One by one, Class A piled on the cloudbus. Mr. Bibby, the cloudbus driver, was taking them to Cloud Nine for their cloudtrip.

Willa Bean climbed the steps of the cloudbus. She stopped when she reached the last one. Mr. Bibby was wearing a black bow tie today. It had white stripes on it. “Your bow tie looks wonderful, Mr. Bibby!” she said. “It matches your hair!”

“Thank you, Willa Bean,” Mr. Bibby said. “And you certainly look like a grownup cupid with your bow and arrows on your back!”

Willa Bean felt her inside proud feeling filling up. She wished she could take her real bow and arrows to school every day. But that wasn’t the way Mr. Rightflight did things. He had boring old practice arrows for the cupids at school.

Today was different, though. Today was special. Everyone was allowed to bring their real, very own bows and arrows on the cloudtrip. Mr. Rightflight wanted them to use their own arrows when they practiced on Cloud Nine.

Their own arrows were very light. They weighed almost nothing at all. They had soft, squishy tips, too, which were covered with velvet. From far away, arrows looked as if they might hurt when cupids used them. But they didn’t. In fact, they felt like little kisses.

Willa Bean took her favorite arrow from her quiver. It was silver with white polka dots. At the very bottom of the arrow was a special silver knot. The knot made the arrow go extra fast. She had spent a long time cleaning the arrow last night. Now it was shiny smooth. It sparkled in the sun.

“Look at this one, Mr. Bibby!” Willa Bean said. She held out her special arrow in front of him. “Mama and Daddy got it for me last year! For my birthday!”

“Willa Bean!” Miss Twizzle called out. “Keep moving, please. All the cupids behind you are waiting to get on the cloudbus, too.”

“It’s a magnificent arrow!” Mr. Bibby whispered. “I’ve never seen one like that! Now hurry back to your seat so we don’t hold everyone up.”

Willa Bean shoved her silver-knotted, polka-dotted arrow back in its quiver. She hopped down the middle of the cloudbus. Then she squeezed in next to Harper, who was eating a Snoogy Bar.

“Hi, Willa Bean!” Harper said. “You want some of my Snoogy Bar? It’s a lemon wingberry!”

“No thanks,” Willa Bean said. “I already had Wingfastic cereal for breakfast. I wanted to make sure I had extra energy this morning.”

Vivi was sitting by herself in front of Willa Bean and Harper. She turned around and looked over the seat. “I saw you showing that silver-knotted, polka-dotted arrow to Mr. Bibby,” she said. “Where did you get it?”

“My mama and daddy,” Willa Bean said proudly. “They gave it to me last year. For my birthday. It’s my most special arrow in the world.” She hugged her quiver to her chest. Just to show that she meant it.

“I can’t believe you have a real silver-knotted, polka-dotted arrow.” Vivi’s face looked mad. “That’s not fair. My mom said that they’re almost impossible to find. She still hasn’t gotten me one.”

“Oh well,” Willa Bean said. “I guess that’s just how it goes.”

“Yeah.” Vivi turned back around slowly. “I guess so.” She put her wingsack on her lap and fiddled with her pink rubber star-bubble ball.

“Hey, Willa Bean!” At the back of the bus, Pedro and Raymond were waving their arms. “Bring your arrows over here! We want to see that really cool one!”

“I want to see it, too!” Sophie called.

“And me!” yelled Lola.

Willa Bean stood up. She would just run really quick to the back of the bus to show Pedro and Sophie and all the rest of the cupids. No one else had an extraspecial silver-knotted, polka-dotted arrow except her!

But then she heard her name being called. Her real, super-long name. It was the one that Mama used at home when she was not particularly pleased with Willa Bean.

“Wilhelmina Bernadina Skylight!” It was Miss Twizzle. “Mr. Bibby will not start this cloudbus until you are seated!”

Mr. Rightflight was standing next to Miss Twizzle. His silver whistle hung around his neck. He did not look very pleased, either.

Harper tugged on Willa Bean’s sleeve. “Park it, lady!” she whispered. “Else we’ll never get to Cloud Nine!”

Willa Bean sat down fast.

She clicked on her cloudbelt.

Very slowly, the cloudbus began to move. Class A was off on its very first cloudtrip!