Read Online Rosie Swanson: Fourth-Grade Geek for President by Barbara Park - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Barbara Park
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hollered.
Then right away, he turned around and tapped Mona Moore on the shoulder. “Get a load of this, Mo!” he said excitedly.
After Mona finished the note, her eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. She passed it on to Cory Piper. Then Cory passed it to Mallory Fowler. And Mallory passed it to MatthewLily. And it just kept going on and on like that, all around the room.
Everywhere, kids were whispering. Finally, Mr. Jolly raised his head and asked what “all the buzzing” was about.
Nobody told him, though. Fourth-graders almost never tell teachers what the buzzing’s about.
When the note finally got to Judith Topper, she spun around so fast it made me dizzy. “I bet
you’re
the one who wrote this note, Rosie Swanson,” she snapped.
Innocent as anything, I stretched my neck and tried to see it. “What note?” I asked.
She threw it on my desk. “This note! You wrote this lie about Alan Allen. You know you did.”
I smoothed the paper out in front of me and pretended to read. By now, some of the other kids had turned around and were watching my reaction.
As soon as I was done, I rolled my eyes. “Give me a break, Judith,” I said. “Do I really look like the kind of girl who dots my
i
’s with hearts?”
Judith’s face turned red with anger. “Liar, liar, pants on fire,” she said. Then she started doing the “for shame” sign. That’s the one where you brush your pointer finger over your other pointer finger.
I didn’t let it bother me, though. Instead, I gave her the “cuckoo” sign and went back to what I was doing.
A few seconds later, a voice came over the intercom.
“MR. JOLLY?”
The voice belonged to Mrs. Trumbull, the grouchy school secretary.
Mr. Jolly looked up from his attendance book. “Yes?”
“MR. JOLLY, COULD YOU PLEASE SEND …”
Mrs. Trumbull paused. Whenever she calls someone to the office, she waits a couple of seconds to make everyone in the room sweat it out.
“… ROSIE SWANSON TO THE OFFICE.”
At first, it didn’t even register.
Mr. Jolly raised his eyebrows. “Rosie?”
That’s when it hit me. Oh my gosh! It was me!
Everybody turned around to look. Judith Topper clapped.
I tried my best to act calm. “Probably just another candidates’ meeting,” I said as I stood up. But my mouth was so dry my lips stuck together.
I still don’t remember walking to the office that morning. But when I finally got there, Mrs. Trumbull pointed her finger at Mr. Shivers’ office and said, “They’re waiting.”
I peeked through the door.
Summer Lynne Jones and Alan Allen were sitting across from Mr. Shivers’ desk. I felt myself relax a little. Maybe it really
was
a candidates’ meeting.
When I finally got the nerve to go inside, I tried to act as normal as I could.
I waved my fingers at everyone. “Hi, Mr. Shivers. Hi, Summer. Hi, Alan. Hi, Maxie.”
Maxie?
I thought. What was Maxie doing here?
One thing for sure, he definitely did not look happy. His arms were folded real angry-like, and his cheeks were all sucked into his face.Normally, I would have sat next to him, but with his face all shrunken in like that, he was scaring me a little.
Before I could sit down, I heard Mrs. Trumbull starting to yell.
“Hey! Put that phone down, young man! Put it down this instant!”
After that, there was some quiet mumbling.
“No, you are
not
having a stroke,” she snapped again. “Now go into Mr. Shivers’ office right now.”
The next thing I knew, Earl Wilber was standing in the doorway. No one falls apart at the principal’s office worse than Earl Wilber. His face was pale and sick-looking.
He slipped into the chair next to Maxie and started taking deep breaths. I sat down next to him. Except for his nose whistling, the room was totally quiet.
After making us fidget for a while, Mr. Shivers finally reached into his pocket and pulled out four small yellow notes. He unfolded one of them and began to read:
“Dear Fourth Grade
Then right away, he turned around and tapped Mona Moore on the shoulder. “Get a load of this, Mo!” he said excitedly.
After Mona finished the note, her eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets. She passed it on to Cory Piper. Then Cory passed it to Mallory Fowler. And Mallory passed it to MatthewLily. And it just kept going on and on like that, all around the room.
Everywhere, kids were whispering. Finally, Mr. Jolly raised his head and asked what “all the buzzing” was about.
Nobody told him, though. Fourth-graders almost never tell teachers what the buzzing’s about.
When the note finally got to Judith Topper, she spun around so fast it made me dizzy. “I bet
you’re
the one who wrote this note, Rosie Swanson,” she snapped.
Innocent as anything, I stretched my neck and tried to see it. “What note?” I asked.
She threw it on my desk. “This note! You wrote this lie about Alan Allen. You know you did.”
I smoothed the paper out in front of me and pretended to read. By now, some of the other kids had turned around and were watching my reaction.
As soon as I was done, I rolled my eyes. “Give me a break, Judith,” I said. “Do I really look like the kind of girl who dots my
i
’s with hearts?”
Judith’s face turned red with anger. “Liar, liar, pants on fire,” she said. Then she started doing the “for shame” sign. That’s the one where you brush your pointer finger over your other pointer finger.
I didn’t let it bother me, though. Instead, I gave her the “cuckoo” sign and went back to what I was doing.
A few seconds later, a voice came over the intercom.
“MR. JOLLY?”
The voice belonged to Mrs. Trumbull, the grouchy school secretary.
Mr. Jolly looked up from his attendance book. “Yes?”
“MR. JOLLY, COULD YOU PLEASE SEND …”
Mrs. Trumbull paused. Whenever she calls someone to the office, she waits a couple of seconds to make everyone in the room sweat it out.
“… ROSIE SWANSON TO THE OFFICE.”
At first, it didn’t even register.
Mr. Jolly raised his eyebrows. “Rosie?”
That’s when it hit me. Oh my gosh! It was me!
Everybody turned around to look. Judith Topper clapped.
I tried my best to act calm. “Probably just another candidates’ meeting,” I said as I stood up. But my mouth was so dry my lips stuck together.
I still don’t remember walking to the office that morning. But when I finally got there, Mrs. Trumbull pointed her finger at Mr. Shivers’ office and said, “They’re waiting.”
I peeked through the door.
Summer Lynne Jones and Alan Allen were sitting across from Mr. Shivers’ desk. I felt myself relax a little. Maybe it really
was
a candidates’ meeting.
When I finally got the nerve to go inside, I tried to act as normal as I could.
I waved my fingers at everyone. “Hi, Mr. Shivers. Hi, Summer. Hi, Alan. Hi, Maxie.”
Maxie?
I thought. What was Maxie doing here?
One thing for sure, he definitely did not look happy. His arms were folded real angry-like, and his cheeks were all sucked into his face.Normally, I would have sat next to him, but with his face all shrunken in like that, he was scaring me a little.
Before I could sit down, I heard Mrs. Trumbull starting to yell.
“Hey! Put that phone down, young man! Put it down this instant!”
After that, there was some quiet mumbling.
“No, you are
not
having a stroke,” she snapped again. “Now go into Mr. Shivers’ office right now.”
The next thing I knew, Earl Wilber was standing in the doorway. No one falls apart at the principal’s office worse than Earl Wilber. His face was pale and sick-looking.
He slipped into the chair next to Maxie and started taking deep breaths. I sat down next to him. Except for his nose whistling, the room was totally quiet.
After making us fidget for a while, Mr. Shivers finally reached into his pocket and pulled out four small yellow notes. He unfolded one of them and began to read:
“Dear Fourth Grade
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