was not, in fact, wearing a single item of black clothing. She wasn’t even wearing jeans and a superhero T-shirt like Lenny usually wore.
Nothing about her outfit said “cofounder of a top-secret operation.”
Not-quite-Lenny wore a skirt and a pink ruffled sweater that sparkled like a disco ball. She walked right up to Beatrice, pointing at her outfit.
“Wow,” said the Lenny-look-alike. “You really wore it.”
Maybe it was the real Lenny after all.
“Where’s yours?” Beatrice wanted to know. “Did your mom say no?”
“Not exactly,” said Lenny, really slow.
A million hopeful possibilities ran through Beatrice’s mind.
“Is it in your backpack? Or under that sweater?”
“No.” Lenny batted Beatrice’s hand away and bit her lip. “To be honest, I forgot all about it.”
That seemed impossible.
“But we made plans,” said Beatrice.
“That was a long time ago, Beatrice. We were in second grade.”
It was only three months ago. Back when Lenny had straight hair and thought wearing a ninja suit was the best idea ever.
“I have an idea,” said Beatrice. “What if we scope out our base today, and then we both wear our ninja suits tomorrow?”
“I don’t know,” said Lenny. “I’m not sure mine fits me anymore.”
Beatrice tilted her head to the side. It was true—Lenny did look taller. But maybe it was just the curls.
Lenny leaned in and lowered her voice.
Beatrice stepped closer.
“There’s someone I want you to meet,” Lenny said. “Just be cool, okay?”
“I’m always cool,” said Beatrice.
“Just be normal then?”
Lenny stepped to the side and revealed the tallest third grader Beatrice had ever seen. Lenny waved her forward. “This is Chloe, my new neighbor. She just moved in.”
“Hi,” said Beatrice, looking up at Chloe.
“Hey,” said Chloe, looking down at Beatrice.
“Beatrice is the one I told you about,” Lenny added.
Relief rushed through Beatrice. Lenny had forgotten their official plans over the summer, but at least she hadn’t forgotten her completely.
Then Lenny said something else.
“She’s the one with the sister in fifth grade.”
“The sister who runs the foreign-language club?” Chloe asked.
Beatrice blinked her eyes and shook her head. Even suited up in a ninja costume, there are certain things you are never prepared to hear.
“Your sister’s club sounds like a great way to meet new friends,” said Chloe.
Lenny threw her arm around Chloe. “Will you talk to Kate for us?”
No words came to Beatrice.
She just stood there, thinking.
She wasn’t thinking of an answer for Lenny. Instead, she pictured Mrs. Jenkins and her cat, and how today was not supposed to go like this.
Mrs. Tamarack closed the door and clapped her hands. “Find your seats, class!”
Before Beatrice could recover her voice, Lenny walked off in search of her seat. She located her name at a desk near the door. “Look, Chloe—your desk is right next to mine.” Chloe dropped her shiny purple backpack on the desk adjacent to Lenny’s.
Beatrice trailed after them, searching for her spot nearby.
Mrs. Tamarack called her name. “I put you right here, Beatrice,” she told her, patting the tabletop at the front of the room. “Where I can keep an eye on you.”
The room quieted.
Beatrice felt everyone’s eyes as she slid into her seat.
Mrs. Tamarack stood directly in front of her. “Good morning, class,” she announced. “Welcome to third grade!”
Beatrice checked the clock.
There were exactly eighty-seven minutes until recess.
She had eighty-seven minutes to fix things with Lenny. Eighty-seven minutes to coordinate a rendezvous point. And eighty-seven minutes to make a plan.
None of that worried Beatrice.
But this did: her desk was right under Mrs. Tamarack’s nose. She had exactly eighty-seven minutes to stay out of trouble—or recess was gone, and it was all for nothing.
Operation Upside was doomed.
Mrs. Tamarack watched her like a hawk.
With the threat of losing recess looming over her and Operation Upside in jeopardy, Beatrice was on her best behavior. Nevertheless, the morning was filled with one misunderstanding after another….
Beatrice knew better than to argue.
Instead she kept her chin up and waited for a moment to catch Lenny alone. At midmorning Mrs. Tamarack made an announcement. “Once you finish your All About Me project, turn it in to me, and then you may visit the activity center at the back of the room.”
Beatrice seized the opportunity.
She scribbled her name on the back of her poster, then wandered toward the opposite end of the classroom. She paused at Lenny’s desk on the way. “Want to do a puzzle?”
“Sure,” said Lenny, grabbing another marker. “I’m almost done.”
While Lenny added finishing touches to her poster, Beatrice dumped a bag of puzzle pieces on the rug at the back of the room. Her fingers quickly went to work, flipping the cardboard right side up.
