B’s turn again.
“Explosion,” Mr. Bishop said.
Oh, no!
Mr. Bishop watched her. His beard twitched.
B searched around the room for anything that could explode harmlessly. A squooshy stress-reliever ball on the teacher’s desk? Too risky. Even exploding marshmallows could be dangerous. And what if her magic didn’t work right?
“Explosion,” B whispered, her mouth dry as salt. “Um, E … X … P …”
She became conscious of all the other eyes in the room, staring at her.
I have to misspell it,
she thought miserably.
There’s no other way. Bye-bye, tickets.
“B, are you all right?” Mr. Bishop asked.
She bit her lip and nodded.
“Why don’t you start the word again?”
“E-X-P-L-O …,” She paused, and sighed. “S-O-N.”
Jason Jameson snorted with laughter. George elbowed him.
Mr. Bishop lowered his paper. “I’m sorry, B, that’s incorrect.”
B met George’s gaze as she headed for her seat. If he was surprised she had missed such an easy word, he didn’t show it. She smiled to thank him. More than anything, she wished she could explain to George why she’d misspelled her word.
“Mr. Bishop,” Jason whined, “George hit me!”
Mr. Bishop glanced over the top of his paper. “Kim, you’re next, and your word is ‘rivalry.’”
Kim spelled the word correctly, and the competition went on. Several students stumbled during this round, which was some comfort — B wasn’t the only one to fall. Colby tripped on “mediocre,” Travis collapsed under “onslaught,” and Michaela flubbed “vacuum.” Even Jamal botched “asparagus,” adding an extra “u” in the middle.
Jason’s turn came around again. Mr. Bishop, B was sure, had a slightly evil gleam in his eye. “Surreptitious,” he said.
Jason looked like a soldier facing a firing squad. He thrust his lower lip out in a pout. “Mr. Bishop,these are really hard! We’ve never studied words like these before.”
“Oh?” Mr. Bishop said. “Does anyone here know what ‘surreptitious’ means?”
To her surprise, B found herself raising her hand.
“Yes, B?”
“It means sneaky,” B said, glaring at Jason. “Doing things on the sly so no one will know.”
Mr. Bishop nodded. “That’s right.” He paused, then pointed a finger at Jason. “Now, Mr. Jameson, will you please spell ‘surreptitious'?”
Jason swallowed. “Surreptitious,” he said, with a squeak in his voice. “Um, S-Y-R-U-P-T-I-C-I-O-U-S?”
B wanted to gloat, but she wasn’t about to stoop as low as Jason, so she folded her hands on her desk and studied Mozart like she’d never seen him before. He paused from licking his watering tube to wave a paw at her.
“I’m sorry, Jason. That’s not correct.”
Thwarting Jason the Sneak was a fabulous feeling. Almost as thrilling as winning the Black Catstickets might have been. She gave George her best good-luck grin.
The contest went on. Soon it came down to a threesome of Jenny, George, and Kim, dueling like spelling swordfighters. Soon Jenny succumbed to “sanctimonious,” a word that drew gasps from the rest of the room.
Then George and Kim faced off. They went through three more rounds, and then Kim was handed “cemetery.”
Overconfidence was her downfall. “C-E-M-E-T-A-R-Y,” she spelled quickly.
Mr. Bishop shook his head. “I’m sorry, Kim.” He looked at George. “Young man, if you can spell this next word correctly, you are the class champion, and the Black Cats tickets are yours. Are you ready?”
George nodded. B gripped the edge of her desk so hard, her knuckles turned white.
“Your word is ‘conjurer.’”
B laughed quietly. She knew that one.
“Conjurer,” George said. “C-O-N-J-U-R-E-R.”
Mr. Bishop tossed his spelling list high in the air. “The winner!” And the whole class, or rather,
almost
the whole class, jumped up and cheered for George. Even Kim. B rushed over to hug her friend. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the spelling list drift down
“Explosion,” Mr. Bishop said.
