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.“Do I, Mary Ann?”“Don’t speak to him, Mary Ann!” I told her.“All right,” Mom cut in, “that’s enough.”“She’s acting like a baby,” Sam said.“And you’re acting like a jerk,” I said.“Stop it!” Mom said.Mary Ann probably wished she’d walked in the rain.No one spoke the rest of the way.At school, I got out of the car, slammed the door, and sprinted into the building.Mary Ann followed close behind.The kids were all crowded into the foyer.The floor was wet with tracked-in rain, and the air smelled of damp hair and—I sniffed again.Yuck.It was that mushy goulash the cooks make for lunch about four days a week.Zach waved at us from the side of the foyer.“Come on,” I said to Mary Ann.We weaved our way through the crowd to Zach, who stood with Ed and Stinky.Their hair was soaking wet and matted to their heads, and beads of water dripped off their rain slickers.“Hey, Lizard,” Zach said, grinning.“You got the bandage off your chin.Those scrapes don’t look too bad.”“I can’t go to Chicago, Zach.”His face darkened.“You can’t?”“Mom and Dad won’t advance me the money.Sam’s probably going, though.”“Oh, shoot,” he said.“It won’t be as much fun without you.You still going, Mary Ann?”“I don’t know,” she said.“I’m not sure I’ll go without Lizard.”“Well, I’m going,” Stinky said.“Me, too,” said Ed.He wasn’t even a Cubs fan! Life can be so unfair, I thought.I sagged against the wall.Zach stared off into the distance.“Something like this happened once to my cousin Wally.” He got that funny look in his eyes that comes just before one of his stories.“Another cousin?” Stinky smirked.But he leaned in to listen.Everybody loves to hear Zach tell his stories.“Yeah,” Zach said.“What Wally wanted more than anything was to go to World-O-Rama and ride on the biggest, wildest roller coaster in the state.It’s all inside a gigantic spook house, where ghosts and goblins come after you in the dark, and you spin in three-hundred-sixty-degree turns, and you get splashed with water and screamed at by demons.”“Cool,” Ed murmured, his eyes wide.“It was cool, and it was all Wally thought about,” Zach said.“The idea kind of scared him, but he was obsessed.He wanted to be able to say he’d survived the Demons’ Den.He even dreamed about it at night, and woke up in a cold sweat, shaking all over.“Finally, he had his chance to go.His scoutmaster announced that they’d all be taking a trip to World-O-Rama.It only cost twenty-five dollars apiece.”“Just like the Cubs game,” I said.“Yeah,” Zach said.“But his parents wouldn’t give him the money, either.”“What did he do?” Mary Ann asked.“He heard about this weird old woman who granted wishes.She lived in a shack next to the railroad tracks, and Wally went to see her.“‘I need twenty-five dollars to go to World-O-Rama,’ Wally said.‘I want to ride through the Demons’ Den.’“‘No problem,’ she said, ‘but you have to do one thing for me first.Bring me a lock of your principal’s hair.’“Wally was stunned.His principal was the meanest, rottenest woman in the whole state.How would he ever get a lock of her hair? ‘Couldn’t I slay a dragon instead?’ he asked.“‘Bring me a lock of her hair,’ the old woman said.‘Then you will have the money you need.’“Wally lay awake at night trying to figure out how he could get a lock of his principal’s hair.Should he slip a sleeping potion into her coffee and sneak up on her after she fell asleep in the teachers’ lounge? No, that was too risky.Teachers were always coming into the lounge; he was sure to get caught.He even thought of running up to her, grabbing a fistful of hair, lopping off some of it and running away.He didn’t know what the punishment was for stealing hair, but maybe a trip to World-O-Rama would make it worthwhile.“But then he got the Idea, and he wondered why he hadn’t thought of it before.He strolled up to the principal the next day and said, ‘Excuse me, Ms.Hardnose, but my mom’s looking for a new haircutter.Your hair looks pretty good.Who cuts it?’“Wally heard a funny creaking sound as Ms.Hardnose’s face twisted itself into a smile.It was the first smile her face had ever made.Why, Wally, what a nice compliment,’ she said.‘I get my hair cut by Susie down at Chez Hair.’“So that’s how Wally got a lock of her hair.He just hung around Chez Hair until Ms.Hardnose’s next appointment, then asked Susie if he could have some of the hair on the floor for a science project.” Zach grinned.“He went to World-O-Rama and had the time of his life.He even got a T-shirt that said, I SURVIVED THE DEMONS’ DEN.”“Aw, he should’ve just whacked off a lock of Hardnose’s hair and run away,” Stinky said.“That’s what I would’ve done.”“Right, Stinky,” Ed said, rolling his eyes.“I’d like to see you do that to Wildwoman.” Mary Ann and Zach laughed at the thought.Our principal, Mrs.Wildman (or Wildwoman, as the kids call her), is about six foot two, and Stinky’s pretty short.“You’d need a stepladder to get to her head.”“I wish I knew a weird old woman down by the railroad tracks,” I said.“I’d do anything to get the money.”Zach stared off thoughtfully.“Maybe something will come up, and it’ll be easier than you think.Just like it was for Wally.”“Wouldn’t that be great, Lizard?” Mary Ann said.It sure would.But I didn’t know what could possibly come up that would help me get the money.The bell rang, and we trooped into the hall.I said good-bye to Mary Ann and the guys and headed for my locker.Ginger Flush was pawing through her stuff when I got there.She turned around and beamed.“Lizard, isn’t it exciting? Today’s the day!”“What day?”Her mouth dropped open.“Are you kidding? Today the first cut for the Spring Pines fashion show will be posted!”“Oh.Right.” I shoved my math book inside the locker and took out my stuff for language arts.She giggled.“I can’t believe you forgot! I could hardly sleep last night.I kept wondering who, besides Lisa, will get chosen! Of course, I hope it’ll be me, but the competition will be really tough!” She grabbed my arm.“Hey, we’re all going over to the mall together after school to see the list of names.Want to come with us?”“I’ll probably have homework or something.” I pulled my arm away.“Oh, come on,” Ginger said.“Everybody who’s anybody will be there.”I stared at her.I wanted to say, “Like I’d care?” but I knew it would sound really rude, so I kept quiet.“We need moral support,” Ginger continued.“Lisa doesn’t act nervous, but she’s really a mess.Tiffany’s been biting her nails more than usual, and I haven’t been able to eat for two days! Just think how great it would be for Sam if I was picked.He’d be so happy for me!”I wondered why it would be great for Sam if Ginger was on the list.“Thanks anyway,” I said [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]