Beatrice picked up her favorite piece, cleared a space in the center of the carpet, and dropped it right in the middle. She smiled at the solitary shape—mostly green, surrounded by a sea of possibility.
“Earth to Beatrice,” said Lenny, waving a hand in front of her face. She and Chloe plopped down next to her on the floor.
“Which puzzle are you doing?” asked Chloe.
“I’m not sure what it is yet,” Beatrice admitted.
Chloe looked around. “Well, where’s the box?”
“I left it over there,” said Beatrice, pointing at the shelves.
Chloe walked over to the puzzles. “We can just look at the picture on the front.”
“I never look at the picture,” said Beatrice.
“You don’t?”
“She doesn’t,” said Lenny.
“It ruins the surprise,” said Beatrice. “I just start
with a piece I like and see where it goes.”
“But you didn’t even do the edges first,” said Chloe. “That’s, like, Puzzles 101.”
Beatrice shrugged. “If I had to start with the edges, I don’t think I’d ever do a puzzle.”
While Chloe flipped through puzzle boxes on the rack, Beatrice leaned toward Lenny and whispered, “We don’t have a lot of time. We need a plan for recess.”
“Oh,” said Lenny. “Chloe invited me to play veterinarian with her.” She twirled a puzzle piece in her fingers. “I sort of said yes.”
“You said yes?”
“Being new isn’t easy,” Lenny told her. She lifted a shoulder. “And I like her.”
“But this is important—we have spying to discuss.” Beatrice scooted closer and muffled her voice. “I have a list of possible candidates.”
Lenny raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, Lenny, look at this one!” Chloe held up a box with a unicorn on the front. “Isn’t it cute?” Chloe tucked the box under her arm. “Let’s do it at our desk. There’s more room to spread out the pieces.” She walked to her desk without waiting for Lenny to reply.
Lenny mouthed sorry to Beatrice, then hopped up and followed Chloe to their seats. Beatrice blinked at Lenny’s back and watched her friend fly away on the wings of the new girl and her sparkly purple unicorn.
Beatrice went back to her seat and tore a sheet of paper from one of her brand-new notebooks. In red ink she wrote Lenny a message. It said:
MEET ME AT THE
WOODEN PLAYGROUND
11:00. COME ALONE.
But it didn’t look like that.
It looked like this:
Nothing beat Pig Latin, but occasionally reverse alphabetic code saved the day.
She folded the paper into a square and drew an L on the front. She tried to catch Lenny’s eye, but the cofounder of Operation Upside was too busy piecing together the edges of the unicorn puzzle and laughing with Chloe.
Beatrice ran through her other options.
She could toss the note—ninja-star-style—in Lenny’s direction, but that didn’t seem like a good idea. Her aim wasn’t great, and it probably wouldn’t end well. With Mrs. Tamarack on high alert, a direct delivery seemed like the safest solution.
She just needed an excuse to pass Lenny’s desk without drawing attention.
Beatrice opened her pencil box. She grabbed a handful of new pencils and a sharpener. She twisted and turned until the case bulged with shavings.
Her hand shot up in the air, the sharpener still in her grasp.
Mrs. Tamarack sighed. “Yes, Beatrice?”
“May I please empty my pencil sharpener?”
Shavings fluttered down on her desk like volcanic ash.
“Yes, Beatrice,” said Mrs. Tamarack, “please do.”
With the note cupped in one palm and her sharpener in the other, Beatrice headed toward the trash. Her route put Lenny within range.
Beatrice counted her steps. She would be at Lenny’s desk in…
Five.
Four.
Three.
On two, Beatrice tripped over a shiny purple backpack.
The sharpener flew from her right hand and opened in midair. The note flew from her left hand and landed in the middle of the floor, directly between Lenny and Chloe.
In desperation, Beatrice dove for the note.
Her whole body strained toward her target. Her arms lengthened and her fingers grew—but it wasn’t enough. The top-secret correspondence rested inches out of reach, just beyond her fingertips.
Mrs. Tamarack jumped up just as the pencil shavings rained down. She was not amused. “Beatrice—that’s it!”
Beatrice’s plans for recess scattered like graphite dust all over the carpet.
But then Lenny did something unexpected.
She did exactly what the old Lenny would have done.
Sliding her leg into the aisle, she covered the exposed note with her shoe and dragged it under her desk, out of view. The expression on her face gave nothing away.
Beatrice held her breath.
Lenny wasn’t done yet. Smiling at Mrs. Tamarack, she raised her hand.
Mrs. Tamarack sighed again. “Yes, Lenny?”
“I just wanted to say that it looked like an accident to me,” she said. “And—to be honest—Beatrice has always been kind of klutzy.”
The whole class laughed in agreement.
Mrs. Tamarack narrowed her eyes. She looked between Beatrice and Lenny and the purple backpack on the floor.
