At lunchtime, we were all on the playground getting Ivy’s leg ready for the spelling test.
Ellie had Bianca’s pen and the list of words, but Martha was in a funny mood.
“It’s not going to work,” said Martha.
“Why not?” I said. “Ellie’s all ready to write the words, so we just need Ivy to pull her sock down . . .”
And that’s when I saw the problem. Ivy was wearing blue tights. EEEK!
But there’s no stopping Ivy. She started wiggling like a worm in a frying pan.
“What ARE you doing?” I asked.
“I’m pulling my tights down, of course,” said Ivy. “Then Ellie can write on my leg and I’ll pull them up again.”
“So what happens during the test?” I asked. “Are you going to pull your tights down again?”
“Why not?” said Ivy. “Nobody will notice.”
But everybody on the whole playground had noticed! They had all stopped whatever they were doing and were looking our way.
“Thanks, Ivy,” said Martha. “But don’t bother. I’m not going to spelling club.”
“But they’re choosing the spelling team today,” said Ivy.
“Martha,” I said, “there’s a soccer game tonight. Don’t you want to play?”
“Of course I do! But Gwendoline deserves to get on the team more than me.”
“Why?” we all said. “She’s HORRIBLE!”
“Not as horrible as me,” said Martha. “She’s not cheating. I am.”
“But you thought it was funny last time,” said Ivy.
“That’s because it didn’t matter,” said Martha. “They weren’t choosing the team then, but this time they are, and Gwendoline’s been practicing her words all week.”
As soon as Martha said it, I realized she was right.
“Pull your tights up, Ivy,” I said. “If Gwendoline really has been working to win this, then what we’re doing is wrong.”
“Wrong? What’s wrong?” said a voice behind us. It was Mrs. Twelvetrees . . . PANIC!
She must have come out of the side door when we weren’t looking. How much had she heard? Ellie was trembling so much, she dropped the list of words on the ground.
“Don’t litter,” said Mrs. T. “Pick it up, Ellie, and give it to me. I’ll toss it in the library trash can.”
Ellie blushed bright red like a tomato. What would happen if Mrs. T. saw the words on the paper? Ellie was so frozen in fear that she couldn’t move.
“I’ll get rid of it,” I said helpfully.
But before I could grab the list, Mrs. T. stopped me.
“No!” said Mrs. T. “Ellie dropped it, so Ellie can pick it up.”
She stood there holding her hand out, waiting for Ellie to give her the paper. It was awful. None of us knew what to do, and then Ellie started to cry.
“Oh, golly,” said Mrs. Twelvetrees. She sounded sorry. “Don’t get upset, Ellie! One little piece of dropped paper isn’t going to make the school fall down.”
Mrs. Twelvetrees suddenly bent over and picked the paper up herself. Then she stood there, twisting it in her fingers.
“Cheer up, girls!” she said brightly. “We’ve got spelling club in five minutes.”
She waved the paper in our faces.
“And you’ll never guess what the star words are!” she said.
Then, without thinking, she shoved the paper in her pocket and went back inside.