Evie was going to be my new best friend! I was sure of it!
On Monday, I was the most excited I’d ever been about going to school.
Mom had Penny and me waiting by the front door at 7:55 a.m., the same as always. But Mrs. Benson didn’t get there until 8:02. How could she be late when it was SO IMPORTANT for me to be on time, or even early?
Finally she pulled up and we ran out.
“Sorry girls,” Mrs. Benson said. “It’s been one of those days. First I spilled coffee on myself, so I had to change my shirt. Then I couldn’t find my keys.”
People sure were having a lot of problems with keys.
“Buckle up,” Mrs. Benson said. “We should still make it in time.”
There are a bunch of different ways to get to school from my house. Mom always turns down Parrot Avenue because it’s shorter, and Mrs. Benson always drives up Tollridge Street because there aren’t any traffic lights. So we drove down our street and made a right at the end of the block. Then we made a left on Tollridge. Suddenly, Mrs. Benson stopped the car.
“Mo-om,” Zoey whined.
“It’s not my fault, Zo,” Mrs. Benson said. “There’s a garbage truck ahead of us.”
I didn’t say anything, even though it WAS kind of Mrs. Benson’s fault. She was the one who spilled her coffee and lost her keys. If not, she would have left her house on time and picked us up on time. We would’ve gone down the street before the garbage truck even got there, and we’d be at school by now.
I wanted to be at school BEFORE Evie got there. If it were my first day of school, I wouldn’t want to be there all alone. Maybe from now on Evie could start carpooling with us too. She didn’t live exactly on the way to school, but just a little bit out of the way is okay to drive. We have room in the car now since Willa moved away.
I tried pushing myself up in my seat, which wasn’t so easy since I was wearing a seat belt. But I wanted to see the garbage truck. Why was it taking so long to load the garbage bags in? This had to be the dirtiest street in all of Somers! I clicked my heels together three times and wished for the garbage truck people to hurry up.
By the time we got to school, Mrs. Finkel had already closed the classroom door. I hate walking into class after everyone else is already there. Actually I’ve never done it before, but whenever it happens to other kids, everyone turns to look at them.
I pushed open the door and everyone looked at me. Mrs. Finkel looked at her watch. “Did you forget to set your alarm clock?” she asked. Mrs. Finkel is the mean third-grade teacher. The nice teacher, Mrs. Bower, would probably never say something like that.
My face heated up, so I knew I was blushing. “Our car got stuck behind a garbage truck,” I told her.
“Take your seat,” Mrs. Finkel said. “We have a new student today and you missed the introduction. Evie, this is Stella Batts. Stella, this is Evie. She just moved here from Great Britain.”
Evie was in Willa’s old seat. I hated that Mrs. Finkel was mean to me in front of her, but I gave a little wave.
“We already met this weekend,” Evie said. The way she said “weekend” was like this: wee-KEND.
“I was just about to ask for a volunteer to be Evie’s buddy,” Mrs. Finkel said. “To show her around school and make sure she settles in all right. So Stella, since you already know Evie, will you be her buddy?”
I nodded. Lucy raised her hand and started talking before Mrs. Finkel even called on her. “Actually, I already told Evie I’d show her around.”
I thought Mrs. Finkel would get mad at Lucy, because technically talking before you’re called on is Disruptive Behavior, but she just said, “That’s fine.”
No, no, no!!! Wait, wait, wait!!! I wanted to be Evie’s buddy! She was supposed to be my new best friend, after all.
I didn’t say any of that out loud. I knew there wasn’t anything I could do. Mrs. Finkel started teaching. Sometimes what Penny says is really true. It’s not fair.
At snack time, I went over to Evie’s desk, just like I used to do when Willa was the one sitting there, right in between Lucy and Clark. Other kids had come over too, like Talisa and Arielle and also Joshua, the meanest boy in our whole entire class.
“Where are you from exactly?” Clark asked.
“Duh,” Joshua said. “It’s so obvious.” I don’t know why he always comes over to talk to us if he’s just going to be mean.
“No, it’s not,” Clark said. “Mrs. Finkel said Evie was from Great Britain.”
“That means London,” Joshua said.
“No,” Clark said. “Great Britain means England, Scotland, and Wales.”
“Really?” I asked. Clark always seems to know stuff like that.
“Yup.”
“My dad usually says we’re from the UK, short for the United Kingdom, which is Great Britain and Northern Ireland,” Evie said. “My mom says England. We lived in the city of London.”
“See, I told you,” Joshua said.