Oh, no!
Mr. Bishop watched her. His beard twitched.
B searched around the room for anything that could explode harmlessly. A squooshy stress-reliever ball on the teacher’s desk? Too risky. Even exploding marshmallows could be dangerous. And what if her magic didn’t work right?
“Explosion,” B whispered, her mouth dry as salt. “Um, E … X … P …”
She became conscious of all the other eyes in the room, staring at her.
I have to misspell it,
she thought miserably.
There’s no other way. Bye-bye, tickets.
“B, are you all right?” Mr. Bishop asked.
She bit her lip and nodded.
“Why don’t you start the word again?”
“E-X-P-L-O …,” She paused, and sighed. “S-O-N.”
Jason Jameson snorted with laughter. George elbowed him.
Mr. Bishop lowered his paper. “I’m sorry, B, that’s incorrect.”
B met George’s gaze as she headed for her seat. If he was surprised she had missed such an easy word, he didn’t show it. She smiled to thank him. More than anything, she wished she could explain to George why she’d misspelled her word.
“Mr. Bishop,” Jason whined, “George hit me!”
Mr. Bishop glanced over the top of his paper. “Kim, you’re next, and your word is ‘rivalry.’”
Kim spelled the word correctly, and the competition went on. Several students stumbled during this round, which was some comfort — B wasn’t the only one to fall. Colby tripped on “mediocre,” Travis collapsed under “onslaught,” and Michaela flubbed “vacuum.” Even Jamal botched “asparagus,” adding an extra “u” in the middle.
Jason’s turn came around again. Mr. Bishop, B was sure, had a slightly evil gleam in his eye. “Surreptitious,” he said.
Jason looked like a soldier facing a firing squad. He thrust his lower lip out in a pout. “Mr. Bishop,these are really hard! We’ve never studied words like these before.”
“Oh?” Mr. Bishop said. “Does anyone here know what ‘surreptitious’ means?”
To her surprise, B found herself raising her hand.
“Yes, B?”
“It means sneaky,” B said, glaring at Jason. “Doing things on the sly so no one will know.”
Mr. Bishop nodded. “That’s right.” He paused, then pointed a finger at Jason. “Now, Mr. Jameson, will you please spell ‘surreptitious'?”
Jason swallowed. “Surreptitious,” he said, with a squeak in his voice. “Um, S-Y-R-U-P-T-I-C-I-O-U-S?”
B wanted to gloat, but she wasn’t about to stoop as low as Jason, so she folded her hands on her desk and studied Mozart like she’d never seen him before. He paused from licking his watering tube to wave a paw at her.
“I’m sorry, Jason. That’s not correct.”
Thwarting Jason the Sneak was a fabulous feeling. Almost as thrilling as winning the Black Catstickets might have been. She gave George her best good-luck grin.
The contest went on. Soon it came down to a threesome of Jenny, George, and Kim, dueling like spelling swordfighters. Soon Jenny succumbed to “sanctimonious,” a word that drew gasps from the rest of the room.
Then George and Kim faced off. They went through three more rounds, and then Kim was handed “cemetery.”
Overconfidence was her downfall. “C-E-M-E-T-A-R-Y,” she spelled quickly.
Mr. Bishop shook his head. “I’m sorry, Kim.” He looked at George. “Young man, if you can spell this next word correctly, you are the class champion, and the Black Cats tickets are yours. Are you ready?”
George nodded. B gripped the edge of her desk so hard, her knuckles turned white.
“Your word is ‘conjurer.’”
B laughed quietly. She knew that one.
“Conjurer,” George said. “C-O-N-J-U-R-E-R.”
Mr. Bishop tossed his spelling list high in the air. “The winner!” And the whole class, or rather,
almost
the whole class, jumped up and cheered for George. Even Kim. B rushed over to hug her friend. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the spelling list drift down
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