Robbie got his cotton candy. I got my churro, and then we walked over to the Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest.

“Hi, guys,” said Jessie. “Do you like that churro, Freddy?”

“It’s delicious!” I said. “I can’t believe I never tried it before. I just never knew what it was.”

“I love trying new foods,” said Jessie. “My abuela always says that you’ll never know if you like something unless you try it.”

“It tastes kind of like a doughnut,” I said, licking some cinnamon sugar off my lips.

“You’d better eat that last bite because the Seed Spitting Contest is about to start,” said Jessie.

I popped the last bite in my mouth and was quickly chewing it up when someone poked me in the back and yelled, “BOO!”

I jumped about three feet in the air, and chewed-up bits of churro came flying out of my mouth and landed on my shoe.

“Well, look who’s here,” said a voice. “If that’s as far as you can spit, you’ll never win this contest.”

I didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was. I would know that voice anywhere. I even hear it in my dreams … actually, my nightmares.

“Great,” I mumbled to myself. “Just great.”

“I’ve been looking for you guys all day,” said Max.

“We haven’t been looking for you,” I whispered to Robbie.

“Are you ready, Freddy, to go on the Giant Swing, or is the little baby too scared?”

My stomach did a flip.

“Of course he’s going to go on the Swing,” said Jessie, “but right now it’s time for the Seed Spitting Contest. Are you doing it, Max, or are you too afraid you’re going to lose to a girl?”

“Ha!” said Max. “Very funny. Everyone knows that boys are better than girls at everything.”

“They are not,” said Jessie. “Girls can do anything boys can do.”

“Yeah, right,” said Max. “I’m going to win this contest for sure.”

“That’s because he has the biggest mouth,” I whispered to Robbie.

Max whipped his head around and grabbed my shirt. “What did you say, Shark Boy?”

“Uh, nothing,” I squeaked.

Max tightened his grip on my shirt. “I know you said something, and I want to know what!”

I gulped. “I, uh, I, uh …,” I stammered.

“I’ll tell you what he said,” Jessie butted in. “He said you have a big mouth. A really big mouth. Now let go of Freddy’s shirt, you big mean bully.”

Max finally let go of my shirt and looked at his hand. “Ewwww, my hand feels sticky. What’s on your shirt, drool?”

“No, ketchup,” I said, trying not to laugh.

“I need four people to step up to the line for the Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest,” said the man.

Max, Robbie, Jessie, and I walked over and put our feet on the line.

“Okay, kids, here are the rules,” said the man. “You must keep your feet behind the line at all times, and you can only spit the seeds when I tell you to. Each person will get three seeds. The person who spits their seed the farthest will be the winner. Understand?”

We all nodded our heads.

“Grab your three seeds and get ready.”

We all took a piece of watermelon, ate it, and saved three seeds.

The man blew his whistle. “Everyone line up. Put your first seed in your mouth. One, two, three, spit!”

“Go, Freddy! Go, Robbie!” Kimberly and Suzie yelled from the sidelines.

I moved the seed around in my mouth, and when I got it right on the end of my tongue, I spit really hard, but the seed just dribbled out of my mouth and landed on my shirt.

Max looked over at me and laughed. “Ha! Look at the drooling baby!”

“I wouldn’t be talking if I were you,” said Jessie. “Yours didn’t go much farther.”

Jessie was so brave. She was never afraid to stand up to Max.

“So far, the young lady is winning,” said the man. “But you all have two seeds left. Ready? One, two, three, spit!”

“Freddy! Robbie! Freddy! Robbie!” the girls chanted.

This time when I spit, I did a little bit better. At least it didn’t land on my shirt. This time it landed in the dirt by my shoe.

I looked up. Max was jumping around and shouting, “Yes! Yes!”

“What are you yelling about?” said Jessie.

“My seed went farther than yours that time,” said Max. “I’m winning! I’m winning! I told you boys are better than girls.”

“The contest isn’t over yet,” said Jessie. “We all have one more seed.”

“I’m still going to win,” said Max. “Just watch me.”

“All right,” said the man. “Put your last seed in your mouth. One, two, three, spit!”

When I went to spit my last seed, nothing came out of my mouth.

“Where’s your last seed?” asked Robbie.

“I think I swallowed it by accident,” I said, laughing.

Then I heard the man’s voice announce, “And the winner is … the young lady!”

“Woohoo!” Jessie shouted, waving her blue ribbon in the air. “I won! I won!”

We all ran over to Jessie. Well, everyone except Max. He was pouting and being a bad sport as usual.

“Girl Power!” Suzie and Kimberly said to Jessie, and gave her a high five.

“Congratulations, Jessie,” I said. “I knew you could do it. I knew you could beat Max.”

“She just got lucky today,” Max grumbled. “I’ll beat her next time.”

“You’re just a sore loser,” said Jessie. “I didn’t get lucky. I know the family secret for spitting seeds.”

“Whatever,” said Max. “Maybe you won this contest, but you’re not going to win our little bet.”

“Oh really?” said Jessie. “We’ll see about that.”

Jessie grabbed my hand. “Come on, Freddy. We’re going to the Giant Swing.”

Just hearing those words Giant Swing made me feel like I was going to lose my lunch.