A tiny bubble of hope floated up in Beatrice’s chest.
“Okay,” said Mrs. Tamarack, drawing out the word. “But, Beatrice, be more careful in the future. Go grab the vacuum and clean up this mess before it ruins the carpet.”
“I’m still on two then?” said Beatrice.
“You are still on two.”
Staring straight ahead, Lenny deposited the note into the pocket of her skirt.
The tiny bubble of hope in Beatrice grew so big it almost hurt.
“So recess is still a go?”
Mrs. Tamarack rubbed her temples. “If you can stay upright for the next five minutes, yes.”
“Thank you, thank you,” said Beatrice. “You won’t be sorry.”
Six minutes later, after putting away the vacuum, Beatrice squinted in the sunlight and surveyed the playground. The old wooden structure at the back of the lot was the perfect meeting spot. Tall oak trees created a natural camouflage. Plus, it was usually deserted. When the school installed a new playscape closer to the sandbox the year before, everyone forgot about the old, splintery one in the back.
Everyone except Lenny and Beatrice.
It was more than a perfect meeting spot—it was the perfect location for their secret base.
Getting there without being seen was the tricky part. A soccer tournament and a game of kickball made the ground too exposed. And tree trunks offered minimal protection.
Up was the only option.
Beatrice lifted herself into the branches of the nearest tree.
The view was amazing.
With a panorama of the playground, she plotted her course. Ninja-nimble, feline-flexible, and doggedly determined, Beatrice used all her best moves.
As Beatrice neared her destination, she heard Lenny’s voice down below.
“This is it!” Lenny announced. “Isn’t it perfect?”
Lenny’s voice was loud and not-at-all secretive.
“I forgot all about this place!” said another voice. It was familiar, but Beatrice couldn’t place it. Then a third voice joined in.
“It’s a little rickety, but it should work….”
Beatrice recognized Chloe’s voice immediately.
She dropped through the branches to get a better view. Lenny stood in front of the wooden doorway. Chloe and three other girls circled around her.
What was Lenny thinking?
She had led everyone straight to their rendezvous point!
As the girls wandered inside to explore, Beatrice got Lenny’s attention. “Psst!” she said. “Up here.”
Lenny blinked into the branches. “Beatrice? What are you doing up there?”
“I was just asking the same question. What are YOU doing?”
“I’m playing veterinarian,” said Lenny. “I told you that.”
Beatrice lowered her voice. “Didn’t you read my note?”
Lenny leaned up on tiptoe, her eyes wide. “I couldn’t figure it out,” she said, grimacing. “I really tried.”
It wasn’t the first time they had run into this problem.
“It was reverse alphabetic code,” said Beatrice. “A equals Z.”
“You know I’m not very good at codes. I need a key.”
“Plus you don’t have your glasses on,” Beatrice pointed out. Then she had to ask—“Why don’t you have your glasses on?”
“Beatrice, what if this is my moment, and I need to take it?”
Lenny
wasn’t making any sense. “Your moment for what?” asked Beatrice.
“For things to be different,” said Lenny.
Beatrice tilted her head. “You want to be a veterinarian?”
“No,” said Lenny, “but don’t you ever wish you were different?”
Beatrice shook her head and told the truth. “Not really.”
“Well,” said Lenny, pushing up glasses that weren’t there, “not everyone can be like you.”
“I know that,” said Beatrice.
Lenny didn’t look convinced. She was about to say more, but Chloe called her name. “Lenny—where’d you go?” She walked over to Lenny under the tree. “What’s up?”
Lenny pointed at Beatrice through the leaves.
Chloe waved. “Oh, hey, Beatrice.” She craned her neck, looking confused. “What are you doing up there?”
Beatrice was trying to salvage a top-secret mission with her best friend. But she couldn’t tell Chloe that.
Instead Beatrice closed her eyes and made a quick decision—the kind cofounders of secret operations specialize in.
Keeping her legs wrapped tight around the branch, Beatrice swung into position.
“I’m playing veterinarian with you,” she told Chloe. “I’ll be the monkey.”
Chloe shook her head. “Sorry—you can’t be a monkey.”
“Why not? Are you the monkey?”
“No,” said Chloe. “There are no monkeys. I’m the veterinarian.”
“Can I be a snake then?”
“Ew,” said Chloe, “definitely no reptiles.”
“What about a sloth?” Beatrice suggested. “They’re cute.”
“Can’t you just be something normal?” Lenny whispered up at her.
“How about a bat? If you really think about it, bats are probably more common than cats.”
The other three girls—Grace, Parvati, and Eva—came out to find them.
“I’m a poodle,” said Grace.
Beatrice Zinker, Upside Down Thinker Page 2