“I love your accent,” Talisa told Evie.
“I love yours,” Evie said.
“I don’t have an accent,” Talisa said.
“Yeah you do,” Evie said. “An American accent—the same as my mum.”
“Her mom is from Somers,” I added, just to be helpful. See, I knew things about Evie that the other kids didn’t—that’s why I should’ve been her buddy.
“Can you say something British?” Talisa asked.
“Uh, duh again,” Joshua said. “British isn’t a language.”
“Just so you know, Joshua is the class meanie, so we never listen to him,” I told Evie.
Willa would’ve said that was a mean thing for me to say, but I knew I should tell Evie even if I wasn’t her buddy, because I was her new best friend.
There was a knock on the door and we all turned to see who it was—Mrs. Blank from the learning lab. That’s where you go if you need extra help. Clark goes there for reading. Mrs. Blank walked over to talk to Mrs. Finkel.
“Knock knock,” Talisa said.
“Who’s there?” Evie asked.
“Orange.”
“Orange who?”
“Orange you glad you don’t have to sit next to Joshua?”
“That’s very clever,” Evie said.
“Thanks,” Talisa said. “You want to sit with me at lunch?”
“Sure.”
“And me too,” I said.
“No, she can’t,” Lucy cut in before Evie could say anything.
“Why not?” I asked. “She has two sides.”
“Yeah, but she has to sit next to me on her other side since I’m her buddy.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to sit next to her,” I said.
“That’s exactly what it means,” Lucy said.
“No,” I insisted. “You just have to show her around, and when we’re eating there won’t be anything to show her.”
“Pardon me, Stella,” Evie said. “But I think I should probably sit next to Lucy.”
Mrs. Finkel clapped her hands, which meant it was the part of snack time when we had to sit at our desks.
I raised my hand and Mrs. Finkel called on me. “Can I go to the bathroom?” I asked. I didn’t really have to go. I just wanted to be alone. Mrs. Finkel nodded at me. As I walked out the door, she called Evie up to her desk so she could introduce her to Mrs. Blank.
The girls’ bathroom is at the end of the hall. I pulled the door open and went into one of the stalls, closed the lid and sat down. Minutes passed, and then I heard the door open and someone’s footsteps. I stood up and flushed the toilet, because that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re in the bathroom. But I didn’t want to leave the stall, so I just sat back down again.
“Hello? Stella?”
It was Arielle’s voice. I could tell because it was super soft. But part of wanting to be alone means you don’t want to talk to anyone, so I didn’t answer. Snack time had to be over by now. What was she doing in the bathroom anyway?
She was quiet for a couple of minutes and I thought maybe she would leave. But then she said, “I know you’re in there. I can see your shoes.”
I should have folded my legs up right when the door opened. Then she wouldn’t be able to see them.
“Are you sick?” she continued. “Maybe you should see the nurse. I can go get her.”
If the nurse came, she’d probably call one of my parents to pick me up. That seemed like a pretty good idea.
“Thanks,” I said, finally answering her. “But you don’t have to get her. I can walk.”
I opened the door. Arielle was standing in front of the sink, and she moved over to give me room. I washed my hands, even though I hadn’t really gone to the bathroom, because Arielle probably thought I really did and I didn’t want to seem gross. Then we walked out into the hall. If you go right, you’ll head back toward our classroom. You have to go left to get to the nurse’s office.
”I can go with you, if you want,” Arielle said.
I shook my head. “No, I’m okay.”
The nurse’s name is Mrs. Tucker. When I got to her office, I told her I had a stomachache. “Do you think you have to throw up?” she asked.
My stomach felt jumpy, like Pop Rocks were exploding inside of me, but I didn’t think I had to throw up until she said it. “Maybe a little bit,” I said.
Mrs. Tucker told me to lie down and rest while she called someone to pick me up.
I rolled over and wrapped my arms around my stomach.
A little while later, I felt someone’s cool hand on my forehead, and then I heard Mom’s voice saying, “You’re not feeling well, baby?”
I shook my head under her hand. “I thought Dad would come to get me. You’re not supposed to drive.”
“Dad’s in a meeting,” she said. “But don’t worry. I can drive if one of my girls needs me. Come on, let’s go home.”
I followed her out to the car. Mom squeezed into the front seat. The steering wheel pressed against her stomach. What if the baby could feel it? What if it was hurting the baby? I felt so awful about everything and I started to cry a little bit.
“Oh, Stel, we’ll be home soon,” Mom said. She thought I was sad about being sick and that made my stomach hurt for real.