I was so excited about the class play that I got to school early the next morning. I told my classmates, “I can’t wait to be in the play!”

“Me too! Snow White has an awesome kiss at the end!” Buffy Maynard exclaimed.

“Ooh! The handsome prince kisses Snow White!” Nicole Finkle exclaimed.

Yuck, I thought.

“There’s also an evil queen in the play,” Grace Chang said. “Ba-ha-ha-ha!” She laughed evilly. She always laughed evilly. She did everything evilly. That’s because she was evil.

“Yeah. Ba-ha-ha-ha,” Emma G. laughed. Her attempt at an evil laugh sounded sweet and silly.

“Yeah. Ba-ha-ha-ha,” Emma J. laughed. She sounded sweet and silly too.

The best part for a boy was the prince. That part would start my career as a rich and famous movie star. I said, “I will play the prince.”

“I want to be the prince,” Owen Leach said.

“I want to be the prince,” Chandler Fitzgerald said.

“I want to be a farting pig or a vomiting giraffe,” Rudy Morse said.

“Are there farting pigs or vomiting giraffes in Snow White?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I sure hope so,” Rudy said.

Just as I was picturing the piles of money and huge video game collection I’d soon have, the morning bell rang.

I wanted to talk to my best guy friend Hector Cruz and my best girl friend Charlie Marple before class started. Charlie was a girl and a friend, but not a girlfriend. Yuck.

“Snow White is a good play. I want to be the evil queen or a bossy dwarf,” Charlie said.

Hector shrugged. “I don’t care what part I get. I just want to have fun.”

“I will be the prince,” I said.

“Zeke, why do you think you’ll get the part of the prince?” Charlie asked.

“Because I’m a future movie star. And movie stars are as rich as princes. Also, because I’m a great actor. Watch this.” I acted very princely. I held my head high, pressed my lips together, and crossed my arms.

“That’s really good. You look exactly like a tree,” Hector said.

“A tree? I think he looks like someone who has to go to the bathroom really badly,” Charlie said.

I kept my arms crossed. “After I become a rich and famous actor, you’ll be sorry you insulted me.”

Once everyone was in the classroom our teacher, Mr. McNutty, said, “It’s time to practice handwriting. Who would like to write the letter L on the board?”

Laurie Schneider raised her hand. She walked up to the whiteboard and wrote an L in cursive. Then she kept writing. She wrote, “Laurie Schneider should get the part of Snow White.”

“I should be Snow White,” Grace Chang said.

“I should be the prince,” I said.

“Class. Pay attention to the handwriting lesson,” Mr. McNutty said.

Chandler Fitzgerald raised his hand.

“Is this a question about handwriting?” Mr. McNutty asked.

“Yes. Will you hand me the part of the prince?” Chandler asked.

Mr. McNutty sighed. “You’re all too excited about the play to focus on schoolwork. So I’ll tell everyone what roles you have in the play. Then we’ll get back to the handwriting lesson. Hector, you will be the Magic Mirror.”

Hector smiled.

“Grace, you’ll play the Evil Queen,” Mr. McNutty said.

Grace glared at him evilly. “I should be Snow White. I must be Snow White. I cannot pretend to be the Evil Queen.”

“Yeah. Grace can’t pretend to be evil,” Emma G. said.

“Yeah. Grace can’t pretend to be evil,” Emma J. said.

Grace didn’t need to pretend to be evil. She was evil.

“I won’t change my mind about your roles in the play,” Mr. McNutty said. “Buffy and Nicole, you’ll be dwarfs.”

“But I want to be Snow White. She gets to kiss the prince,” Buffy said.

“I want to be Snow White. I love kissing,” Nicole said.

Mr. McNutty shook his head. “You will both be dwarfs.”

“Can my dwarf name be Kisser?” Buffy asked.

“Can my dwarf name be Kiss-A-Lot?” Nicole asked.

Mr. McNutty shook his head again. Then he said, “Zeke, I’ve carefully chosen your role.”

This was it — the start of my huge acting career. This would surely be one of the best days of my life. I leaned forward in a very princely way.

Mr. McNutty said, “Zeke, you will be a dwarf.”

A dwarf? That wasn’t the prince. That was a dwarf. Mr. McNutty must have made a mistake. I raised my hand and asked, “You meant to say I’m the prince, right?”

“Wrong. You’re a dwarf,” he said.

I frowned. I crossed my arms. I groaned.

“You’re being very dramatic about this,” Mr. McNutty said.

“Yes! I’m very dramatic! That’s why I should be the star of the play. That’s what dramatic people do! And the star of the play is the prince, not a dwarf. I should be the prince.” I slapped my hand on my desk to make a point. Ow. That hurt.

Mr. McNutty said, “Zeke, the way you’re acting today—”

I cut him off. “Yes, I’m acting today. I should act every day. I’m great at acting. That’s why I should be the prince.”

“If you keep acting like this, you’ll stay inside during recess all week.” Mr. McNutty’s voice was stern. “As I was saying, you’re acting very grouchy today. So you’ll play the part of Grouchy Dwarf.”

Grouchy Dwarf! No! I felt so mad that my face got hot, like it was on fire.

Charlie leaned over and murmured, “Don’t worry about what part you get, Zeke. It’s no big deal.”

“Charlie, you will be Snow White,” Mr. McNutty said.

“Me? Snow White? No! She wears dresses. Yuck! And she gets kissed. Gross! I can’t be Snow White. No, no, no, no, no!” she cried.

“I thought it wasn’t a big deal,” I told her.

She glared at me.

Laurie glared at Charlie and said, “I want to be Snow White.”

Grace also glared at Charlie and also said, “I want to be Snow White.”

“Yeah. Grace wants to be Snow White,” Emma G. said.

“Yeah. Grace wants to be Snow White,” Emma J. said.

“I told you I’m not going to change my mind,” Mr. McNutty said. “Owen, you will play the prince.”

Owen Leach smiled. “Of course I will. I’m perfect for the part. I’m an awesome actor. And I’m very princely.”

I groaned again.

“Most of you seem unhappy. A few minutes ago, you all were excited about the play,” Mr. McNutty said.

“That was before you gave me a bad part. Things have gotten a lot worse,” Grace said.

“Yeah. A lot worse,” Emma G. said.

“Yeah. A lot worse,” Emma J. said.

“Yeah, worse,” I said.

“Yeah,” Laurie said.

“Worse,” Charlie said.

Owen Leach kept smiling. “I think everything is going great.”

Everyone glared at him.