“Something stinks,” my mom said when I came home from school. She leaned down, put her nose near me, and took a big sniff. Then she plugged her nose and said, “Bleck. Ick. Zeke, I think you stink.”

I shrugged. Then I took off my backpack and walked toward the couch. I wanted to see what my older sister, Alexa, was watching on TV.

“Don’t bring your stink near me,” Alexa said.

Mom sniffed my backpack. Then she said, “Bleck. Ick. I was wrong about the stink. It’s coming from your backpack. Zeke, you need to clean it.”

“I’ll clean it after this show,” I said. My favorite movie star, Jett Jackson, was showing off his house on TV.

“Jett Jackson is sooo cuuute!” Alexa exclaimed.

“Who cares what he looks like? Look at his amazing house,” I said. It had a giant swimming pool, a private movie theater, a huge TV, tons of video games, and a ping-pong table. I said, “If I had all that stuff, I’d sit home and play with it all day long.”

“No, you wouldn’t. I’d make you go to school, do your homework, and get your chores done,” Mom said.

I sighed.

“And I’d make you wait your turn for the TV,” Alexa said.

I sighed again.

“After Alexa’s turn, it’s my turn for the TV. I want to watch the Princess Sing-Along show,” my little sister, Mia, said.

I sighed again.

Mia screeched a Princess Sing-Along song: “Keep all your things nice and clean, la la la, or they’ll smell like a latrine, la la la.”

I sighed again. I couldn’t stand Princess Sing-Along. I asked Mia,

“A latrine is a bathroom. Like that.” Mia pointed to the TV. Jett Jackson was showing off his huge bathroom. It had the biggest bathtub I had ever seen.

“Jett Jackson must be very rich. How did he get so much money?” I asked.

“By acting, silly,” Alexa said.

“By acting silly?” I asked.

Alexa shook her head. “By acting. And you’re silly for asking that.”

Jett Jackson pointed to a picture hanging on his bathroom wall. He said, “Here’s a photo of me in third grade, starring in the class play. I got my first movie role after that. I’ve been acting ever since.”

“I wish I could star in a class play. Then I could act in movies and get rich,” I said.

Thinking about being rich got me thinking about buying things. “I would buy huge houses in Hawaii, New York, and Hong Kong. I’d collect fast cars, giant TVs, and thousands of video games,” I said.

“First you need to clean out your backpack. I can’t stand the stink,” Mom said.

I frowned. “Cleaning my backpack stinks.”

“Ezekiel Heathcliff Meeks, clean it!” Mom said.

I knew that when Mom used my full name, she was mad. So I hurried to clean my backpack.

I unzipped the front pocket and pulled out a plastic bag full of stinky, brown mush.

Mom plugged her nose and said, “Bleck. Ick. What’s that nasty thing?”

I shrugged, though I knew that nasty thing was a bag of rotten carrot sticks. My mom often packed carrot sticks in my lunch bag. But they were healthy, so I never ate them. I also found a moldy egg and a cheese stick that had turned green. I threw them all in the trash.

Next, I pulled out an old note from my teacher to my mom. It said:

I’d forgotten to give the note to my mom.

Finally, I took out a flyer from my backpack. It said:

Wow! Hooray! Yahoo! I held up the flyer and danced around the room. This was my big chance! I’d star in my third-grade play, just like Jett Jackson did. Then I’d star in movies and make millions of dollars and buy giant houses filled with everything I ever wanted.

I just needed to get a leading role in Snow White.