Read Online Never Wear Red Lipstick on Picture Day: (And Other Lessons I've Learned) by Allison Gutknecht - Free Book Online Page B

correct?”
    â€œCorrect,” I answer. “Thank you very much, Principal Jacks.”
    Principal Jacks smiles at me then, and his owl eyes crinkle on the sides. “Are you going to wear the scarf for Picture Day? It sure is nice.”
    â€œI think I will,” I answer him. “Along with some other accessories.”
    â€œSounds like a plan,” Principal Jacks says. “Make sure you smile widely.”
    â€œI will,” I answer him. “Can I ask you something?”
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œCan you teach me how to snap?” I ask. “You know, your fingers. Like you did in Mrs. ­Spangle’s room. Everyone knows how to snap but me, and I have always wanted to know how.”
    â€œAbsolutely,” Principal Jacks answers. “I’ve taught many kids to snap over the years, and you look like you’re coordinated enough. Are you?”
    I nod my head up and down quickly.
    â€œOkay, then,” Principal Jacks continues. “Which hand do you write with? That will be the easier hand to learn on.”
    I lift my right hand in the air. “I know I use my thumb and my middle finger,” I tell him. “But I can’t get them to make the sound.”
    â€œThat’s because no one taught you the trick,” Principal Jacks says. “The trick is that when you place your middle finger on your thumb, you have to place the whole top part—not just the fingertip by the nail. Let me see.” I hold out my right hand to show him. “Perfect. And instead of placing your middle finger square on the top part of your thumb, you need to slide it a ­millimeter or two higher. Almost like it is touching your thumbnail.” Principal Jacks holds out his hand to show me, and I copy what he is doing.
    â€œThen, when you’re ready and your fingers are squeezed just tightly enough together—like Goldilocks, not too hard and not too soft—you bring your middle finger down toward your palm as quickly as you can and—” Pow! He snaps. “You try.”

    I raise my right hand in the air, place my ­middle finger on my thumb, and then pull it to the top so that it is almost touching the nail. I take a big breath, concentrate very hard, make a little wish, and then—
    Pow!
    â€œI DID IT!” I call out to Principal Jacks, and if he weren’t sitting behind his desk right now, I swear I would throw my arms around his neck. “You are the best snapping teacher ever!”
    â€œNice job, Mandy Berr,” Principal Jacks says. “Now, remember, snapping is only for special snappy occasions, so you need to keep it under wraps when you’re in school, or else you may wear your fingers out.”
    â€œI will,” I say. “And I will smile widely in my Picture Day photo too. I promise.”
    â€œGood,” Principal Jacks says. “Now you better skedaddle back to Mrs. Spangle before she thinks you got lost.”
    So I turn around and trot out of Principal Jacks’s office, click-clacking on the floor with my glittery scarf around my neck, and I am pretty sure I have never smiled more widely in my life.

CHAPTER 10
    Principal Pals

    PICTURE DAY IS PRETTY MUCH THE LONGEST day ever, because Mrs. Spangle’s class does not get to have our photos taken until the very last hour of the day. I think this is bad scheduling, because I would like to go first. Plus, now I have to keep my Picture Day outfit perfect all day, including during recess, and that is a very long time to be neat.
    Finally, Mrs. Spangle says that it is time. As the rest of my class scurries into line, I dart over to my cubby and pull my pink handbag off of the top shelf. Then, at the last moment, I take my glittery scarf, too, and I walk on my tiptoes to the end of the line. Anya leaves her own place in line to come stand next to me.
    â€œAre you wearing all of that stuff in the picture?” she asks me.
    â€œThey’re