hat on a kid with
stilts
.
I ran into Gabby in the bathroom before homeroom. “Festive!” I said, giggling at the plastic fruit bowl piled high on her head.
She was sticking bobby pins into her hair to keep a red apple from drooping. “My father wore this for his law firm’s Halloween party last year. It’s called ‘Got Fruit?’” Then she reached into her backpack and handed me a baseball cap with a pink flamingo on top. “Here you go. Luckily I brought a spare.”
“No thanks,” I said, smiling. “I’ll pass.” It’s rough enough being the new kid. I couldn’t stand everybody looking at the new kid with a freaky bird hat.
She grinned. “There’s that workaholic ox again, not taking time to play.”
“You don’t really believe all that Chinese astrology stuff, do you? I mean, you’re not Chinese.”
Gabby’s face tightened. “I bet you like pizza, but you’re not Italian, are you?”
I shook my head.
“We can’t stick each other in categories, you know. Chinese astrology helps me understand my life patterns.”
“I guess you’re right. Sorry,” I said sheepishly.
She pushed back a banana that had flopped between her eyes. “I mean it about thinking you’re right for peer mediation. Chinese astrology suggests the ox is no bull in a china shop. She is dependable and steadfast, and we need more of that since most of our classmates are tigers. And besides, everyone knows you don’t mess with Texans, which could help when mediations turn rocky.”
I laughed.
“C’mon, Tess. Peer mediation is a blast! Where else in school do teachers let kids call the shots? We meet on Wednesdays. And our teacher-rep brings homemade chocolate chip cookies. Say you’ll come.”
Cookies sounded good, and hanging around with Gabby was appealing. You never knew what she would say or do. But I wasn’t so sure about peer mediation. I could use my own live-in mediator at the apartment to deal with Ma.
I looked at Gabby. “Aren’t you forgetting something? I was the kid who tossed a pear at Pete Chutkin.”
She adjusted a wobbly banana by her ear. “That’s
exactly
why we need you. You get it, you understand disputants.”
“Disputants?”
“Kids who have issues with each other.”
“I’ll think about it. See ya,” I said, and I waved goodbye.
In the hallway, Pete Chutkin was leaning against the fire extinguisher. He wore a speckled jester’s hat with jingle bells.
I pretended not to notice him, but he came right up to me.
“Hey, Tess. Did you know that I met your family at Walmart?” he asked, walking beside me.
“No,” I said, coolly thinking he was
my
disputant. Of all the people for Ma and Jordan to meet!
“Your mother was wearing a ‘Find Yourself in San Antonio’ sweatshirt, so I told her about the awesome Alamo clay model I built last year. She told me about you, and I said we’d sorta ‘met’ already.”
I rolled my eyes. “We sure did.”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t tell her you threw a pear at me.” Suddenly he pulled his jester’s hat off and stuck it on my head.
“Get away!” I swatted the hat, and it flew across the hall.
Not again
, I thought. Not another trip to the assistant principal’s office. Mr. Godfrey would give me detention for sure this time.
Pete picked his hat off the floor, put it back on, and caught up with me. “Wait—I was just trying to help. Really. You get a free snack in the cafeteria today if you’re wearing a hat.”
As Ma would say, he had to be shuckin’ me. Did he actually think I’d embarrass myself for a bag of pretzels? But the thing was, he looked serious—and sorry, like Jordan when he’s making nice after a temper tantrum.
“I bring my own snacks. And you did me a big enough favor making fun of me and getting me in trouble,” I said with a steely-eyed glare.
“Really, I was just kidding around. I didn’t mean anything bad. And I swear I didn’t know your little brother was deaf. But it’s true what I was
stilts
.
I ran into Gabby in the bathroom before homeroom. “Festive!” I said, giggling at the plastic fruit bowl piled high on her head.
She was sticking bobby pins into her hair to keep a red apple from drooping. “My father wore this for his law firm’s Halloween party last year. It’s called ‘Got Fruit?’” Then she reached into her backpack and handed me a baseball cap with a pink flamingo on top. “Here you go. Luckily I brought a spare.”
“No thanks,” I said, smiling. “I’ll pass.” It’s rough enough being the new kid. I couldn’t stand everybody looking at the new kid with a freaky bird hat.
She grinned. “There’s that workaholic ox again, not taking time to play.”
“You don’t really believe all that Chinese astrology stuff, do you? I mean, you’re not Chinese.”
Gabby’s face tightened. “I bet you like pizza, but you’re not Italian, are you?”
I shook my head.
“We can’t stick each other in categories, you know. Chinese astrology helps me understand my life patterns.”
“I guess you’re right. Sorry,” I said sheepishly.
She pushed back a banana that had flopped between her eyes. “I mean it about thinking you’re right for peer mediation. Chinese astrology suggests the ox is no bull in a china shop. She is dependable and steadfast, and we need more of that since most of our classmates are tigers. And besides, everyone knows you don’t mess with Texans, which could help when mediations turn rocky.”
I laughed.
“C’mon, Tess. Peer mediation is a blast! Where else in school do teachers let kids call the shots? We meet on Wednesdays. And our teacher-rep brings homemade chocolate chip cookies. Say you’ll come.”
Cookies sounded good, and hanging around with Gabby was appealing. You never knew what she would say or do. But I wasn’t so sure about peer mediation. I could use my own live-in mediator at the apartment to deal with Ma.
I looked at Gabby. “Aren’t you forgetting something? I was the kid who tossed a pear at Pete Chutkin.”
She adjusted a wobbly banana by her ear. “That’s
exactly
why we need you. You get it, you understand disputants.”
“Disputants?”
“Kids who have issues with each other.”
“I’ll think about it. See ya,” I said, and I waved goodbye.
In the hallway, Pete Chutkin was leaning against the fire extinguisher. He wore a speckled jester’s hat with jingle bells.
I pretended not to notice him, but he came right up to me.
“Hey, Tess. Did you know that I met your family at Walmart?” he asked, walking beside me.
“No,” I said, coolly thinking he was
my
disputant. Of all the people for Ma and Jordan to meet!
“Your mother was wearing a ‘Find Yourself in San Antonio’ sweatshirt, so I told her about the awesome Alamo clay model I built last year. She told me about you, and I said we’d sorta ‘met’ already.”
I rolled my eyes. “We sure did.”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t tell her you threw a pear at me.” Suddenly he pulled his jester’s hat off and stuck it on my head.
“Get away!” I swatted the hat, and it flew across the hall.
Not again
, I thought. Not another trip to the assistant principal’s office. Mr. Godfrey would give me detention for sure this time.
Pete picked his hat off the floor, put it back on, and caught up with me. “Wait—I was just trying to help. Really. You get a free snack in the cafeteria today if you’re wearing a hat.”
As Ma would say, he had to be shuckin’ me. Did he actually think I’d embarrass myself for a bag of pretzels? But the thing was, he looked serious—and sorry, like Jordan when he’s making nice after a temper tantrum.
“I bring my own snacks. And you did me a big enough favor making fun of me and getting me in trouble,” I said with a steely-eyed glare.
“Really, I was just kidding around. I didn’t mean anything bad. And I swear I didn’t know your little brother was deaf. But it’s true what I was
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