CHAPTER 4

Pointy Hats

But Wolfie just grimaced at Fly. “I’m not in a band,” she said. “I was just helping you get the beat.”

“But don’t you hear how good we sound? You have to be in the band. It’s destiny! You have to play the talent show with me for sure. We’ll win first place, I know we will.”

Wolfie was about to tell Fly that she was not going to play in the talent show. But she hesitated. Didn’t her mom and dad want her to be in the show? Maybe if she played with Fly, they would stop bugging her about taking after-school classes.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” she said.

“I knew you were going to refuse. But it might be the most important thing we’ve ever done together.”

“I said that I would do it.”

“Why do you always have to…Wait. Did you say you’ll do it?”

“Uh-huh.”

Fly jumped up and down. “Fantastic! Amazing! We’re a band! This is so cool, Wolfie. We’re going to be a big hit. Now we just need a name. How about the Super Sounds?”

“That’s awful.”

“The Warthogs?”

“Even worse.”

“Bugspray? The Bad Smells? Strawberry Ice Cream?”

“Those are all terrible names. Why can’t we just be Wolfie and Fly?”

“Hmm, let me think about that. How about Fly and Wolfie? Nah, it doesn’t sound as good. Okay, we’ll be Wolfie and Fly. There’s just one more thing we need.”

“What’s that?”

“Costumes,” Fly said. “We can’t just sound good. We also have to look good. We need our own style.”

Wolfie didn’t like dressing up, not even for Halloween. She looked down at her overalls. “I like what I’m wearing.”

“Oh sure, that’s your look. But I should match it. And we can add some extras. Have you got rubber boots?”

“Of course. I wear them when it rains. Rubber boots are highly practical.”

“Good. So we can both wear rubber boots. How about hats? I have two matching hats at home. Hold on, I’ll go and get them. And my rubber boots too!”

Fly moved fast. He was probably afraid that Wolfie would change her mind and lock the door. And Wolfie did think about it. Did she really want to lose her whole Saturday?

But Wolfie didn’t lock the door. Instead, she went to the mudroom and found her rubber boots. She wondered to herself why she was being so cooperative. Did she like having company? Did she want to be in the talent show? She had to admit that drumming was fun. She just didn’t want to admit it to Fly.

She clomped back into the living room in her boots. Fly must have been sure that Wolfie would lock the door because he climbed back in through the window. His yellow rubber boots came through first and the rest of him followed.

He was wearing a white T-shirt and overalls, just like Wolfie.

“You’ve got your boots on!” he said in surprise. “Great! Here are the hats.”

Fly held them out. Wolfie frowned. The hats were made of felt. One was blue and the other green, and they were both covered in polka dots.

They were also pointy.

“Aren’t those clown hats?” she asked.

“Yup. Great, aren’t they? Here, put the green one on.”

Wolfie didn’t see any point in arguing now, even if they were going to look ridiculous. She put on the hat. Well, if there was one thing that Wolfie didn’t care about, it was how she looked to other people.

Fly made her stand beside him in front of the full-length mirror in the hall. There they were in their rubber boots and pointy clown hats.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” said Fly. “Nobody else is going to look like us.”

“That’s for sure,” Wolfie agreed. “You know, the talent show isn’t until this evening. Maybe you could go home for a while.”

“Are you kidding? We’ve got to practice. Better yet, we’ve got to practice in front of an audience.”

“But we don’t have an audience.”

“Wolfie, Wolfie, when are you going to start using your imagination?”

“I’m not sure that I have one.”